The Faith Column: Hinduism

Hinduism is an ancient religion which has its foundations at the beginning of time as we know it. It’s almost as if God the creator revealed His pure knowledge to his children from the time of their arrival on the planet.

The Hindu creation story actually starts from the inception of the universe. God, the ultimate reality, called Brahman (Brahmm), created the universe and the first sound then heard ... read more

Hindus believe that God cannot be monopolised or limited to one way or the other. The Hindu concept of God is one of love, indeed God is considered to be beyond love and in Hinduism when a person reaches the state of Moksha or Nirvana the experience is one of utter bliss which no word can describe.

Moksha is the ultimate stage of salvation where the Atma, the divine ... read more

Lord Rama, Lord Krishna, Lord Buddha are the 7th, 8th and 9th incarnations of the preserver Lord Vishnu and prior to them was the 6th Lord Parshuram, before that Lord Vishnu came in the form of a Lion, a tortoise, a fish and so on – quite in line with the Darwinian Theory of Evolution.

The fish incarnation, incidentally, is the story where king Manu and his subjects including ... read more

The thing I love about Hinduism is that it gives me complete freedom to make my own decisions on how to practice my religion, it gives me the flexibility I need and indeed it gives me a great amount of choice. I have always felt from a very young age that there is a higher power beyond this universe, this nature, our world.

Many a time I have seen ... read more

When I was a young boy of nine years old I told my mother that I wanted to be a Buddhist monk when I grew up. “That’s nice,” she said, inwardly hoping that in a few months I’d want to be something normal like a policeman, a fireman, or an astronaut.

I never did become an astronaut, and neither did I quite make it to Buddhism. When I was 14 ... read more

India has the longest continuous religious tradition of any country in the world. Long before Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity and Islam were conceived, the path of Sanatana-dharma was followed by millions.

The sacred writings of the Vedas were in existence long before the Egyptians built their pyramids, and the way of life we now call Hinduism has remained intact through thousands of years right up to the present day.

That’s an ... read more

Devotees of Krishna start their day so outrageously early, it's still the middle of the night before. When London’s clubbers are emptying out onto the streets, the members of the Krishna temple down in Soho are already up. Some roll out of bed at 2.30am and some at 3.00. Minutes later they’ve had a warm shower finished with an icy splash to wake them up.

The women wear traditional sarees ... read more

“Could we have a group of Hare Krishnas to appear in The Da Vinci Code?” asks film director Ron Howard in a call to the London Krishna temple one morning.

“We want a typical London street scene for the film.” He wanted “a few seconds” of orange-robed Krishna chanters while Tom Hanks was being chased around the city by a murderous albino monk.

I was interested in the offer ... read more