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Re:Pseudo-gods and Hinduism

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Shuba Swaminathan • August 16, 2000 


Dear Shri Hari,

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> May I request you to kindly quote the verse from Bhagavad Gita
> which you have refered above in the interpretation! Please.> 
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I am unable to tell you the exact verse since I am away from 
home and dont have the wisdom or skill to quote the Gita from 
memory, but I am referring to the contents of Chapters 10 and 
11 and also the chapter on Karma yoga.> 

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> > You have written:
> >That brings to my mind a quote by Swami Chinmayananda " There => 
> >are only two kinds of people in this world - Hindus and people
> >who are actually hindus but dont know it yet!" :) => > 
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> Please tell me what is the definition of "Hindu"/"Hinduism"?
> I have not understood it.> 
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I will not presume to tell you what Swami Chinmayananda means 
by Hindu/Hinduism, but I can most definitely share with you MY 
own humble interpretation. All faults and errors arise only 
from my own ignorance.

I believe that Hinduism is basically a recommendation for 
living a disciplined, pure and blissful life needed for God 
realization. It is a way of life whose very beauty lies in its 
complete flexibility to accommodate any and all ways to attain 
the supreme god. Hindus are those who believe in our holy 
scriptures and epics - the Vedas, Upanishads, Ramayana, 
Mahabaratha, and the Bhagavad Gita, and attempt to apply to day-
to-day life with all its challenges and dilemmas what they 
learnt from the holy scriptures. They take the guidance of a 
learned guru to do this and the guru is treated with the 
deepest respect and reverence for his knowledge and wisdom.

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> >I have my misgivings about the above statement - If the "soul" => 
> >is the atman and if we believe our scriptures that say "Tat => 
> >Tvam asi", then aren't all of us manifestations of god? Please => 
> >correct me if I am wrong - I though it was because we Hindus => > 
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> =3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D=3D
> May I request you to kindly let me know what you mean by => 
> "manifestations of god?".> 
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By manifestation of god, I meant that each of us is a part of 
the Brahman and abide in him constantly. I am no scholar to 
debate the merits of Dvaita, Advaita and Visishtadvaita, so if 
this is where this question is headed, please excuse me. I am 
too ignorant to engage you in a meaningful conversation.> 

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> > You have written:
> >nature of what Rome is - similarly god. All that I ask is I be => 
> >allowed to call god by the name that I prefer - Sri Krishna and => 
> >be allowed to follow my path of reaching him. => > 
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> Do you mean here that "anumAnam" can be considered as authority to
> establish "God"? => > 
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Kindly forgive my ignorance and explain the meaning of 
"anumAnam" so I may understand your question better.

Respectfully,
Shuba


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