How to Become a Hindu: How To Indeed A History Making Manual Presenting An - Softcover

Satguru Sivaya Subramaniyaswami

Softcover

ISBN 10: 8120818113 ISBN 13: 9788120818118

Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass, 2002

Synopsis

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From the Publisher

What is it like to enter an Asian religion fully? And how does a Hindu recharge his faith with deeper meaning and life-guidance? "How to Become a Hindu" opens with stories from Americans, Canadians and Europeans recounting their dramatic, sometimes intense, passage from Western faiths to Hinduism. The tales of these pioneers will fascinate metaphysical and religion readers. Marriage between couples of differing faiths is more and more commonplace. Indo-Americans who are Hindu are often marrying outside their religion, and eventually face upsetting challenges in their married life. How to Become a Hindu offers honest reflection and recommendations for these couples. For Hindu/yoga leaders—ordained and lay—the book is the first-ever how-to guide, an immensely useful tool explaining each step of the way into Hinduism. The core meaning of Hindu identity and Hindu openness to newcomers is explored with stimulating insight. A lengthy introduction includes the author's own fascinating Hindu-adoption story. Another unique facet of the book is the use of its true stories to illumine real, sometimes intense, subconscious conditions underpinning religious conversion—both by the converter and the minister involved. The description of this process—drawn from Sivaya Subramuniyaswami's legendary psychic perceptions—makes the book a fire starter of new metaphysical understanding that all spiritual thinkers will appreciate.

The idea of conversion to Hinduism is much debated in Hindu halls. As this book gently chronicles, conversion or adoption is often balked at by overly-westernized Hindus to the degree that misinformation and disinformation litter the debating field. How to Become a Hindu brings together for the first time the historic and contemporary views from scripture and powerful Hindu thinkers that clearly uphold and celebrate an easy, natural passage to Hinduism. Non-Hindus and Hindus alike will find insights and knowledge not normally found in conventional philosophic or theological books. Christians will benefit from the book's placing of ethical conversion on the interfaith discussion table, and gain perspective on the swelling migration to Asian religions. A finely-delineated comparison of the world faiths is included--probably the best available today--and a discussion on the four living sects of Hinduism. Also includes an extensive Hindu names list.

"How to Become a Hindu," like all of the Himalayan Academy Publication books, is distilled out of many years of insight and experience, as the author became the guide and minder of north Americans and Europeans of western faiths formally entering Hinduism. The book quilts together the stories of people migrating from a Western faith to Hinduism; provides a fascinating mirror on the subconscious processes of conversion, and offers an important little-heard debate on conversions that are ethical and fair; and those that are not.

From the Author

In answer to the question, "Gurudeva, how did you become a Hindu?" I would answer that it wasn't a dramatically awesome, big experience for me to enter the oldest religion in the world. I grew up in Hinduism. As with many Americans, I had no prior religion, though I was raised by those who had lived long in India and were enamored of its culture and worldview. Hinduism was, therefore, my first faith. A very dear friend of our family, a graduate of Stanford University in California, had the opportunity to be the guest of the Maharaja of Mysore for five years. There she learned Indian art, dance, culture and the Saiva religion. When my mother passed on, when I was nine years of age, she assisted my father in raising me, and from that moment on India was a vital part of my life. I knew at ten years of age how to wear a dhoti, how a turban should be wrapped, how women drape a sari, how the dance of Siva Nataraja should be danced, how incense should used to purify the atmosphere of the home and how Indian food should be eaten. This remarkable person lectured and gave presentations to the public on the beauty and glory of Indian culture. At youth summer camps held at her beautiful chalet on Fallen Leaf Lake, near Lake Tahoe, I learned the worship of Lord Siva Nataraja. At the beginning of my teens, this was very important to me, and it led me into the Vedanta philosophy, which I pursued through listening to lectures of Indian swamis at the Vedanta Society in San Francisco and in reading books. I was most inspired by the life of Swami Vivekananda and his four small volumes: Raja Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga and Inspired Talks. I was especially impressed by his poem, "The Song of the Sannyasin." Only years later would I discover that my satguru, Yogaswami, as a young man about my same age, had been inspired by a personal encounter with Swami Vivekananda when the Indian monk visited Colombo on his way back from America to India.

Edition details

• Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 8120818113
• ISBN 13: 9788120818118
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 100