-
The symbolism of the Churning of the Ocean
One of the most famous stories of Hinduism is that of the Great Churning of the Ocean by the Devas and Asuras (Gods and Demons) in the quest for the Nectar of Immortality. This tale has deeper dimensions, capturing insights into the nature of existence that the ancient Rishis (sages) discovered in deep meditation. All of the great tales of the Vedas and Puranas have a multiplicity of insights which can be learnt be those who are willing to scratch beyond the surface.In the story, the Devas have lost their dominance and glory. Approaching Lord Vishnu for help, the Devas are advised to seek the Nectar. A plan is devised, in which the Devas need to enlist the help of their foes, the Asuras. The Devas and Asuras use the divine serpent Vasuki as the churning rope for churning Mount Mandara, pulling the mountain back and forward, hoping to…
View original post 399 more words
-
Hindus in Saudi Arabia
Having had a friend of my family who went to Saudi Arabia to work as a medical doctor, I’ve heard first hand accounts of how difficult life is for the several thousand Hindus who live and work in Saudi Arabia. Not only were him and his family not allowed to openly practice Hinduism, they were not allowed to have gatherings of greater than five people. Doing so would risk a crackdown from the police, and inevitable prosecution.
Even more shockingly however, and perhaps a crucially decisive piece of evidence in exposing the discriminatory nature of the Saudi regime is a look at its system of compensation, which was reported some time back in the Wall Street Journal.
In Saudi Arabia, there is the concept of blood money (“diyya”). If a person has been killed or caused to die by another, amongst other punishment the perpetrator has to pay blood money or compensation, as follows:
300,000 riyals if the victim is a Muslim man
150,000 riyals if a Muslim woman
50,000 riyals if a Christian or Jewish man
25,000 riyals if a Christian or Jewish woman
6,666 riyals if a Hindu man
3,333 riyals if a Hindu woman[Note: Jews are generally not allowed in Saudi Arabia, although technically Jews would be afforded the same “value” as Christians, being “people of the book” as per Islamic theology]
So there we have it, a Muslim man’s life is worth 90 times that of a Hindu woman’s. Although I haven’t yet decided where I want to spend my summer holiday next year, I certainly know of one country which I have firmly ruled out of my holiday wish list!
Imagine how much uproar and indignation there would be if such discriminatory systems were to exist in the other countries, such as the democracies in Europe or Asia. However it appears that no Western government cares to query such issues with Saudi Arabia for fear of disrupting their oil supplies. Note, the Hindus who go to work in Saudi Arabia are also, in my opinion, quite silly for living in a country which doesn’t allow them to practice their religion openly even if it pays well.
-
The meaning of AUM (Om)
This is what we hear about AUM:
The past, the present and the future are AUM,
And That beyond these three is also AUM(Mandukya Upanishad)
AUM is the most popular and universally recognised Hindu symbol and also the most popular word in Hindu chants and prayers. It is the Divine Word and the originating sound of the universe. It was through meditation that the seers and sages of Vedic times arrived at the idea of a universal sound, eternally resounding in the universe, which they saw as the very origin of the created world.
There is a depth of philosophical meaning in AUM and reciting it correctly has a profound effect on the mind and body.
One of the reasons why we can understand AUM to be the universal sound is because it covers the entire spectrum of sound that human speech is capable of. The first sound of AUM is ‘A’ (as in around), which originates from the lowest point of the throat. The remainder of the word requires the involvement of every region of our speech-apparatus up to the closing of the lips, where the word terminates with ‘M’.
Because AUM starts very low in the diaphragm and travels upward, it has an ascending (uplifting) effect on the one who chants it. Energy is transferred in an upward motion all the way up to the highest centres of consciousness in the head, enhancing the upward movement from our lower centres of consciousness (chakras) to the higher ones, which is an important part of spiritual practice.
The three sounds that make up AUM correspond to the entire cycle of the universe. ‘A’ corresponds to the creation, ‘U’ to the preservation and ‘M’ to the destruction and dissolution of the universe. Therefore the three stages of AUM, ‘A’, ‘U’ and ‘M’ are connected with Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva respectively. The silence that occurs between two repetitions of AUM represents that which is beyond the universe and inexpressible in human speech. This is why the scriptures say: ‘The past, the present and the future are AUM and That beyond these three is also AUM’.
