August 9, 2011
Josh Schrei had a very refreshing angle on Hinduism titled "The God Project: Hinduism as Open-Source Faith." Given the ubiquitous Indian programmer all over the world today, it was only a matter of time before we got the IT analogies applied to the faith.
Some noteworthy quotes:
In his inimitable style, Gurudev posits two arguments:
1. A modern university offers numerous subjects from the sciences to the humanities to the arts to suit the taste of the different types of students that walk in through the doors every day. Besides the variety of the subjects, the various courses cover a broad range of intensity to appeal to the novice who is starting at the university as well as something for the doctoral student or the researcher.
2. At an ordinary dinner party, most intelligent hosts ensure their guests have a good time by offering a variety of food and drink.
If this be the case, why must religion be uni-dimensional and offer just one book and one prophet?
When we combine Swamiji's explanation with Josh Schrei's idea of Hinduism as an open source God project, you get a glimpse of how Hinduism has adapted elegantly to the aspirations of a billion followers. Look at the tremendous range of Hindu philosophy and worship and see how it integrates all:
1. The dramatic silence of Shri Ramana Maharshi whose emphasis was always on getting to the fundamentals of "Who Am I?"
2. The political weaponry of satyagraha and ahimsa as espoused by Mahatma Gandhi that led to India's independence
3. The riotous chaos and colors on display during Ganesh Chaturthi festival, see here and here for beautiful examples
Amazing, Awesome Rishis who conceived of such an adaptable, beautiful, uniting sanatana dharma!
Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post.
Josh Schrei had a very refreshing angle on Hinduism titled "The God Project: Hinduism as Open-Source Faith." Given the ubiquitous Indian programmer all over the world today, it was only a matter of time before we got the IT analogies applied to the faith.
Some noteworthy quotes:
However, the key point of differentiation between Hinduism and these other faiths is not polytheism vs. monotheism. The key differentiation is that "Hinduism" is Open Source and most other faiths are Closed Source.
While the god of the Old Testament was shouting command(ment)s, Prajapati was asking: "Who am I?"This links neatly to my post on Geeta 3-3. In that post, I referred to an excellent video which features an elaborate commentary by Pujya Gurudev Swami Chinmayanandaji.
In his inimitable style, Gurudev posits two arguments:
1. A modern university offers numerous subjects from the sciences to the humanities to the arts to suit the taste of the different types of students that walk in through the doors every day. Besides the variety of the subjects, the various courses cover a broad range of intensity to appeal to the novice who is starting at the university as well as something for the doctoral student or the researcher.
2. At an ordinary dinner party, most intelligent hosts ensure their guests have a good time by offering a variety of food and drink.
If this be the case, why must religion be uni-dimensional and offer just one book and one prophet?
When we combine Swamiji's explanation with Josh Schrei's idea of Hinduism as an open source God project, you get a glimpse of how Hinduism has adapted elegantly to the aspirations of a billion followers. Look at the tremendous range of Hindu philosophy and worship and see how it integrates all:
1. The dramatic silence of Shri Ramana Maharshi whose emphasis was always on getting to the fundamentals of "Who Am I?"
2. The political weaponry of satyagraha and ahimsa as espoused by Mahatma Gandhi that led to India's independence
3. The riotous chaos and colors on display during Ganesh Chaturthi festival, see here and here for beautiful examples
Amazing, Awesome Rishis who conceived of such an adaptable, beautiful, uniting sanatana dharma!
Hari Om and Namaskaar until the next post.
Comments
Post a Comment