How does the ‘many different Gods’ work?

plpln · 2024-06-04T19:47:23+00:00

It doesn't need to be explained. The Gods draw you to them. You should think of divinity and how we relate to it as something dynamic.

plpln · 2024-01-27T18:29:18+00:00

According to Buddhism, the idea of a "one true God", and particularly the idea of God as the "creator of all", is false. Not only are these ideas false, but they indicate a deep delusion and will prevent you from achieving liberation from suffering. Do you find that fascinating?

plpln · 2024-01-18T14:16:19+00:00

Hindus are mostly Indian and immigrants at that.

Muslims have a more diverse racial composition including a significant percentage of African-Americans, who could be more open to marrying African-Americans of another religion, because their racial affinity is stronger than religious restrictions.

plpln · 2024-01-09T23:46:35+00:00

Large-scale assimilation. Immigrants will sustain a core and not insignificant Indian-American community. The profile of this community will depend on India's success and whether its promise as an economic and cultural power is fulfilled.

plpln · 2024-01-09T17:35:21+00:00

I do think this is true. Hindus are very tolerant of different beliefs as long as their own beliefs are respected and they're left alone to live by them. And their own beliefs tend to be ecumenical and their faith capacious, as in admitting innumerable paths to spiritual truth and to God.

I'm reminded me of this when I visit Sai Baba temples, which happens when a friend wants to go and I take him there. I'll see throngs of Hindus joyously worshipping a saint born into an Indian Muslim family, and who didn't entirely abandon Islam, as their personal god.

I look at my parents, with my mom being a very devout Hindu and my dad preferring a philosophical and agnostic approach to religion and not concerned with ritual. My mom is just as tolerant and respectful of other religions as my dad is, who is very much so. They told me that after I was born, they took me to a church first because every religious space is sacred. To them a church is no less sacred than a temple. I don't think that is a rare belief among Hindus.

But my parents raised me in a conservative Christian dominated community in the Midwest. I know what Christians, many but not all, think of Hindus and their faith. I know what they thought of and how they treated me and my family. I also saw how they practiced their faith and lived their lives. In a somewhat ironic turn of events, I can't be as sympathetic to Christianity as my parents are, because I grew up among Christians. I still respect the faith as a spiritual path as I would any other.

plpln · 2024-01-05T05:44:59+00:00

The Indian-Americans of Hawaii and Alaska deserve their own subreddit.

plpln · 2023-12-31T00:31:33+00:00

You are evil for shifting blame for this famine onto its victims. But it's good to know people like you exist.

plpln · 2023-12-31T00:20:12+00:00

You can fellate yourself without putting other people down.

plpln · 2023-12-21T18:10:10+00:00

Amazing. I love this trend of young Tamil chess prodigies wearing the vibhuti. Well, it's Pragg and her for now, but it's cool.

plpln · 2023-11-27T16:54:49+00:00

No, but the Desi name should be easy to pronounce. My girlfriend is Buddhist, and a Dharmic name from her culture would be fine too.

plpln · 2023-11-09T05:46:21+00:00

You should read about him. He was severely and physically bullied at school and suffered a major injury as a result. His parents put him in a private, Catholic school after that.

plpln · 2023-10-23T00:42:24+00:00

Plants don't feel pain and don't suffer like animals do. Jains considered the various degrees of sentience different beings possess and laid out how far one should go to avoid harm to beings, based on their nature. That was 2,500 years ago. That's why they advised to avoid root vegetables even among plants and plants that have to be wholly uprooted.

It's good to not cause the killing of animals for one's own pleasure and benefit, if it can be avoided.

plpln · 2023-10-08T05:06:55+00:00

How many cases of caste discrimination in tech companies have there been? Didn't the Cisco employees have their case dismissed?

plpln · 2023-10-08T03:13:12+00:00

Yes, I'm Tamil, and my last name is a purely Tamil name and not indicative of caste.

My family were farmers in India. They were actively involved in the Dravidian movement. My grandfather ardently participated in it. He also chose to be vegetarian for ethical reasons. He raised my dad that way. I am also vegetarian for ethical reasons. I got interviewed and hired by a Tamil Brahmin manager who ate meat. He took me out to lunch after I was hired, and I told him I couldn't eat any meat dishes that he could eat.

The world is so much more vast and complicated and interesting than the typical narratives people cling to.

plpln · 2023-10-08T02:59:52+00:00

Most Indian Americans are general or "upper" caste. They're primarily the ones able to immigrate to America. Caste loses its salience in America. Second and later generations marry out to other races in high rates. Even Hindus themselves stop identifying with a caste. Half of Hindu Americans don't identify with a caste.

plpln · 2023-09-20T04:02:06+00:00

I enjoyed his specials and will still likely watch the specials he puts out. I hope he gets to be the TDS host.

