Many Hindu Gods/Goddesses have their Yantra, why?
135385
What's really remarkable about the Sri Yantra it is the visual expression of the sound "OM". It has been recorded electronically when monks chanted the "OM" and the Sri Yantra pattern emerged and was recorded on an electronic transmitter. You can see the photograph here: http://www.spiritandflesh.net/image_Sri_Yantra_Hindu_Spirituality.htm\n\nThe Sri Yantra is the symbol of the Formless Goddess. Since the "OM" sound is the seed of creation, so it is natural to understand that the Divine Mother has the seeds of creation.\n\nThey use these symbols as an object of meditation. They are used to focus on the "formless" aspect of God and/or Goddesses. Most of us prefer to focus on the forms such as: Buddha, Krishna, Kali, Ganesha, etc.\n\nSome prefer to focus on the formless aspects and would use these yantras. They all have meanings within their sacred geometric shapes. You can find some sites that explain the meanings of each shape.\n\nIt's a pretty cool thing to learn about. I've just recently learnt somethings about them.
319011
linga is the sacred phallus and principal symbol of the Hindu god Shiva and nearly always presented in connection with the yoni. i don't know where you're getting the anal orifice thing from
531094
The Hindu religion is base on:\n\nUpanishads.\n\nVedas.\n\n............\n\nThey have three Main God, that were created by God.\n\nShiva.\nVishnu.\nBrahma.\n\nThey have 1001 name for their Gods.\n\nGreek and Romans also had many Gods.\n\nVishnu is a preserver of universe.\nShiva is a destructer of Evil and protector of good.\nBrahma is a Creator of this earth and things in it.\n\nAll other gods are just the Avatar or reincarnation of mainly Vishnu or Shiva.\n\nThe deference between the Christianity and the Hindu is, in your religion God sends his only son, to earth. The Hindu believe that from time to time Vishnu or Shiva were send to this earth or they decided to visit the earth to create order of a kind. They took the shape or form or Avatar of Rama(Vishnu) or Krishna(Shiva). These are the two main Avatar of the the God.\n\nIf you ask any Hindu he may have slightly different twist on the events. But most will have same gereral info, along the above line of thinking and some will disagree completely.\n**************************************************************\nMy answer is based on my interpretation of the Q?, If you did not get the Q? answered please do re-phase it and I will try and answer it or others will.\n******************************************************************\nThis is for the people who have grilled you over, for your, English.\n\nMost of the people who write poor English, are attempting to write a foreign language for the first time. They are like baby learning to speak, but they have to write in this forum, so we should give them credit for trying. \n\nOnly way you can learn and master the language is to try, so please do not give up.\n\nBy all means correct them, instruct them, but do not discourage them with harsh comments.\n\nExample: (this was one of the "q?" from a second grader).\n\nMy 'grandpa' told me that does'nt disclose u r secret with any females why? please give me explanation for it\n\nYou should have broken this up in to small manageable sentences.\n\nMy 'grandpa' told me that, do not disclose your secret to any female. Can you please explain me why?\n\nDo you understand it batter? First thing I did was to type this in word. In word you can check spellings and grammar. Then I took it to the answer block.\n\nOn the top right corner, there is a "Check spelling" you can use that too, but it will not correct grammar.
364512
Because that's what Hindus do.  They make idols and worship them.
300856
While they are different words for the same thing, chances are the gods/goddesses for each civilization were different...
281005
A very good question.  \n\nMuch debate has gone up about the POLYTHEISTIC nature of Hindu.  The religion is known to have so many gods it is debated that there is no god at all to Hindu (among western academics), though it is so obviously a religion.\n\nGodhead is the name for the form of god in Hindu.  Godhead is in all things, all objects, all shapes, and all places.  In Hindu, god is worshipped in many shapes, the shapes of the many gods, and yet it is a general, universal god they celebrate, even though it is multitudes of gods.\n\nI understood it best when I heard a (poor) translation of a Hindu prayer, I will try to recall here: \n\n"God forgive me for these sins I commit, \nFor I am human.  \n\nYou are in all things, \nAnd I worship you in these things, \nYou are in all forms \nAnd I worship you in this form, \nYou are in all places, \nAnd I worship you in this place.  \n\nGod, forgive me for these sins I commit, \nFor I am human."
154504
Thats a vague question.\nWell, there are 3 main Gods. Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the protector), and Shiva (the destroyer). \nHindus believe in Karma, reincarnation, and samsara (life cycle through reincarnation) until the achievement of Moksha which is unity with God. It can be achieved with supremely good Karma. Karma, as you should know, is the idea that what goes around comes around. Reincarnation is the idea that we are reborn into the world with another life after death. We only freed from this when we achieve Moksha.\nThe caste system is comprised of 6 main castes, with the Brahmans on the top and the Untouchables on the bottom. The system no longer exists in mainstream India today.
