Author: Maria Wirth
I wrote the following post on X and it got many comments, including a comment from someone with a Muslim name. I replied to him and an exchange developed which I share here. Some Hindus felt, I waste my time in explaining the viewpoint of Hindu Dharma to someone who won’t be open towards it. Yet I feel, it is important to make the basics of Vedic wisdom known. We never really tried to put things in the correct perspective, even when so much misinformation is published all around. Moreover, their clergy won’t give them correct knowledge. This particular person…
Someone on X asked me what one gets if one accepts Hindu Dharma. In his X bio he mentioned that he preferred a bag of rice and not a bag of cow urine. So, he is probably Christian. I replied that fundamental questions about the purpose and goal of life are convincingly answered and several paths (Bhakti, Jnana, Karma…) are shown so that we can know our divine nature (Atma is Brahman). Hindu Dharma makes a distinction between THAT what is eternally, absolutely (means not dependent on anything) true and that what is not eternal and depends on THAT what…
Our societies are not in good shape. Especially in the West, loneliness and depression are rampant. The mobile is now for many their closest companion, and the dangers are great to being lured into debased entertainment, gaming, betting or porn. When I recently heard a podcast on the epidemic of loneliness in the West, I remembered a series which I wrote long ago, in 1983, for a German magazine about “Indian wisdom from A to Z”. I had taken up 108 common words, grouped them from A to Z and gave apart from our normal understanding, the view of the…
I wrote this for the October 2025 issue of “The Journal of Indian Thought and Policy Research”, an English and Hindi Bilingual Research Journal, which is published twice a year. Conversion is a big challenge for Hindu society in India. Yet it is hardly a topic of public debate. Moreover, it is impossible to get accurate data of conversions. In fact, even the data regarding the composition of the population religion wise, may not be reliable. In 1947, India’s population was around 36.1 crores, of whom 30.37 crores (84.1%) were Hindus, 3.54 crore (9.8%) were Muslims, 0.83 crore (2.3%) were…
Hindus don’t propagate their faith, and some Hindus are even proud about it. I feel it backfired: Christianity and Islam explain why they are closer to the truth. The reason, they say is, that they have one God compared to many Gods in Hinduism. They are right that one source is closer to the truth. Unfortunately, most Hindus can’t counter them because, not only do Muslims and Christians not know, but even many Hindus do not know any longer the basic insights of the Rishis – the one Brahman of the Vedas. It makes Hindus vulnerable to conversion. Once I…
This review was written by Saumya of Vitasta Publishing for the ‘books and beyond blogspot’. I recently had the opportunity to read an upcoming book by Maria Wirth — a German author and seeker who has long written about the depth and beauty of Indian spiritual traditions. Her upcoming work is a bold, honest, and at times uncomfortable interrogation of the widespread hostility and misconceptions directed toward Hinduism — not just from the outside world, but also from within India itself. Wirth’s central question is simple, yet profound: Why is Hinduism so hated, mocked, or dismissed — especially by those…
The world and humanity are in bad shape. It’s painful to watch how humans are dumbed down intellectually by low grade entertainment, and how egoism is promoted as the way to go, very convincingly with arguments like, “If you don’t look after yourself, who will?” Dharmic behaviour is going out of fashion even in Bharat. It occupied my mind a lot, watching how good, honest, courageous people are sidelined and evil, deceitful, powerful moneybags get their way. This morning, I woke up with a thought, which puts Indian philosophy into a nutshell and please correct me if I get it…
The tragic plane crash in Ahmedabad is heartbreaking. Especially a smiling selfie of a young family of five, taken moments before take-off and shared with relatives, is reminding us of how unpredictable life can be. Seeing that final photograph, full of innocence and trust in life is painful. Yet at the same time, we should not forget that death is not the end. In 1982, I wrote a series for a German magazine, which was made into a book in 1985. It was a glossary of 108 common words, seen from the perspective of the Indian Rishis. When I had…
Yesterday, there was an exchange on X/Twitter, where I took part. It was interesting so I post here, too. One Austrian, Gloria Gotthard Reich, posted the following: “Krishna is God. He is eternal. He does not belong to a particular person, people or nation. Krishna is God for everyone and all.” And she attached the below photo with the prominent line “Krishna is not Indian”. (I should mention that she had posted this earlier, too, and in another post she once said that Shiva is racially ‘white’ and has blonde hair.) Her tweet got over 1 lakh views within 1…
Shefali Vaidya, herself from Goa, has done a lot of research on Goan history under Portuguese rule and has several eye-opening videos on the net. Recently she spoke on Sangam Talks on the horrifying brutalities of the Christian Inquisition in Goa. A short clip of her talk was posted on X. I commented: So true. The Church has a horrifying history. I find it hard to understand that Indian Christians who know this history still identify as Christians. By all means, worship God and love Jesus but ‘being Christian’ means to accept the irrational Church dogmas which have nothing to…