Could someone explain to me the concept of Dharma? Also, what

Dharma is your duty in life
Read the Ramayana and the Bhagavad Gita (the whole Mahabharata is worth it too)

>>3300143
Dharma is also Nature, as in a duty or law that cannot be avoided. The Gunas for instance, are part of the Dharma of Material manifestation.

I would suggest also to read Upanishads as well as Gita and Ramayan

>>3299755
Married to a dude named Greg

File: 0 out of 10.jpg (3KB, 126x126px) Image search: [Google]

3KB, 126x126px

>>3300414

>>3299755
The English word "religion" is a little different from sanātana-dharma. Religion conveys the idea of faith, and faith may change. One may have faith in a particular process, and he may change this faith and adopt another, but sanātana-dharma refers to that activity which cannot be changed. For instance, liquidity cannot be taken from water, nor can heat be taken from fire. Similarly, the eternal function of the eternal living entity cannot be taken from the living entity. Sanātana-dharma is eternally integral with the living entity. When we speak of sanātana-dharma, therefore, we must take it for granted on the authority of Śrī Rāmānujācārya that it has neither beginning nor end. That which has neither end nor beginning must not be sectarian, for it cannot be limited by any boundaries. Yet those belonging to some sectarian faith will wrongly consider that sanātana-dharma is also sectarian, but if we go deeply into the matter and consider it in the light of modern science, it is possible for us to see that sanātana-dharma is the business of all the people of the world—nay, of all the living entities of the universe.

Read the Bhagavad Gita to get a summary of the dharma.

>>3300143
>>3300467
>>3300246
Which translation/edition of the Bhagavad Gita would you guys recommend.

>>3300542
Barbara Stoler Miller

File: KrishnaDevaki.jpg (84KB, 480x665px) Image search: [Google]

84KB, 480x665px

>>3300542
this: http://www.gita4free.com/publications/

then "As It Is" version, but treat all purport/commentary as suspect

>>3300602
>we wuz hindus

>>3300542
"As It Is" by A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada is excellent and can be found free online

Shreemad Bhagavad Gita "The Song of Love" by Paramahamsa Sri Swami Vishwananda is also nice

Whatever translation you read make sure it's one by a Bhakti

File: KrishnaGovardhanaHill.jpg (615KB, 2184x1473px) Image search: [Google]

615KB, 2184x1473px

>>3300605
Dravidians are dark blue. Can't blame negras for trying to glom on to them.

I prefer this sort of Krishna art, myself.

>>3300623
what era is this from?
the Miller Gita translation has Mughal art on it, looks very cool but different than what you've posted

File: MahaVishnu.256121750_std.jpg (236KB, 548x750px) Image search: [Google]

236KB, 548x750px

>>3300629
This is modern, a lot of the followers of Prabhupada from the 1970s onward are absolutely godlike painters.

Dharma is "The way things are" and they are not only the teachings explaining how the things are, but alzó de merthods to undertand ir by yourself.

I would recommend you to red "The way things are" by Lama Ole Nydahl.

>>3300640
is that Shiva in the bubbles?

>>3300602
>>3300615
I was sold an "As It Is" version a couple of years ago, but it has large sections of commentary between each verse.

I was under the impression that the "As It Is" version wasn't one used by many practicing Hindus, just the Hare Krishnas.

>>3300555
I'll probably go with this version desu.

>>3300661
>I was under the impression that the "As It Is" version wasn't one used by many practicing Hindus, just the Hare Krishnas.
this is my experience as well, I've only ever seen "As It Is" sold at Hare Krishna events
the Miller translation is no bullshit, a short book with a brief introduction, the text in plain english, and that's it.

File: Cosmos-krsna-loka-english-high-resoluti-1.jpg (338KB, 1040x1572px) Image search: [Google]

338KB, 1040x1572px

>>3300651
It's little universes, with their own reclining Vishnus lying on Anandas, with their own Brahmas sprouting out of the Vishnu's navels on lotuses to create the material cosmos as we know it.
The big central Vishnu in the photo, out of the bubbles, is MahaVishnu, who slumbers in the cosmic ocean, dreaming these bubble universes that arise and pop just as they do in our own oceans. The Light above him is a glimpse of the supreme reality above all of that, above even Mahavishnu, which is Goloka Vrindavana, the abode of Krishna, which is identical to Vrindavan in India 5000 years ago, or rather, Vrindavan on Earth 5000 years ago was an iteration of Goloka Vrindavan.

