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| | Principles
and Practice of Hindu Religion | |
Chapter
- II : The Essentials of the Hindu Traditions | A
Short Note on the Basic Aspects of Hindu Religious Beliefs and
Practice in the Evolution of the Spirit and the Culture |
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| | Lesson
- 20 : | So
Simple and Yet So Complicated at the Same Time Practice
of faith as one's own belief | |
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Hinduism
gives everyone a choice in the practice, suitable for each individual's personal
belief and understanding. It does not force anyone to accept its teachings blindly.
It allows everyone to think, question and reason for himself /herself. Indeed,
it does not even condemn those who do not believe in God, those who do not offer
prayer to God or those who perform rituals blindly without knowing the true nature
of the Faith. It allows even those persons to believe as they wish. A Hindu may
not believe in a God or in the Vedas or do any rituals but still do good service
to the people and obtain liberation. The various figurines, called Vigrahas or
Deities by Hindu as symbols of worship, may look confusing to a non-Hindu who
fails to understand the principle. A Hindu devotee who practices them faithfully
understands that these are just the means to reach the ultimate reality of One
God Almighty who comes in every form they comprehend to pray and as they need
at any given time. | |
Hinduism
has the most complex and complete Philosophical Truths for the learned ones and
the ritualistic sacrifice method of practice for the priestly class. They also
have mythological story form of the Vedic teachings for the uninitiated and some
simple prayer method for the illiterate. Sometimes the prayers are performed with
elaborate rituals to fire and water or just by silent meditation. An illiterate
villager in a farm-land may pray to a small stone sculpture or piece of rock or
a crude clay figure. He may perform rituals with flowers and incense, with the
same devotion as a more learned one praying in a Temple or in a Vedic ritual with
fire and water. He may just face the Sun and offer silent prayers in meditation.
They all know that they pray to One God who is Omnipotent and Omnipresent but
unmanifest. The figures they pray are only a representation for concentration.
They recite in their daily prayers: "Like
all the rain water falling from the sky to earth ultimately reaches the same ocean;
Let all my prayers to every form of Deity reach ultimately the One God Almighty,
Kesava." | |
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| | | | | Aakãsat
pathitham thoyam Yathã gacchathi Sãgaram | Sarva
Deva Namaskarah: Kesavam prathigacchathi || Ke'savam
prathigacchathi Om nama iti || | "Like
all the rain water falling from the sky to earth ultimately reaches the same ocean;
Let
all my prayers to every form of Deity reach ultimately the One God Almighty, Kesava."
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| Lessons:
- 17
, 18 , 19 , 20
, 21 , 22 , 23
, 24 , 25 , 26
,
27 , 28 , 29
, 30 , 31 , 32
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