669873
hindu festivals are not celebrated  on a particular day every year.. \n\nthere are astrological calculations for every festival..and the dates vary every time...\n\nFor the list and what they do on a particular festival, see the link..
40131
They revere Krishna as the supreme Godhead just as many Vaishnavites revere Vishna as the supreme personality or those that follow Rama see Rama as the supreme personality and Saivites see Shiva as the supreme personality. Ganapatiyas see Ganesh as the supreme personality. \n\nWhy? Because Hinduism teaches that there is only ONE God, one supreme personality, one cosmic consciousness, one ultimate realtiy, one unmanifest reality (all terms used by various Hindu philosophical schools). The One can be called by any name. For ISKCON this is Krishna. For other Hindus it is Ganesh, Shiva, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Parvati, Kali, Durga, Ayyappa, Murugan, Rama, or any other name. Some use images, some don't use images. The images are merely a tool, much like the name. Hinduism teaches that no matter what name you call God by, God will always hear your prayers and answer.
173890
Carl Sagan is one of my favorite authors and oralists.  I will comment on the latter paragraph, be reminded that I know very little about Hindu beliefs.  \n\nI do agree with the concept of births, deaths and rebirths.  Star explodes (death), sending out starstuff.  Eventually gravity draws the starstuff back and creates another star (birth/rebirth).  I have heard the latter paragraph before.  It was rather intriguing!  :-)  It made me want to understand (but not embrace as a personal religion) a bit more about Hinduism when I first heard it a couple of years ago.  :-)
150038
I'm a Hindu.  To me, all life is sacred.  All sentient beings deserve our respect.  But the cow in particular is of special importance in Indian culture for various historical and cultural reasons.  \n\nThe cow is seen as a symbol of the Mother.  The cow gives, and asks for nothing in return.  It is gentle and itself a vegetarian.\nIndians have used the products of the cow for their livelihood.  They drink its milk, and they use ghee (clarified butter) in much cooking, and paneer (cheese) is an important nutritional element in a predominantly vegetarian diet that most Indians keep.\nBesides these foods, the dung is a traditional source for fuel.  The cow's urine is an antiseptic.\n\nThe cow was an ancient measure of wealth.  When there were no coins, people traded in cows and such.\n\nThe cow is a national emblem for India, and there is much pride associated with it.\n\nThe cow is not really worshipped, in the same sense that one worships God.  But it is definitely respected and appreciated, and protected.
110957
Well, except that the Egyptian religion is much closer to Hinduism in that beyond the "Trinity" there is a Brahman or higher aspect from which these three are all actually one whereas the Christian Trinity states clearly that there is one God in three Persons. Hinduism and Egyptian religion share this higher concept and reject the idea that the names of the Gods in the Trinity are individual Persons..individual Gods. They are merely reflections of the higher Divine. \n\nI apologize that the name of the higher Egyptian Brahman type eludes me. Let me explain it from Hinduism (since I know the names). I have friends that actually practice the Egyptian religion and have studied it (and I've studied a great deal myself..including reading hieroglyphs).\n\nIn Hinduism there is one God. This one God is called Brahman. It can be thought of as both Nirguna Brahman (without form, name, and attribute) and as Saguna Brahman (with form, name and attribute). Everything in the universe is manifested from Brahman. Brahman is infinite...limitless...without any limits. Brahman is beyond form, name, and attributes and yet it also become form, name, and attributes when it manifested the universe. The problem of course is that it is very difficult to worship the infinite unknown without form, name, and attribute (the word Brahman literally just means "supreme" or "highest"). Hinduism then has the Trimurti or Trinity. Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Brahma represents Creation, Vishnue represents Preservation, and Shive represents Dissolution. But Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are NOT seperate from Brahman. They are Brahman! When Hindus worship whatever name and/or form, they are actually worshipping Brahman. The Egyptian religion is the same.\n\nSo................\n\nWhen worshipping the Christian Trinity there is God the Father, Jesus the son, and the Holy Spirit who are all individually unique and to be worshipped....yet all three are God...they are all said to be God. One God in Three Persons. When worshipping Jesus, Jesus is the bridge to God. If you worshipped the Holy Spirit, you are still worshipping God. If you just worship God the Father, you are still just worshiping God. \n\nThere really isn't much of a difference. It often appears on the outside that CHristians seem to be worshipping three Gods, but through theological teachings you realized that there is God who has resided in Heaven (the Father), this God manifests in human form as Jesus, and also interacts with people now through the Holy Spirit. While each are individually identifiable because of their qualities (forms), they are all actually God. Hindus and Egyptians would agree. Hindus go so far as to have avatars or incarnations of God all the time (even today) that they worship and Egyptians often did, too...this was their pharoah.
