Author: Maria Wirth
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,…
It is no secret why the British replaced the indigenous education system and Sanskrit gurukuls with English education. They wanted to create a class of Indians who think like the British and in this way weaken India. Sanskrit culture und Vedic knowledge were the backbone of Indians. This backbone had to be broken. English medium education did it to a great extent. Indians were cut off from their precious tradition, and they had to study in a completely foreign language, as if this was an easy thing to do. Somehow, the children of the tiny elite managed. They were motivated…
Before answering this question, let’s first find out what we need: We need to know how to live life in the best possible way to be happy, healthy, confident, strong and capable, and how to live in harmony with others and nature. And we need to find answers to important, basic questions, like: What is the purpose of life? Where did we come from? Where will we go from here? What is this world made of? And most important: Who are we? Our present day science doesn’t give us the necessary guidance, nor does it give answers to these questions,…
We keep using the English term „God“ as if we know what it means. But do we? “Of course”, many may reply: “God is the English term for the Creator of the universe, for the Highest Truth.” Few will doubt that this universe and we included have to come from somewhere and ‘God’ is given as the answer. He is seen as the ultimate power, the highest truth, from which all else emanates. Yet somehow, ‘God’ has taken on strange attributes in public perception: He is invariably male, and has allegedly spoken to a few special persons and told them…
Common people in the west know hardly anything about India. But one thing they all know: India has an ‘inhuman’ caste system, which is an important feature of their religion, Hinduism. Most also ‘know’ that Brahmins are the highest caste, which oppresses the lower castes, and worst off are the untouchables. I learnt this already in primary school. The Indian caste system with Brahmins as villains was part of the curriculum in Bavarian schools in the early 1960s, when we children had no idea where or what India is, and it still is part of the syllabus today: some time…
Some months ago I attended an Interfaith Dialogue in Delhi. Hindus, Muslims and Christians spoke, all were nice, smiling. But it was not a dialogue. It was a promotion for the Abrahamic religions. Christians praised Christianity, Muslims praised Islam, and Hindus praised Christianity and Islam. Why were Hindus extra careful not to step on any toes? Christians and Muslims never showed such consideration towards Hindus. It almost looked as if Hindus still feel the need to please their former Christian or Muslim masters. Fortunately, those masters are gone. Unfortunately, they have made sure, through their education system, that many Indians…