Episode 189

Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, surpassed only by Islam and Christianity. Having originated in the Indian subcontinent over 2,500 years ago, Hinduism is practiced by more than one billion people worldwide, 96% percent of which live in India. Hinduism came under the neon lights of American public discourse and scrutiny with Vivek Ramaswamy’s candidacy for president in the 2024 election (see episode 142). What is Hinduism, and what do Hindus believe? Is it compatible with Christianity or does it stand in stark contrast? On this episode of the Removing Barrier podcast, we sit down with Jacob to answer these questions and come to a better understanding of that faith. Jacob is a stalwart Christian and, having been born and raised in India, has a more thorough understanding of Hinduism and how it differs from Christianity. He has graciously shared his time and knowledge with us, and we hope that this episode will help remove any barriers to Christ posed by Hinduism.

[Jacob]

When I’ve had. People I know who have passed away within social media people say like I won’t say Christian. Say that we don’t say that. RIP, you know, rest in peace. But what Hindu says May he attain moksha, meaning may he come out of this cycle of being reincarnated again and again. And achieve the final state, the final state of what is called. Moksha and it is what they call salvation.

[Jay]

Thank you for tuning into the Removing Barriers podcast. I’m Jay and I’m MCG. And we’re attempting to remove barriers so we can all have a clear view of the cross.

[MCG]

This is episode 189 of the Removing Barriers podcast and this is the 5th in this series of what do you believe? And in this episode, we’ll be looking at what those who practice Hinduism believe.

[Jay]

Hi, this is Jay. MCG and I would like for you to help us remove barriers by going to removing barriers net and subscribing to receive all things, removing barriers. If you’d like to take your efforts a bit further and help us keep the mics on, consider donating at RemovingBarriers.net/donate. Removing Barriers, a clear view of the cross.

[MCG]

And joining us in this episode is our guest from Episode 16. Jacob, it is indeed a pleasure and welcome back to the Removing Barriers podcast.

[Jacob]

Thank you. It’s a pleasure to be here and discuss this topic with you. I. Originally from. I spent my college life in India and as a result, most of my Indian friends are Hindus and I have a great burden to. No, what they believe are witnessing to some of them and it’s helpful for us as Christians to understand where people come from and to kind of build common ground with them to witness to them. So, I hope that this is a good discussion on this.

[MCG]

Yeah, definitely.

[Jay]

So Jacob, could you take us to the foundations? Let’s pretend like we have no idea what Hinduism is, who it’s followers are and what they believe. You give us a basic introduction, let’s say first, who are the Hindus?

[Jacob]

All right, the Hindus are people who practice the religion called Hinduism and. Hinduism is really. Probably the third largest religion in the world, there are about one billion, 1 billion people in the world who follow this religion. And about 80% of the 1 billion live in India and it’s estimated that in America there are about 3 million Hindus.

[MCG]

Oh wow.

[Jacob]

More have come over since 1960. Then before that.

[Jay]

They say that Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world. Is that true?

[Jacob]

Historians say that and what you need to remember about Hinduism is Hinduism really didn’t start off as a religion. Don’t have a single founder. It was kind of a way of life. Various philosophies that existed in one of the ancient civilizations of the world. You know, we are quite familiar as Christians with civilizations in the Middle East. When we read about the Canaanites and the gods that they followed Baal and Ashitrov. And I mean, there are a whole lot of other gods that. We read about in Kings and Samuel and places and books like that. We get an idea that there was an ancient civilization there and that was in the Middle East, but at the same time in other parts of the world, and we are aware of the Roman and the Greek civilization. That were. Co founding around that time, but there was in the Indian subcontinent this pretty advanced civilization, which is where Hinduism. So it’s really ancient India. That this philosophy really started off.

[MCG]

Alright, tell us more about the history of Hinduism.

