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Re: Am I wrong?
Roshan s/o Sabapathy (sci50625@leonis.nus.sg) wrote:
: I am a Hindu... at least I call myself that. I follow the basic
: guidelines of hinduism and always try to follow what little I've learnt
: about my religion. There are certain points of this religion that I do
: not thnik fit for the present day. For example.... I do not see the
: reason that a Hindu cannot eat beef and do not agree the reason for being
: barred from the temple if one's relative has passed away.
: Take the eg abt not being able to go to the temple if your parent has
: just passed away. In my experience I needed to go to the temple in order
: to keep a calm mind.... I was distrought and found that the only remedy
: was to pray.
: I've long decided not to follow any such rules as long that I do not feel
: that it is rite. Is what I am doing wrong?
: Am i still considered a hindu?
: If I do not follow these "rules" would that cause me to accumulate
: "bad"Karma?
1. The issue of beef is a good one. All Hindus believe in Ahimsa. What
does differ is the interpretation of the word: "Ahimsa". Some feel
that killing and eating animals is OK. Some others feel that absolute
non-killing is desirable. And some other go to the extent of avoiding
walking on grass, and cutting trees, since it leads to unwanted
destruction of life. The issue of cow should be considered in this
light. A very large segment feels, that cow is like a mother. It
gives you milk, which you drink as a kid. You grow up on it. Further,
you use milk products in a variety of ways. Further, atleast in India,
cow and bull form the hub of rural activity. So, a lot of Hindus do not
eat cow. The reason: A sense of gratitude, thankfullness, and indebted-
ness.
2. I do not know about this going to temple business. But I know that each
time I went to someone's funeral, I was supposed to take a bath and only
then enter home. The reason told to me was: The body is impure. It might
be true, or false. But one reason why it Could be logical would be: The
moment one dies, decay sets in. As long as you are alive, germs and
bacteria do not survive in your body. The blood kills them all. However,
this stops happening, when you die. The body litterally starts getting
infested with all sorts of infections. Perhaps, the bathing could prevent
that. Also, when the flesh burns, the sight and smell is not exactly
a good one. A bath helps you to get rid of these odors, and also helps
in a psychological sense.
3. "Am I still a Hindu?" I see no reason, why this should dis-enfranchise
you. There are stories, where even the most evil persons, once they
had a sincere regret, were accepted by the Supreme One. You and I are
average people. So, do not worry too much.
4. "Bad Karma"? Yes and No. Let me explain.
If you give $100.00 to a poor guy, you can do it in two ways. The first
option is that you give it, and FEEL GOOD about it. You try to think,
that YOU (as Roshan) did it. That makes you happy. Now, each time you
do something, and you think that ROSHAN is doing it, you will get these
feelings. Sometimes, these feelings will be good, and sometimes they will
be bad. Similarly, sometimes, you will accumulate Good Karma, and sometimes
Bad ones.
The other way (and a more difficult one) is that you give $ 100 and just
do not think about it. You did not even notice that it was ROSHAN who
gave away $100. What happens in this case is that you slowly learn to
stop having convulsions of happiness and grief. Rather, slowly, you
attain a peaceful state. Then you slowly get rid of all Karma. People
say that this is the path of Moksha, and everyone can reach it.
Whether eating of a cow will give you bad karma or not depends on you.
--
Nachiketa Tiwari
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References:
- Am I wrong?
- From: sci50625@leonis.nus.sg (Roshan s/o Sabapathy)
