In Hinduism, people believe in various gods Eg: Rama, Krishna, Shiva, Devi, Hanuman, Saraswathi, Ganesh, Skandam, Ayyappa etc., So, the question that comes to any sane person is,
How come there are so many gods ?
Do all of them have same powers ?
Do I have to ask them for something specific that each God has control over ?
Why is it so complicated ?
After studying/observing/listening some scriptures like Ramayana, Gita, Bhagavatham etc., I realized that there is a guiding principle for devotion towards any of the deities.
"There is no place in this Universe where God doesn't exist".
One may ask these questions immediately, "Is god in bad people/things/happenings as well". Strangely, the answer is Yes. Because it depends on how we define the God. For many of us, God is Infinite & Time-independent. So, if God is not there in any particular thing, God becomes Finite. So, God has to be Infinite, so God exists in everything. Period. It means that God has no specific name/sound and no specific shape/picture as God is omnipresent (many religions agree to it).
Now, the next logical question is, if God exists in bad persons (as an example), why does he indulge in bad activities.
This led me to discover something called Consciousness that exists in everything. Some realize (Eg: Some Humans like Ramana maharshi) & some don't to it's full extent (Eg: Remaining Humans, Animals, Rocks etc.,). So, this Consciousness is masked by various layers that're not permanent by the nature of the object we're talking about.
Eg: Human Consciousness - masked by attachment to relationships, money, food etc.,
So, based on some reading, I understood that as & when these layers are removed (renunciation), one realizes the god within & hence the saying "Aham Brahmasmi" (similar to Self-Actualization --> tip of Maslow's hierarchy of needs). In that state, one realizes god in oneself & also everything and experiences a state of bliss (not trance) that one is part of this eternal cosmic equation; nobody can separate the one from it (Advaita Philosophy - meaning there is no dvaitha (meaning two); Everything is in one god).
Worships of different deities are baby steps to achieve this "Aham Brahmasmi". It means that, irrespective of one's belief (multiple gods, one god or no god), if some one can actually feel the oneness with the Universe, then they actually attained Moksham (Salvation - part of God).
So, bad persons have God in them but got masked by these layers. In order to deal with this perplexity, Hinduism suggests action (karma) based on Dharma (righteous thing). Some elements of Dharma change over time & one has to perform karma based on Dharma prevailing at that time (similar to law/being legal in modern world).
Special note on interaction between Advaitha & Karma.
Hinduism supports Bhava-Advaitha meaning seeing godliness in everything (Living and Non-living). More like, connecting to oneness everywhere. This should not be mingled with Karma-Advaitha, meaning treating everything & everybody as same. Karma-Advaitha is not advocated by Hinduism as it is violates philosophy of Dharma. One should perform Karma based on what is right thing to do (Eg: Seeing Godliness in Bad person is Bhava-Advaitha, but treating Bad person as God is Karma-Advaitha, is in direct violation to Dharma. So, bad person should be punished for his bad karma based on Advaitha philosophy)
Blessed (Sthitha Pragna) is the one who does the right thing in material word based on duty and in spiritual world based on experiencing god in everything.
So, here comes our second guiding principle,
"If one does good karma, one gets good karma; If one does bad karma, one gets bad karma; it's like an infinite cycle - what goes around comes around. One should perform Karma based on prevailing Dharma at that time"
We have to note that Karma gets real confusing at times (Eg: Tiger is hungry, it ate a deer. Deer's point of view, it's bad karma for Tiger eating it; Tiger's point of view it's good karma as it's satiated it's hunger); so one has to apply Dharma (law + moral sense) to attach good/bad from one's point of view. Irrespective of their belief towards god (multiple, one, for some one who believe the very nature is God), the above guiding principle comes into effect all the time in Hinduism.
So, next logical question is, if Karma is deciding everything, why do I require understanding of God/Self-Realization. Well, not many people want to be part of this karma cycle as it's pretty ruthless & also mundane at times and there is no stoppage from being involved in this cycle unless one realizes God within where there is no manah: only budhdhi: exists.
Essentially, based on my understanding, Hindusim is not a religion of god, it's a way of life to realize god with below guiding principles
"There is no place in this Universe where God doesn't exist"
"If one does good karma, one gets good karma; If one does bad karma, one gets bad karma; it's like an infinite cycle - what goes around comes around. One should perform Karma based on prevailing Dharma to ultimately come out of this cycle and realize God forever"
In other terms, one can be called Hindu irrespective of the god they believe in if
"Every slightest particle (like electron) is manifestation of God - God is omnipresent (Bhava-Advaitha only & definitely not Karma-Advaitha)"
"Do Karma based on Dharma (Law + Moral sense - Righteous thing), realize God forever"
Sources:
Knowledge from Family & Friends
Ramayana: https://www.readramayana.org/
Vedanta: Lectures by Sri Garikapati Narasimha Rao garu (YouTube)
Bhagavatham: http://www.brahmasri.com/Bhagavatam
Bhagavdgita: https://www.asitis.com/
Just an important point, I tried to listen/read from these sources, applied some thought process to filter what is relevant in this context & assimilated some ideas that I thought made sense for this topic.