[Jacob]

OK, let. Start off by describing what is commonly known as the Indian subcontinent. The Indian subcontinent comprises of modern day Pakistan to the West, to the north and West, the whole country of India and north of India. Is another small country out there that. ‘S primarily Hindu right now. And then there’s a Kingdom called Bhutan, in the kind of North East of India. And then to the east of India, there’s Bangladesh and there’s an island of South of India, Sri Lanka. So these. Six countries together make up what’s called the Indian subcontinent. And there is a river on the western part of North India. Most of this river is in present day. Pakistan called the Indus River. So you know, there was an ancient civilization in the in this valley that existed at that time, and because of, you know, what artifacts have got from that period, they trace it back to what, 5000 BC? Let’s give or take a couple of 1000 years. Really, some historians say it’s only 3000 BC, but in 1924 there were some historians and archaeologists who unfold remains of an ancient city. Called Mohenjo daro. And this ancient city had paved roads. Had a sewer system. And it appeared to be quite advanced and based on what they got from those excavations, they trace it to about, you know, between 3000 to 5000 BC when that civilization existed.

[Jay]

I’m looking at a map and I did not realize that the Indian subcontinent included all of these other countries and obviously with the Indus River being there, the Indus River Valley Civilization, I imagine being as advanced as it is. That’s. To understand that history, what are the core beliefs of the Hindus if it started out as a way of life? But then it gradually morphed into what we now understand to be a more or less organized sort of religion. If we can call it that, what are the? Beliefs that Hindus believe.

[Jacob]

Now this gets kind of. I should also say that you know the term Hindu really came from the Indus River and it was a term used by the Persians who called the people who lived to the east of the Indus River as Sindhals. And this was later on I think mispronounced as hind. And that’s how that term. Came about, but really for over 1000 years, that label Hindu really did not have any religious connotation and there was only in the early 19th century that the term Hinduism was coined by certain British writers to refer to all. The what I call Vedic religion of that area and I’ll talk a little bit. The Vedic. Religions. But to your question, what do they believe most Hindus believe in? Demands force A unifying force that governs all existence, and it cannot completely be known by humanity. So they believe that this is force all that governs everything. A force that’s. In me, there’s a force that’s in. There’s a force that’s in an animal. There’s a force that’s in the trees that we see. There’s even a force in a rock force even could exist in this laptop. And. This force is known as Brahman. So this is what is all inclusive. I mean, it has everything. So they themselves say this really cannot be understood by humanities beyond our imagination, but just know that this is in everything that is in existence.

[Jay]

So when Hinduism calls it a force, are we to understand it as more? Is it like a spirit or is it like an animating sort of? Power, is it adamant. What do they mean by force? Did you elaborate on that?

[Jacob]

Yeah, this is again. Something that does not have. You know, it’s not like a God of the Christians that we believe God has all these attributes, but this is just a force and it comprises elements of what we see around Earth, wind, fire.

[Jay]

Oh.

[Jacob]

All things. Make up this force that’s there and in practice the individual gods and goddesses of Hindus. Are really personifications of this cosmic force that’s there. And the Hindus that I know and the Hindus that we meet on a regular basis, them are really just cultural Hindus. Just follow some rituals, some traditions that. Omni is, you know, carried down through the ages. While others are more religious and study their ancient texts and so on. But each Hindu in practice. You know he. So he or she worships a. What’s the word for deities that he believes? Are directly influence his or her life, and by selecting one of these deities to worship and by conducting rituals which kind of are designed to facilitate contact with them, a Hindu devotee really tries to experience. His unity with. So you have scholars you have. They kind of debate the final points of Hindu the theology, but most what shall I say, lay worshippers of the Hindu faith? They just confound their familiar gods for their desires for everyday hopes and problems. So. You may have heard that the Hindus have so many gods that they. We have 300 million gods and this really is something that’s puzzling to non. Why do you have so many gods and what a Hindu would describe it as? They say, you know this force that we have this divine force is like a diamond, like a diamond with. Innumerable facets and innumerable sides of it, and each deity that they have is really one facet of this diamond. So one or another, the facet may have a particular significance and an appeal to one individual.

[MCG]

Hmm.

