pBy Dr. Frank Morales, Ph.D. br/(Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya)/p p style=”TEXT-ALIGN: justify”The number of Hindus currently living in our world is truly br/impressive. According to reliable sources, there are as many as a br/staggering one-billion Hindus in the world today. There are as many br/as three-million Hindus living in the U.S. alone. Indeed, if you br/found yourself drawn to reading this column, you are yourself most br/likely one of this teeming number of self-identified Hindus. While br/the numbers of Hindus in the world may be impressive, however (and br/the numbers are indeed to be seen as a source of pride), numbers br/alone don’t always point to the actual strength of a religion. br/!–more–/p p style=”TEXT-ALIGN: justify”The number of adherents of a religion do not, after all, always br/correspond to the quality of the individuals practicing the br/religion. And it is really the inner strength of the individual br/religious persons that is the source of the outer strength of any br/religion. This is the case for Hinduism (Sanatana Dharma) as much as br/any other religion./p p style=”TEXT-ALIGN: justify”Religion is ultimately not just a numbers game. Rather it is a br/matter of personal conviction, depth of realization, and inner br/spiritual experience. Religion is ultimately a radically personal br/experience, and not just a group dynamic or a demographic statistic. br/This truth being the case, I have made a distinction between two br/types of “Hindus” in the world today. There are what I call “Nominal br/Hindus” and “Conscious Hindus”. The real question for you is: Which br/of these two types of Hindus are you?/p p style=”TEXT-ALIGN: justify”A Nominal Hindu is a Hindu in name only. That is, they have no br/difficulty necessarily saying that they’re Hindu. That comes easy br/enough. But this mostly cultural identity is often as far as the br/typical Nominal Hindu is willing to go into exploring the depths of br/their spirituality. The real question, of course, is not just are br/you willing to call yourself Hindu…but are you consciously and br/sincerely practicing Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism)?/p p style=”TEXT-ALIGN: justify”Like the Nominal Hindu, the Conscious Hindu also has no difficulty br/proclaiming “mein hindu hun.” “I am a Hindu.” But unlike the br/Nominal Hindu, the Conscious Hindu actually knows what this claim br/means…and he knows so as a result of his own personal experience. br/The Conscious Hindu not only identifies with Sanatana Dharma, the br/most ancient and profound spiritual system the world has ever known, br/but he also has immense pride in this heritage, and isn’t afraid to br/show it!/p p style=”TEXT-ALIGN: justify”More, the Conscious Hindu knows that it is his duty to not only revel br/in the greatness of Dharmic culture, but that to be a true Hindu he br/must also do everything in his power to live the life of a Hindu. A br/Conscious Hindu joyfully embraces the Hindu lifestyle./p p style=”TEXT-ALIGN: justify”As a Conscious Hindu, you must be knowledgeable about the philosophy br/and teachings of Sanatana Dharma, reading the Bhagavad Gita daily and br/familiarizing yourself with the meaning of Dharma. More, you must br/know that it isn’t enough to merely read about Sanatana Dharma, but br/that you must also practice its principles (puja, meditation, arati, br/Yoga, etc.) and ethics (non-stealing, not lying, being noble, etc.). br/Finally, it also is not even enough merely to practice Dharma by br/rote, but you must practice with the ultimate end-goal in mind: The br/goal of Sanatana Dharma — Hinduism — is to know, and love, and serve br/Bhagavan — God. The ultimate purpose of both Hinduism, and life br/itself, is having deep and abiding Bhakti — devotion toward God./p p style=”TEXT-ALIGN: justify”It is ultimately only by living your life as a Conscious Hindu – br/reclaiming your spiritual heritage in Sanatana Dharma and joyously br/practicing this path — that you will know the true happiness, peace, br/fulfillment and joy that your spiritual tradition has to offer you. br/Become a Conscious Hindu, live the Hindu lifestyle, and begin to br/experience the true joy of the presence of God in your life./p p style=”TEXT-ALIGN: justify”The Author: br/Dr. Frank Morales (Sri Dharma Pravartaka Acharya) has been a br/practicing American Hindu for over 30 years. He has a Ph.D. in br/Religious Studies and is recognized as one of the leading Hindu br/Acharyas in the nation. He is the Founder and President of the br/International Sanatana Dharma Society. To contact Sri Acharyaji, br/email him at: a href=”mailto:info@dharmacentral.com”info@dharmacentral.com/a./p

