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Re: deep question[URGENT!]
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To: alt-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: deep question[URGENT!]
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From: gilthoneil@aol.com (Gilthoneil)
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Date: 19 Mar 1995 21:14:10 -0500
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From root@aol.net Sun Mar 19 21: 07:42 1995
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Newsgroups: alt.hindu
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Organization: America Online, Inc. (1-800-827-6364)
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Posted-Date: 19 Mar 1995 21:14:10 -0500
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References: <3jr0uq$o03@ucunix.san.uc.edu>
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Reply-To: gilthoneil@aol.com (Gilthoneil)
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Sender: root@aol.net
This is the difference as seen from an outsider, raised in an outside
world of thought, the Western, as best as an Okie can seen it. The
difference that unites Hinduism from other religions seems to be the
nature of Godhood. Here, our God, the American version of the ancient One
God, YHWH, is not us. We are not Him (oh, and, it's a Him). In the
beginning, He made us from things that were not Him, and thus, in our
system, the created is different from the creator. In Hinduism, it is
different. The greatest godness, above and inside all the gods, demigods,
etc., is called Purusha. It is amorphous, a spiritual substance that
pervades all things and all the world, and all the gods, and all the
people (It is also called Viraj, b.t.w.). We are a part of this godness
as are the gods, and as is the world. **This is the crucial part: As
such, we are one with God, one with the world, and consequently, one with
each other. In one way, I am you, I am also the ants i tread on and the
flesh i eat feeling conflicted. The ethical ramifications of this are
astounding. In our system, I am not you. You are not me. There is no
reason, other than societal and niceness, that I should assist you, and no
reason why I should not torment you or ignore you. Compassion is an
unnescessary expenditure of energy. In their system, it is a must. As a
pantheist, you ought to heal others' wounds just as you would heal your
cut leg, because other Are your cut leg. That's not to say everybody acts
that way over there. There's a caste system, there lynchings, there's
theft, wars, nuclear weapons, worse... but their basic rhetoric, their
basic ideas, in this way make them different from us, and yet, one and the
same.
Oh, and, i think Internet newsgroups are a horrible way to go
for citations. it's not in the MLA guidebook, and what, are you going to
cite a nickname? Gilthoneil@AOL.com??? Oh, well, good luck.
-Gilthoneil.
