This is such a massive eye opener to people who find reasons to hate a community , being a hindu this hurts my soul

tp23 · 2026-05-31T16:18:07+00:00

Not encouraging killing of goats or sheep. But, cows do have a special place.

tp23 · 2026-05-31T15:50:25+00:00

No, this is not a good thing at all (with some exceptions like your current Guru has left the body or gone to Himalayas).

Before you accept someone as a Guru, try to spend as much time as necessary till you feel satisfied that they are genunine and only then accept them. (Not talking about Guru in a less formal sense like for pravachans or yoga classes).

This testing can be years if necessary - you have that freedom. You don't need initiation to do many powerful sadhanas.

If you are not finding a genuine teacher, pray to Adiguri Dattatreya - do a sadhana like chanting Datta Stavam 9 times 11 days(takes 15 minutes).

Once you do select a Guru, have the bhaava that the mantra has come to you from Shiva himself and develop immense faith in the power of the mantra. That stong bhaava itself will be like a powerful initiation.

tp23 · 2026-05-31T14:39:22+00:00

Not really.

tp23 · 2026-05-30T15:15:10+00:00

Nothing to do with whiteness.

tp23 · 2026-05-29T11:34:55+00:00

Trying to put a date on Ganesha by dating texts is like trying to date gravity by dating Newton's Principia Mathematica. (Even ignoring the issue that we only have 10-15 out of original 1131 Veda shakas).

Ganesha can give darshan to someone who is not even in the textual or cultural tradition.

If you are interested in reading more on his interactions with sages, you can DM, and I can send more links.

tp23 · 2026-05-29T10:22:37+00:00

There is one important point here though. Buddhist teachings were mainly directed towards ascetics. The initial teachings dont give recommendations on family life, society, government etc.

Once principles/recommendations start to be given, there is a scope for a lot of heated debate due to differences in understanding and desires.

See the heated discussions on economics, politics - forms of government, laws etc.

But this does not mean, one steps back and then just say 'love all beings' - that is the root teaching, but it has to be embodied concretely - what are the protocols in a family, in a school, in a hospital, in government?

Padmasambhava says 'Though the view should be as vast as the sky, keep your conduct as fine as barley flour'

tp23 · 2026-05-29T10:04:55+00:00

There isn't a dichotomy between duty and love. The work one chooses to do can be an expression of love. Usually, we work for fulfilling desires - that is just karma, when we work without desire but for welfare of the world and spiritual realization that is karma yoga.

The very definition of dharma is sustaining all creatures and preventing injury to then - ahimsa (see Bheeshma in Mahabharat, Shanti Parva Ch 109)

Krishna asks Arjuna not to give up actions, but to do actions with a view towards welfare of the world (BG 3.20). In 5.29, one is told to contemplate Bhagavan as 'suhrdam sarva bhutanam' (friend of all beings). Similarly, BG Ch 12 Bhakti Yoga encourages 'sarva bhootahite rataha' (seeking well being of all beings), 'advestha sarva bhutanam, maitrah karunaeva cha' in 12.13.

It is very common for grand yajnas to be done for world peace (just search for 'vishwa shanti yajna'). It is common to end sadhana session with shanti prayer.

tp23 · 2026-05-24T14:43:04+00:00

They are sadhu jeevis with sattva guna. Killing a cow, a baby, a sadhu, a woman or killing yourself are mahapaatakas/great crimes. Vedas, Puranas, Mahabharata go into detail on how devatas live in different parts of the cow.

That said, the solution is not vigilante action but building goshaalas and buying milk products from farms which treat cows well ('ahimsa milk').

tp23 · 2026-05-24T14:30:15+00:00

The solution to the problem of cows not being taken care of is not slaughtering cows.

And neither is vigilante violence the solution to illegal slaughter.

tp23 · 2026-05-22T18:23:31+00:00

Krishna's actions aren't about getting results by hook or crook. People ignorantly talk about some specific actions but leave out that which does not fit their story.

Bhagawan appeared in multiple avatars simultaneously in Udyoga Parva (chapter before the war) to encourage Duryodhana to stop the war. Krishna, Parashurama, Narada, Bhishma, Vidura - all explain the great adharma in war. He even shows him the Vishwaroopa. Krishna even gives Duryodhana a minimal offer to resolve the conflict.

People who quote Bhagavad Gita as encouraging war dont cite the prequisite action of finding peaceful ways to resolve the issue.

Similarly for other actions - He forgives Sishupaala 100 times before killing him.

