Dharmic religion - gaining a new understanding

[Cpt. Rishwat]

I have seen this mentioned a lot in recent threads ranging from history of Bharat to current events in the middle east, so feel that this is something that deserves it's own space. What is Dharmic religion and why is it compared favourably with Abrahamic faith? Those who have brought this topic up in recent days and might have some input: @Champ_Pal and @JaDed

Of course others of dharmic persuasion are welcome to contribute along with non dharmics, hoping for a fruitful discussion which will lead to greater understanding.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Are dharmic religions confined only to the Indian subcontinent?

 

[sweep_shot]

I get this feeling majority of these BJP Indians don't sincerely practice their religion. It is likely they are cultural (and pretentious) Hindus.

Their issue seems to be entirely with Islam. They are not devoted toward their religion sincerely.

 

[jeetu]

Dharmic religion is a broad term which includes many religions like Hinduism , Buddhism , Jainism and Sikhism.
Hinduism roots were developed during Indus Valley Civilization but was structured Vedic period.
Jainism developed around 1500-1000 BC taking the most pacifist elements from Hinduism. Most revered Jainism preacher is Mahavira (24th Supreme Preacher) who lived around 600 BC.
Gautam Buddha born around time time of Mahavira developed Buddhism. He took elements from Hinduism and Jainism.
Sikhism is mostly based on teaching of Guru Nanak (born 1469). He took elements from Dharmic religion and Islam.

Hinduism belongs to polytheistic branch of religions like Roman , Greek and Egyptian. So its teaching and mythologies are in contrast to Abhrahmic religions. Like every other religion it has both good and bad elements in their teaching. In the present age of youtube etc everything gets dissected so people who likes alternative answers to their religious queries is available at click of button.

 

[JaDed]

not taking the bait but good try cap

 

[JaDed]

I get this feeling majority of these BJP Indians don't sincerely practice their religion. It is likely they are cultural (and pretentious) Hindus.

Their issue seems to be entirely with Islam. They are not devoted toward their religion sincerely.

Lol yes Shakib and Imran Khan have practiced Islam perfectly lol.
Good try.

 

[sweep_shot]

Lol yes Shakib and Imran Khan have practiced Islam perfectly lol.
Good try.

Why do you always derail a thread? Where did I mention Imran Khan, Shakib?

Here was what I wrote:

I get this feeling majority of these BJP Indians don't sincerely practice their religion. It is likely they are cultural (and pretentious) Hindus.

Their issue seems to be entirely with Islam. They are not devoted toward their religion sincerely.

I meant regular BJP voters.

 

[JaDed]

Why do you always derail a thread? Where did I mention Imran Khan, Shakib?

Is the thread about sincerely practising our religion?

 

[sweep_shot]

Is the thread about sincerely practising our religion?

This thread is about dharmic religion and my post was about that.

Stop derailing the thread.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Dharmic religion is a broad term which includes many religions like Hinduism , Buddhism , Jainism and Sikhism.
Hinduism roots were developed during Indus Valley Civilization but was structured Vedic period.
Jainism developed around 1500-1000 BC taking the most pacifist elements from Hinduism. Most revered Jainism preacher is Mahavira (24th Supreme Preacher) who lived around 600 BC.
Gautam Buddha born around time time of Mahavira developed Buddhism. He took elements from Hinduism and Jainism.
Sikhism is mostly based on teaching of Guru Nanak (born 1469). He took elements from Dharmic religion and Islam.

Hinduism belongs to polytheistic branch of religions like Roman , Greek and Egyptian. So its teaching and mythologies are in contrast to Abhrahmic religions. Like every other religion it has both good and bad elements in their teaching. In the present age of youtube etc everything gets dissected so people who likes alternative answers to their religious queries is available at click of button.

Thank you for the detailed reply, added some useful historical context to plug a few gaps in my knowledge.

 

[RexRex]

not taking the bait but good try cap

One day Cpt. will open a hinduism related thread to discuss it in good faith. Fingers crossed.