[Jacob]

And by acknowledging the power of that individual facet, the believer does not deny the existence of others. So the Hindu affirms that, yeah, there could be other aspects of this. It’s just another aspect of the divine that we have understood as another God that they have. So it’s a religion that keeps evolving. And there are different, you know, forms of Hinduism that are practiced in different parts of India. A Hindu that comes from the South of India. He probably worships another God then a Hindu that comes to the West or the North East of. I have a friend of mine who is, you know, he’s again not a practicing Hindu as such, but he’s a cultural Hindu will identify as a Hindu. And he just told me. Oh, he’s going to India and he’s already there on the way there and his grandfather or grandfather’s brother told him, hey, you should go to this small town. Our God resides, so he. Oh, OK. I never knew about. So he’s going to go back to this hometown to go and kind of pay respect to their family God. And it’s a God that probably is only worshipped in that small town or just in his family. So there are many. Gods that they. But they would kind of debate that point. Say we’re not worshiping many gods. It’s just that the gods that we have are different incarnations, or different personifications of this immense force. That we believe in.

[MCG]

Alright, well, why don’t we compare the Hindu core belief and align it? Does it align with the core tenets of Christian faith?

[Jacob]

So again, I need to before we go into that, we need to really talk a little more about what they believe.

[MCG]

Yeah, go right ahead.

[Jacob]

I want to really explain a little more about this. Like I said, you know, Hindus view their gods and goddesses as personifications of this immense force. And they say that, you know, they have three main. Deities which is known as a Trimurti. A word in. Sanskrit was a language spoken in ancient India and forms a basis for Hindi and a lot of the languages spoken in the northern part of India. So they believe main deities are Brahma, which is a creator of the universe. And another God called Vishnu, which who is a preserver of the universe, and Shiva who is a destroyer of the universe and some Hindus would even say that Jesus is or was a manifestation of one of the gods. So they look at Jesus and say, oh, OK, we can put him here, as with the other gods, because he’s just a manifestation of this force. That’s. So a Hindu would have no problem with having a statue of Jesus next to the statue of Krishna and another, you know, picture of Shiva, one of their gods. So I should also talk about their. I would like to talk a little bit about the. The main scriptures are the Hindus have are what are called as the Veda. You may have heard of. You hear about Ayurvedic medicine. Ayurvedic medicine really, the Vedic part of it is really. Obtained from the Vedas, there’s this. Of the Vedas that talks about how different plants can be used for healing and for health and so on. So the Vedas are text which were composed around 1500 BC. And it’s a collection of verses and hymns that were written in Sanskrit and. Thoughts and philosophies and in a way, revelations of these ancient sages that Hinduism had. And after that, there’s another book that really not after that around the same time, there’s another text called the Upanishads. It’s a text that provides a basic source of many important thoughts of Indian philosophy, such as. Karma, I mean, you may have heard of the term. We can talk a little bit about that and that’ll give us an understanding of how it compares with what we know in Christianity. And then there is another text called the Bhagavad Gita. Bhagita is really an epic poem. It’s part of a poem called the Mahabharata, and it has about 400,000 verses. 400,000 versus make up this epic called the Mahabharata.

[MCG]

Oh wow.

[Jacob]

The Bhagavad Gita is sacred text and it’s part of the Mahabharata. And there’s another epic poem called Ramayana, which is something that, you know, the more religious Hindus would study and read it. Again, I must tell you that most Hindus. Not read or study these scriptures. It doesn’t have meaning to them like the Bible has for us.

[Jay]

Hmm.

[Jacob]

So Scripture in Hinduism really does not have the same place in their religion as you know Scripture does in other religions like Christianity is a great. Which was. On what the Bible says, we say what the Bible says is. And we go by that. So the Vedas are really considered by most people, most Hindus as sacred writings. But they’re not the only source of knowledge for. What you need to know about God you say there are other experiences, other means of getting this knowledge, such as a person’s personal experience with the divine, and these are regarded almost at the same level as what they read in the Vedas and some Hindu philosophers have. That you know the Vedas, these other sources of knowledge should be seen as secondary. What’s written? But yet there are other philosophers who. The ridges experience really should be considered equally or even superior to. The scripture teachings.