pstrongA:/strong The cow represents the giving nature of life to every Hindu. Honoring this gentle animal, who gives more than she takes, we honor all creatures./p pstrongLonger answer:/strong Hindus regard all living- creatures as sacred—mammals, fishes, birds and more. We acknowledge this reverence for life in our special affection for the cow. At festivals we decorate and honor her, but we do not worship her in the sense that we worship the Deity. To the Hindu, the cow symbolizes all other creatures. The cow is a symbol of the Earth, the nourisher, the ever-giving, un demanding provider. The cow represents life and the sustenance of life. The cow is so generous, taking nothing but water, grass and grain. It gives and gives and gives of its milk, as does the liberated soul give of his spiritual knowledge. The cow is so vital to life, the virtual sustainer of life, for many humans. The cow is a symbol of grace and abundance. Veneration of the cow instills in Hindus the virtues of gentleness, receptivity and connectedness with nature. br/!–more–/p pstrongElaboration:/strong Who is the greatest giver on planet Earth today? Who do we see on every table in every country of the world—breakfast, lunch and dinner? It is the cow. McDonald’s cow-vending golden arches and their rivals have made fortunes on the humble cow. The generous cow gives milk and cream, yogurt and cheese, butter and ice cream, ghee and buttermilk. It gives entirely of itself through sirloin, ribs, rump, porterhouse and beef stew. Its bones are the base for soup broths and glues. It gives the world leather belts, leather seats, leather coats and shoes, beef jerky, cowboy hats—you name it. The only cow-question for Hindus is, “Why don’t more people respect and protect this remarkable creature?” Mahatma Gandhi once said, “One can measure the greatness of a nation and its moral progress by the way it treats its animals. Cow protection to me is not mere protection of the cow. It means protection of all that lives and is helpless and weak in the world. The cow means the entire subhuman world.”/p pIn the Hindu tradition, the cow is honored, garlanded and given special feedings at festivals all over India, most importantly the annual Gopashtama festival. Demonstrating how dearly Hindus love their cows, colorful cow jewelry and clothing is sold at fairs all over the Indian countryside. From a young age, Hindu children are taught to decorate the cow with garlands, paint and ornaments. Her nature is epitomized in Kamadhenu, the divine, wish-fulfilling cow. The cow and her sacred gifts—milk and ghee in particular—are essential elements in Hindu worship, penance and rites of passage. In India, more than 3,000 institutions called Gaushalas, maintained by charitable trusts, care for old and infirm cows. And while many Hindus are not vegetarians, most respect the still widely held code of abstaining from eating beef. By her docile, tolerant nature, the cow exemplifies the cardinal virtue of Hinduism, noninjury, known as ahimsa. The cow also symbolizes dignity, strength, endurance, maternity and selfless service. In the Vedas, cows represent wealth and joyous Earthly life. From the Rig Veda (4.28.1;6) we read. ‘the cows have come and have brought us good fortune. In our stalls, contented, may they stay! May they bring forth calves for us, many-colored, giving milk for Indra each day. You make, O cows, the thin man sleek; to the unlovely you bring beauty. Rejoice our homestead with pleasant lowing. In our assemblies we laud your vigor.” br/The the above article is taken from a href=”http://www.himalayanacademy.com/basics/tenq/tenq_4.html”http://www.himalayanacademy.com/basics/tenq/tenq_4.html/a  reposted here with permission from Himalayan Academy Publications/p