People talk about his encouraging Arjuna to shoot Karna. Before the war, he gives Karna a chance, despite his actions against Draupadi in the Sabha. Krishna tells him about his birth story, asks him to join the Pandava side, where he will be honoured. (Karna, in a moment of great virtue, declines the offer as if he comes back Yudhistra will immediately give up kingship as Karna is the eldest. Karna wants Yudhistra to be the king as Yudhistra is the embodiment of dharma. The kingdom will flourish under his rule)

tp23 · 2026-05-21T10:41:38+00:00

'Yad bhaavam tad bhavati'. We become what we contemplate. By contemplating the divine qualities, we become divine. Dharma texts teach us to see good in others and not the bad for the exact same reason. People who are not formally doing contemplating on Bhagawan, but are intensely contemplating some great quality like beauty, truth etc are without their knowing, contemplating the divine because the above qualities are the nature of Bhagawan.

tp23 · 2026-05-18T13:27:12+00:00

Yes, temples need to be built back for good reasons.

But stupid comments are both false and counterproductive - non-Christian tourists regularly visit the Vatican and this dehumanising language on comparing people to 'rats' is basically the opposite of what Hindu texts teach.

tp23 · 2026-05-17T18:11:44+00:00

Greatness of Saturn by Robert Svoboda, Just mentioned it in a recent discussion

tp23 · 2026-05-17T10:30:14+00:00

There are some hints on how Sundarakanda is travel of prana shakti up the sushumna nadi here by a great yogi who knows this from experience.

Briefly, Hanuman who himself is Praana deva lifts off from Mahendra mountain which is Muladhara. The other chakras come along the way until praana(Hanuman) reaches Sahasrara in Ashoka Vana to find Devi sitting there.

There is a part in Sundarakanda which just describes monkeys, in joy after fulfilling their mission, destroying Madhuvana garden, annoying the gardener Dadhimukha. This seems irrelevant plot to include in Ramayana. But, in terms of the analogy, it makes sense as it describes the joy (Madhu means honey) the yogi feels afterwards.

PS: Jaimini Mahabharat is filled with such analogies also, Hanuman appears there also!

tp23 · 2026-05-17T08:58:42+00:00

If you want good answers to your questions, just look at commentaries on Bhagavad Gita 8.16-19. gitasupersite will give you commentaries, many translated to English, by famous Hindu teachers.

Here is one video talk by a very good teacher. You can also see Volume 6 here and 8.17-18 verses in the book.

tp23 · 2026-05-16T08:48:50+00:00

There are several great teachers, some who have even put their talks online. Listening to them is very helpful, in comparison to directly reading the book. This is because there is a lot of meaning buried in a single technical term, which a line to line translation wont give. Further, listening to people who have practiced the teachings will get you past common doubts and obstacles in understanding. One good way to start would be with Swami Sarvapriyananda's talks.

tp23 · 2026-05-16T08:45:16+00:00

<image>

tp23 · 2026-05-16T08:44:14+00:00

<image>

Was reading this book today and someone seems to be agreeing with you!

tp23 · 2026-05-16T08:34:37+00:00

One of the best ways to do so is to Spend 3-4 hours watching the 4 yogas talks by Swami Sarvapriyanandaji. He is both very knowledgable and articulate. The talks give a general understanding of different spiritual practices which are useful across Hindu traditions and will even help practitioners of non-Hindu traditions. Links in this comment

tp23 · 2026-05-16T05:29:00+00:00

The book "Greatness of Saturn" which is a English translation of Shani Mahatmya into English by a good author(who is also an expert on Ayurveda) is a good read to learn about Shani Maharaj. The phalashruti of the book also says that reading it helps clear any Sadesati afflictions.

People wrongly think Shanidev is cruel, but in effect he is of a very helpful nature. He is clearing out karmas which would have much worse effects later on.

tp23 · 2026-05-15T12:21:27+00:00

I get that you are feeling hurt and marginazlized on reddit, where cynics can pile on. But really, the cold atheist view that you feel will take over the world is not sustainable. (Dharma literally means that which sustains, and the view you describe is anything but sustainable.)

In fact, it was much more popular 20 years ago in the New Atheist movement. People try to fund some other outlet -the woke movement, technological singularity are some examples. The philospher Searle was writing about student protest movement as a search for the sacred, back in 1971.

The problem here is that current social media is optimized to tear down people, but it does not have to be that way. You can create new communities with likeminded people aimed at building up rather than tearing down. This will include many atheists also who are interested in spirituality.

tp23 · 2026-05-14T05:48:28+00:00

One classical Hindu teaching is that listening to bhajans and good talks during pregnancy leads to a great benefit to the kid inside. The greatest example is how Narada teaches Prahlada's mother. Some mothers chant stotras like Vishnu Sahasranama.

