YouTube steers me away from relevant "convert to Hinduism" results

I searched YouTube for convert to Hinduism: instead, I got a lot of results for conversion from Hinduism to another religion:

I filed a complaint with YouTube, although I don't expect any reply.  It's a long shot, but I'm going to refer this to Sundar Pichai.

The "Fire Temple" of Baku, Azerbaijan

 The Baku Ateshgah, often called the "Fire Temple of Baku", is a religious temple located in a suburb in Baku, Azerbaijan. "Ātash" (آتش) is the Persian word for fire.

The complex, which has a fire altar in the middle, was built during the 17th and 18th centuries. A vent from a subterranean natural gas field located directly beneath the complex fed the fire. The temple ceased to be a place of worship after 1883, with the installation of petroleum plants. The natural eternal flame went out in 1969, after nearly a century of exploitation of petroleum and gas in the area. Today, gas piped in from Baku feed the fires and the fires are only turned on for the benefit of visitors.

Attribution: painter from Brockhaus and Efron Encyclopedic Dictionary (between 1890-1907), Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Persian and Indian inscriptions suggest that the temple was used as a Hindu, Sikh, and Zoroastrian place of worship.  Inscriptions on the Ateshgah are in either Sanskrit (in Nagari Devanagari script) or Punjabi (in Gurmukhi script), with the exception of one Persian inscription. Below is an inscription in Sanskrit from the temple that I used as a cover for my course in Sanskrit.

Attibution: Wikifex, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

In 1925, Zoroastrian priest and academic Jivanji Jamshedji Modi went to Baku to determine if the temple had been once a Zoroastrian place of worship. Modi observed that after examining this building with its inscriptions, architecture, etc., any Parsee who is familiar with Hinduism or Sikhism and their temples and their customs would conclude that this is not a [Zoroastrian] Atash Kadeh but a Hindu Temple.  The trident (Trishula) mounted atop the structure is a distinctly Hindu sacred symbol.

Source:

En.wikipedia.org. n.d. Ateshgah of Baku - Wikipedia. [online] Available at: <https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ateshgah_of_Baku> [Accessed 16 August 2022].

Review of Understanding Hinduism

Namaste
Understanding Hinduism by Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book supplements the online continuing ed course Introduction to Hinduism–History, Text, Philosophy from the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies.

Virtues of this book:

It exercises caution in inferring what archaeological finds indicate about the Indus Valley Civilization.

Similarly, it is cautious about the Aryan Invasion Theory. All it says about the Aryans:

• AIT is a colonial construct (drawing upon Kim Knott's book Hinduism A Very Short Introduction)
• Vedic Sanskrit has linguistic similarities with other Indo-European languages
• We may infer that the Vedic people were agriculturists or pastoralists from their hymns

Understanding Hinduism notes that South Indian priests instructed North Indian priests in Vedic ritual after Islamic suppression of Hinduism. This is evidence of the cultural affinity between North and South (see Breaking India to see how various forces are alienating the South from the North).

I like Understanding Hinduism even better than Klaus K. Klostermaier's book A Short Introduction to Hinduism. Understanding Hinduism is the best introduction to Hinduism that I've read: therefore, I'm rating it 5 stars.

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Christianity vis-a-vis Hinduism

Namaste

This is the paper I submitted for my online course through the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies.

Christianity vis-a-vis Hinduism by juliemaitra

Our tutor Dr. Nicholas Sutton has not been well, so we waited a long time before others could read and grade our papers. Here were the comments on my paper:

This is a well written essay that demonstrates considerable research and a clear understanding of essential differences between Hindu and Christian identity, understandings and practice.

Your writing is well structured and reflective and you make interesting and relevant comparisons between each.

Just a few points to help improve the academic quality of your writing.

When using sanskrit terms, (dharma, smriti, sruti) explain their meaning when they are first introduced in your essay.

Be careful about recognising diversity in Hindu traditions without equally recognising the range of diversity in Christian tradition.

Your conclusion is a little weak and would improve with a drawing together of your ideas here.

You raise an interesting point on ‘vicarious atonement‘ contrasted with the idea of karma from Ram Swarup. However there are salvationist parallels in devotional Hindu traditions too, particularly the Vaishnava traditions with their emphasis on the grace and mercy of the deity as requisite for making any progress in spiritual practice.

It’s not the same as the idea of original sin and atonement in Christianity but chp 12.6-7of the Bhagavad Gita offers a idea of Krishna as saviour when He says He is : ‘the swift deliverer from the ocean of birth and death’. It is not always about working out ones own destiny in Hinduism.

You rightly point out that dharma is a more nuanced code of ethics than the 10 commandments, but there are some parallels of moral code too within Hindu tradition recommended for all.