 

[DeadlyVenom]

Hinduism belongs to polytheistic branch of religions like Roman , Greek and Egyptian.

Would these also be considered Dharmic?

 

[Red-Indian]

All religions are nonsense. Abrahamic religions are a little more nonsense since they try to clarify and give precise rules based on old books that were interesting at the time. Dharmic religions are a little less nonsense since they don't depend on a single or couple of book/s and leave things ambiguous to be interpreted by current followers.

 

[Cpt. Rishwat]

Would these also be considered Dharmic?

Good question. In all the discussions I've had with PP Hindus the impression I've always got is that Dharma is very local to Bharat, although I'm not really sure where they draw the boundaries. I've seen Afghanistan included as part of Akhand Bharat although I doubt that has ever been run by the Afghans in political discourse between the two countries.

 

[jeetu]

Would these also be considered Dharmic?

Dharmic religions were first developed in Subcontinent. So other major Polytheistic religion are not considered part of it.
However all major Polytheistic have some similarity. For example All have Sun gods. Other extinct civilization like Sumerian followed this pattern too.
One of the oldest Information regarding India from non Local Source is Indica by Megasthenes. Megasthenes visited India during the time of Alexander and wrote a book about it.
Dharmic religion spread east instead of west. This might be due to difficultly navigating Hindu Kush mountain range. Buddhism reached furthest of lot (Japan). Many Hindu temples are still in Malaysia/ Indonesia.

 

[Suleiman]

A lot of religions were sent by God and that is why they share certain overarching concepts. The main one has always been to worship Him and Him alone. However, the devil’s ultimate goal has always been to misdirect mankind to associate partners to God. Which is the biggest sin, shirk.

So even though the religion starts off with purity, the devil slowly misguides people to start adding idols and other innovation, such as editing holy texts sent by God to satisfy their own egotistical desires, until they go completely off track and God sends another messenger to bring them back on track.

This has been the case since Prophet Adam peace be upon him to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him- the final prophet. There are potentially thousands and thousands of prophets between the two all across the globe. But the Quran is the only book that has remained pure and unedited since its revelation all the way till the Day of Judgement.

 

[uppercut]

A lot of religions were sent by God and that is why they share certain overarching concepts. The main one has always been to worship Him and Him alone. However, the devil’s ultimate goal has always been to misdirect mankind to associate partners to God. Which is the biggest sin, shirk.

So even though the religion starts off with purity, the devil slowly misguides people to start adding idols and other innovation, such as editing holy texts sent by God to satisfy their own egotistical desires, until they go completely off track and God sends another messenger to bring them back on track.

This has been the case since Prophet Adam peace be upon him to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him- the final prophet. There are potentially thousands and thousands of prophets between the two all across the globe. But the Quran is the only book that has remained pure and unedited since its revelation all the way till the Day of Judgement.

The summary of this post is basically that ... all other religions claiming to be religions are devils handiwork except ofcourse your religion ? Did I get that right ?

 

[Suleiman]

The summary of this post is basically that ... all other religions claiming to be religions are devils handiwork except ofcourse your religion ? Did I get that right ?

As I said, other faiths outside of what we know as Islam today can also be sent by God too originally. If I was alive during Moses’s (Prophet Musa) period I would follow him. If I was alive during Jesus (Prophet Isa’s) period I would follow him. If I was alive during Noah’s (Prophet Nuh) period, I would follow him.

Why? Because Islam is what all these prophets and countless others were preaching. Because at its core the literal definition of Islam means to submit to God, and God alone.

Moses, Jesus, Abraham, Noah, Adam etc were all Muslims because they submitted their will to God.

Their unfiltered and unedited texts and rules and laws sent by God was Islam of that period.

But once governments, kings, priests with ill intentions edited the texts and laws to benefit themselves, then those religions were corrupted. They still had the elements of what God revealed, but it was mixed with a lot of man made falsehood.

This is why a Muslim cannot burn or trash a Bible, a Torah and other religious books because there may be parts of the texts that are still unedited. And so doing anything like that will be disrespectful to God.

