Author: Maria Wirth

During Navaratra season, there are many opportunities to attend a bhajan session in India. Yet did you ever wonder about the value of bhajan? Some of the great spiritual masters value it highly. Especially in Kali Yuga, it is said that bhajans are an easy way to connect with the Divine that permeates everything.  Somehow I took it for granted, that there is no monetary charge for attending a bhajan session. After all, the lead singer benefits as much, if not more, as those who follow him or her. Everyone simply expresses his devotion in a joyful manner.When I went…

धार्मिक मूलतत्ववादीओं की संख्या बढ़ती जा रही है और यह हमारे समाज के हित में बिलकुल नहीं है। अधिकांश लोग इस बात से सहमत होंगे, मगर इस बात की छान–बीन करनेवाले लोग बहुत थोडे होंगे कि, धार्मिक मूलतत्ववादी होते क्या हैं ।  जाहिर है कि, ऐसे लोग अपने धर्म के मूल तत्वों से चिपके रहना पसंद करेंगे । वह चाहते हैं कि उन का जीवन उन के धार्मिक ग्रंथों में दी गयी हिदायत के मुताबिक हो और उस से उनके भगवान उन पर प्रसन्न हो । चूँ कि, अब धार्मिक मूलतत्ववादीओं के कारण समस्याएँ खड़ी होती दीख रही हैं, क्या…

हठधर्मी ख्रिश्चानिटी के दम घुटनेवाले माहौल में पली हुई एक महिला के विचार, जो हिंदू धर्म की लचीली स्वतंत्रता और ताजापन को सहारती हैं- और हिंदू समाज के एक घटक की अपने निजी धर्म के प्रति अपराध की भावना को देख कर अचम्भित महसूस करती है- हालांकि जीवन में पूर्णत्व पाने के लिये हिंदू धर्म सब से बढ़िया रास्ता है। हिंदू कहा करते थे, “सभी धर्म समान हैं।” वास्तव में, दो सबसे बड़े धर्म, ख्रिश्चानिटी औऱ इस्लाम इस बात से सहमत नहीं हैं, इस सच का सामना वह नहीं करना चाहते थे। यह दोनो धर्म यही दावा करते थे कि,…

The belief in rebirth is in the blood of most Indians. It is not a blind belief. There is a lot of evidence for it, as the author discovered. I don’t remember which Bollywood movie it was. Two heroes were wooing the heroine and naturally one had to die in the end, because she could not marry both. As it happened, he indeed died.  It was a sad end, because he was a nice guy. Just then a voice ended the movie, “Vapis aega – dusra roop me.” (He will come back in another form). It brought in a philosophical…

Modern science has come to the conclusion that all is one energy. Long ago, India’s wisdom came to the conclusion that all is one awareness/ consciousness, i.e. the one energy of science ‘knows itself’. It is not inert, not dead. So far, science either does not know about the claim of the Indian rishis or fights shy to investigate it. Suppose there is a scientist whose theories have always turned out to be right. Other scientists have validated his theories, sometimes after a long time gap and after they had to discard their own theories. Now, this scientist comes up…

मैं काफ़ी अर्से से भारत में स्थित हूँ, फिर भी कई बाते समझने में मुझे अभी भी कठिनाई महसूस होती है। उदाहरण के लिए, जब भी भारत को एक हिन्दू देश मानने की बात होती है, तब बहुत सारे शिक्षित भारतीय क्यों उत्तेजित हो जाते हैं? भारत की बहुसंख्य जनता हिन्दू है। भारत की परंपराएँ इस देश की खासियत मानी जाती हैं। पश्चिमी लोग भारत की तरफ आकर्षित होने की यह एक प्रमुख वजह है। फिर भी इस देश की हिन्दू जड़ों का स्वीकार करने में कई भारतीय नागरीकों को क्या बाधा हो सकती है?यह रवैया दो तरह से अटपटा…

Some time ago, a man in the US was sentenced to 6 months in jail for tying his dog to his car and dragging him to death. The dog had ‘barked too much’ which made his owner furious. Neighbours chased the man. They were rightly upset by his cruel act and, except for some perverse and pathological misfits, every human being who deserves this label will surely condemn brutal treatment of animals.This new item, however, reminded me of a German saying, which means: “What I don’t know does not agitate me.” In all likelihood, the neighbours of that American are…

 Occasionally I noticed that in western publications Hinduism was missing when religions were listed. Buddhism was there without fail, but its mother so to speak, was being ignored. What could be the reason? About one billion human beings are Hindus. Hinduism is alive and vibrant. There is hardly another people who are as ’religious’ and have so much faith in the Divine. Yet what they revere and hold dear is often considered ‘only’ as a way of life.However, the discussion is still on.  Some argue, “Dharma”, as Hindus (and Buddhists, too) refer to their ‘religion’ cannot be translated as religion.…

“There is no other country where basic questions crop up as quickly as in India”, a young Spanish woman recently told me. I fully agreed with her, as it reminded me of my early time in India some 30 years ago. One basic question then was about love. In the west, love refers mainly to the attraction between the sexes. Falling in love is considered highly attractive especially among youngsters and causes envy in those who are not in love. And whether one is in love seems to depend on whether one met Mr or Miss Right. However, experience shows…

Religious fundamentalists are on the rise and that is bad for our societies. Most people will agree on this. Yet few examine who religious fundamentalists are. Obviously, such persons would want to stick to the fundamentals of their religion. They want to live a life that is advocated in their holy books and would please their God. Now, since religious fundamentalists pose a problem, does it mean that the fundamentals of religions are bad for our societies? Let’s look at the three biggest religions: Concerning Christianity, fundamentalists believe that God has revealed himself in the Bible and sent his only…