Can The World Survive Without Religion (Yes or No) A Hindu P (General)

by dhw, Tuesday, November 30, 2010, 12:12 (5105 days ago) @ satyansh

Once again, many thanks to satyansh for comprehensive answers to my questions. The appalling treatment of the Hindus by the so-called "Christian" British, and the manner in which the British divided India, is one of the great stains on our history. Gandhi is now almost venerated for his insistence on non-violence in the successful campaign for independence, but not long ago I read an account purporting to give Nathuram Godse's reasons for the assassination. He has always been dismissed over here as a Hindu fanatic, but apparently his motives were politically very rational, as he felt that Gandhi was leading India and especially the Hindus to disaster. Your own account would seem to justify his motivation, if not his action. You have also highlighted the difficult problem of achieving a balance between the need to avoid violence and aggression, and the need for self-defence. -On a lighter note: I don't know if you're a cricket fan, but from all your posts I suspect that Sachin Tendulkar is a Hindu. He is, I think, a living example of how plain decency in a human being elicits respect from others. No-one ever sledges him! (Apologies to our American friends, who will be wondering if such secret codes should be reported to Wikileaks.)-Your response concerning concepts of the afterlife again makes it clear that there are all sorts of theories/beliefs/philosophies. Dvaita/Vishistadvaita appears to be the equivalent of the Christian heaven and the Muslim paradise. In the others, it seems that there is a loss of identity at death, in which case presumably enlightenment must be achieved in this life, after which the practitioner merges into the great oneness. In that case the duality between spirit/soul/self and body is ultimately of no account, since they both cease to exist anyway. -This thread has been a real eye-opener for me, and I suspect for others too, and although Hinduism remains far too convoluted for me to say I "understand" it (perhaps no-one does), I have a much better idea now of what it involves and what it stands for. I hope you'll continue to enlighten us!