Author: Maria Wirth

This is my first videographed talk. I accepted the invitation by Srijan Foundation not because I know more about Sanatana Dharma. Many among you know more than I, but because I grew up as a Christian and maybe can better appreciate the value of it. Also, I realised that many of you find it difficult to talk frankly about the doctrine of Christianity and Islam. The talk is in 4 parts: Why Sanatana Dharma is the best option? Why is it portrayed as worst? common and differing aspects between Sanatana Dharma and Christianty/Islam we need to bring truth back into…

This was a question on Quora. Here is my reply: I assume you mean by God That which is upholding this universe, responsible for it, the highest authority. So the answer is: God is everywhere, including in us. This answer is based on the insights of the ancient Indian Rishis and modern science also points to it by claiming that the different objects in the universe are not really ‘there’, when you search deeply. You end up only with one and the same energy. The Rishis however say, this energy is conscious, alive. They call it Brahman or Paramatman or…

My reply: I assume this question is asked by a Hindu who does not quite know what Islam (and also Christianity) claim: Both claim that the Supreme Being (called Allah in Islam and God in Christianity) has revealed the full truth only to one person – in the case of Islam to Prophet Mohammed and in the case of Christianity to his son Jesus. This truth is contained in the Quran in the case of Islam, and in the Bible in the case of Christianity. So this is the reason that Christianity claims that all must become Christians to be…

This was a question on Quora to which I replied. Yet again, I got a message from Quora that “the question has been marked as needing improvement and will be in a restricted state until edited.” So I post it here because there is nothing wrong with the question or my answer. Here it is: Both points in the question are right: Hinduism is the most reasonable system of living and it is being denigrated. In case some people, who don’t know much about Hinduism and believed those who denigrate it, have doubts if it is indeed the most reasonable…

There was a strange question on Quora recently: Is India becoming the most hated country? It reminded me of the years after Nirbhaya’s rape and murder, when a massive campaign was launched worldwide to portray Indian men as rapists. It was so massive that it reached not only local papers in Germany and probably everywhere else, but a local paper in Nuremberg dedicated half a page to her memory even one year AFTER it had happened.  The impact of this campaign was extraordinarily “successful” if one could use this term:  in March 2015 a biochemistry professor at the University of…

Again one of my answers on Quora collapsed. I replied to the above question 7 months ago. Now it was taken down. Here it is: I will restrict my answer to the three religions with the most followers. Hinduism (the term is used today to cover many different strands) is based on the Vedas. One could call the Vedas the most ancient, original ‘revelation’, because the Rishis are not the authors of the Vedas. Due to their Tapas (austerities), they ‘saw’ (Sanskrit: drishtih = see) the mantras in cosmic awareness through the veil that prevents ordinary eyes from seeing them.…

I was asked to write a message on Earth Day for students. I share it here Dear Students, Namaste to all of you, Today, Earth Day is celebrated all over the world and your Principal Sir has asked me to send a message for you. You may wonder who I am. So I briefly introduce myself: I am from Germany. When I had finished my studies and had earned some money, I wanted to go to Australia. On the way I stopped in India and landed up in Haridwar at the Kumbh Mela. This was a turning point in my…

Is being a Hindu ok and is Hindutva not ok and even dangerous? Many Hindus seem wary to be associated with Hindutva, in spite of the fact that Hindutva simply means Hindu-ness or being Hindu. They tend to accept the view which mainstream media peddled for long: ‘Hindutva is intolerant and stands for the ‘communal agenda of an extreme right Hindu party that wants to force uniform Hinduism on this vast country which is fully against the true Hindu ethos.’ Is this true? The Supreme Court ruling of 1995 declares it as not true: “Hindutva is indicative more of the…

Yes, and it is even natural. One only needs to deeply reflect on what is meant by the Almighty. If somebody grew up as a Christian or Muslim, he needs, however, to get rid of some notions about the Almighty which can never be proven and are in all likelihood not true – for example that He favours those who believe in a specific book (Bible, Quran) and sends all others to eternal hell and that he is a superhuman (male) creator, separate from humans, and that he made his will known only recently, not even 2000 years ago, and…

This is the Marathi translation of https://mariawirthblog.wpcomstaging.com/2017/09/13/the-bashing-of-brahmins-and-indias-caste-system-has-an-agenda/ पश्चिमेकडील सामान्य लोकांना भारताविषयी खरी माहिती फारच थोडी असते. मात्र, भारतामधील जातिव्यवस्था अमानुष आहे इतकी एक बाब सर्वांना माहीत आहे. आणि ती व्यवस्था त्यांच्या हिंदुधर्माचंच महत्त्वाचं अंग आहे, असंही बहुतेकांना माहीत आहे. सर्व जातीतील ब्राह्मण जात सर्वश्रेष्ठ आहे आणि त्या जातीची माणसं खालच्या जातींना, त्यातल्या त्यात हीनतम जातीच्या अस्पृश्यांना सदा चेपत असतात, हेही बहुतेकांना माहीत आहे. मला तर हे प्राथमिक शाळेत असतानाच माहीत होतं. पण, नाझींच्या जर्मनीमधील छळछावण्यांबद्दल तेव्हा काहीच माहीत नव्हतं. त्याच्या काही वर्षं आधी वसाहतीमधील गुलामांवर होणाऱ्या अत्याचारांची माहिती झाली होती. तरीही, भारतीय जातींमधील ब्राह्मण अत्यंत दुष्ट असल्याचं तर १९६०च्या आरंभी,…