Sin And Forgiveness

[Manzo]

 Dear Dr. Sarma, Thank you very much for your reply. May I ask a few more questions? How is Varna applied to Hindu people living in America? In India does Varna dictate the marriage of a young person to another person who is a member of their caste? Does this apply to Hindu people in America?  Moksha is the spiritual goal of living a righteous life. Does a person who reaches Moksha retain their selfhood? Does the Hindu religion teach that all religions are different ways to find God? That no one religion is better than another?     Asceticism and self-denial are taught. How do they benefit the soul? How are these practices applied to modern life in the USA?     How do you teach that sin is defined? Is there a book of laws such as the 10 commandments? Is sin only a matter of conscience?     The four tradional stages of manhood are helpful to ascertain the nature of one's duty at each age. How do you apply these four stages to life as an American man?      Do Hindu people give a tithe to their temple to help their religious community and to assist the poor?      Is the Hindu leadership of the temple limited to men as priests and holy people?       Is there one main message about the Hindu faith that you would want our study class to understand as central to the righteous life taught by Santana Dharma?       Many Indian women wear a red mark on their forehead. Is this a religious symbol of devotion?      Again thank you for your time and expertise.

Peace and Blessing, Cliff Rawley   ------------------------- Followup To - Dear Dr. Sarma. How can a person find forgiveness for sins? What is the teaching about suicide? Do Hindu people gather for community worship on a certain day each week? Why is the cow treated with reverence? Is vegetarian diet a strict teaching? If a person is born into a caste can he grow out of it by personal accomplishments in this life? Were the ancient Hindu Scriptures passed on by oral tradition?

Why are rivers and trees given reverence?    I know I have many questions. Please pardon me. I am teaching a class on world religions at our Methodist church. I hope in your busy schedule that you are able to reply.

Blessings on your work with people who are sick,

Cliff Rawley

Retired Chaplain

Federal Bureau of Prisons

[Donnachadh]

Varna/Caste has become more a reflection of cultural and social commanality rather than the rigid hierarchy that it represented. In urban India it is very much diluted. It would have disappeared as a divisive issue, were it not for the perverse way it came back due to affirmative action. Now everyone wants to be a backward or a scheduled caste. Even people who converted out of hinduism, want their caste based privileges preserved. Missionaries and politicians share equal credit for this state of affairs. So, caste is now a politicl and economical tool and has nothing to do with religion and tradition.

In western societies, UK and the US, where many Indian families have settled, caste has place only in a cultural sense. People of one caste share common interests, culinary traditions, etc. All the children who are born in the US are essentially freed from the tradition of caste. There may be an occasional exception.

In India, where marriages are arranged by parents, marriages are generally based on caste(even in non-hindu communities)(I have several christian friends who get upset when their children want to marry outside of their community, even when the other person is a christian.)

When young people choose, as it is happening more and more, people may choose in or out of caste. In the US, caste, language, region of parents' origin play very little role.

Moksha(liberation) is the freedom from the cycles of birth-death and rebirth. All beings are endowed with a sparkle of the divine(Atman) and when a person attains moksha, the Atman becomes one with Paramatman(The Universal Being or Supreme Being, God by western nomenclature)Therefore, as you can see, Moksha is similar to Buddhist concept of Nirvana, in that it is liberation. Then in Hindu concept, it also means that you become one with God. There is no more retention of Self. In other words, the person does not sit next to the throne, in God's presence. In fact, in the middle centuries of common era, there were three very powerful philosophers who debated this issue: Is the Self different from the Universal Self or is it one and the same?(called Advaita, or Non-Dual philosophy/Dwaita, or Dual philosophy/and Vishista Advaita/Expanded Non-Dual philosophy. Sankara, the great philosopher of the 7th century, common era, spoke of Advaita and his thinking became the accepted wisdom of the later centuries. Now, Hindus talk of the oneness with God as the result of Moksha.

Hinduism talks about the ideal way to live(of all humans) It talks about the universality of certain principles. It does not require one to believe in God, worship God, go to temple, in a dogmatic or exclusive way.(That has been the cause of its down fall in modern world also) Among the  core principles of Hinduism is the concept expressed as "Truth is One. Wisemen call It by different names" and the aphorism, "Like all rivers lead to the same ocean, all prayers reach the same Divine."  