In the yoga traditions we find recommendations for observances or prohibition of certain behaviours.(yama and niyama).

In the Bhagavad Gita too we have many lists of behaviours suitable to a Godly man (ch 16) a man in knowledge (13) a man fixed in understanding (ch 2) or a devotee of Krishna (chp 12). Often these over-lap and include qualities like truthfulness, compassion for all living creatures, feedom form anger, forgiveness, etc..

Overall a good essay and an enjoyable read!

Review of Klaus K. Klostermaier's A Short Introduction to #Hinduism

Namaste,

A Short Introduction To Hinduism by Klaus K. Klostermaier
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read Klaus K. Klostermaier's A Short Introduction to Hinduism after reading Kim Knott's Hinduism A Very Short Introduction. Klostermaier's book is far superior to Knott's book.

The book introduces the main topics about Hinduism and is dense in content. It provides the most sympathetic treatment of Hindutva and the aspirations of Hindu nationalists that I've read.

The book introduces many Sanskrit terms that I didn't know. A glossary (complete with Devanagari and transliteration) would have been helpful. I take exception to Klostermaier's definition of samadhi as "trance." This definition is too simplistic for a state that's properly reached through discipline. "Trance" is often something a person stumbles upon.

Despite these quibbles, Klostermaier's A Short Introduction to Hinduism is a great survey of topics related to Hinduism. I want to buy this book for my collection.

Both Knott's and Klostermaier's books are listed as "for further reading" for the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies's online course Introduction to Hinduism: History, Text, Philosophy.




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Review of Kim Knott's Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction

Namaste, 

Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction by Kim Knott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

After reading Klaus K. Klostermaier's book A Short Introduction to Hinduism, I downgraded my rating of Kim Knott's Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction from 3 stars to 2 stars.

I was wary about the chapter on women and dalits, as the treatment of women and dalits has been a cudgel to beat Hindu society. The chapter also plays into the Western stereotype of India as "caste, curry, and cows." I think that Knott included the chapter as her Western audiences associate Hinduism and caste.

I want to point out that the Indian Constitution bans untouchability. Subsequent laws criminalize violence against dalits. A contentious issue now is reservations, akin to affirmative action. Thus, discrimination against dalits is social, not legal.

The chapter cites Manusmriti as the source for the attitudes toward women and dalits. While the chapter outlines the responses of women and dalits toward their marginalization, it does not cover modern critical examination by Hindu leaders of the place of Manusmriti in the body of Hindu texts.

Knott lost me on the comparison between the cow and Hinduism at the end of the book. I thought that her likening Hinduism to a family, often with contentious relations among members, was useful.

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The Vedanta Society and ecumenicism

Namaste,

I received an email announcing new titles in the Vedanta Catalog. Prints of this picture of the Madonna and baby Jesus are offered for sale as a greeting card or art print:


According to the Vedanta Catalog,

It was in Jadulal Mallik's garden house where Ramakrishna first saw the painting. He intently studied the image of the Madonna and Child thinking of the wonderful life of Jesus. Rays of light emanated from the bodies of Mother Mary and the child Jesus, entering Ramakrishna's heart. The overpowering experience forced Ramakrishna to forget his Hindu awareness. He even forgot to visit the Divine Mother in the temple so strong was his love of Christ.

I agree with Pt. Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley) that the Ramakrishna Mission ascribes too much to Ramakrishna's forays into other religions. According to him, Sri Ramakrishna's forays into other religions were highly unorthodox and lasted only a few days apiece: for most of his life, Sri Ramakrishna was content to be a priest for Kali at Dakshineswar.

On the basis of these brief forays into other practices, Vedanta temples are decorated with symbols of different religions. Swami Vivekananda expressed the need for a temple that united Hindus of all sampradayas under the symbol of "Aum."

Review of The Hindus: An Alternative History

Namaste,



The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger of the University of Chicago is really not a history at all. In her book, Doniger retells Hindu stories and provides snarky interpretations. One story is about fusing the head of a Brahmin woman onto the body of a Dalit woman. Doniger provides several variants of the theme of transposed heads.

As I read The Hindus: An Alternative History, I became aware of a pattern: it was as though several authors were writing as Wendy Doniger.

Chapter 18, Philosophical Feuds in South India and Kashmir: 800 to 1300 CE, follows the historical timeline, but is thematically out of place. This chapter discusses the influences that South Indian Shaivism and Kashmiri Shaivism had on each other. This topic could be the subject of its own book.

