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Re: The definition of HINDU (Was about VK Rao's def) .. very long
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To: soc-religion-hindu@uunet.uu.net
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Subject: Re: The definition of HINDU (Was about VK Rao's def) .. very long
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From: vijia@pop.jaring.my (Singam)
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Date: Sun, 14 Jan 1996 02:35:48 GMT
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Newsgroups: soc.religion.hindu
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Organization: Unconfigured
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References: <DKBuD9.968@ecf.toronto.edu> <4cvipg$2g@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4d29sr$6mr@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4d4hne$6gt@babbage.ece.uc.edu> <4d736m$8fc@babbage.ece.uc.edu>
vivek@cs.rice.edu (Vivek Sadananda Pai) wrote:
>When I went to the main Jagganath temple in Puri, I had no problem
>gaining entrance. In fact, I didn't have a problem gaining entrance in
>any temple I visited. I have stated that I am a Hindu in the past, and
>for the sake of argument, let's go ahead and assume that I am a
>Vaishnava.
>Now, a Vaishnava friend of mine also attempted to gain entrance into
>the same temple (along with many others). He got rejected by a good
>number of them, despite the fact that he was clothed as a Vaishnava,
>practiced the lifestyle of a Vaishnava, practiced the religious life
>of a Vaishnava, and spoke a number of Indian languages. Did I forget
>to mention that he was born to Caucasian parents?
When I first heard about incidents such as this, I was staggered. I
thought the first instance was coincidence but when I heard that more
such incidents were happening, I had to accept their occurance as
fact.
What can I say? IMHO those 'priests' or other persons who prohibit
admission to non Indians have forfeited the right to call themselves
Hindu. They have become mere tools in the hands of opportunistic
politicians. Let us not waste our anger on them. Let us instead pity
them and 'pray' (in whatever manner each of us chooses) that they are
able to find the path that they have lost.
Let us certainly not base our judgement of what constitutes a Hindu by
their misguided acts.
Perhaps it is the fate of the Hindu religions that at the culmination
of the Kali Yuga the corruption within the land of Hindustan will be
countered by the blossoming of Dharma everywhere else in the world.
Peace and blessings.
SV Singam
Minden, Penang
