About P. Ravi Sarma, M.D. Expertise Trustee, the Hindu Temple of Atlanta, Ga. Chairman, Community Services Committee of the Hindu Temple. Special interest in Hinduism in the West and the adaptation of the religion to modern times. Keynote speaker at several regional and national Hindu conferences on the topic of Hinduism and its adaptation in the West
Question 1. What are the basic elements of your belief system?
A. What is the prime reality? What is the primary source for truth?
B. What is a human being?
C. What happens to a person at death?
D. How do you know right from wrong?
2. What is responsible for the existence of the universe? Where did the world come from? How did it come into being?
3. How important is your belief system to you in terms of your decision making process? How does it enter into the ways that you establish priorities and goals?
4. What kind of place do you hope for? What are the necessary steps or changes that must take place for this to take place?
5. What gives human life significance? What is the meaning of human history? To what end is history going? Can we know?
6. If you could say anything you want about what you perceive to be the Christian community, what would you say? What are your problems with the Christian view of reality? What do you like/appreciate about Christians? What do you not like or appreciate?
Thank you so much for helping me with this project.
Answer I do not have the time to help with school and college projects. I will answer very briefly.
1. Belief in One God as the Supreme Being, who is omnipresent and omniscient. He is beyond description and without attributes. (Para Brahman; Nirguna) God is gender neutral (It; He -- is used for convenience) The ancient sages remarked that this type of God is difficult to conceive and relate to. Therefore, they said that we can visualise God in any manner or form we choose (Saguna Brahman; Ishta Devata) Therefore, the Hindu Pantheon. (Polymorphic Monotheism)
Belief in the universal nature of man (Vasudhaika Kutumbam)
Belief in the potential for divinity in all of God's creations. (Animals are respected as well as humans; they do have a soul)
We are considered to be children of divinity (Amrithasya Putrah) and are not considered sinners at birth.
Belief in Karma, that we are accountable for our actions (individual responsibility)
Belief in cycles of birth-death and rebirth. While the body is mortal, Soul is immortal. These endless cycles of birth-death and rebirth end when we achieve Moksha (salvation) That is when the Soul merges with the Divine.
1 a)God is the Ultimate Reality and is the primary source of truth. (God is Truth) The world we live in and beilieve is Maya. We are bound by our attachments and can not see the Truth. (Veil of Maya, which keeps us from knowing the Ultimate Reality)
1 b) A human being is the highest form of God's creation on earth.
1 c) The body perishes. It returns to the elements from which it came. The soul moves on. Since the physical body is impermanent, it is not preserved. It is cremated, thereby allowing it return to its elemental form and return to nature.
There is a journey of the soul. There is the concept of Judgement, and the concept of heaven and hell. However, these are considered to be figurative and not literal. It is believed that we are rewarded and punished for our actions in our lives (The theory of Karma and rebirth allow that our lives are a net result of our past actions. )
1 d) An individual has a duty to self, to the family and to society (Dharma) This duty is to live in a righteous manner. It one harms any being either in thought, word or action, then that is not righteous. (Manasa-Vacha-Karmana; Trikarana Suddhi)
There are commandments of good conduct and forbidden behaviour.
2. God is considered to be without beginning -middle or end. The universe and beyond is God. He is considered to be self-created (Atma Bhavu) God is the creator, sustainer and into Him the universe dissolves. Time is cyclical, with a beginning and end, before another cycle of creation starts (Wheel in Buddhist interpretation)
The sages wonder as to who created the universe. They said that whoever is the Creator, may or may not know about his creation.
(Here are two excerpts from the creation Hymns from Rg Veda:
I also refer you to, "The Vedic Experience", by Raimundo Panikkar, 1977,
Motilal Banarsidass, New Delhi, in which severeal passages from the Vedas
are presented with english translations.
Nasadiya Sukta,
deals with the hypothesis on the origin of this universe:
verse #6: Who really knows? Who can presume to tell it?
Whence was it born? Whence issued this creation?
Even the Gods came after its emergence.
Then who can tell from whence it came to be?
verse #7 That out of which creation has arisen,
Whether it held it firm or it did not,
He who surveys it in the highest heaven,
He surely knows--or may be He does not!
(There are more references and commentaries in this text)
3. In its truest sense, Hinduism does not go well with capitalistic society, where material wealth and accumulation of things are important. Hinduism talks about the impermanence of all these acquisitions and talks of austerity, sacrifice, service and contemplation of the Divine.
Therefore, most Hindus, like people of any religion, live their lives like any body else, and go through the ritual of the religion (which is the least important part of its observance)
Contray to popular belief, Karma is not "fate". (Bad Karma and Good Karma are popular expression.) Therefore, to blame one's life's events on karma is to deny individual responsibility.
Hinduism also talks about actions without expectations of a return (Nishkama Karma) (The concept of Dharma, duty becomes important in this regard. When one does what is right, then there is no expectation of reward or recognition) Again, this is a very difficult concept to put into practice. Therefore, like all people who are trying to be observant, we struggle through our lives.
4. Hinduism talks about Vasudhaika Kutumbam (The whole earth as one family) It also calls for Shanti, Peace. These will continue to be elusive for the human race.
5. Human life has meaning only when it is used in the service of others. There are two central concepts that support this. One is the concept of "Daridro Narayanaha" (God is in the destitute") and the other is "Manava Seva is Madhava Seva" (To serve man is to serve God) In creating man, God had high hopes for mankind. Since He gave them intelligence and imposed the requirement of personal responsibility, He is probably disappointed in his decisions.
In the ultimate analysis, human history has no permanence. It all will end. However, in the short term, it only has meaning, if we work to improve the planet that we have inherited.
6. It always amazes me that well meaning christians, try to come and convert me to their belief system. I explain to them that I am perfectly capable of worrying about my destiny and afterlife and that I am not afraid of eternal damnation if I do not believe in what they believe. I also tell them that I can pray God directly, without the intervention of another exalted human being, on my behalf. This offends them. But I intend no offense.
I appreciate the christian ethic of service as an important part of their lives. While all religions talk about service, christianity puts it into practice better than any one else. My big problem with christian charity is that it comes with a string attached, namely the constant drum beat of conversion. It violtates the principle of Nishkama Karma (action, without expectation of something in return.) I am amazed at how the most vulnerable of the world's population is converted because of material help they are given. That is not true conversion.
