Author: Maria Wirth
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…
‘God’ is a much used word yet hardly anyone pauses to find out what is meant by it. ‘Isn’t it clear?’ religious people may ask and answer: God is the Highest, the Creator of the universe, the Almighty who knows whatever any human is dong or thinking and it is He who will give the punishment or reward in the afterlife.This is a predominantly Western notion. Nobody will quarrel with the fact that this universe and we included have to come from somewhere and ‘God’ is given as the verbal answer. Yet somehow, ‘God’ has acquired strange attributes in the…
Observations by someone who grew up in the stifling atmosphere of dogmatic Christianity and appreciates the freshness and freedom of undogmatic Hinduism– and wonders why a section of Hindus are so apologetic about their religion when it actually is the best bet for a fulfilling life. Hindus used to say, “All religions are equal”. They did not want to see that the two biggies, Christianity and Islam, did not agree. Each of those religions claimed for itself, “We alone are the only true religion. Our God is the only true God.” They pitied Hindus that they might actually believe that by…
Though I live in India since long, there are still some points that I find hard to understand – for example why many so called educated Indians on TV discussion forums become agitated whenever ‘Hindutva’ is mentioned. The majority of Indians are Hindus. India is special because of its ancient Hindu tradition. Westerners are drawn to India because of it. Why then is there this resistance by many Indians to acknowledge the Hindu roots of their country? Why do some people even give the impression as if an India that values those Hindu roots was dangerous? Don’t they know better?…
“Don’t forget about god”, Rajesh Bedi, a photographer in Delhi, said to me out of the blue while I was taking leave. I was surprised that a young, successful man talked about god in such a natural and matter-of-fact way and I wondered what he meant by god. At that time – some 33 years ago – I was new in India and did not know that god is alive in this country. Later, after I had met Devaraha Baba and Anandamayi Ma, I discovered how alive god is and that he* (* the use of ‘he’ does of…
The II. World War had ended only five years before I was born in western Germany. And already as a child I ‘knew’ who is good and who is bad and who is right and who is wrong: the Russians were bad and the Americans were good. The Roman Catholics were right and the Protestants were wrong and all others very wrong. For long I never questioned those axioms. They seemed to be fundamentals. Everyone around shared them. I never had seen a Russian, but surely they were not normal people like us Germans. They were terrifying. They had taken…
It is amazing that figures that compare India with other countries are hardly ever put in relation to the population. India is huge, unlike any other country except for China, and one certainly would expect that, next to the real, the relative figures are also given. For example, a major national newspaper blared some time ago: “India is the Murder Capital of the World”. Recently media all over the world were berating India over the frequent incidences of rape. India’s image has been dealt a severe blow. Yet when one puts the figures into relation to the population, it turns…