[MCG]

Yeah, that’s. I’m sure you have a lot more to add to that, but why don’t you go back and define comma and how does it ties in with their religion?

[Jacob]

Here. Yes. So really, when you talked about, you know, what are the core beliefs of Hindus? Karma is really one of the core beliefs that Hindus believe in. You may have heard this term. You know what goes around, comes around and to some extent this is accurate. The Sanskrit word karma simply means an action or. Need so according to Hindu philosophy, every action, every action has a reaction or outcome and when an action that an individual does when an action is positive or when it is righteous. They will experience positive effects or rewards, but if their action on the other hand, if the action is negative, for example, if lying, stealing, hurting, then the results that they will get from that action is going to be negative. Right. So, the karma of an individual’s action, positive or negative. Be experienced immediately. It may be experienced later in the present life, or it may be experienced in a future life or future lives, so it is important to know that remember that in individuals, karma is based on. The thoughts, the words and actions that they take, and the choices that they make. There. Different kinds of karma that they talk about. There are karma’s in the karma. Life karma. Those effects have already begun, but may take longer to show themselves. Or there is something that may occur in a future lifetime, so that brings us to the next core belief of Hindus and that is. Reincarnation. Reincarnation.

[MCG]

You get into that, Jacob. Me. Ask another. A comma because you just said that they based on the positive things they do and the negative things they may have done. How did it determine what’s good and what’s bad? Don’t know if you going to get to that, but how do they? Hey, is it society that tell me when I’m doing something good or is it the scriptures are telling them or they do something good? Do they know that?

[Jacob]

You know, that’s a very good. I thought that would be a good segue into witnessing to Hindu to say look, the very fact that you know that this is bad means that there is a moral lawgiver, that there is a God who’s created us with conscience, that realizes that something is bad. You Don. To be taught about that.

[MCG]

Right.

[Jacob]

So they, I mean, I don’t have an answer to that. Do they know it’s bad? It is probably written in their Vedas. That this is bad. All right, you know, so this is not a righteous thing to do. But as I can say, this Mahabharata has a lot of epics, a lot of stories, which is how a lot of Hindus learn about what the religion teaches them. It talks about. The gods interacted with these princely kings and diras long gone before, and you know there’s a king. There’s a very righteous king called Arjuna, and he was part of a king. With his brothers, he and his four brothers were ruling a Kingdom and some of his cousins were at war with him and his brothers. And he was struggling, he. How can I fight with my own kin and then one of the epics has the God Krishna coming down to Arjun and telling him look what you’re doing is. Right, although it seems wrong to be fighting with your brothers, but with your cousins, what you’re doing is good for your Kingdom. Going to preserve the Kingdom for a long time. So Hindus really have heard these stories heard these accounts. Either. Not really necessary by reading the books, but they have plays that are periodically put. There are TV shows on TV in India that, you know, have a one hour episode every week that shows some aspect of what’s taught in their books. Have comic books for children, so children don’t necessarily read these. Vedas but they have comic books that tell them about the stories and they learn about these things through. The comics through story books, which are written in their language.

[MCG]

Okay interesting. You were going to tell us about they?

[Jacob]

Believe in so. Yeah. So in this really teach. That every birth is the result of a person’s wish. Say karma or. So when a person or a living thing dies, they say that their soul is attached to another living soul. It comes. It kind of comes back. Yeah, it’s another being. And depending on the karma that they have, if they let a good life, their soul may come into the life of a higher caste Hindu or if they let a very bad life, they may come into the life of an animal or an in. Or something like that. So they may be reincarnated in some other form. So there is this constant cycle, and their goal is eventually to come out of this cycle of reincarnation again and again and again, which may go on for. No, 8000 lives in different forms. So again, this is a point that there is no. No guarantee they don’t have any guarantee that hey, I have achieved. I’ve kind of what I say wiped out all the bad karma that’s in my life by doing good deeds, and this is a religion that really promotes good deeds. You do good deeds. You get. You know good points. You do bad deeds, you get negative points if in the past life you did bad things, you accumulated all these negative points and you good deeds that you do now can kind of erase some of that negative balance that you have in your. If you call Karma account. So that is what reincarnation is all about. The process of reincarnation. And the presence of souls in all living things is really one of the reasons why Hindus are kind of encouraged to show respect for all forms of life. That’s why you have heard that lot of Hindus and it’s not that all Hindus are vegetarians, but they hold, you know, even animal life in high esteem in a way.