These are just some of the meanings of AUM. There is much more that is simply beyond the scope of this article. Ultimately, it is said that the entire content of the Vedas is enshrined within AUM. AUM symbolises everything – the means and the goal of life, the universe and the Truth behind it, the material and the Sacred, all forms as well as the Formless. Deeper meanings of AUM are sure to reveal themselves to those who chant it and meditate upon its meaning.
-
Rishi Sunak announced as first Hindu Prime Minister of the UK, on Diwali
In a historic day for British politics, Rishi Sunak achieved several “firsts” on being announced as the UK’s next Prime Minister, that too on the auspicious day of Diwali.
One interesting feature about Rishi Sunak has been that unlike high level British Indian politicians before him, he carries his Hindu faith in a not overstated, but still very proud manner. This has received a fair bit of coverage in the press.
He has been quoted as saying “I am a citizen of Britain. But my religion is Hindu. My religious and cultural heritage is Indian. I proudly say that I am a Hindu’. He swore his parliamentary oath on the Bhagavad Gita. His grandparents established a temple in Southampton, which he always continues to visit and participate in regularly.
His Diwali message this year to the Hindu Forum of Britain is reproduced below:
-
Wishing you a happy & auspicious Diwali
My first recollections of Diwali in distant childhood are of immense joy: fireworks, diwas, nice food, presents, time-off school, spending time with friends and relatives, and a general feeling of happiness. How can anyone not grow up loving such a festival?
This greatest of festivals is a time when we take a step back from the entanglements and stress that keeps us divided, bringing us all together. Diwali always creates an atmosphere of joy and goodwill, not just in our own circle, but in the entire society and nation!
It is a festival of inner and outer light and a time of great hope, with many divine legends of great meaning and evocative power.
It marks new beginnings and a renewal of commitment to family values. It represents joy, love, success, forgiveness, light and knowledge – all qualities embodies by Shri Rama. Diwali symbolises the eternal hope that Rama Rajya (the rule of Dharma) will come once more, celebrating Rama and Sita’s return to Ayodhya after the trials and tribulations of their exile.
Other important aspects of Diwali celebrations include the victory of Shri Krishna over Narakasur, the worship of Maha Lakshmi (Dhanteras) and Mother Kali (on Kali Choudas), the financial New Year, and the celebration of the sacred bonds between brothers and sisters (Bhai Beej / Bhai Dooj).
I wish you all a very auspicious and happy Diwali. May the entire world be illumined!
NB – This year Diwali falls on 24th October
-
Wave Particle Duality & Hinduism
In 1905 Einstein published a paper about the “Photoelectric Effect” which showed that electromagnetic radiation can behave as particles rather than waves in some experiments. It was for this work that he later won the Nobel prize for Physics even though he is more famous for his work on Relativity (with its famous equation E=mc2).
Wave-Particle duality plays a big role in modern physics and Quantum Mechanics in particular. In basics terms it says that when we get to a really small scale, we can no longer picture the world as we humans perceive it. Small fundamental “particles” like electrons can be thought of as tiny bits of matter whizzing round at fast speeds BUT they can also be thought of as waves which have no fixed position but exist as disturbances in space. Similarly, something like light which we have always thought of as waves can behave like particles. The real problem in getting our heads around this that something can behave as both a wave and particle and the way we see it depends purely on the experiment we carry out.
For example, if we carry out any experiment involving electricity, we “see” electrons behaving as particles. But the “two slits” experiment can only be explained if we think of the electrons behaving as a wave and the Photoelectric Effect is explained by the introduction of “photons” whereas it was universally believed that light consisted of waves.
This led to a big crisis in Physics. Not so much because the theories we all believed are wrong (they aren’t) but because the way we think about the world and the nature of things was fundamentally wrong. This relates to wider problem of how we can translate the precise mathematically equations of theory and experiment into words and ideas for explaining it. And it turns out that this is more a problem of philosophy rather than science because the way we think about the world is all to do with our philosophical outlook (or the outlook of our teachers and ultimately the thinkers who came up with the ideas we are taught).
