Hinduism: Meaningless Rituals?

Most religions (and maybe all religions) have some degree of ritualistic behavior. But many people of faith love to point to people of other religions and mock the rituals that they follow. Human nature I guess...

If you ever go to a Hindu temple, one of the rituals you might notice is people circling the inner sanctum of the temple. This is one that I myself have always wondered about. Most religious rituals have (or had) some meaning or significance. Some rituals have lost that relevance and some others have been mindlessly practiced for so long that people have forgotten their meaning. So one time I asked our priest about this one...

So said the learned priest: When you visit the temple, you come with a lot of baggage. Your day to day life, your stresses, your hopes and desires, your anger and frustrations. In this state of mind it is very difficult to really feel the presence of God or to make a connection to your own spiritual self. Circling the inner sanctum of the temple, or doing pradakshina, is a method to unwind yourself from it all before trying to reach out, or in.

Typically you do three pradakshinas before praying. During the first one you should attempt to unwind and disconnect your mind from your worldly possessions. During the second you should attempt to unwind and disconnect from all your relations and relationships. Finally, during the third you should attempt to unwind and disconnect from your own ego and sense of self. When you have successfully disconnected from all this can you really connect with God.

Does this mean that if you cannot manage to disconnect some day then prayer is futile? I asked. Not so, said the priest, your prayer is still heard, you just may not be able to hear the response due to the noise.

Hinduism: Idol Worshippers?

So said the learned priest: People of other faiths always point to Hinduism and say that it is a religion that promotes idol worship. They scoff and say that Hindus worship stone idols and not a true God. Well, they are wrong.

Here's how he explained the deeper philosophy...
When you talk to your friend on a cell phone, you appear to people around you as talking to a phone. But are you really talking to a phone? Indeed you are not. Even though you cannot see them, you know that on the other side of the phone and phone connection is your friend. Similarly, an idol is just a medium, a symbolism for the one God, the Para-Bramha, which allows you to feel a connection with God when you pray. 

Hinduism: Polytheistic?

So said the learned priest: A common misconception about Hinduism is that the religion is polytheistic, meaning one that prays to many gods. Although on the surface it may seem that Hindus pray to hundreds of gods, that is not true. But here we are in the temple, and all around us we see idols of different gods; Ganesha - the remover of obstacles, Lakshmi - the goddess of wealth, Saraswati - the goddess of learning and arts, Vishnu - the creator and protector, and Shiva - the destroyer of evil, and on and on. Does that not make Hinduism a polytheistic religion?

Here's how he explained the deeper philosophy...
When you look around your home there are many appliances, a refrigerator for keeping things cold, a furnace to keep us warm, a computer to keep us connected, an oven and stove to cook our food, and on and on. Each has its purpose and we go to each one based on our needs. But inside, they all work on the same power, electricity. We can't see the electricity, but based on our knowledge we know that it is in there and powering the device that we are interacting with.

Similarly, there is a single power inside the various forms of god, the single God, the Para-Bramha. That is the only God in Hinduism, the various forms are just to simplify the process of prayer for the different things that we  interact with God for. And even though we cannot see God (like we can't see electricity) we know that God is there and always present.

Prologue to a Series on Hinduism

The priest at our local Hindu temple is a very learned man. He is younger than me, but has dedicated his life to God and has studied the Vedas for many years. However, in spite of being steeped in very deep religious philosophy, he has the knack for explaining complex religious concepts simply enough for our ABCD children to understand. This is very useful for parents like us who feel that having a connection to their roots is very important for kids to understand their identity and to be grounded in their adult life.

Last time we were at the temple he explained a couple of things about Hinduism to our kids and promised to explain more next time. I plan to blog about these in a series here for others that may be looking for similar information for their kids.