How come there are so many gods ?
Do all of them have same powers ?
Do I have to ask them for something specific that each God has control over ?
Why is it so complicated ?
After studying/observing/listening some scriptures like Ramayana, Gita, Bhagavatham etc., I realized that there is a guiding principle for devotion towards any of the deities.
"There is no place in this Universe where God doesn't exist".
One may ask these questions immediately, "Is god in bad people/things/happenings as well". Strangely, the answer is Yes. Because it depends on how we define the God. For many of us, God is Infinite & Time-independent. So, if God is not there in any particular thing, God becomes Finite. So, God has to be Infinite, so God exists in everything. Period. It means that God has no specific name/sound and no specific shape/picture as God is omnipresent (many religions agree to it).
Now, the next logical question is, if God exists in bad persons (as an example), why does he indulge in bad activities.
This led me to discover something called Consciousness that exists in everything. Some realize (Eg: Some Humans like Ramana maharshi) & some don't to it's full extent (Eg: Remaining Humans, Animals, Rocks etc.,). So, this Consciousness is masked by various layers that're not permanent by the nature of the object we're talking about.
Eg: Human Consciousness - masked by attachment to relationships, money, food etc.,
So, based on some reading, I understood that as & when these layers are removed (renunciation), one realizes the god within & hence the saying "Aham Brahmasmi" (similar to Self-Actualization --> tip of Maslow's hierarchy of needs). In that state, one realizes god in oneself & also everything and experiences a state of bliss (not trance) that one is part of this eternal cosmic equation; nobody can separate the one from it (Advaita Philosophy - meaning there is no dvaitha (meaning two); Everything is in one god).
Worships of different deities are baby steps to achieve this "Aham Brahmasmi". It means that, irrespective of one's belief (multiple gods, one god or no god), if some one can actually feel the oneness with the Universe, then they actually attained Moksham (Salvation - part of God).
So, bad persons have God in them but got masked by these layers. In order to deal with this perplexity, Hinduism suggests action (karma) based on Dharma (righteous thing). Some elements of Dharma change over time & one has to perform karma based on Dharma prevailing at that time (similar to law/being legal in modern world).
Special note on interaction between Advaitha & Karma.
Hinduism supports Bhava-Advaitha meaning seeing godliness in everything (Living and Non-living). More like, connecting to oneness everywhere. This should not be mingled with Karma-Advaitha, meaning treating everything & everybody as same. Karma-Advaitha is not advocated by Hinduism as it is violates philosophy of Dharma. One should perform Karma based on what is right thing to do (Eg: Seeing Godliness in Bad person is Bhava-Advaitha, but treating Bad person as God is Karma-Advaitha, is in direct violation to Dharma. So, bad person should be punished for his bad karma based on Advaitha philosophy)
Blessed (Sthitha Pragna) is the one who does the right thing in material word based on duty and in spiritual world based on experiencing god in everything.
So, here comes our second guiding principle,
"If one does good karma, one gets good karma; If one does bad karma, one gets bad karma; it's like an infinite cycle - what goes around comes around. One should perform Karma based on prevailing Dharma at that time"
We have to note that Karma gets real confusing at times (Eg: Tiger is hungry, it ate a deer. Deer's point of view, it's bad karma for Tiger eating it; Tiger's point of view it's good karma as it's satiated it's hunger); so one has to apply Dharma (law + moral sense) to attach good/bad from one's point of view. Irrespective of their belief towards god (multiple, one, for some one who believe the very nature is God), the above guiding principle comes into effect all the time in Hinduism.
So, next logical question is, if Karma is deciding everything, why do I require understanding of God/Self-Realization. Well, not many people want to be part of this karma cycle as it's pretty ruthless & also mundane at times and there is no stoppage from being involved in this cycle unless one realizes God within where there is no manah: only budhdhi: exists.
Essentially, based on my understanding, Hindusim is not a religion of god, it's a way of life to realize god with below guiding principles
"There is no place in this Universe where God doesn't exist"
"If one does good karma, one gets good karma; If one does bad karma, one gets bad karma; it's like an infinite cycle - what goes around comes around. One should perform Karma based on prevailing Dharma to ultimately come out of this cycle and realize God forever"
In other terms, one can be called Hindu irrespective of the god they believe in if
"Do Karma based on Dharma (Law + Moral sense - Righteous thing), realize God forever"
Sources:
Knowledge from Family & Friends
Ramayana: https://www.readramayana.org/
Vedanta: Lectures by Sri Garikapati Narasimha Rao garu (YouTube)
Bhagavatham: http://www.brahmasri.com/Bhagavatam
Bhagavdgita: https://www.asitis.com/
Just an important point, I tried to listen/read from these sources, applied some thought process to filter what is relevant in this context & assimilated some ideas that I thought made sense for this topic.
