I heard that Hinduism teaches that a woman can not merge with the Brahman - they have to be reincarnated as a man first. Is this true?
If so, then Hinduism is as sexist as other organised religions.
2006-09-13 02:52:08 · 7 answers · asked by bregweidd 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
Firstly - According to Bhagavad Gita, There is no Merging into Brahman. This is a Buddhist Concept. There is entering into the Spritual Sky and remaining hanging there, but it is considered lower perfection.
Soul has eternal existence. God Says
"Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings; nor in the future shall any of us cease to be".(Bhagavad Gita 2.12).
The Aim is for the soul to try to become qualified to Go back to Service of God. God Says
"And of all yogis, the one with great faith who always abides in Me, thinks of Me within himself, and renders transcendental loving service to Me—he is the most intimately united with Me in yoga and is the highest of all. That is My opinion." (Bhagavad Gita 6.47). This kind of Service makes the soul qualified to Go back to Kingdom of God...
The First Teaching of Bhagavad Gita is that we are not this Body. This Body is Designation. Either - man, woman, Indian, British, Muslim, Hindu ... All these are Designation on the Body. But we are all Spirit Soul and Duty of the Soul is to serve God.
In General terms Women body is said to have much more Sex and Material Desire than Men. Any one who cannot control his Sex desire and senses, either Man or Women, are considered Fallen. Those kinds of People are criticized. But if a Woman or Man or even an Animal, if is engaged in service of Krishna or Supreme Lord then She is considered very elevated.
It is confirmed in Garuda Purana
"Even the worms, birds and beasts are assured of elevation to the highest perfectional life if they are completely surrendered to the transcendental loving service of the Lord, so what to speak of the philosophers amongst the human beings?"
It is again confirmed in Srimad Bhagavatam (2.9.36 purport) and at many places through-out vedic literatures
"Any person, whatsoever and whosoever he or she may be—even the fallen woman, the less intelligent laborer, the dull mercantile man, or even a man lower than all these—can attain the highest perfection of life by going back home, back to Godhead, provided he or she takes shelter of the lotus feet of the Lord in all earnestness. This sincere earnestness is the only qualification that can lead one to the highest perfectional stage of life"
2006-09-13 04:16:16 · answer #1 · answered by Parsu 4 · 2⤊ 0⤋
No, this is not true. When you merge with the Divine, you are not a sex at all. Even God is neither male nor female, but at any time can represent characteristic of one or the other, or both! Some of the most well known saints today in Hinduism are women.
2006-09-13 09:58:54 · answer #2 · answered by Switch Angel 3 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Dear no such thing exist in Hinduism. Soul has no sex, it is eternal. Moksha (Liberation from the cycle of birth and death and unification with Brahman) is dependent on spiritual level of soul and when soul has no sex, then How can such question exist? Do you know many of the sages of Hinduism are females? Even today you will find female Gurus in Hinduism everywhere. eg., Saint Amritanandamayi of Kerela has millions of followers worldwide.
2006-09-13 10:12:49 · answer #3 · answered by Kwel 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I cannot answer your question specifically, but I can address the idea of sexism in the Hindu religion. Yes, they are sexist and discriminate against other groups within their own. There are some who still prescribe to the caste system. It was not until the turn of the last century they stopped burning the widow of a dead husband on the same funeral pyre. Imagine being thrown on a fire and burned alive just because you husband died.
Their marriage vows (traditional) have the husand as their sovreign Lord and they follow the steps of the husband without question and have NO steps of their own. It has improved in the past 60 years, but not impressively.
2006-09-13 09:56:32 · answer #4 · answered by DA R 4 · 0⤊ 2⤋
i thought its the soul that merges with brahman not the sex
2006-09-13 09:54:22 · answer #5 · answered by july j 1 · 2⤊ 0⤋
*shrugs*
all of the major organized religions I've seen are sexist.
2006-09-13 09:55:05 · answer #6 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 1⤋
no it is absolutely wrong.men and women who do right in their life get a chance to do so there are lot of theories on this wanna know them please contact me and I am a Hindu.feel free.
2006-09-13 09:57:07 · answer #7 · answered by raoul 2 · 2⤊ 0⤋