hinduism to atheism

[kriskiran]

I was born a hindu, in India. And forgive me if my english is bad, i haven't had the best education. In hinduism, you got a million gods and goddesses, any normal person will leave the thing for good. But a good thing about it is that if you reject it, unlike islam and christianity, its not a strict one, no one banishes you or your family. You can walk away when you want. No one ask you why. I think i always had this one coming. The rejection of religion. From a small age itself, i was an avid reader. Of magazines, classic novels, and i read about famous persons too. These all things influenced me a lot. Also, my home state has a good amount of communists. I'm not one, but i was familiar with the ideas. Only socialism and atheism got me. But believe me, almost all the communists i know are religious. That being said, don't think it as peaceful place. Hindus and muslims turn against each other sometimes, communal riots happen. Sometimes people get killed too. Its so sad. People are killing each other on the name of someone or something that don't exist. These kinda riots are common in northern India, but i'm from south, where people are a bit more civilised. Living in a country like this, any right minded person will give up their religion and god. But only a few do that.
My family knows i'm an atheist, and they always try to bring me back. I never engage in arguments with them, for i know its useless. I don't exactly remember when i gave up god completely, i think its about 5 years ago, when i was 15. This doesn't exactly mean i was a faithful hindu until then, i was a confused kid. I was confused because why religion exist at all, and why doesn't this so called god helps people in need. I'm still confused at that. I lead a life, a free life. No worries, no tensions. I wonder why others deny this. I never go to temples. I tried not to go from a very young age itself, but then, mom would take me. Then i told her once, 'i won't pray, i won't even care if i have my shoes on. Then why?'. She didn't have an answer. She still persuades me, i don't know why. For me, i don't have any incidence or anything sudden that changed the course of my life to atheism. As far as i know, i was always in this course. Now here, i'm happy to meet people of my kind. The world should completly get rid of fake beliefs to be a better place, in my opinion.

[The Magic Pudding]

Hello
I don't really understand India, I don't think I could live in my image of it.
I live in a town of 50,000 there's a 10,000 person town an hours drive South and a similar sized one an hour North. West, there's not many people out there and East is the sea. I often feel there are too many people about, it takes me longer to drive to town than it used to.

Anyway I wish you well and welcome.

[reverendjeremiah]

Welcome to the forums

[Minimalist]

I often feel there are too many people about, it takes me longer to drive to town than it used to.

Which is a good reason to support abortion, assisted suicide, extreme sports, and capital punishment for minor crimes.

[The Magic Pudding]

I often feel there are too many people about, it takes me longer to drive to town than it used to.

Which is a good reason to support abortion, assisted suicide, extreme sports, and capital punishment for minor crimes.

This sounds wise but I'd want to have a look at these minor criminals, if they're scruffy looken I probably wouldn't have a problem.

[BethK]

Hello Kriskiran. Good to count you as one of "us".

I too am a convert from Hinduism, specifically the Samkhya sect. It's a bit of an unusual sect. It is much like Buddhism, in that it is really not important, nor is it stressed, on whether the gods exit or not, and are assumed NOT to take part in the day-to-day lives of people. I converted to that (indirectly) from Wicca, which assumes that the gods exist, listen, care, and take part in day-to-day lives.... note that a god can dislike you and choose to smite you for any or no reason at all. Seemed kind of arbitrary and hodge-podgish. Hinduism is somewhat the same way, but has better "rules" lain down for how gods are likely to react and what will or will not please them. And, there are sadhana (holy acts - may take a day, or 3, or 9, or...), and tapas (penance).

I got the same thing out of sadhana and tapas that the Buddha got - that there had to be a "better" way, so went for nontheistic Samkhya. Most Samkhyins agree that the gods do not exist, but Universal Consciousness (Purusa) does exist, as does Primordial Material (Prakritti). OKAY! So, we've just redefined individual consciousness, and the fact that we'll mostly act alike due to social reasons and evolutionary reasons and taken the "Primordeal Soup" from which first particles, then atoms, then molecules, then substance, all the way through biology worked and given them names.

Let's simplify this a tad: How about we use the basic sociology and biology that defines how and why people and other animals (and even plants) will act a certain way and how it benefits the survival of their species to reproduce? How about use physics to define what probably existed right after the Big Bang, and things like chemistry, geology, biology, and so forth to define just what matter IS? Ba-da-bing, Ba-da-boom. Samkhyini to Atheist in one easy bound.

I guess that's why Bhaktins (following the path of devotion - e.g. Hare Krishnas) call us "impersonalists" when they are being "nice", and call us "the ATHEIST sect" when they're being unnice. Well, it IS a "slippery slope" from Samkhya to atheist. It IS a "slippery slope" from going from the devotion to any god to viewing it as an impersonal force to be reckoned with to being an atheist. It's a matter of whether you call the storm clouds "Thor" and "Fred" and "Tom" or whether you call them "cumulonimbus" and "mammus" or you just see the heads of elephants and tigers. The latter is something I'd expect from a child. The middle one is from anyone with knowledge of meteorology. The first is just silly personifications, and not unlike the last one.

Yet, I still practice some of the suggested meditations from Samkhya. For one thing, it is the best sleep-aid that I've ever discovered, plus it's free, legal, and available without a prescription. For another, their mindfulness exercises make me more aware and better able to attain the information I need to make the best decisions I can.

Nice to see someone who fails to believe in many gods! LOL

Beth

[kriskiran]

thanks man..

[Napoléon]

Cool story bro...

[Minimalist]

I often feel there are too many people about, it takes me longer to drive to town than it used to.

Which is a good reason to support abortion, assisted suicide, extreme sports, and capital punishment for minor crimes.

This sounds wise but I'd want to have a look at these minor criminals, if they're scruffy looken I probably wouldn't have a problem.

It's the corporate whores in the business suits who should be strung up.

[Justtristo]

Welcome to the forums kriskiran and for sharing your story.

I'm an Australian and if things have gone a little bit more differently in my life, which resulted in myself being put off spirituality all together. I would have converted to a Monist form of Buddhism or Hinduism (in particular the Advaita Vedanta school). The one thing I like about Hinduism it is a really a "broad church" religion which is very different from Christianity which stressed everybody who does not subscribe to what is seen as Orthodox Christianity are heretics.