Krishnaism is pretty cosmologically interesting.

>>3300661
Gita4Free edition is not As It Is, As It Is is simply a nice version once you have the original text understood.
It's by Ramananda Prasad, PhD.
You can get an e-book of it or just order the thing, it's small enough to fit in your pocket, no commentary.

>>3300661
Got mine for free at a motel when I asked the clerk how to pronounce the title and that I had always wanted to read it. It opened the door for me that God very well may be real, definitely worth a read. Was Buddhist at the time and I still am on the fence of it all except reincarnation, meditation, and Nirvana but I have been studying theology a lot more since that day.

File: aphorismsofshiva.jpg (55KB, 400x430px) Image search: [Google]

55KB, 400x430px

>>3300691
You should seriously read this, man. If you can't afford a copy I'll upload it somewhere for you.
Really bridges the gap with western science.

>>3300680
would you happen to know anything about a story of Shiva consuming a poison during the churning of the cosmic ocean and it almost killing him, but he remembers a vision of baby Rama and manages to control the poison from reaching his heart (where baby Rama resides)? my dad told me a story about it once, I tried to retype what i remembered but it makes no sense, and i might be remembering the entire story incorrectly
unrelated to the thread but I thought i'd ask while you're here

>>3300697
>If you can't afford a copy I'll upload it somewhere for you.
if he's not interested, I am

File: vishnucosmicexpansion.jpg (68KB, 600x430px) Image search: [Google]

68KB, 600x430px

>>3300704
Sounds like a version of the Kurma incarnation of Vishnu.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurma

>>3300697
I will be eternally grateful if you upload it as I am currently facing financial troubles

>>3300709
https://drive.google.com/open?id=0B2w_rjadg1tWTGhTc0kyNFBTbGM

>>3300661
It's used by many Vaishnavas and it's not sectarian. The commentary by Prabhupada is extensive but very detailed and worth reading. The idea is the Gita can only be properly understood when studied under a guru in the sampradaya system, which Prabhupada is. There's a lot of commentaries by westerners in particular that don't really understand the personal conception of God and Bhakti that the Gita talks of.

>>3300717
Many thanks

>>3300713
found this https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halahala
i don't know what story i'm thinking of with Ram and Shiva

>>3300717
thank you

>>3300704
That event is called the Samudra manthan

>>3300756
don't you have a Reddit post to upvote or something?

>>3300697
>>3300717
Perchance do you know of any good books that link Judaism or pre-catholic Christianity to the Vedas. Or a good commentary on The Holy Bible from that perspective?

>>3300542
Learn that Sanskrit and start reading the old parchments that is only available in varanasi.

>>3300748
>>3300753
yup

>>3300770
>Learn that Sanskrit
isn't this an extremely difficult language to learn?

>>3300769
I don't know about something so specific, but Apophthegmata Patrum is on archive.org and it's an excellent book from the primordial church

File: Blind_Men_And_Elephant.jpg (28KB, 332x236px) Image search: [Google]

28KB, 332x236px

>>3300704
Shiva receives his name Neelakantha or blue throat because of the churning of the Great Ocean or the Cosmic Ocean. Basically the Devas and Asuras, both powerful races who saught control of the three worlds, heaven, earth and hell.

In their eternal war the Devas were defeated they were advised the only way to recover their losses is to get the Nectar of immortality as advised by Vishnu, so they allied with teh Asuras and told them how to get the Amrita (Nectar of Immortality), together they came to the great mountain of Mandara and then Vasuki a great serpent king gave his body to be used as the rope to the churning rod of the mountain, they then churned the cosmic ocean of milk []]...maybe Milky way??[[] and from it wonderous and terrible things arose, including the Ratnas and the poison Halahala, this could endprocess all creation. So they called on Shiva who appeared and swallowed the poison, but his wife Goddess Parvati knew that there are entire universes in his body that would be destroyed so she grabbed his throat and stopped it there, thus the eponym neelakatha or Bluethroat.

>>3300794
>In their eternal war the Devas were defeated
war against who and how?