77061
there are and have been thousands \n,if you count all the primitive religions as well.\neach one is totally real to its followers\n\nthe primitive religions were probably more real ,because they happened ,with out the intervention of scheming political bookwriting priests.\nthey came from peoples inner fears and wonder
330183
One ...there is no modern Hinduism. Two there is no difference between any religion and Hinduism.  Hinduism is the mother of all religions.  Bhakti yoga of hinduism can be found in Christians, Karma Yoga is Muslims and Sankhya Philosophy in Buddhism.\n\nQuantum physics can be better understood by Tantra !\n\nBudhism is an off-shoot of Hinduism...there is nothing new which Hindus did not know!\n\nAnd yes tell all that Hindus do believe in One God with different manifestation, as liked by individual as per his mental status.\n\nAnd yes we do not reject any belief...we accept all !!
73845
gods are not biased. humans are.most of the stories and rules were made by men so naturally they tried to to dominate as much as they could. \n\nHinduism is a culture whose only words for strength and power are feminine -- \nShakti is the divine feminine power found in everything. ``shakti'' means ``power'' and ``strength.'' All male power comes from the feminine. And Shakti is the fundamental strength of the feminine that infuses all life and is viewed as a goddess.\n\nhere women took part in philosophical debates regularly when they got a chance. in Vedas there are some verses by female schollers too. Gargi, Matreyee are most famous among the female schollers . \n\n     i cannt say for everybody but in india there is an ample evidence that men have made up additional stories to suit them with time. early  society was less discrimnating towards women. but how and when is another topic. i just want to say god should not be blamed for mortals selfserving ideas.\n\nAccording to the Bhagavad Gita: \n\n"I am alike to all being." "None is hateful or dear to me. But those who worship me with devotion are in me and I in them."
182614
though they apprentlly worship many gods, even the uneducated devout hindu agrees that all of them are just different facets of one divine gem. Krishna , Rama all of them are called Avatars of god.\n\nThe Upnishads contain deep philosophical theories and maintain that there is only one abstract god. he is called ajanma(unborn) adi(first) arup(having no form). we look upon icons as one of the many forms of god. a form which depicts the qualities for which we rever Him. \n\nThe first fundamental principle of Hindu Dharma is that "the Reality is one without a second." This reality is beyond description by human mind. Hence it is indicated by a single world, "Brahman". "Infinite, eternal, changeless existence is the All; from that All, All comes forth; to that All, all returns," that is what the Chandogya Upanishad (vi.2.1) tells us. \n\nIdol Worship (Symbolism) \nIdol or image is a kind of yantra or a device for harnessing the eye and mind on God. As the Vishnu Samhita puts it:\n\n"Without a form how can God be mediated upon? If (He is) without any form, where will the mind fix itself? When there is nothing for the mind to attach itself to, it will slip away from meditation or will glide into a state of slumber. Therefore the wise will meditate on some form, remembering, however, that the form is a superimposition and not a reality." \n\nSymbolism in Hinduism is sublime and profound. Each act of Hindu worship reflects some deep spiritual significance. \n\nYes, said he, but just how many gods are there Yajnavalkya?" "Thirty three". "yes," said he, but just how many gods are there, Yajnavalkya?" "One." \n- Brhadaranyaka Upanishad III, IX,\n\n\nHinduism boldly and confidently proclaims that "Truth is one, the wise call it by various names." (Rig Veda).\n\n\nin hinduism it is just accepted that worshipping something you can feel but not see is not possible for everyone. and most of the people need a symbol/icon. so hinduism allows you to worship and pray to god in whatever form you like .\n\nKrishna says :\nif any worshiper do reverence with faith to any god whatever,\ni make his faith firm and in that faith he reverences his god and gains his desires for it is i who bestow them.\n\naccept it or not, while people may not be worshiping actual icons every faith has something as a symbol of god. Be it a book or be it a cross or a place or a structure. many christians even promoted jesus to status of God himself instead of just His son.\n\n  so when they talk about god they are talking about God/Allah/Bhagwan/ishwar. they are synonyms just different languages.\n\nas for rhanjo' s post:\n\n it will be  gullible to think story of adam is really true and that everybody else on this earth think so. Patel surname is used mostly by gujarat people. you will get some muslims too who used this surname.
232099
I always thought suri was a type of man powered chariot in India. More similar to cross- inbreeding.