Ramayana: A Shared culture
Source: - Indian Diplomacy YouTube Channel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w8Yno3oLT7Q
Jainism
Does the Hindu religion score over its Abrahamic counterparts — Is it better?
Often these days in debates on religion and violence, it is not uncommon to hear statements like “all religions are equally bad” (or equally good). I contest this apologetic statement which is designed to reduce pressure from religions to wean themselves away from terrorism and violent value systems. I also propose case that all ‘indic religions’ (Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism) have value systems that encourage “seeking” as opposed to “being told” about revealed divine laws — thus inculcating an ability to accept dissent and engage in debate for spiritual growth and learning. This is opposite of how Abrahamic religions’ value systems are designed —they dictate to the individual, revealed inviolate laws of the creator via his prophets and as captured in usually one holy book.
India’s core value systems
India has its ethos rooted in a rather liberal idea of God. At the root of Hinduism is is an idea of a ‘Brahman’ which cannot be translated to God in English. The idea of Brahman is that of a certain ‘consciousness’ that pervades all that we see manifest in the Universe (and is the cause for all that exists).
With this idea it was easy for the Rg Vedic seers to proclaim — “Truth is ONE; Sages call ‘it’ by many names”. Said in other words, “just as all rivers lead to the ocean, all religions lead to the same Creator”.
“Ekam Sat Viprah Bahudha Vadanti”: Truth is one, sages call it by various names.
This is the central theme based on which has the entire foundation of the Indian civilization, it’s endless religions and sects, and it’s culture been built. This is a “core value” system tha
Lyrics of a song from the Jain tradition
There are no celestial beings I know of
There is no God either
Neither heaven nor hell
Neither a preserver, nor an owner of this universe
Neither a creator, nor a destroyer
There is only the law of causality
I take responsibility for my actions
and their consequences
The smallest of creatures have a life-force
just like mine
May I always have such compassion
May I never cause any harm to anybody
The truth is multi-faceted
And there are many ways to reach it
May i find balance in this duality
I pray, may my Karma of ignorance be shed
May my true self be liberated
from the cycle of life and death
And attain Moksha!
~ lyrics taken from the movie “Ship of Theseus”.
Source: https://medium.com/essays-on-india-and-hinduism/lyrics-of-a-song-from-the-jain-tradition-1b4288bdf84c
Lyrics of a song from the Jain tradition
There are no celestial beings I know of
There is no God either
Neither heaven nor hell
Neither a preserver, nor an owner of this universe
Neither a creator, nor a destroyer
There is only the law of causality
I take responsibility for my actions
and their consequences
The smallest of creatures have a life-force
just like mine
May I always have such compassion
May I never cause any harm to anybody
The truth is multi-faceted
And there are many ways to reach it
May i find balance in this duality
I pray, may my Karma of ignorance be shed
May my true self be liberated
from the cycle of life and death
And attain Moksha!
~ lyrics taken from the movie “Ship of Theseus”.
Published originally at https://medium.com/essays-on-india-and-hinduism. Reproduced with permission....