t l w hdum md uu. ty udd, kwldg, d lv l f ll l-g, m m w md bg lgul. t hdu uly blv gl el p,bu d blv y lg ly vld l-g ly lg wll ld ul lv. r, el p d ll lg.t u wy, wll f Gd Gd wk ll gu w d v. i d hdu u “tu . p my.” t f tu, f Gd, lld s Dm, el p, bu -
r ul lf, wr rlg bg. t , rur
su, v x m, d wk w w f . t m’ d m’ . W d mu m fm? i m
frm d f m mlf. tu, hdum vr vbr d
lv, f dd gl u f ,
mul f r w, gvg rgy d vbrcy
wbl lly w.nully, hdu fl f bd, ml d ffv um f ul ufldm, bu lud hdu md ll lg f wld x-
f erl p d udrd c rrly ccrdc w dcr d dgm. h kw cr
blf d ud m duv ul gw , d ll lg , f, m. tydff m wy. Y, wv h-dum f “ly .” a dvu hdu uv f ll ff ld u d vuu lf d wuld d uk-bl dud dv fm f. t hdu md, d w w , w w d ww ff .W f d l bk w lg, f hdu d-
r wuld cdr umly krm drw m wymly bcu blvd dffrly. t hdu, cduc d r rc f ul’ mur r mr l
ul lg my b by d f b, ul-u ggy. t hdu kw mg ukwgly
durb drm f dvdul f ull m wy frm
lgu , d wuld u uvy km f m
b. h kw, , cry ll l blv
xly m wy ll Gd by m m.
A Religion of Experience
sll, hdum l xmly , lg dm
blf. i dcr f krm d rcr, ly
f vl d m, y f myl ld x d uvly ld w ukbl -v. p du f hdum lgm f x f d. i f y fl-lw, “t u f tu, d m byw tu my b lzd. h d wv wd m d vd m ffv. nw yu my
m yur w lf, rv m yurlf. ad w wll l
w .” hdum wll v y, “Yu mu d blv uly
r b cdmd.” i hdum blvd rlly
dmd. t lvg d umg f
gd f lf r r i bldly y hdum
g lg wld.W hdum, w vy lgu ym, -
cl m f g ury, kwldg d ry
f lf. e hdu jd d uj vy dy, f-bly d m. h mu bv lwf vu d d f . h mu v , ulg w mmuy. h uld lly lgmg d d ml d k m. if m dvd, ld ul, xd, xf mlf, udk fm f
sadhana
d , f
T
onight we want to speak on the joysand happiness ound in Hinduism, ourancient religion which brings orththe wonderul eelings o a belie in the cos-mic processes o reincarnation coupled withknowledge o the laws o karma and thewisdom o dharma in which everyone hashis rightul place and purpose in lie. It bringsthe broadmindedness o total acceptance o all other religions as expressions o the OneGod’s creation, the blessing o a completedevotional path revolving around powerultemples, the ulfllment o a proound mysti-cal teaching ounded on yoga and broughtorth by the seers and saints and gurus, and
so much more. Our religion is so strong, so rich
and varied that very ew can claim to under-stand it in its completeness. It is immense, animmense religion, so immense that we have
difculty sometimes explaining it to those who
hold to a simpler doctrine, especially i theyhave been subjected to erroneous conceptsabout our religion promulgated by invadersand missionaries o a score o alien religions.It is time that the world knew o the great-ness o Hinduism, knew it as it is. O course,
we cannot explain it in an evening. My satguru,
the great Siva Yogaswami o Columbuthurai,would say, “The time is short and the subjectis vast.” But we can have a look at some o theaspects o Hinduism that bring such joys andhappiness to over a billion devotees aroundthe world. ¶Each Hindu’s belie in reincar-nation is so strong that it totally eliminatesthe ear and dread o death. No true Hindureally ears death; nor does he look orwardto it. The word death in the vocabulary o the
Hindu holds a dierent meaning. He
does not take death to be the end o
existence; nor does he look upon lie
as a singular opportunity to be ol-
lowed by eternal heavenly existence
or those souls who do well, and byunending hell or those who do not.Death or the Hindu is merely tran-sition, simultaneously an end and anew beginning. Over two thousandyears ago, Saint Tiruvalluvar wrote,“Death is like alling asleep, and birthis like awak ening rom that sleep”(Tirukural 339). In one o the ancientlanguages o our religion, the physi-cal body had a name which literallymeant “that which is always drop-ping o.” ¶The Hindu’s knowledge o reincar-
nation gives him the hope o attaining a uture
birth and in that birth making urther prog-ress toward the perection that he intuitivelyknows is his atman, his soul. He is working inthis lie to gain enough good merit, enough
The Joys of Hinduism
t h o m a s k e l l y t h o m a s t k e l l y
Profundity:
(Clockwise) Prof. E. Chamuramoki reviews precious scriptures at the Oriental Research Institute, Tirupati; the PorramFestival in Thrissur, Kerala, led by 15 gold-caparisoned elephants; a woman rings the bell as she enters the Gadhikalika temple in sacred Ujjain city, signalling her presence to the angelic hosts
p h a l s . g i r o t a
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what is hinduism?chapter 1: hinduism, the greatest religion in the world
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