[Prev][Next][Index][Thread]
Re: ARTICLE : Just say no to "Hinduism" (was Re: ARTICLE : On
Dhruba Chakravarti wrote:
> Ramakrishnan Balasubramanian (rbalasub@ecn.purdue.edu) wrote:
>
> : They also acknowledge other vaishnavite faiths like Madhvas etc. They are
> : infact known for their catholicity in outlook, actually. Really! You can see
> : this from the strident support wannabe ISKCONites provide to Muslims and
> : people of other religions, on the internet. Their hearts bleed for the
> : downtrodden and oppressed. Their statements are without exception well thought
> : out. Please refer to the archives, if you don't believe me.
>
> Dear Ramakrishnanji:
>
> Thank you for reassuring me. I do believe you. I look at exclusivism
> strictly from the catholic viewpoint, that means, I do not think that the
> term refers to whether or not people are actively excluded from joining
> the faith or even sharing festivals together, but whether or not a claim
> is being made that our God is the true God, yours is not (eg. demigod).
> Christianity is exclusive, and Christians too care for the poor in wealth
> and in spirit, because that is part of the Christian creed. The same is
> true for the vaishhNavas.
In this respect it is ISKCON that seems to be more in tune with
western thought, in contrast to the allegation that Hindu religion
( or collection of religions or culture or whatever ) attemtps to
follow the west.
It is the nature of the western mind to fit religion into a set of
rules, regulations and concepts entirely within the limitations of the
human mind. A religion, according to them should have a fixed set of
books which bring out the concept of god in a fashion similiar to that
of the proof of a theorem with axioms ( The axioms in this case will
be numerous ). The religious books would also be expected to lay out
in detail the rules and regulations of god which must be followed
blindly. ISKCON claims to satisfy all these requirements which makes
it a religion more tuned to western thought.
I had studied in kerala (India) & there used to be a very religious
christian evangalist group in our hostel, whose members apart from
being very devout had very large hearts which bled for hindus and even
other christians not in their group because they were heading straight
for eternal hell ( the planet of the faithless? ). To save others
from such a fate was an important mission in their life and they used
to be ever alert on the lookout for prospective converts to their
fold. In fact I was asked twice by its members as to my aim in life
and whether they should pray for me etc.
Reading the attacks on hinduism from ISKCON supporters brings back
those memories, because these attacks sound as if they are coming from
the members of the group I have mentioned above.
In fact I can find many parallels between ISKCON thought and thoughts
of such christian groups. Examples are :
1. Hinduism is not a religion, but a culture or atmost a loose
collection of beliefs and philosophies. I have heard this many
times before.
2. Krishna has made it explicitly clear in SBG that he alone can give
salvation, Versus, Jesus Christ has explicitly stated that in the
Bible that the kingdom of god can be reached through him alone.
3. Vaishnava is not an exclusive religion and is open to all those who
want mukti, vs, Anyone can be saved by converting to christianity
and following Jesus Christ, because jesus loves you, only you
should become a christian for him to save you.
4. The road to salvation is viewed as a racetrack in which members of
such groups like to think themselves to be far ahead of the rest in
the race toward salvation. The ISCKONite will think, "Let Death
come, I will be in Vaikuntha and you will be in
heaven-knows-where". The christian extremist will think "Let the
day of the judgement come, I will be admitted to eternal heaven and
you will be judged to eternal hell".
5. HK Susarla had said the following in SRV in response to a info
posting on a talk on advaita :
-- BEGIN QUOTE --
> Why was I born?
because I became envious of the Lord's position as the supreme enjoyer
and supreme controller, and, desiring
to enjoy and control on my own, I was sent to the material world to
lord it over material nature in a vain
attempt to emulate Lord Krishna.
-- END QUOTE --
This is strikingly similiar to the concept of original sin in
christianity wherein Satan originally an angel in heaven is thrown
out of heaven by god because he wants to become equal to him, and
he becomes the cause of all later sin.
In fact the similiarity is so striking that it makes me wonder
whether or not it is borrowed from christianity.
6. Reliance on special ( predicted ) signs for confirmation of
avatarhood, vs, Unique circumstances of birth of Christ, his being
born to a virgin, his resurrection, etc. regarded as irrefutable
signs that Jesus is the messiah.
In fact exclusiveness seems to be a property of all dvaita religions.
I am including Christianity and Islam with ISKCON as dvaita religions,
because they too preach the eternal separation of god and the soul.
In fact putting all 3 under one banner of dvaita itself will cause
protests from each of the 3 religions because differentiation from the
rest in an attempt to stand out as separate and unique is the very
characteristic of a dvaita religion.
Islam of course is not totally exclusive because Mohammed the prophet
admits the existence of other prophets who can lead to god. However
it is extremely rigid in its views about the formlessness of god and
idol worship.
I wonder if throwing mud on hindus in India and thinking that ISKCON
is the only true vedic religion, and that the majority of the people
in India, the land of the vedas are following rubbish lends any
support to the Krishna Bhakti of ISKCONites. I thought that true
Bhakti should be spontaneous and not dependent on anything. Atleast
it should not be strengthened by the thought that one is superior to
others, and that others are heading for damnation.
regards,
Suresh.