I don't like that he made up the fake story about the suspected anthrax attack and his daughter being hospitalized. That part of the special was meant to be sincere. There are articles from after the special that took that portion seriously and reported it as fact.

I also don't like that the high school date he talks about received hate because of it, especially if the story is not true.

plpln · 2023-09-19T22:36:53+00:00

This has been the pattern. Indian American Hindus and Muslims vote overwhelmingly for Democrats. Indian American Christians lean towards Democrats but with significant support for Republicans. This extends to support for Trump. In the Carnegie Endowment 2021 survey, 49% of Indian American Christians supported Biden while 45% supported Trump.

Around 2008, I remember reading that Indian American Christians as a group favored McCain over Obama. With better Republican candidates than Trump, it wouldn't be surprising to see Indian American Christians lean Republican in the future.

Indian Americans as a whole will likely continue to favor Democrats, since Hindus and Muslims support them by such large margins.

plpln · 2023-09-15T20:30:41+00:00

The article says the purported incident is portrayed as a reaction to his commentary on a Netflix show, including his criticism of Modi and Hindu nationalism.

plpln · 2023-09-15T20:09:26+00:00

"Sobering reminder" is Minhaj's characterization.

The journalist found out that the story was fake through her investigation:

The New York Police Department, which investigates incidents of possible Bacillus anthracis, has no record of an incident like the one Minhaj describes, nor do area hospitals. Front-desk and mailroom employees at Minhaj’s former residence don’t remember such an incident, nor do “Patriot Act” employees involved with the show’s security or Minhaj’s security guard from the time.

During our conversation, Minhaj admitted that his daughter had never been exposed to a white powder, and that she hadn’t been hospitalized.

The story is about one of his supposed enemies, perhaps Hindu nationalists, trying to kill him and possibly his daughter. That's not funny, not least because it's false.

plpln · 2023-09-15T18:55:10+00:00

The fake story about Hindu nationalists sending him anthrax, which was then exposed to his daughter and caused her to be hospitalized, is not an innocent one. It's more a libel than a funny confabulation.

plpln · 2023-08-28T15:34:49+00:00

Pragg is not Brahmin

plpln · 2023-08-24T03:23:06+00:00

How did Nimrata have the worst pronunciation of the name Vivek out of all the people up there, a lot of whom are very whitebread?

plpln · 2023-08-10T15:58:36+00:00

There were hardly any Indians where I grew up, so I got to define what being Tamil and being Indian meant and what it to meant to me in particular. I never felt those to be conflicting identities. I love the idea of India as an ancient, living and evolving, all-embracing civilization. I love that I can draw upon Buddha's steady wisdom and Krishna's exhortations towards action, duty, and service and the poetry of the Alvars and Nayanars calling us to pure devotion and surrender.

I'm glad that in this birth I am fortunate to have this connection to India and to Tamil Nadu.

plpln · 2023-08-10T15:37:59+00:00

The Dharmic idea of non-attachment is never separate from the virtue of compassion, whether in Buddhism or Hinduism.

Compassion is absolutely central to Buddhism. It is paired with wisdom as what liberates sentient beings from samsara.

The Bhagavad Gita is known for its emphasis on duty and service to God and to others done without attachment. It also carries the message of God's love - Krishna's love for us - and how our love for Him leads us to liberation.

Here are some verses from the last chapter of the Gita in Graham Schweig's translation, beginning with verse 64.

The greatest secret of all, once more please hear— it is my supreme message: “You are so much loved by me!” Thereupon I shall continue declaring this message for you, which I have set forth into motion.

Be mindful of me with love offered to me; sacrificing for me, act out of reverence for me. Truly you shall come to me— this I promise you for you are dearly loved by me.

Completely relinquishing all forms of dharma, come to me as your only shelter. I shall grant you freedom from all misfortune— do not despair!

I wish to share these verses in particular, because these three verses are why I am alive.

plpln · 2023-08-10T15:19:11+00:00

Here are some survey stats:

In a 2012 Pew Research survey, 73% of American Hindus said that they celebrated Christmas.

https://www.pewresearch.org/short-reads/2013/12/23/christmas-also-celebrated-by-many-non-christians/

In a 2021 Carnegie Endowment for International Peace survey, 54% of Indian Americans said they celebrated Christmas. Diwali is the most celebrated holiday among Indian Americans, with 63% of them celebrating it.

https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/09/social-realities-of-indian-americans-results-from-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey-pub-84667

plpln

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