If a belief system states that infidels will have to be killed or another states that if a certain Messiah is not believed as the Saviour, eternal damnation is the only outcome, then those teachings are not the same as the Hindu teaching of all paths leading to the same Divine. A commentaror recently said that Hinduism teaches that there may be different paths, but not all paths lead to the same Divine, if they stop at some other point. What he meant was that the path one takes has to be the right path to get to the right destination. Hinduism does not claim exclusive relationship with God. It teaches that God is universal, and same for everyone, whether one believes or not. Historically, the question of superiority of one religion over another, became important to Hinduism only when invaders came and forcibly converted the people there. Until then people of various religions lived and practised their beliefs in India and were not converted to Hinduism.(Historically, religion of the people is the religion of the king. Christianity became religion of Europe, only after it became the religion of Rome)

Ascetism and self-denial were practised by a minute segment of the population, even when classical hinduism was prominent. The concept is that only God is real and everything is unreal, because it is transient. Attachment to material possessions only causes sorrow. Therefore, one who is desirous of attaining Nirvana or Moksha, will not care of material possessions and become enslaved by senses and sensual pleasures. As you can see, just like the modern church is as far away from Jesus as one can get, the modern Hindu is as materialistic as any one can imagine and that applies to Hindus in India and in the US. Only a rare person denounces material possessions and practises ascetism.

Judaism and after that Islam prescribed a set of rules for the followers. Christianity chose Roman law(St. Paul did not want to follow Judaic laws in societal matters. That probably speedup the emergence of christianity as a distinct religion, as opposed to being just another jewish sect.)Hinduism had books of rules(called Dharma Sastras--Treatises of Justice.) There were several authors of these rules and codes of conduct. Many of the principles noted in the "ten commandments" are considered to be of universal applicability, such as life being sacred, "thou shalt not kill". If we consider the various Hindu rules on just behaviour and code of conduct, we may have more close to the 613 commandments that Judaism has, rather than the Mosaic ten commandments.

Sin is both expressly defined and also understood in the context of societal norm. An example will be killing someone. This is considered a sin in a global sense. Killing a cow is also a sin, but it will be understood in the context of societal norm, and does not have universal applicability. The ancient Hindus, being an agrarian society, protected the cow, the versatile farm animal, from indiscriminate slaughter and codified this prohibition as a religious dogma, and made it a sin. There are also "sins" that are a matter of conscience, such as lying and cheating. These are advertised as sins but will not be known as such unless one is caught. Therefore, there is enough said about these types of behaviour to make a person think twice before committing these types of sins.

The four stages of man(childhood/studenthood, stage of a house-holder, Vanaprastha, that phase of life, where one prepares to withdraw from the material world and Sanyasa, phase of renunciation)(Shakespeare talked about the seven stages of man)are very logical and applicable to the modern man as much as to the historical Hindu. In my professional life, I see people struggle through in many ways, because they are too preoccupied with all kinds of attachments. The concept of vanaprastha and sanyasa really prepare one to accept the inevitable of aging and death. Do Hindus in US follow these natural divisions? I am afraid not. Some are slowly coming back  and are trying to relearn these principles.

There is a concept of Dasanka(10%) in Hindu charity. But there is no requirement of tithing in temples. People make offering when they come to temples. Historically, temples were the places of charity and served their communities well. In the US, temples are trying to convince their congregations to come forward and do charitable work. Hindus generally do their charitable work in a secular environment and not on the basis of religion. So, you will find Indian organizations doing charitable work, while very few Hindu temples are at the forefront of charitable work. When Tsunami hit and more recently when Katrina came by, majority of Hindus gave to Red Cross directly and not necessarily through their temples, even when the temples were working with many of the relief organizations. To summarise, the concept of charity is a core teaching, but it is not necessary to do charity only through the temple. There are two principles that support the concept of charity. One is that "to serve man is to serve God" and the other is that "God is amongst the downtrodden and destitute." Like all societies, Hindu society also was a male dominated society and the religious leadership was traditionally male. There have been many women saints and teachers in Hinduism over the millennia. In the contemporary Hindu world, there are many women teachers that have world wide following. Many of the temples in the US have women leaders(the administration of a Hindu temple in the US is generally by an elected executive committee from the congregation, probably like the deacons of the church, although I am not sure of this analogy)Hindu priests have been men. I am aware of a few instances of women priests. That change has taken place in India, but not yet in countries like the US)