Although much of Western science was against the teachings of the Catholic Church, much of the thinking until about one hundred years ago is actually largely based on Judeo-Christian ways of thinking. For example, the Bible says that the world was created by an absolute being called “God” and that he is separate from his creation (i.e. He exists outside of the universe or even irrespective of the universe). With this we can easily understand the thinking of a great scientist like Newton. Although he made many important discoveries and advanced Physics greatly, the principle of a static universe and determinism underlies his work. Put more simply, he looks at any experiment as if the observer is outside of what is going on and can have no effect on the outcome once the experiment is started off (unless he actually chooses to interfere). This is rather like the idea of God setting off the universe and then watching from outside and only effecting the universe when he chooses to.
It turns out that the universe is a bit more complex than this and we need to widen our frame of thought to explain the findings of modern science. In particular how the same thing can appear to us in completely different ways even when we are not doing anything to it apart from looking at it in a different situation (experiment). Within Hinduism we see a wide variety of deities which can be thought of in animal, human or superhuman form or even without form. Some systems of Hindu thought even think of the divine as without attributes let alone without form – i.e. as a principle that underlies all of reality. When we study the rich diversity of various philosophies and schools within Hinduism we come to appreciate the interchangeablity of deities throughout Hindu society and history. When you think of the world like this, it is easier to appreciate how the smallest building blocks of nature can also interchange their appearance to us depending on how we choose to look at them.
Author: Nitin Shah
Related articles:
– Why is Kali Dancing on Shiva
-
A Hindu view on the use of alcohol
Author: David Frawley (Vamadeva Shastri)
The consumption of alcohol has existed in human society since time immemorial. Probably all societies, at least in historically-recorded times, have had members who have used alcohol, which has been a common source of relaxation, intoxication or inebriation. In the modern world, all types of alcoholic beverages are freely available in the world market.
Most societies have placed some restraints or restrictions on the use of alcohol; because of the dangers arising from it’s over use. Some groups, particularly of a religious nature, have tried to ban alcohol altogether and have made it into a sin to consume it at all, although some members within these groups have continued to use alcohol anyway.
Alcoholism is a major health and social problem throughout the world. Such groups as Alcoholics Anonymous (AA) have arisen to help people to deal with alcohol addictions. Alcoholism is a major cause of motor accidents, which is a major cause of death, particularly for young people. That alcohol has a potential down side, no one, even those who drink it regularly, would dispute.
What is the Hindu view of alcohol consumption? Hinduism is a spiritual tradition that is not based upon mere faith or belief but upon an understanding of dharma, the natural laws behind the universe. So the question for Hindus is how does the use of alcohol fit in with its sense of dharma and how does it effect us karmically? Alcohol is also part of the use of intoxicants and stimulants in general, not a separate item.
Many monastic orders from India, both Hindu and non-Hindu, take various vows like celibacy. Refraining from alcohol is another such vow that most of these monks swear to. Some Hindu Tantric groups, on the other hand, use alcohol in a sacred way, either as an offering to the deity or as taken individually during certain special rituals. Relative to non-monastic Hindus, Hindu merchants and aristocrats have historically used alcohol, just as they have not practiced celibacy. Many continue to use alcohol today, without necessarily falling into alcoholism.
In monastic orders of other religions like the Christians and the Buddhists, alcohol is generally forbidden, although significant exceptions do exist. For example, some Christian monks actually have run wineries as part of their monasteries. Also, many religious traditions throughout the world have also used alcohol and other intoxicants like marijuana during sacred rituals.
There is no Hindu religious ban on the use of alcohol as there is in Islam, for example. Hinduism generally shies away from such absolute dos and don’ts and strives to deal with individual cases. Yet Hinduism recognizes that alcohol is a powerful substance that has dangers that should not be taken lightly.
Ayurveda, the medical branch of Hindu dharma, contains clearly defined views on the use alcohol. Ayurveda uses alcohol as a solvent for extracting the active ingredients of certain herbs. Tinctures are used in western herbalism in the same way. Ayurveda also prepares special herbal wines called asavas and arishtas. Herbal wines are regarded as particularly good medicines to take for a weak digestion and as relaxants for stress. Ayurveda recognizes that certain alcoholic beverages (like wine) can have health benefits, like improving digestion or circulation, but only taken in moderation.