The whitewash of the plight of Hindus under Mughal rule in Chapters 19 and 20 should come as no surprise. Doniger dedicated her book to William Dalrymple, who romanticizes Mughal India. In her acknowledgements, Doniger singles out Dalrymple for giving her the inspiration to write this book. For a deconstruction of the coverage on Mughal rule of India in The Hindus: An Alternative History, read the essay Hinduism Studies and Dhimmitude in the American Academy by Professor M. Lal Goel.

On the other hand, Chapter 21, Class, Caste, and Conversion in the British Raj, is a sober, even somber exposition of the plight of Hindus and Hinduism under the Raj.

Chapter 23, Hindus in America, reads as though a high school student wrote it, as its skips through examples of how America pop culture has appropriated Hinduism. The chapter does not discuss the establishment of Vedanta centers (for example, St. Louis has had a dedicated building since the 1950s, and the presence of a swami since 1938), waves of Hindu migration to the U.S., acceptance in American society, or establishment of Hindu organizations and institutions, including temples. Although Doniger stridently defends her right as a non-Hindu to tell the story about Hindus and Hinduism, this is one chapter that a Hindu American should have written.

The changes in tone between chapters suggest that there were many writers. Doniger acknowledges the role of her students in contributing to individual chapters, but I suspect that there is more to it to that: namely, the time-honored tradition of having students doing the professor’s work. Call it Doniger's "transposed heads."

Doniger writes in her book The Hindus: An Alternative History, “…the wild misconceptions that most Americans have of Hinduism need to be counteracted precisely by making Americans aware of the richness and human depth of Hindu texts and practices” [page 653], which, according to her, is the purpose of her book.

After completing The Hindus: An Alternative History, I doubt that Americans who read this book without prior introduction to Hinduism would come away with any admiration for Hinduism. It saddens me that one of the appeals of this book to American readers is the dropping of references to pop culture.

I recommend The Hindus: An Alternative History only to those readers who have had a prior introduction to Hinduism. This book requires critical evaluation. Americans who would like a better understanding of Hinduism should consult sources like the Vedanta Catalog for good books on Hinduism. If I might be so immodest, I also recommend that they browse my website and blog, and shop my eStore for books about India and Hinduism.

Sri Aurobindo on Hinduism

Found through Hindu Press International:


Sri Aurobindo

Hinduism gave itself no name, because it set itself no sectarian limits; it claimed no universal adhesion, asserted no sole infallible dogma, set up no single narrow path or gate of salvation; it was less a creed or cult than a continuously enlarging tradition of the Godward endeavor of the human spirit. An immense, many-sided and many staged provision for a spiritual self-building and self-finding, it had some right to speak of itself by the only name it knew, the eternal religion, Sanatana Dharma. Sri Aurobindo (1872-1950)

UPDATE: This item has been cross-posted at Savitri Era Open Forum.

Common Myths About Hinduism

For me, India's nationhood is based in its Hindu culture. To put it another way, India is (or rather, should be) a secular state (राज्य, rajya), but a Hindu nation (राष्त्र, rashtra) (Thanks to Santhosh for providing the Sanskrit words).

This article Hinduism is Not a Religion: Common Myths About Hinduism from about.hinduism.com neatly makes these points: in particular, read the sections A Culture More than a Religion and A Common Faith of the Indian Subcontinent. The only section that I quibble with is Hinduism is Not Really Polytheistic! I agree with Sita Ram Goel that terms such as "monotheistic" or "polytheistic" are terms adopted from revealed religions that divide and confuse.

Two worthwhile essays to read

Indians are most unpatriotic people
Kashmiri pandit warns against a second partition of India

The dreaded "H-word"
"Anish Shah analyses the psychology behind the widespread tendency of many Hindu-inspired spiritual or yoga groups to vehemently deny any connections with Hinduism," in this editorial from Hindu Voice UK.

On ahimsa

Hinduism is often believed to be synonymous with ahimsa (अहिंसा); in fact, this article on Ahimsa from Wikipedia says it's at the core of Hinduism and cites the influence of the Bhagavad-Gita (भागवद् गीता) on Gandhi.

Michael Danino notes in his article The Gita in Today's World that:

To the West, there is either brute force or pacifism, either violence or non-violence ; to the Gita the truth is neither one nor the other, but the conscious use of force to protect dharma.

I would argue, however, that this duality is not (or perhaps no longer) exclusive to the West.

Danino concludes with this statement from Sri Aurobindo:

We will use only soul-force and never destroy by war or any even defensive employment of physical violence? Good, though until soul-force is effective, the Asuric force [from Asura असुर, or power-hungry being] in men and nations tramples down, breaks, slaughters, burns, pollutes, as we see it doing today, but then at its ease and unhindered, and you have perhaps caused as much destruction of life by your abstinence as others by resort to violence.