pstrongA:/strong Karma is the universal principle of cause and effect. Our actions, both good and bad, come back to us in the future, helping us to learn from life’s lessons and become better people./p pstrongLonger answer:/strong Karma is one of the natural laws of the mind, just as gravity is a law of matter. Just as God created gravity to bring order to the physical world, He created karma as a divine system of justice that is self-governing and infinitely fair. It automatically creates the appropriate future experience in response to the current action. emKarma/em simply means “action” or “cause and effect.” When something happens to us that is apparently unfortunate or unjust, it is not God punishing us. It is the result of our own past actions. The Vedas, Hinduism revealed scripture, tell us if we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we sow evil, we will reap evil. br/!–more– br/Thus we create our own destiny through thought and action. And the divine law is: whatever karma we are experiencing in our life is just what we need at the moment, and nothing can happen but that we have the strength to meet it. Even harsh karma, when faced in wisdom, can be the greatest catalyst for spiritual growth. Understanding the way karma works, we seek to live a good and virtuous life through right thought, right speech and right action. This is called dharma./p pstrongElaboration:/strong Karma is basically energy. I throw energy out through thoughts, words and deeds, and it comes back to me, in time, through other people. Karma is our best teacher, for we must always face the consequences of our actions and thus improve and refine our behavior, or suffer if we do not. We Hindus look at time as a circle, as things cycle around again. Professor Einstein came to the same conclusion. He saw time as a curve, and space as well. This would eventually make a circle. Karma is a very just law which, like gravity, treats everyone the same. Because we Hindus understand karma, we do not hate or resent people who do us harm. We understand they are giving back the effects of the causes we set in motion at an earlier time. The law of karma puts man at the center of responsibility for everything he does and everything that is done to him./p pemKarma/em is a word we hear quite often on television. ‘this is my karma,” or “It must have been something I did in a past life to bring such good karma to me.” We hear karma simply defined as “What goes around, comes around.” In some schools of Hinduism, karma is looked upon as something bad—perhaps because we are most aware of this law when we are facing difficult karma, and not so aware of it when life is going smoothly. Even some Hindus equate karma with sin, and this is what evangelical Christians preach that it means. Many people believe that karma means “fate,” a pre ordained destiny over which one has no control, which is also untrue./p pThe process of action and reaction on all levels—physical, mental and spiritual—is karma. Here is an example. I say kind words to you, and you feel peaceful and happy. I say harsh words to you, and you become ruffled and upset. The kindness and the harshness will return to me, through others, at a later time. This is karma. An architect thinks creative, productive thoughts while drawing plans for a new building. But were he to think destructive, unproductive thoughts, he would soon not be able to accomplish any kind of positive task even if he desired to do so. This is karma, a natural law of the mind. We must also be very careful about our thoughts, because thought creates, and thoughts make karma—good, bad and mixed. br/The the above article is taken from a href=”http://www.himalayanacademy.com/basics/tenq/tenq_3.html”http://www.himalayanacademy.com/basics/tenq/tenq_3.html/a  reposted here with permission from Himalayan Academy Publications/p

Yes, we believe the soul is immortal and takes birth time and time again. Through this process, we have experiences, learn lessons and evolve spiritually. Finally we graduate from physical birth.

Longer answer:Carnate means “of flesh,” and reincarnate means to “reenter the flesh.” Yes, Hindus believe in reincarnation. To us, it explains the natural way the soul evolves from immaturity to spiritual illumination. Life and death are realities for all of us. Hinduism believes that the soul is immortal, that it never dies, but inhabits one body after another on the Earth during its evolutionary journey. Like the caterpillar’s transformation into a butterfly, physical death is a most natural transition for the soul, which survives and, guided by karma, continues its long pilgrimage until it is one with God.

I myself have had many lives before this one and expect to have more. Finally, when I have it all worked out and all the lessons have been learned, I will attain enlightenment and moksha, liberation. This means I will still exist, but will no longer be pulled back to be born in a physical body./p pEven modern science is discovering reincarnation. There have been many cases of individuals” remembering their past lives. These have been researched by scientists, psychiatrists and parapsychologists during the past decades and documented in good books and videos. Young children speak of vivid past-life memories, which fade as they grow older, as the veils of individuality shroud the soul’s intuitive understanding. Great mystics speak of their past lives as well. So do our ancient scriptures, the Vedas, reveal the reality of reincarnation. Reincarnation is believed in by the Jains and the Sikhs, by the Indians of the Americas, and by the Buddhists, certain Jewish sects, the Pagans and the many indigenous faiths. Even Christianity originally taught reincarnation, but formally renounced it in the twelfth century. It is, in fact, one of the widest held articles of faith on planet Earth.