[MCG]

Hmm.

[Jacob]

So a person suffering, for example in this life may not necessarily be just physical or material suffering. It just may depend on a person’s state of mind. I have a person who is born in a wealthy family, but because that person has a disposition that doesn’t allow him to enjoy all that he has, he really. Mentally suffers in the life. He has right now. So there’s a different understanding of suffering in their lives, but they somehow believe yes, it is because of what you did in your previous life or what your soul did in the lives of the people that the soul inhabited in the past.

[MCG]

Right. If India is in the religion that believes that cows are sacred.

[Jacob]

That I’m cults are sacred.

[MCG]

Cows.

[Jacob]

Well, cows are. Yes, yes, Hindus kind of really have great respect. For cows and it’s not that they worship cows, but they feel that, you know, one of the gods, Krishna. He was a cowherd. He took care of us, you know, like a shepherd. He took care of cows and the cows provided them with milk, provided them with. But. And. Different part of the Indian diet. And even the dung of cows is used as dried and uses fuel in the poorer parts of India. Again. So they see a cow as being very useful to society. So these ancient civilization, they worshipped. I would say. Had great respect. A Hindu may not agree that they worship cows, but anything that was useful to them was considered something that was worthy of worship or worthy of respect and anything that they feared. You know, anything that they feared was something that also had. Be respected, but without of a sense of fear. Therefore, you see some temples and so they have cobras, statues of cobras, outside, because they were obviously very frightened of cobras. And they’re dangerous creatures. And you have cows who are allowed to roam freely in some Indian cities simply because the local government does not see anything wrong with that. And Council, given the right of way. That’s how it is. So they don’t necessarily. Push it toes. But they hold them in great respect.

[Jay]

Got a quick question here and it may be backtracking a little bit, but you mentioned when you were talking about reincarnation that having good karma allows you to come back. As something better than your previous life. Whereas bad Karma has the opposite effect, this may be a silly question, but does that belief have anything to do with how the caste system was set up in India? There are certain people. At, you know, high level or at a high caste or more important cast than lower ones. There was no interchange or intermixing between the. Does that tie back in anyway to reincarnation in the principle of karma? In the Hindu faith.

[Jacob]

It could. I mean, originally, you know, cast were based on a person’s. What I’ll say his trade or you had the higher caste people were invariably the priests. Know the priestly class and then you had another cast. Who were the? They were the ones who defended the town of the village of the Kingdom. And then you had another cast. Were the. They’re the ones who were the traders. The ones who sold. So if you were born into a family, that. Was engaged primarily in trading. You. Continue that tradition and that was what was your a lot in life. And then of course, you had people at the lowest level who are kind of the downtrodden people. The ones who would really be the ones who would be sweeping the streets and the servants and. Like that. So I would have to check on that, but I don’t think necessarily think that Carmel’s a person in a lower caste, but that is quite possible that you know if you had bad karma and a big explanation, bad karma, you may come back as a person in. Lower cast.

[Jay]

Gotcha. Thank you for that.

[MCG]

Yeah. So I think we were talking about, you know, how does the religion square up with Co tenants of Christianity? I think you hit the nail on the head there and showing, you know what they believe. Think another question that goes along with that and you can, you know, kind of group them together. Is according to the. How is the person working style with God?

