Any other Hindus on here?

[Ave Maria]

Hello everyone! I was just curious... are there any Hindus on here besides me?

 

[Supreme]

Yes, at least three, just keep searching around, particularly on this forum and PM them if you find them.

 

[MichaelNZ]

Yes, I am a Saivite Hindu. I pray mainly to the Holy Mother (Durga/Mariamman/Kali) and Lord Ganesha. I wasn't born a Hindu - I converted (although I haven't had a formal conversion ceremony yet).

Abhilasha, I've got two questions for you, if you don't mind.

1) Were you born Hindu or did you convert?
2) Which sect of Hinduism do you follow (Vaishnavism, Saivism, Saktam, Smartism)?

 

[Aesjn]

I don't know what I am but I quite like the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads and I basically believe in Brahman - I wouldn't call myself a Hindu - or any other religious identification though. Oh, yeah, I like Kabir...

My avatar says a bit: It's a Celtic (me) interpretation of a Germanic symbol (the irminsul) inspired by the symbol for the Lithuanian native faith Romuva:

The Lithuanian symbol represents the World Tree, the Germanic symbol represents Irminsul - their world tree, and mine, naturally, represents Bile - the Gaelic (a Celtic people's, who most of my ancestors come from) knowledge of the world tree. The longest religious identification I've held was as a Celtic pagan, and I've sorta come back to that lately but more universally - I think there is one universal truth underlying the ancient religions that arose spontaneously and from nature that binds them together and sets them apart from later manmade religions.

 

[rahul_sharma]

Hi Abhilasha..

I am here too!

 

[MahaSudarshanChakra]

Count me in! But I am not a regular these days........

 

[Ave Maria]

Yes, I am a Saivite Hindu. I pray mainly to the Holy Mother (Durga/Mariamman/Kali) and Lord Ganesha. I wasn't born a Hindu - I converted (although I haven't had a formal conversion ceremony yet).

Abhilasha, I've got two questions for you, if you don't mind.

1) Were you born Hindu or did you convert?
2) Which sect of Hinduism do you follow (Vaishnavism, Saivism, Saktam, Smartism)?

Hello MichaelArchangelos. I am a convert. I am not sure which sect of Hinduism I am going to follow yet because I just recently converted.

 

[MichaelNZ]

Hello MichaelArchangelos. I am a convert. I am not sure which sect of Hinduism I am going to follow yet because I just recently converted.

Hello MichaelArchangelos. I am a convert. I am not sure which sect of Hinduism I am going to follow yet because I just recently converted.

Dear Abhilasha,

Congratulations on your conversion! You're joining the world's oldest religion.

As for which sect of Hinduism you join, you don't have to decide just yet. Visit temples for all the different sects (if you can find them) and talk to people there.

However, I would recommend that you stay away from ISKCON. Go to their temples, if you like their style of worship, but don't read their literature. They malign the Advaita philosophy (non-dualism) of Shankaracharya and they say that Krishna alone is God. Shiva, Durga, Ganesha etc are just servants of Krishna. Their founder, Srila Prabhupada, translated the word "deva" (god) as "demigod" in order to push his theology. However, when the word "deva" refers to Krishna, he translates it as "Lord". Prabhupada also told his followers not to worship Lord Ganesha (who is worshipped by all Hindus regardless of sect).

They also claim that their Scriptures (Bhagavad-Gita and Bhagavata Purana) are more authoritative than the Vedas. They claim to be Vedic but they never read or study the Vedas, and expound ideas that have no Vedic base (such as that sex is only for procreation).

The Himalayan Academy (Kauai's Hindu Monastery) has many good resources about Hinduism. I would also like to recommend the Hindu Dharma Forums (The Hindu Dharma Forums - Sanatana Dharma Discussion). If you have any questions, then you can ask them there. As for Scriptures, it's best to start off with the Bhagavad-Gita (although not Prabhupadas Bhagavad-Gita As It Is) - you can get a good version online here. You can also chat to me on Windows Live Messenger - if you want to, PM me and I'll send you my email address.

 

[Penumbra]

Dear Abhilasha,

Congratulations on your conversion! You're joining the world's oldest religion.

As for which sect of Hinduism you join, you don't have to decide just yet. Visit temples for all the different sects (if you can find them) and talk to people there.

However, I would recommend that you stay away from ISKCON. Go to their temples, if you like their style of worship, but don't read their literature. They malign the Advaita philosophy (non-dualism) of Shankaracharya and they say that Krishna alone is God. Shiva, Durga, Ganesha etc are just servants of Krishna. Their founder, Srila Prabhupada, translated the word "deva" (god) as "demigod" in order to push his theology. However, when the word "deva" refers to Krishna, he translates it as "Lord". Prabhupada also told his followers not to worship Lord Ganesha (who is worshipped by all Hindus regardless of sect).

They also claim that their Scriptures (Bhagavad-Gita and Bhagavata Purana) are more authoritative than the Vedas. They claim to be Vedic but they never read or study the Vedas, and expound ideas that have no Vedic base (such as that sex is only for procreation).

The Himalayan Academy (Kauai's Hindu Monastery) has many good resources about Hinduism. I would also like to recommend the Hindu Dharma Forums (The Hindu Dharma Forums - Sanatana Dharma Discussion). If you have any questions, then you can ask them there. As for Scriptures, it's best to start off with the Bhagavad-Gita (although not Prabhupadas Bhagavad-Gita As It Is) - you can get a good version online here. You can also chat to me on Windows Live Messenger - if you want to, PM me and I'll send you my email address.

That's a good forum. I had a lot of questions about Hinduism answered there!

-Lyn