Ayurveda also recognizes that excessive alcohol consumption can cause or contribute to physical or psychological diseases. Excess alcohol can damage the liver, make the blood toxic, and overheat the brain. Alcohol can impair our mental judgment as well as our sensory coordination. For those engaged in study, like students and college, alcohol can weaken one’s concentration and ability to learn.
Does one have to abstain from alcohol to be a Hindu? Certainly not. But to be a good Hindu one should learn to use substances like alcohol with restraint and knowledge of their potential side effects.
Are there certain Hindu sects or practices that require completely abstaining from alcohol? These do exist, but are not ordained for everyone.So the advice to Hindu youth is to approach alcohol with caution, knowing its qualities and its possible consequences. Many Hindu youth may wish to abstain from it altogether. Others may use it on occasion or in moderation. Yet it is a matter of understanding the effects of alcohol, not simply of following a religious prohibition. We should learn the actual properties of things and act accordingly, not just blindly follow religious bans. Other intoxicants should be approached with the same care. In general, in Hindu Dharma, we should strive to live in such a way that promotes awareness, respect for others, respect for nature, and a seeking to know the truth directly for ourselves, not just according to the ideas of a book or a leader.
Young people are also inclined to experiment with things and so may want to try alcohol and see what it is. There is nothing necessarily wrong with that. But one must always be careful. What we open ourselves to has certain energies we must be ready to deal with. This includes not only the substances that we take but also the company that we keep. We should always strive to be around those individuals who bring out our own higher qualities and connect us with the greater universal spirit.
The Hindu view of life and its understanding of dharma cannot be reduced to a few dos and don’ts, a set of commandments to be applied in a rigid way. The Hindu view is that we must understand each individual and circumstance in its own right. What may be fine in one case, may not work in another. Such an understanding of dharma is harder to gain than it is to simply follow a few religious injunctions or prohibitions, but that is what life is all about. In life and in nature, there are flows and currents but no rigid absolutes. The same fire that can cook one’s food can burn one’s house down. There is no substitute for awareness in all that we do.
Hinduism encourages a balanced view in which we know the good and bad, the right and wrong of how things can be used. Even religion used wrong can cause a great deal of harm, as history has so often shown and our daily newspapers often proclaim.
-
Mayor of Leicester meets controversial Muslim activist, blames “Hindutva” for Leicester Violence.
Leicester Mayor Peter Soulsby met with Leicester based Muslim activist Majid Freeman on 11th October, as a representative of the Muslim communities of Leicester following the violent disturbances that took place in that city the previous month.
Following the meeting, the Mayor said that he was commissioning an “Independent Inquiry” into the disturbances, but has already publicly already acknowledged that he believes “imported Hindutva ideology” is partly to blame. This makes a mockery of the independence of such an inquiry, when he has accepted the conclusions put to him by one side – and indeed what a “representative” he chose to listen to!
Majid Freeman is a name which has come up again and again with regards to the violence as a major instigator. By meeting him in the first place – the Mayor has already made a serious lapse of judgement. Here is a person who was actually a major architect of the disturbances through the spreading of fake news. It is really quite insulting to the Hindu communities of Leicester that the Mayor or the city even found it acceptable to meet with him, let alone accept everything he says without scrutiny.
Some facts:-
Majid Freeman posted a story on twitter about an attempted abduction of a Muslim teenage girl by three Hindu men in Leicester. He posted it, and as a result it was shared many times on different social media platforms. Please click here to BBC story about this. The story was found to be fake, and he did then delete his original tweet. However by this time, the story had been circulated widely amongst Muslims throughout the midlands, who were mobilising with a view to carry out random attacks on Hindus and property owned by Hindus. Leicester Police have stated that fake news – in particular this story about the abduction – seems to have been a major factor in the violence.
Freeman was also on a daily basis posting stories which had the sole effect of inciting Muslims. There are too many such tweets to try to share. Basically he continuously makes far fetched claims linking Hindu youth staying out late, drinking, and urinating on streets (which is simple antisocial behaviour – not political ideology) as a political act of “Hindutva” and linking it with Hindu nationalism in India – thus setting into motion a mobilisation of Muslims.