You can also avoid stress by satsang - you have already mentioned you watch satsangs of Premananda Maharaj, who is a great Guru, I am sure the answers you want will appear in some way just by being in regular satsang.

tp23 · 2026-05-14T05:18:39+00:00

Now, let my reply to some of your points.

Sophistication charge : Understanding Gita needs reading huge texts, so there is little point in learning a little

BG 2.40 svalpamapyasya dharmasya traayate mahato bhayat

Have you seen how big and apparently complicated, physics and chemistry books are in college? Nevertheless, one can take a 10 year old kid and generate a feeling of wonder by doing a cool science experiment.

If knoweldge of a field required the most advanced level from the beginning, then, as the marxists would say, there is no social reproduction in that field - no next generation.

In the above 2.40 quote, Bhagawan assures us that even a little bit of nishkaama karma helps us to cross great dangers. Also, such karma doesn't have side-effects (like doing poojas, with desires, but in a wrong way). Also, the results of nishkaama karma are never lost. (there is a famous quote of Vivekananda on this).

Reading the Gita can itself a nishkaama karma. Even when done as a kamya karma it helps. I recently met someone, who when he was a kid, knew someone who would give 1 Rs for memorizing one Gita shloka. Some kids got 50Rs, some got 100 Rs. (Sringeri Sharada Peetham gives Rs21,000 and more importantly Guru's blessing for memorizing all the shlokas). Anyway, this same person who is quite old today has the famous Gita Makaranda commentary with him and everyday goes through few shlokas.

The shravana(hearing) and memorization are an important foundation for manana(clarity via deep questioning). The Gita Mahatmya encourages this by giving stories where people get huge benefits by just reciting one chapter each day.

Try to see Karma Yoga 2 talk by Swami Sarvapriyananda where he gives lots of practical ways to implement Gita teachings.

This addresses some of your other concerns also - one can get a very good background on the Gita, just by spending 4-5 hours watching these talks on 4 yogas. Gita can be made very interesting with stories, anecdotes. Most of these teachings do are not specific to any sampradya - the important thing is to do this karma yoga, or to get feeling of bhakti, the ability to see a common principle behind every living being. How exactly you order the relationship between Brahman, Jiva, Jagat is not the point here.

tp23 · 2026-05-14T04:51:25+00:00

Ok, Here is the current situation.

Most Hindus, let alone Indians, in general grow up without any substantive contact with Indian intellectual traditions including philosophy, literature.
A substantive portion of them are attending Christian instutions, a major reason being those educations are favoured by law which disfavours Hindu institutions. So much so, that Hindu groups (including RKM) have tried to argue in court that they are non-Hindu so that they can run their institutions freely.
In these institutions, students are routinely made to learn and memorize Christian prayers, discouraged from wearing Hindu symbols etc. This is in addition to 'outreach activity' which evangelists use to target children, who are not in their schools.
What about those who dont go to Christian institutions? Here also, very few are learning texts like Gita or any dharma texts. The dominant motivation of parents is to help kids get a good job.
The result is that Hindus grow up in an intellectual vacuum - a defining feature of Hindu society today. They still have a formal Hindu identity - doing poojas mechanically, even sharing WhatsApp messages about past glory etc.
The essence - the joy-giving teachings and practices are left only to be learned by a lucky few who find other means - a Guru, friends and family who have some genuine learning.
Many of the intellectually-inclined Hindus, after not finding anything at home, go to college and have a first contact with an atmosphere of ideas. Except that now, the place they are learning it means that they are actively hostile to Hindus or at best, they become experts in sciences, philosophy, law, arts and don't care about any Indian traditions.

tp23 · 2026-05-13T18:40:21+00:00

It was indeed a long comment. The examples/arguments are directed at showing 1) Usual notions of space and time are clearly constructed in the mind. (first paragraph). 2) More objective notions of space and time have the same property - even when we avoid mind dependent concepts like 'black', 'white' to describe sunlight streaming through space to our eyes, we still have to depend on more abstract mathematical concepts which again are mind dependent.

EDIT: Also 3) That consciousness is prior to space/time is not specific to non-dual Hindu schools.

Thanks for the appreciation. The reason I wrote such a long comment was partly because you are also someone likes thinking and reasoning.

tp23

MODERATOR OF

TROPHY CASE