Elaboration:At death the soul leaves the physical body. But the soul does not die. It lives on in a subtle body called the astral body. The astral body exists in the nonphysical dimension called the astral plane, which is also the world we are in during our dreams at night when we sleep. Here we continue to have experiences until we are reborn again in another physical body as a baby. Each reincarnating soul chooses a home and a family which can best fulfill its next step of learning and maturation. After many lifetimes of following dharma, the soul is fully matured in love, wisdom and knowledge of God. There is no longer a need for physical birth, for all lessons have been learned, all karmas fulfilled. That soul is then liberated, freed from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth. Evolution then continues in the more refined spiritual worlds. Similarly, after we graduate from elementary school we never have to go back to the fifth grade. We have gone beyond that level in understanding. Thus, life’s ultimate goal is not money, not clothes, not sex, not power, not food or any other of the instinctive needs. These are natural pursuits, but our real purpose on this Earth is to know, to love and to serve God and the Gods. That leads to the rare and priceless objects of life: enlightenment and liberation. This Hindu view of the soul’s evolution answers many otherwise bewildering questions, removing the fear of death while giving assurance that each soul is evolving toward the same spiritual destiny, for the Hindu believes that karma and reincarnation are leading every single soul to God Realization.

The the above article is taken from  http://www.himalayanacademy.com/basics/tenq/tenq_2.html reposted here with permission from Himalayan Academy Publications

pstrongWhy does Hinduism have so many Gods? br/A:/strong Hindus all believe in one Supreme God who created the universe. He is all-pervasive. He created many Gods, highly advanced spiritual beings, to be His helpers./p pbr/strongLonger answer:/strong Contrary to prevailing misconceptions, Hindus all worship a one Supreme Being, though by different names. This is because the peoples of India with different languages and cultures have understood the one God in their own distinct way. Through history there arose four principal Hindu denominations-Saivism, Shaktism, Vaishnavism and Smartism. For Sai-vites, God is Siva. For Shaktas, Goddess Shakti is supreme. For Vaishnavites, Lord Vishnu is God. For Smartas-who see all Deities as reflections of the One God-the choice of Deity is left to the devotee. This liberal Smarta perspective is well known, but it is not the prevailing Hindu view. Due to this diversity, Hindus are profoundly tolerant of other religions, respecting the fact that each has its own pathway to the one God./p pOne of the unique understandings in Hinduism is that God is not far away, living in a remote heaven, but is inside each and every soul, in the heart and consciousness, waiting to be discovered. This knowing that God is always with us gives us hope and courage. Knowing the One Great God in this intimate and experiential way is the goal of Hindu spirituality./p pstrongElaboration:/strong Hinduism is both monotheistic and henotheistic. Hindus were never polytheistic, in the sense that there are many equal Gods. Henotheism (literally “one God”) better defines the Hindu view. It means the worship of one God without denying the existence of other Gods. We Hindus believe in the one all-pervasive God who energizes the entire universe. We can see Him in the life shining out of the eyes of humans and all creatures. This view of God as existing in and giving life to all things is called panentheism. It is different from pantheism, which is the belief that God is the natural universe and nothing more. It is also different from strict theism which says God is only above the world, apart and transcendent. Panentheism is an all-encompassing concept. It says that God is both in the world and beyond it, both immanent and transcendent. That is the highest Hindu view. Hindus also believe in many Gods who perform various functions, like executives in a large corporation. These should not be confused with the Supreme God. These Divinities are highly advanced beings who have specific duties and powers-not unlike the heavenly spirits, overlords or archangels revered in other faiths. Each denomination worships the Supreme God and its own pantheon of divine beings. What is sometimes confusing to non-Hindus is that Hindus of various sects may call the one God by many different names, according to their denomination or regional tradition. Truth for the Hindu has many names, but that does not make for many truths. Hinduism gives us the freedom to approach God in our own way, encouraging a multiplicity of paths, not asking for conformity to just one./p pThere is much confusion about this subject, even among Hindus. Learn the right terms and the subtle differences in them, and you can explain the profound ways Hindus look at Divinity. Others will be delighted with the richness of the Indian concepts of God. You may wish to mention that some Hindus believe only in the formless Absolute Reality as God; others believe in God as personal Lord and Creator. This freedom makes the understanding of God in Hinduism, the oldest living religion, the richest in all of Earth’s existing faiths./p pThe the above article is taken from a href=”http://www.himalayanacademy.com/basics/tenq/tenq_1.html”http://www.himalayanacademy.com/basics/tenq/tenq_1.html/a reposted here with permission from Himalayan Academy Publications/p