File: Hanuman.jpg (125KB, 838x827px) Image search: [Google]

125KB, 838x827px

>>3300802
Against the Asuras. It says right in his post.
For even more fun, check out Zorastrianism, which is the Iranian survival of the same Vedic religion: their Evil Gods are called Daevas and their Good Gods are called Ahuras, opposite of the Indian Vedic Good Devas and Evil Asuras.

heh

>>3300823
was Zoroastrianism created as a response to the Indian Vedic gods or did the two styles of worship arise at similar times

>>3300830
The founder of Zoroastrianism, Zoroaster, aka Zarathushtra, took some good dope, tripped hard, and said "like, what if the GODS were really the DEMONS, maaaaan??" like that

essentially

Zoroastrianism is v cool stuff tho.

>>3300802
Sorry against the Asuras. Devas and Asuras are forever fighting. Asuras led by Bali defeated the Devas,

File: teutonic.gif (34KB, 200x259px) Image search: [Google]

34KB, 200x259px

>>3300919
Not entirely, I suspect it was due to the priestly caste loosing their heritage or rites being observed incorrectly, this lead to a variance in religious thought that spawned Zoroaster's idea, he may have said that the perspective of gods with mortal weaknesses were more than likely demons, and that true goodness is always united, thus Ahura Mazda began as thought as the godhead of goodness. Around the same time proto shaivism and vaishnavism along with Krishna cults was being born in india. So in all both cultures deviated by the time they had settled and planted their roots, typical of most other cultures.

>>3301029
If I was to be as technical, I would say that Iran went through a Semitic Reform of the Indo-Iranian Religion, and that India went through a Dravidian reform of same.

>>3300414
kek

>>3300542
Eknat Easwaran

https://www.amazon.com/Bhagavad-Easwarans-Classics-Indian-Spirituality/dp/1586380192

This is probably the most noob-friendly one. Easy to understand translation and commentary.

File: IMG_0343.jpg (109KB, 473x701px) Image search: [Google]

109KB, 473x701px

>>3300680
I honestly think Hinduism probably has an uncanny amount of truth to it. It's completely compatible with evolution, multiverses, and it's practices are self-evidently effective. Christianity and Islam convert based on FOMO and fear. Buddhism and Hinduism is like "ok guys, here is the reality. Take it or leave it. It's probably for your own benefit if you do what we recommend but it's up to you." Awesome.

Who is the man on the right? Some sort of Indian Hercules?

>>3300769
Ah you sound like me towards the end of my Christian phase. I found so much compelling wisdom elsewhere but I still loved Christ. So I went through all these mental gymnastics to try to make it all fit with the Bible.

>Judaism or pre-catholic Christianity to the Vedas.
For Judaism, I recommend any books on Kabbalah. "God is a Verb" by Dave Cooper is a good one and he has others. The wisdom of the Kabbalists is surprisingly similar to Vedic philosophy. Just goes to show you how cross-cultural these truths are. Kabbalah is also weighed down by dogma but it's box is a bit more roomy than Christian box.

As far as Christianity, you find pockets of wisdom in various church fathers but it's weighed down by dogma which makes it hard. Gnosticism is more blatantly trippy but it's also pretty needlessly convoluted. For this, I recommend Elaine Pagel's book "The Gnostic Gospels".

I basically studied the above for a long ti,e because I was so determined to maintain my Abrahamic framework while fulfilling until I finally had to let go of that.

>>3302059
Forgive typos, phonetyping right now

>>3299755
Anyone here who read the Bhagavad Gita? WHat did you think of it?

>>3302040
That's because the shramana reforms were scientifically oriented, like a kind of Renaissance Enlightenment within the indian subcontinent.
Most of the traditions from this time appeal to intellect, logic, and observed experience.

>>3302066
Several of us have read it and think it's the bees knees.
Read the thread.

>>3302046
Arjuna, a prince of the Pandu dynasty. In the context of the Gita the Pandus are fighting a war against their cousins, the Kaurava dynasty for control of a kingdom. Right before the Battle of Kurulshetra Arjuna laments at the idea of of fighting their kinsmen and tells Krsna he does not wish to fight. Krsna explains that he is acting out of illusion by denying to fight, and speaks the Gita to him.

>>3303147
Its Pandava dynasty. Pandu is the founder.

>>3302066
Highly, highly recommend it.

“Wherever there is Kṛṣṇa, the master of all mystics, and wherever there is Arjuna, the supreme archer, there will also certainly be opulence, victory, extraordinary power and morality. That is my opinion.” (Bg. 18.78)

Glorified legalism.

