{"id":555,"date":"2012-01-01T23:19:50","date_gmt":"2012-01-02T04:19:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tarunmendiratta.com\/hawan.net\/?p=555"},"modified":"2017-01-31T17:08:28","modified_gmt":"2017-01-31T22:08:28","slug":"who-is-a-hindu-january-2012","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/?p=555","title":{"rendered":"Who is a Hindu (January 2012)"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Hinduism is one of the most ancient and rich religions. However, because of the plurality of gods\/goddesses, rituals, discourses, beliefs and practices, sometimes, the core definition and essence of our religion gets muddled in our minds. While we can unequivocally call ourselves Hindus, we may not be able to consistently describe our religion. To ensure we and our kids are able to gain a firmer understanding of the religion, the topic this year is Hinduism (title \u201c<span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1451445494555_5655\">Being a Hindu<\/span>\u201d).<\/p>\n<p>The goal of the exercise is that by the end of the year, kids are able to<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>understand the basic tenets of Hinduism<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1451445494555_5647\">\n<li id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1451445494555_5653\">identify &amp; appreciate the core beliefs and teachings in various aspects of life<\/li>\n<li id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1451445494555_5646\">answer the basic but key questions and concept of Hinduism in their own language, like, who is a Hindu? What are the attributes of Hinduism? Various names and forms of Gods.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Starting on the theme, this month\u2019s assignment is \u201c<span id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1451445494555_5649\">Who is a Hindu?<\/span>\u201d From time immemorial, scholars, academician, saints, and spiritual leaders have made attempt in defining Hinduism.\u00a0 Some of the definitions are:<\/p>\n<div id=\"yui_3_16_0_1_1451445494555_5638\">\u201cA Hindu is he who believes that the Vedas contain self-evident and axiomatic truths.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Hindu is one who believes in a religion which has originated in India.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThose who burn the dead are Hindus.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe who protects the cows and the Brahmins is a Hindu.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cA Hindu is one who regards India as his motherland and the most sacred spot on earth.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe who calls and considers himself a Hindu is a Hindu.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe who accepts the Vedas, the Smritis, the Puranas and the Tantras as the basis of religion and of the rule of conduct, and believes in one Supreme God (Brahman), in the Law of Karma or retributive justice, and in reincarnation (Punarjanma), is a Hindu.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe who follows the Vedic or Sanatana-Dharma is a Hindu.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHe who is a follower of the Vedanta is a Hindu.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>This month, kids will share their understanding of the word Hinduism in their own words. We encourage parents to let kids take lead in answering the question \u201cWho is a Hindu?\u201d Please use the preparation for the monthly assignments as an opportunity to have healthy discussions and reinforce your beliefs and values.<\/p>\n<p>Best regards,<br \/>\nHarsh Mendiratta<br \/>\n<a href=\"http:\/\/www.hawan.net\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\">www.hawan.net<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Hinduism is one of the most ancient and rich religions. However, because of the plurality of gods\/goddesses, rituals, discourses, beliefs and practices, sometimes, the core definition and essence of our religion gets muddled in our minds. While we can unequivocally call ourselves Hindus, we may not be able to consistently describe our religion. To ensure we and our kids are [&#8230;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[21,2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-555","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-21","category-monthly-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=555"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/555\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=555"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=555"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hawan.net\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=555"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}