Is there some preserved somewhere? There's a cathedral in France where they claim to have 'le san prepuce' (forgive my French spelling) - the holy foreskin, the only bit of Jeus body left on earth after he ascended...they keep it in a fabulous jewel encrusted case.
That even beats the church in Rome where the skulls of both St. Peter and St. Paul are kept in a similar fabulous jeweled case...you can't see the relics, only the case.
Some say Sanatana Dharma means ALL religions - things like Christianity are just branches of it, so it has as much to do with Sanatana Dharma as anything - that is, if you accept that particular definition of Sanatana Dharma. If you use 'Sanatana Dharma' as a synonym for 'Hinduism', it hasn't got much to do with it at all.
mmm all religions in the definition of it meaning Eternal Truth? Yes...that's what it means? I know a lot of Hindus don't like the term Hinduism...but the damage has been done...I really don't think it matters as much as many Hindus make it out to matter.
Some say Sanatana Dharma exists on a kind of higher plane, and particular religions are just various manifestations of the same thing, tailored to time and place. Once, whan I was talking to an Iskcon devotee, he told me that the people of the 1st century in Palestine were too ignorant to take on board a developed philosophical system, so Jesus teaching is 'dumbed down' to make it acceptable to uncultured folk. To me, that smacks a bit of the Indo centric attitude. Truth is, both the Jews and the Romans were quite civilized, and already had quite developed philosophies. Anyway, the term Sanatana Dharma can be used in different ways, dependent on the perspective of the person using it.
Wow. It seems strange to me that a lot of Hindus dont like the term Hinduism... I am an adoptee, of course, but..no one at my temple (and I am the only american who goes) seems to mind the term Hindu or Hinduism..at all.
There are some who are part of organizations like RSS or VHP, they make a big fuss about hindu pride.They don't like the term "hindu" and start calling themselves other names...it is simply ignorance if you ask me.
