[Advaita-l] the religion i am born into

[ravi chandrasekhara]

Dear All,

I agree with Lata's statements.  How can one convert
to Hindusim, what caste are they, etc.  The samskaras
and adhikara associated with such is based on birth.

Now one can visit a temple, read books, and even
worship Rama, Krishna, etc and still be a member of
their birth based religion (at least from a Hindu
perspective; I dont know if Jewish, Islamic, or
Christian leaders would agree).  

With regards to Adi Shankara converting Buddhits etc;
their ancestors were Hindus;  (Adi Shankara did not
convert Tibetan Buddhists to Hinduism) I have
anecdotally heard one revert to one's ancestral faith
if generations before were converted out.  As far as "
converting " from Shavism to Vashnavism, these are
ideological differences not necessarily religious ones
per say.  For example Brahmins are allowed to
intermarry (as long as they are of different gotras)
per shastra regardless of ideological and geographical
variations. (Iyers and Iyengars intermarrying)

Pranam,

Ravi Chandrasekhara

   
--- latha vidya <lathavidya at yahoo.co.in> wrote:
>  
> Hari Om,
> 
> Namaste.
> 
> It was heartening to see so many rejoinders to the
> mail “The religion that I am born into”.
> 
> I would like to say a few words about the concepts
> “religiosity” and “Spirituality”???
> 
> Religion has two aspects to it – the ritualistic
> part and the spirituality part.
> 
> One has to follow the rituals to purge oneself of
> all the enemies like kaama, krodha, lobha, moha,
> mada and maatsarya. (but when they are misguided or
> mis-followed, these very enemies take control of us)
> All the religions preach us to get rid of all these
> negativities from our heart. Only then can our heart
> or antahkarana become receptive to the Truth. Hence
> to cleanse one’s heart there is no need to get
> converted to another religion. We only need to
> follow what our birth-religion and scriptures say –
> this is the karma or ritualistic part of all
> religions. In karma kaanda of Vedas there are very
> strict scriptural rules to be followed for the
> attainment of desired results. (For those who do not
> have any desires to be fulfilled, performing
> ‘Nishkaama karma’ or doing the duties with out any
> expectations in return cleanses the mind even
> better) If the rules are not adhered to, the rituals
> become futile. Eligibility criteria and the
> procedural aspects need to be followed to the T.
>   
> 
> As far as gaining the spiritual heights or Jnana is
> concerned, any body who has the one-pointed goal of
> achieving the Truth can follow the guidelines of
> Jnanamarga or the vedantic tenets of Sanatana
> Dharma. In fact Sanatana Dharma is the eternal
> religion of all human species born and it
> encompasses all. There is no harm in listening to
> and understanding the tenets of spirituality
> propounded by various sects/subsects/other religions
> as discoursed by various spiritual Gurus. And
> according to our vaasanas or the latent impressions
> of our antahkarana a particular set of tenets appeal
> to us and by inculcating those tenets in my everyday
> life, I elevate myself to higher levels of
> spirituality. To inculcate these tenets conversion
> is not necessary, and it may even become
> counter-productive if misinterpreted and
> misperceived.
> 
>  Namaste,
> 
> Latha Vidyaranya
> 
> 
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> Click here.
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