>>3305070
What did he mean by this?

>>3305734
Means that you will always win if you believe in something greater than yourself.

>>3302040
>compatible with evolution, multiverses,
another doctrine is compatible with what liberals have taught me in liebral acadamia so it is good

>>3302040
>it makes no demands of me, therefore it must be true
I'm not trying to convert you to anything, but there's nothing particularly awesome about this mentality.

>>3306074
That's what you got from that? Crack a fuckin book, kid, bhakti is one of the most demanding disciplines. It isn't that yoga class your gay boyfriend goes to at the mall.

Pathetically uneducated.

>>3306074
Noble Eightfold Path "doesn't demand anything of you"

Are you fucking hydrocephalic?

>>3306074
Spiritual development is very demanding under a Hindu or Buddhist framework. If you mean to say that it doesn't demand you to subscribe to self-sustaining and narrow dogma then you're right.

>>3300823
So Zoroastrianism is reverse hinduism?

File: 1500844876320.jpg (59KB, 960x882px) Image search: [Google]

59KB, 960x882px

>>3305978
>MUH LIBRULS
You can do better than this.

>>3299755

"What you sow, so shall ye reap."

An actual truth saying. Not this dharma bullshit.

File: 9781594772245_5.jpg (189KB, 602x900px) Image search: [Google]

189KB, 602x900px

>>3307912
>"What you sow, so shall ye reap."

When has any sower gotten his just reaps?

Pic related, meditation has been observed to improve health and cause spiritual experiences, recognized by science, meanwhile christians have to enter very ugly arguments with scientists for their god to "keep existing".

File: IMG_0274.jpg (11KB, 276x183px) Image search: [Google]

11KB, 276x183px

>>3307912
>only things in my one book count, everything else is bullshit
What a limited worldview.

>>3307894
No, it's Judaism + pagan fire god

File: IMG_0241.jpg (655KB, 680x1024px) Image search: [Google]

655KB, 680x1024px

>>3307948
I credit entheogens to moving me towards this direction. I would still be a Christian or perhaps Atheist without them. I haven't had a ayahuasca experience, perhaps someday.

>>3307948
>When has any sower gotten his just reaps?

Always.

>>3307968
Yup. Only one holy book on the planet, and you lump it in with garbage.

>>3307968

2 + 2 = 4

>what a limited worldview
>laughing.jpeg

>>3300542
Anything except "As It Is". It's a Hare Krishna translation, that's like reading a Jehovah's Witnesses version of the Bible.

So, it depends what you want:

>easy to read
Eaknath Easwaran

>accurate, no frills
W.J. Johnson

>translated by a Hindu spritual leader
Chinmayananda

>>3308042
>waste of time

All three.

>>3302059
Thanks for the recs I will be sure to check them out. And yeah, I'm not really a follower of Abraham but I'm still trying to have a better understanding of it like any other faith since it's not going anywhere anytime soon and if I'm lucky I still have another 60 years of a functional brain to try to understand it all.
By the way if you're still here same request as before but replace early Abrahamic religion with Taoism and Jainism?

>>3309065
There's some good general texts and foundational scriptures on archive.org et c.
I believe the full Gothas, Zoroastrian scripture, are on their own webpage, google that shit.

>>3309592
For those that Google it, search for "Gathas" or else you're going to see aeroplanes, otherwise, thanks!

File: WOKE.png (75KB, 325x244px) Image search: [Google]

75KB, 325x244px

>>3300680
Christ, was Hinduism created by Grant Morrison or something?

>>3308042
>Chinmayananda a Hindu spiritual leader
Chinmayananda is an atheistic philosopher that simply speculates on the Gita with his impersonalist views. He has no qualifications of his own and is in no means an authority. He's even given lectures on the twelfth chapter of the Gita without once mentioning the name Krsna. Prahupada on the other hand is a bhakta sannyasa in the sampradaya system. How can Chinmayananda possibly be considered to have a superior translation?

>>3309849
Disclipic succession authority is a carny confidence scheme, man, come on now

>>3300775
No, it's pretty simple. However, even if you master it, reading the Gita will still be a hard task since a lot of the words may be unknown to anyone but linguists. You could probably read some of the newer sutras though.

>>3308016
>2 + 2 = 4
Prove it, axiomatically.