The claims and links he makes are laughable – but he is quite articulate and many Muslims will accept this, in the absence of any saner voices. Just to demonstrate how ridiculous Freeman’s accounts were – if there were a few Muslims who are out late at night in a given neighbourhood and acting antisocially, it would be ridiculous to link them as representatives of a religious / political ideology. If this was done to Muslims, certainly Majid Freeman would cry “Islamophobia” (and fairly so), yet he does this to Hindus, with a view to add an international and political dimension to a situation.
Furthermore, during the riots themselves, a number of rabble rousing speeches were made by a controversial Islamist named Mohammed Hijab, who came from London up to Leicester for “the event”. Whereas some Muslims can be seen telling him to “drop the mic” because he will just incite young Muslims to violence (which is what he did), Majid Freeman defends Mohammed Hijab’s actions in Leicester on a number of occasions. There are many responsible and saner voices within the Muslim communities of Leicester who didn’t want a known rabble rouser giving hateful speeches, but Majid Freeman was not one of them.
Majid Freeman also has a controversial history for sympathising with ISIS and Al-Quaeda. A report (https://henryjacksonsociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/HJS-Islamist-Charity-Report.pdf) shows how he is linked to providing both ideological and material support to Jihadists in the Middle East, and has made comments such as Jerusalem would be “conquered by jihad, not by peace”. The daily Telegraph also reported on this (note – subscription only content).
All of the above show that Freeman is not a suitable “representative” to meet with and whose word to accept without more than a grain of salt. In meeting with Majid Freeman and parroting what he has said – the Mayor of Leicester either shows his extreme naivety – or his utter disregard for Hindus of the city.
-
Remembering the Ugandan Indian exodus
It was on the 6th August 1972 that the government of Uganda, then headed by the infamous Idi Amin, announced that all of the 80,000 Indian origin people living in the country had 90 days to depart, after which their businesses and homes would be handed over to native Ugandans. If any Indians were seen in Uganda after this period, Idi Amin warned: “I will make you feel as if you are sitting on fire!”
Most 2nd and 3rd generation Hindus, who are born and brought up in the UK, could never imagine being expelled from Britain, and one would hope that such an event would never happen. Yet Ugandan Indians had been settled in the country for an even longer time. They were uprooted almost overnight, their homes, businesses and much of their wealth confiscated. After Idi Amin’s 90-day period, only about a hundred Indians were left in the country. Most fled to Britain or India.
The Ugandan Indians, 65% of whom were Hindu, had been settled in the country since the 1920s, and for many of them Uganda was the only home they knew. They were “bloodsuckers,” said Idi Amin, “who had milked the Ugandan economy of its wealth.” This alluded to the fact that the Indians living in Uganda were a prosperous community, who were well represented in trade, commerce and government jobs.
Idi Amin’s extreme views on Ugandan Indians were very much shared by most Ugandans at that time. An Indian student at Makerere University in 1972 recalls that every night in the undergraduate common room, when the countdown for Indians to get out was updated at the end of the evening news, cheers went up from the Black students. The black students asserted that the native Ugandans needed more of a chance to do their own thing. That such a “chance” would most certainly materialise out of thin air once the exploitative Indians had been booted out, is merely proof of their own short-sightedness. Indians had been made into a scapegoat for Ugandan national frustration at the slow progress the country was making.
In fact, he Indian exodus made things worse rather than better for the average Ugandan. For a year or two, the economy was OK, but thereafter it went down tremendously. The collapse of the Ugandan economy was due to the fact that there were very few people who had the skills or experience to do the jobs that Indians were doing. This was compounded by the fact that many educated Blacks also left Uganda around this time, out of fear of Idi Amin’s violent regime. Thus Uganda lost the people with the skills to make things move.
Idi Amin held onto power for seven years, during which hundreds of thousands of native Ugandans died in political strife. His successor, Obote, led a similar reign of terror. It was only when President Musevani gained power in 1986 and ended years of civil war that any sense of normalcy returned. Idi Amin was exiled from Uganda. Being a devout Muslim, he was granted asylum in Saudi Arabia, where he lived until his death in 2003.
