WELCOME TO HINDUISM FOR TODAY!

A DIFFERENT BLOG ABOUT HINDUISM!

NAMAS-TE !


GREETINGS!  Welcome to Hinduism for Today, a blog dedicated to explaining and constructing Hinduism for today's world. I approach this task from the background of an intense training in Sanskrit in India and extensive experience in teaching Hinduism, world religions and Eastern and Western philosophy at half a dozen institutions of higher learning in the U.S.A.  I want to share my information, experience and thought on the subject through this medium. 

THIS BLOG is organized to read like a small book, from beginning towards the end.  The different posts that form parts of the blog as a whole are like mini-chapters.  It would be advantageous to read them one by one sequentially, to maintain linked focus.  Skipping some sections may leave you missing out on terms which are explained when they occur for the first time.  

THE BLOG is designed as a serious reading for all who want to think on their own or also engage in a constructive dialog on the form Hinduism should take in this day and age.  An undertone of informality is sustained throughout.  Even so, intellectual rigor is not allowed to be diluted on account of this informal tone bypassing academic protocol.  Intellectual rigor?  Yes!  Academic formalities?  No!  

I WOULD love to discuss any points you raise on the material presented here.  Please join the dialog from whichever viewpoint you hold, for all serious viewpoints must be treated with respect for the benefit of all who want to join the issues.

THIS WELCOMING POST will include a sort of "Contents", a kind of "Preface", and some introductory material.  First a few more words related to welcome, before we move into these items.  At any rate, many thanks for visiting this blog.  Please leave your impressions and remarks that I can count on to improve the blog's offerings.


I WILL APPRECIATE responses from all perspectives. If you choose to be critical, however, I would request you to be constructive rather than just destructive, even though I will try to learn from well-reasoned destructive critique as well. The aim here is to determine a form of Hinduism that is relevant for today's world in terms of both living and thinking. In this I plan to draw basically from the primary sources of Hinduism and secondarily also from major alternative views and ways of life.


IN THE ABOVE ENTERPRISE, aiming at an open and serious discussion of Hindu view and way of life, I propose to minimize using personalities inside and outside of Hinduism, with a view to attaining a focus rather on ideas with potency. There is no explicit or implicit goal to convince anyone of all my views, let alone convert anyone to them. In the same vein, in my responses to the reader feedback, I will not be fazed by attempts to force any view on me. 


LET US RESPECT each other at all times so that we can maximize mutual learning. I respect all world religions and would want to do justice to them. Given this, it would be appropriate to expect feedback that is friendly rather than hostile to Hinduism. Being fair to different religions, however, does not mean accepting them in toto. I hope, any way, that all of us will keep an open mind and will seriously consider all thoughtful views that find their way here. 


RIGVEDA, the most ancient and greatly revered scripture of Hinduism, proposes this wonderful maxim: a no bhadrah kratavo yantu visvatah.  It means: "Let beneficial thoughts come to us from all directions!" We will work our way toward an amicable understanding of alternate views and incorporate their positive points in what is hoped to be proposed as a relevant form of Hinduism for today's life and thought.  True to the Rigvedic maxim we want to learn from all corners of life and world.

CONTENTS OF THE BLOG:

Welcome to Hinduism for Today!

News, Events and Recommended Readings

Hinduism in Western Language: A Brief Outlook

Hinduism in Western Language: A Panel Discussion

Hinduism in 108 Words

Bhagavad-Gita in 108 Words

Satya Sanatana Dharma: A Hindu View and Way of Life for All Humans

Foundations of Hinduism in 16 Statements

Introduction to Hinduism I

Introduction to Hinduism II

(At the end of this post, please click on "Older Posts" in order to get to the next part of the blog.)

Introduction to Hinduism III

Discussion Points: Points raised and themes discussed at Hinduism class meetings (The "Discussion Points" related here, seven of them, are like appendices at the end of this blog or informal booklet)

On Writing a Book Called Hinduism for Today (A work-in-progress, since completed and published)


A FEW NOTES on the above contents and the structure of the blog won't be out of place.  They may help you get the most out of your visit here.  This is a rather extensive and intensive blog, dealing with Hinduism in a comprehensive way.  Hence, a few notes will, hopefully, help you navigate what it offers.  This welcoming post is immediately followed by a brief description of my book called Hinduism for Today published in 2012.  Of course, I highly recommend it to every serious thinker of Hinduism.  I also plan to add here items like news, events or other blogs relevant to this blog site.

FOLLOWING THIS, the blog proper begins with two posts that were designed primarily for a Western audience.  I delivered a talk called "Hinduism in Western Language" on March 1, 2011 to the Centerville Library's Great Religions Program.  On March 30, 2011 I made an encore presentation at the Dayton Hindu Temple.  The post that follows this welcoming post is a version of these two talks.  The next post presents my response to the seven questions posed to me at the panel discussion of the weekly presenters at the Centerville Library Great Religions Program on April 5, 2011.  Together, these two posts offer a very helpful eye-view of Hinduism in general at the same time elucidating my perspective on the subject.


THESE TWO POSTS are then followed by a brief but comprehensive look at Hinduism just in 108 words.  This is followed by a summary of Hinduism's most popular scriptural text, the Bhagavad-gita, also in 108 words.  These two "summaries" compress the wide range of Hindu thought in few words and are presented as a compact preview of Hinduism in a nutshell.  A post called "Satya Sanatana Dharma" comes next.  It articulates the essence of Hinduism in ten segments.  It is designed to make Hinduism accessible and useful to all concerned, teasing out its essential points for the entire humanity from the vast Hindu literature.


A BRIEF VIEW of Hinduism is then developed into sixteen concise statements which are highly compressed in meaning and content.  Hinduism is widely held to be indefinable because of its diversity and complexity.  But a working description, if not a strict definition, is provided in four statements proposed within this sixteen-fold summary of Hinduism.  These four statements are expanded and explained in the three posts that follow, called "Introduction to Hinduism."  The sixteen-fold narrative of Hinduism, along with the introductory expansion, should go a long way in having Hindu philosophy and thought discussed in a terse but comprehensive way.


A NUMBER of posts follow.  These sample some of the discussions we have had in my classes on Hinduism at different times at the Dayton Hindu Temple.  They range widely on a variety of topics relevant to today's life and concerns.  They together give a flavor of what happens in the lively spirit of discourse I try to promote and encourage in the meetings.  It also gives an idea of a wonderful group of Hindus and friends of Hinduism engaged in developing Hinduism for today and in applying it to their life.


WHILE Hinduism is a great religion and even greater spirituality, it can certainly withstand changes and adjustments necessary for it to become a prime instrument to fulfill today's spiritual needs of humankind.  Working for such a refined and renewed Hinduism will be a continuing journey that will not be finished here.  Therefore, we will go on.  Please participate and share your thoughts.


I want to end this welcome with a wish for the reader I composed decades ago in Sanskrit in the Vasanta-tilaka meter: Jyotir-mayi bhavatu jivan-madhuri te.  It means: May sweetness and light pervade your life!


AND, may you reach your highest spiritual goal! 


OM TAT SAT !
Sincerely,
Ramesh