[Jacob]

How is a person reconciled to? Yes. So again we let’s come back and talk about this Hindu concept about God, you know, so, you know, throughout history, Hindus have deeply thought about the nature of God, their books, their holy books. Talk about, you know, this God, and they call this infinite God, which I talked about this cosmic universal force. They’ve given a name to that, and that name is Brahman. Brahman is the name of that force, not to be confused with Brahmin. Brahmin is the upper. They’re the highest caste of people who are, you know, priestly class, the philosophers and so on. Are Brahmin and also there’s another God called Brahma. So again, Brahman, the Brahmin Brahmins and. These are similar sounding terms, but they really mean different things. So again, what is your question? Just tell me that again. I just lost that.

[MCG]

Who the person reconciled to God according to the Hindus.

[Jacob]

How is a person reconciled to God? OK, so, because they believe in reincarnation. Right. They believe that when you come and you go through this cycle of what they call samsara, of being born again, birth and life and then death and then becoming reborn. The person eventually reaches a stage where he is at one with this unifying force, and that is salvation to them. That is what they in the Hindu term is called Moksha. When I’ve had people I know who have passed away. Way within social media, people say like I won’t say Christian say that we don’t say that. RIP, you know lesson. But what Hindu says May he attain moksha, meaning may he come out of this cycle of reincarnated again and again and achieve the final state. The final state of what is called Moksha. It is what they call salvation. It means ready to come out of this continuous cycle where you have attained knowledge of the fact that you are one. Government one with this unifying. So when you achieve that, you are one with that force. You are always one with that force. When you realize that, then you have achieved Moksha. So that is how a person is reconciled by balancing all good. I mean, you do good deeds based on your position in society and it’s not necessarily just. These are the two, but you know there may be different ways in which you can you know, I mean I don’t need to say this slightly, but you pursue certain things. Which kind of add up and give you positive karma and one way let me explain some of the ways that they have. You have a way of you doing all the rituals and performing ones duty. Life and they say, bring your own beauty in life. If you are, let’s say, born in a prestige class, then you really have to study the scriptures the way the Scriptures well. And if you do this, you really fulfill that duty and doing all these rituals doing all. Actions. In a very righteous manner adds up a lot of points into your account. Each cast you know has a duty to or function that helps really sustain society as a whole. So that’s why you have these different casts out. So if a person in a merchant class or a person in a warrior class or the lowest caste, decided that he wanted to deviate from the role that society had placed on him, this they believe is really going to upset the whole society. Society is sustained when everyone functions as he is supposed to do and could bring disaster to that individual or to that society. That’s why in the past I mean not so much in the more recent generations, but if you had. A couple from you know a boy and a girl, a young man and a young lady from different castes wanted to get married to each other. There would be a tremendous opposition because they would say what cast is your child going to be in, you know. So there’s a lot of opposition to marriages between different castes. And I have friends and people. Know. A lot of them. Really born into the higher caste were Brahmins and Brahmins like to kind of. Maintain purity in everything that they touch that they eat. They won’t really accept food. That has been prepared by non Brahmins. It’s a. Strict brahmins. Let me put it that way. To them, it is impure if somebody who is not of a Brahmin caste has prepared the food, or if they go to a. I mean, the very religious Brahmins would not go to a restaurant where both vegetarian and non vegetarian food is prepared because they are vegetarians and they don’t want their food to be cooked and utensils that may have been used. Money to. Food. So again, if you keep up with all this, if you keep up with the rituals and you get up in the morning and you pray and you recite the name of God, I mean they can spend hours just repeating, repeating the name of their God and that gets. A lot of good karma. That’s pleasing to their deities, whichever deity that they worship. So 1 is you do the rituals and actions that you want to do. And you spend time in devotion. You know the way of devotion. To a personal God. Is really adds up a lot of good karma for them. So all these acts, if you just, you know, sing hymns and sing what they call verses from their holy books, this adds up a lot of positive karma to their account of Karma. This is a way of negating. Some of the bad karma that they may have inherited. So how are they reconciled to? By doing good deeds, it’s all really works based if you go and help the poor. Do something good for mankind, for humankind. If you fulfill the role that you are placed in, all this is bringing you closer and closer to God.

[MCG]

‘Cause there’s someone who don’t have to go through reincarnation but basically achieve moksha one time around.