For eg, the prophecy of the arrival of Prophet Muhammad PBUH is mentioned in ancient Hindu texts:

There are theories that Buddha may have been a prophet too, we don’t know. God knows best.

But the point is all prophets pointed toward the oneness of God, but over time, the devil tempted their people out of this overarching concept by either worshipping the prophet themselves, or worshipping / associating partners to God, at times His own creation. Eg the sun, the moon, stars, animals, etc

This has always been and always will be the devil’s goal till the Day of Judgement. The biggest sin. Atheists aren’t safe from this either. Because he has them worshipping their desires, be it wealth, lust, or whatever else of this world as their idol.

So in summary: other religions can have elements of truth but at this point have been corrupted by man, and yes, Islam is the only true faith.

 

[MenInG]

If you wish to add videos, provide a good explanation of what you saw in it and use it to back your points.

 

[Champ_Pal]

Dharma essentially to my knowledge is the truth of life and the way to live.

Dharma differs by various paths to achieve Moksha and Nirvana.

Hinduism, Buddhism and Jainism to me are just schools of thought with a common origin. It is about relieving the soul from earthly sufferings.

Hinduism believes in supreme being Brahman(not to confuse with Brahmin caste). It is polytheistic in nature.

Buddhism and Jainism are atheistic. But Jainism believes in the veneration of noble men with great qualities.

Buddhism has many schools and can be polytheistic too. The Vajrayana school is polytheistic.

 

[Champ_Pal]

A lot of religions were sent by God and that is why they share certain overarching concepts. The main one has always been to worship Him and Him alone. However, the devil’s ultimate goal has always been to misdirect mankind to associate partners to God. Which is the biggest sin, shirk.

So even though the religion starts off with purity, the devil slowly misguides people to start adding idols and other innovation, such as editing holy texts sent by God to satisfy their own egotistical desires, until they go completely off track and God sends another messenger to bring them back on track.

This has been the case since Prophet Adam peace be upon him to Prophet Muhammad peace be upon him- the final prophet. There are potentially thousands and thousands of prophets between the two all across the globe. But the Quran is the only book that has remained pure and unedited since its revelation all the way till the Day of Judgement.

Here lies the difference.
There is no devil or Satan in Dharmic religions. Good and evil is within you. There is no outside power whispering in your ear or making you do evil things. The choice is yours and you have to choose one of the existing teachings of Shiva or Vishnu Avatars or Buddha or Jain Thirthankaras to overcome bad intentions within you to attain Moksha/Nirvana.

 

[IndoorCricket]

One has to understand Dharma first which in itself doesn't have a proper english counterpart.

Dharma is a Hindu, Buddhist, and yogic concept that refers to a law or principle that governs the universe. It is a combination of morality and spiritual discipline that guides one in living one's life.

Dharma includes various aspects

* Sanātana Dharma, the eternal and unchanging principals of dharma.
* Varṇ āśramā dharma, one's duty at specific stages of life or inherent duties.
* Sva dharma, one's own individual or personal duty.
* Āpad dharma, dharma prescribed at the time of adversities.
* Sadharana dharma, moral duties irrespective of the stages of life.
* Yuga dharma, dharma which is valid for a yuga, an epoch or age as established by Hindu tradition and thus may change at the conclusion of its time.

Given time, place and location our individual Dharma might change but the Sanatana Dharama is what Dharmic religions are based of.

1. Sanatana-dharma – duties performed according to one's spiritual (constitutional) identity as atman (Self) and are thus the same for everyone. General duties include virtues such as honesty, refraining from injuring living beings, purity, goodwill, mercy, patience, forbearance, self-restraint, generosity, and asceticism.
   
   
2. Varnashrama-dharma (a.k.a. Svadharma) – duties performed according to one's material (conditional) nature and are specific to the individual at that particular time. One's "own duty" according to his or her class or varna and stage of life should win when in conflict with Sanatana-dharma

These form core of any dharmic religions