David19
July 25th, 2009, 06:49 PM
I thought it'd be cool to see everyone's favourite Hindu author (or actor, Guru, etc).
For myself, I think I really like:
Swami Vivekananda (http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm)
Sri Ramakrishna (http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/gospel/gospel.htm)
Both, IMO, display great tolerance and acceptance towards all religions and people, for example, Sri Ramakrishna, aside from not only being a devotee of the Goddess Kali (if I'm not mistaken) also decided to practice other great religions too, for example, he had an experience with Jesus, who came to him (you can read the account in his Gospel), and Vivekananda really did a lot, IMO, for promoting acceptance amongst religions and the benefits of diversity.
I really like this quote from him (http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_1/vol_1_frame.htm):
But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, “Brother, yours is an impossible hope.” Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.
The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth; or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.
Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.
If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: "Help and not Fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."
To me, that's really quite a cool statement, that it doesn't matter if you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Pagan, Zoroastrian, whatever, etc, that religious diversity is a good thing, and no religion is better than another.
I also like:
Sri Aurobindo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo), I recently discovered him and really am enjoying learning about his Integral Yoga system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral_yoga_(Sri_Aurobindo)), and his beliefs in humanity evolving into something more, a new type of human.
There are a few more I've heard of that I really like reading, like Paramahansa Yogananda (http://www.yogananda-srf.org) (he wrote 'Autobiography of a Yogi' for anyone who knows/interested).
Anyway, what about you?, who is your favourite Hindu?.
For myself, I think I really like:
Swami Vivekananda (http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/complete_works.htm)
Sri Ramakrishna (http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/gospel/gospel.htm)
Both, IMO, display great tolerance and acceptance towards all religions and people, for example, Sri Ramakrishna, aside from not only being a devotee of the Goddess Kali (if I'm not mistaken) also decided to practice other great religions too, for example, he had an experience with Jesus, who came to him (you can read the account in his Gospel), and Vivekananda really did a lot, IMO, for promoting acceptance amongst religions and the benefits of diversity.
I really like this quote from him (http://www.ramakrishnavivekananda.info/vivekananda/volume_1/vol_1_frame.htm):
But if any one here hopes that this unity will come by the triumph of any one of the religions and the destruction of the others, to him I say, “Brother, yours is an impossible hope.” Do I wish that the Christian would become Hindu? God forbid. Do I wish that the Hindu or Buddhist would become Christian? God forbid.
The seed is put in the ground, and earth and air and water are placed around it. Does the seed become the earth; or the air, or the water? No. It becomes a plant, it develops after the law of its own growth, assimilates the air, the earth, and the water, converts them into plant substance, and grows into a plant.
Similar is the case with religion. The Christian is not to become a Hindu or a Buddhist, nor a Hindu or a Buddhist to become a Christian. But each must assimilate the spirit of the others and yet preserve his individuality and grow according to his own law of growth.
If the Parliament of Religions has shown anything to the world it is this: It has proved to the world that holiness, purity and charity are not the exclusive possessions of any church in the world, and that every system has produced men and women of the most exalted character. In the face of this evidence, if anybody dreams of the exclusive survival of his own religion and the destruction of the others, I pity him from the bottom of my heart, and point out to him that upon the banner of every religion will soon be written, in spite of resistance: "Help and not Fight," "Assimilation and not Destruction," "Harmony and Peace and not Dissension."
To me, that's really quite a cool statement, that it doesn't matter if you are a Christian, Jew, Muslim, Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Pagan, Zoroastrian, whatever, etc, that religious diversity is a good thing, and no religion is better than another.
I also like:
Sri Aurobindo (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Aurobindo), I recently discovered him and really am enjoying learning about his Integral Yoga system (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integral_yoga_(Sri_Aurobindo)), and his beliefs in humanity evolving into something more, a new type of human.
There are a few more I've heard of that I really like reading, like Paramahansa Yogananda (http://www.yogananda-srf.org) (he wrote 'Autobiography of a Yogi' for anyone who knows/interested).
Anyway, what about you?, who is your favourite Hindu?.