[Jacob]

Quite likely. I mean you have these. I mean, I would do certain gurus if you know what guru is in India, you have these godmen who have kind of renounced all the physical comforts of life and they live a very you know what? And I would call it very Spartan life, you know without. Physical pleasures, they just live off of food that people give them. They spend all their time in meditation, meditation and yoga, and things play a big part in the Hindu religion. I mean, they’re taught that if you meditate and if you just empty your mind off every thought. Forget everything that’s around you and just think of God’s name and just repeat God’s name over and over and over again. You kind of. Put yourself in a higher plane and that brings you closer to God. Meditation plays a great, great role in Hinduism. Another thing. Which has become obviously very popular in the West. Is yoga yoga is really devotion to their gods and there is a physical aspect of yoga, you know, keeping track of your breath and all these things, which is very popular again in the last generation or so. But. We shouldn’t understand that there is this element in yoga that is really worshipping their deities. There is this people you know, do all these postures and things like that and those things have good physical benefits. You know, you can relieve yourself of backaches and things like that by some of those things. Again. Behind that, if you do yoga the way the Hindus do it, you will do the physical part of it, but also your mind is supposed to be thinking of your God of the God whom you are. Worshiping I mean they worship the sun, for example, and there’s something called Surya Namaskar which is form of worship of the sun. And it is very stretching and facing the sun and, you know, stretching your back, lying on the front of your body, on the ground, and then stretching your back. But in worship of the sun, and as Christians, you know, the Bible clearly says, do not worship any created. You do not worship the sun, you do not worship the stars. They do this because they see. God. So there’s something called Surya Namaskar in that. Surya is the word sun and namaskar is you greet the sun in the morning. Part of the simpler forms of. So yoga is something that is really taught in Hinduism as a form of worship and devotion to their gods.

[MCG]

All right. I was gonna ask you about yoga. As you mentioned it, but then you were one step ahead of me. Alright, Jacob. Let’s wrap it.

[Jacob]

Yeah.

[MCG]

And is there anything else that we should know about Hinduism that you didn’t get to touch?

[Jacob]

Well, I want to say one thing is that Hinduism has no. Of. You know, Hindus believe that human beings can create good. Good for bad consequences for their action. And this is the idea that is karma. So when you tell them this is sin, they said, well, maybe it’s not really sin, but it’s just you’re going to have a negative reaction to that. That’s one thing. And another thing is Hindus have this very. What should say pluralistic view that all or multiple paths can lead to? God. So your way is good for you. My way is good for me. So there is a lot of opposition in among Hindus to convergence, to people who get converted. And unfortunately it has been true in the past. There are groups who kind of that was a bribe, but kind of coerce people by maybe giving them benefits. If they convert to Christianity and really there is no person who can be bribed to convert to Christianity. I mean, every person is a convert to Christianity. Anyone is born into Bible tells us into the Devil’s family. You have to hear the gospel. Respond to the gospel and that’s how you become a Christian. You come well if you become a Christian. I’m going to give you admission into St. School here in the city. Kind of. Bribery and that person doesn’t really get converted as a Christian, but this person records his name as a Christian, and this has generated a lot of negative, or shall I say, thoughts about witnessing and proselyting within India. There are several states in India who have passed laws. That say basically it is crime to convert a person to convince him to con change his religion. So that’s one thing I just wanted to mention.

[MCG]

Oh wow. All. Well, Jacob, we’ll do this again. Hopefully we have some other aspect of Hinduism that we want to get into, but we’ll end it there for now. Thank you so much for joining us on the Removing Barriers podcast.

[Jacob]

Thank you very much allowing me to join you.

[Jay]

This is the removing barriers podcast. If the podcast or the blog were a blessing to you, leave us a rating and a review on your favorite podcast platform. And don’t forget to share the podcast with your friends. Removing barriers, a clearview of the cross.

[MCG]

Thank you for listening. To get ahold of us, to support this podcast, or to learn more about removing barriers, go to removing barriers net. This has been the removing barriers. We attempted to remove barriers so that we all can have a clear view of the cross.