President Musevani’s 1992 offer for the Ugandan Indians to return was met with scepticism. But Indians were pleasantly surprised by the congenial treatment meted out to them. Government records had not been destroyed. Just by locating the title deeds and confirming the original owner’s identity, confiscated properties and businesses were handed back. Five thousand properties, including several Hindu temples, were been reclaimed. The time allotted to reclaim the properties expired in 1994 and the unclaimed balance (20%) was auctioned off. The vast majority of expelled Ugandan Indians did not return to Uganda. They had rebuilt their lives in other parts of the world and did not wish to return to live in a still not entirely stable Uganda. Except for a few, the Indians are selling their reclaimed property newcomers and returning to wherever they carved a niche for themselves for the last two decades.
-
Hinduism: One God or Many?
Vast is That, divine, its form unthinkable; it shines out subtler than the subtle: very far and farther than farness, it is here close to us, for those who have the vision it is here even in this world; it is here, hidden in the secret heart.
Mundaka Upanishad III.1.6
The biggest criticism of Hinduism from some practitioners of other religions is that Hindus worship many Gods and therefore are superstitious and ignorant of God’s real nature. A little analysis of this view shows that the criticism is unfounded, and that the Hindu approach reflects a mature and creative approach towards spirituality, showing an intimate connection and experience of the Divine on many levels, as well as maintaining the Oneness of God, which upholds the entire creation.
Hindu Concept of the Ultimate Being
Hinduism has always recognised the Oneness of God, but the view is different to the Abrahamic concept, which conceives of God as a Male figure who resides in heaven. Hinduism believes that in the ultimate analysis nothing truly exists except for God, the Only Reality is God. The Divine Spirit pervades all phenomenal existence that we see around, and is the sole unchanging reality and support of the universe. The Divine Being transcends all human conceptualisation, yet can be approached in many ways.
Hindus may worship the divine in many forms but do not call their Gods either “One” or “Many”. According to Hinduism, what is worshipped is One Reality, ekam sat, which is differently named. This Reality is everywhere, in everything, in every being. It is One and Many at the same time yet also transcends them both. Everything is an expression, a play, an image, an echo of this Reality. Hindu sacred texts abound with verses depicting the Oneness of the Divine Reality. This can be seen from the following verse from the most ancient Hindu text, the Rig Veda:
Indram mitram varuNam agnim ãhuh,
atho divyah sa suparNo garutmãn,
ekam sad viprãh bahudhã vadanti,
agnim yamam mãtarišvãnam ãhuh.(They hail Him as Indra, as Mitra, as VaruNa, as Agni, also as that divine and noble-winged Garutmãn. It is of the One Truth that the wise ones speak in diverse ways, whether as Agni, or as Yama, or as Mãtarišvãn).
The Distinction in Hinduism is Between a True Way of Worship and False Way of Worship
The Hindu approach to worship goes to the very essence of the human spirit. In this deeper approach, the distinction is not between a true One God and the false Many Gods; it is between a true way of worship and a false way of worship. Wherever there is sincerity, truth, and self-giving in worship, that worship goes to the true altar by whatever name we may designate it and in whatever way we may conceive it. But if it is not desireless, if it has ego, falsehood, conceit, and deceit in it, then it is unavailing though it may be offered to the most True God, theologically speaking. ‘He who offers to me with devotion a leaf, a flower, a fruit, or water, that I accept from that striving devotee,’ says Lord Krishna in the Gita.
Eskimoes have 48 names for snow in their language!
Having many names for something is not necessarily a sign of ignorance of its real nature. On the contrary, it may indicate an intimate knowledge of it. For example, Eskimos have forty-eight different names for snow in their language because they know snow intimately in its different variations, not because they are ignorant of the fact that all snow is one. The many different deities of Hinduism reflect such intimate realizations of the Divine on various levels. Just as the Eskimos know snow in great and intimate detail because they lived with it closely, Hindu civilisation knows God and the secrets of the Spiritual life in intimate and unparalleled detail.
Hindu Voice UK 