Posted by Ed Viswanathan on April 11, 1998 at 08:27:38:
Hindu scriptures describe about ONE AND ONLY GOD BRAHMAN WHICH EXPRESSES ITSELF IN TRILLION FORMS
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Hindus do not have trillion gods, but ONE AND ONLY God which expresses itself in trillion forms-------------
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Hindu vedas proclaim: EKAM SAT, VIPRAH BAHUDHA VADANTI [ ONE TRUTH, ONLY MEN DESCRIBE IT IN DIFFERENT WAYS]
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According to Hindu scriptures, God is beyond any comparison to anything known to mankind. Hindus DO NOT BELEIVE THAT GOD HAS HUMAN FORM OR ANY OTHER FORM as described in mythology or in Genesis. God is indeed the timeless, formless entity! Like TAO of TAOISM, or AYIN of the Kabbalah, the Jewish mysticism, in Hinduism GOD HAS NO DEFINITION. -----------------------------------------------------On mountain top, When Moses asked GOD who are you, God only said: I AM WHAT I AM. That is the only answer that came from the burning bushes to Moses. Same in Hindu scriptures.
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THEN WHY HINDUS HAVE MANY FORMS OF GOD? good question
ANSWER: Man found difficult to worship a God without a name and form, so man made GOD WITH HUMAN ATTRIBUTES so man can worship God...Man wrote all the mythologies in all religions, making God a lovable man or woman or a creature. In Holy Bible, you will see God with many human attributes. Same you will see in Hindu mytholgies. By worshiping God with any form, a Hindu is worshiping the ONE AND ONLY GOD. So for a Hindu, it does not matter whether you worship KRISHNA or KALI or JESUS or ALLAH or BUDDHA...ALL WORSHIPS, HOW EVER CRUDE THAT CAN BE, GOES TO ONE AND ONLY GOD.
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WHAT ARE HINDU CONCEPTS OF GOD.
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1 There is ONE AND ONLY GOD ---that is BRAHMAN-----YOU CAN CALL THAT GOD BY ANY NAME YOU WANT, YOU CAN WORSHIP THAT GOD IN ANY FORM YOU WANT.
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2 BRAHMAN cannot be explained, so Hindu scriptures explain BRAHMAN two ways. One SAGUNA BRAHAMAN --that is God with all attributes. Second NIRGUNA BRAHMAN --that is God with no attributes.
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3 From BRAHMAN orginated the HINDU WORD AUM or OM --OM is the vibrartory aspect of BRAHMAN, from which everything originated
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4. Buddhists do not DISCUSS about BRAHMAN. They believe such things are far far above mind and cannot be fully explained or determined.
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5 ALL CAME FROM THAT---that is the way Hindu scriptures explain God.
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6 ALL OF US ARE GODS---meaning that the soul within of every creature is the exact replica of God.
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7 SEARCHING AFTER GOD---Hindu scriptures state that SEARCH AFTER GOD is exactly like a pinch of salt trying to find the depth of ocean. The moment the salt hits the surface of the ocean, it becomes part and parcel of ocean.....That is why prince Siddhartha could not find ready made answers to problems of man, but became BUDDHA---the silent one..
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8 I AM GOD CONCEPT----All who realized God will talk like God---example JESUS CHRIST, many mystics around the world like Mehar Baba, Sufis etc.
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in my next post---I shall discuss about TRINITY doctrine.
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if you want my article on ONE AND ONLY GOD, please write to me in e-mail arvind-4@msn.com