Hinduism and other Faiths

Is it possible to mix other faiths with Hinduism with out conflicting each other? (christianity and such are a given) but what I'm asking is more on the Hindu side.. Is there anything in hinduism that would hinder a non hindu from reaching waht ever the goal is to reach?

The reason I'm asking this is because my Philosophy teacher claimed that hinduism dosen't have anything that you *have* to do in order to reach their afterlife/enlightment... Is this true? And what is it that is exclusive and you have to do..

Thanks,

Poetic Romance.

 

As to your first question....I mix Catholicism and Hinduism together and I do alright with it. Hinduism is quite accepting of it... Catholicism...well I just don't tell them

As to the second question... as far as *have* to do...ummm...I don't know but I suppose it depends on what path (there are quite a few) in Hinduism you choose to follow but I think I would include these things perhaps: work to truly realize Brahmin (Ultimate Reality), serve God through your actions and your devotion, eliminate your karma to escape samsara (the cycle of death and rebirth).


I could be wrong with some of this...but this is all I know... there are many rivers that lead to the ocean, so whichever one you take will get you there some way (as George Harrison once said, "If you don't know where you're going, any road will take you there"). That and that Love will get us far.

 

you don't have to look at it as subscribing, or semi-subscribing to the entire system. if you see something that makes sense when you go into the subject yourself, hang on to it till you find or come up with something that better suits u, and so on. in the end it all seems to be more of a process of dropping the false rather than gathering the true. when all falseness is gone, truth is what's left.

 

hinduism is a broad umbrella... it has no system per se and hinduism has even the quality of being gobbling up others faiths and amalgamizing them, for instance, various "hindu" teachers claim christ as being avatara of god... christ teachings imo have a advaitic quality... non-dogmatic... semi-systemized hindu thought can be found in jain, vaisnava, advaitin...

as per action after enlightenment... love and compassion is action without reaction... in more sectarian understandings, action goes on in the spirit world in vaisnava faith... aka goloka brindaban lila... divine pastimes in the eternal abode of krishna

 

If you want to reach enlightenment, you need to undertake a Sadhana - disciplining oneself spiritually.

 

I'd recommend you read the teachings of Sri Ramana Maharishi, he is perhaps the only individual I am 100% convinced was an enlightened individual. His teachings were open to anyone regardless of faith.

I think that if you want enlightenment bad enough you will acheive it, but I do not think there is a one size fits all teaching.

Investigate the different approaches and I am sure one will appeal to you more than another. It may take some time and persistance however.

 

What is to achieve. You are already enlightened. Just be still and know.

 

Thanks for all the replies, I was kind of lost in the Gotoama/Lao Tzu/Confucius chapter of the book because it doesn't seem like they are really touched on as much as opposed more mainstream western religions ideals...I remember a couple of the students getting a book at an airport from monks...Lol!

 

It is not that simple and there is a difference between knowing and the thought of knowing.

 

also, for enlightenment, its important to wear a loin cloth and not western underwears like boxer shorts or tighty whiteys

 

haha , lioncloth is always better, yep yep.


Anyway, the point I was trying to make is one needs to discipline oneself in a certain way, similar to what svg said before about karma yoga, Bhakti yoga, Raja Yoga or jnana yoga.

 

I'd agree Jedi, just being silent for most people is a huge undertaking.

 

It is every bit as simple as you make it. You speak of knowing as accumulating facts and knowledge. I speak of knowing as being one with. That is the only way to truly and fully know - to experience. That experience is always available at every moment.

 

...it is...but you also have to open people up to the idea that its possible....the idea that that type of thinking is possible...not only possible, but real....hell sometimes its even hard enough to let yourself break down your own barriers that tell you that the impossible is possible that there is something bigger than yourself and you're more a part of it than this whole wide world will ever let you believe.

....ok...if that made any sense.... hehehe

 

And the only way to do that is to be a living example of the inspired life. People learn from actions, not from words alone.

 

Yes but for us to realize it is not that simple. You need alot of positive self effort that leads to such realization.

 

it seems like you're all agreeing anyway. the point is to be, without conflict, right?. for many, it takes a central point of focus to bring their own use of attention under some sort of control, so that they are able to relax and look at what is in front of them. hence the sadhana. we all have things that come easier to us and things that don't. a relaxed mind is a very natural state, but we are raised in a very unnatural way. sometimes a little undoing is neccessary.

 

...and that is so easier said than done. hehe

 

yep! Calming the mind enough to see God is the major point here

 

hey, this thread is in the hinduism forum too.

i don't think that most people can achieve enlightenment just by wandering off to a forest and sitting alone, and searching within themselves. i think that's a false conception we have, that we have any power of independence. we're only able to communicate right now because we all know how to read english. we learned it from someone; someone gave us that knowledge. we're only able to percieve the ideas conveyed through the writing because we have intelligence and a soul. but we didn't cultivate these things on our own. someone gave them to us. so we have to ask that person, or that force, however you like to see it, we have to ask it who it is. we have to hear from someone who knows. we have to be submissive and humble and open ourselves to enlightenment.

it is okay to say "we are gods", but only if we accept that we are not the ultimate gods. we are tiny portions of the supreme god. we don't know everything there is to know. we can't. so we have to be submissive.