The dot on the forehead is called Sindhuram or Bindu. It signifies many things, while serving as a mark of beauty among women. Men also have markings on forehead, but do not generally use them. The Bindu is supposed to signify Mind's Eye. In traditional Hindu societies, widows did not wear them. That is not true anymore.

The central message of Sanatana Dharma(The Ancient Tradition) is that every person is responsible for his or her own actions(The theory of karma/action) A person who is righteous and who does his or her duty(Dharma) to self, family, and society, without expecting anything in return(action, without any desire of reward or recognition, called Nishkama Karma)is a blessed one, and one whom God loves.

I hope I answered your questions in an honest and understandable way. I generally do not spend this much time with these questions, but felt compelled to think and answer. With best wishe,

ravi sarma  

[Falconner]

- In the ancient times, the society was agrarian and cow was the all encompassing farm animal of use. along the way, it was internalized into the teachings that it was such a wholesome and docile animal that it was a sin to kill a cow.(greatest of sins: to kill a woman, a child, a cow and a teacher or scholar(brahmana))

Varna(called caste) was based on profession. It became fixed and exploited. The scriptures and texts are full of people born in lower castes who by their accomplishments became revered.(The greatest of ancient sages, Veda Vyasa, the author attributed to have composed the epics was born of a servant maid. The sage Viswamitra, a king, became a rishi(sage) and he is given credit for composing the bulk of the Vedas and the sacred Gayatri Mantra. The composer of Ramayana, sage Valmiki, was an illeterate hunter. In modern India, caste is not a consideration in social mobility. In fact, reverse discrimination is the problem there now.

About 15% of Hindus are vegetarians. The majority are not. The concept of non-violence is the reason for vegetarianism. All life is considered sacred. Jain influence about 2500 years ago, has given rise to the prominence of vegetarianism in Hindu social tradition.

Ancient Hindus knew how to write and read and had very strict rules of grammar. But great emphasis was given to learning "by heart". In a very interesting way that led to the development of an incredible language(sanskrit) and a very elaborate classical music. Also when invaders for more than a thousand years destroyed/stole the knowledge of India that was in their universities, temples and places of learning, the oral tradition saved the civilization from losing its knowledge base. The down side was that the people who were entrusted with preserving this body of knowledge(brahmins) became very rigid and discriminatory(ostensibly to keep this knowledge from being corrputed) In the early centuries of the common era, these bodies of knowledge were written down.

The Vedic religion was based on respect for nature. Someone was once asked about a single hindu scripture(like the bible) and this man answered that "Nature is the Scripture" of the Vedic religion. Therefore, the reverence for rivers, trees, mountains, oceans, animals etc. This definitely contributed to the perception that man was not the master of the universe, but only one of many of God's creations and allowed the people to live in symbiosis with their environment.(It is all gone now in India, it is modernizing too fast for its own good.)

There is forgiveness for genuine repentence. The Hindu daily prayer asks the Lord to forgive for transgressions, known and unknown. God forgives. It does not, however, absolve a person of the consequences of actions. We use the example of the child who is asked by his mother to stand in the corner of the room(time out)After that is over, the child comes running to his mother and is given a big hug. A person is held responsible for his or her actions.(Theory of karma; as you sow, so you reap)

The soul of a person who commits suicide is considered to be tormented and unable to journey into after-life easily. Therefore, the ancient texts generally do not encourage taking one's own life. However, it is considered an act of great honor, if one takes his or her own life, to prevent enemies from capturing them and subjugating them or violating them or humiliating them.

Hindu tradition does not require temple based worship and does not have regular sermons. A person is asked to conduct his life in a righteous way. The relationship between God and an individual is personal and does not require indoctrination by anyone.

with best wishes,

ravi sarma