FIFTH MISUNDERSTOOD WORD: “HOLINESS”

FIFTH MISUNDERSTOOD WORD: “HOLINESS”

Hindus have a perverted of holiness. For them, spirituality is an emptiness: the absence of everything material and every human desire. What is spiritual is good, but the physical is evil. They hope to escape from what is physical, not through the sacrifice of Christ, but by good works and meditation.

As well as meditation, some inflict damage on their bodies. A few lie on beds of nails, walk barefoot on burning coals, fast and beat themselves. Their “holy men” (gurus) become famous through their drastic methods of escaping from the cage of the body. They abstain from normal marital sexual intercourse, not from moral motives, but to escape from the control of the physical body.

For the Hindus spirituality is:

• Loving and obeying God, having the peace and joy of the Holy Spirit. ( )
• Escaping from the body, all desire and emotion. ( )
• How did you learn these things?
• I read the sacred Vedas. And listen to my guru. He’s a holy man who formed his own sect. Some gurus go from town to town; others live in a community. The dedicate themselves to a certain god or goddess. Our guru worships the sun. Other gurus worship monkeys or other gods.

Spirituality for the Hindus is avoiding all that we feel or desire, whether that be “good” or “bad”. They do not want to be controlled by what is material. They see it as an illusion.

The religious ministers of the Hindus are called:

• Gurus ( )
• Pastors ( )

Some gurus demand much from their followers to prove their devotion – even shameful things. They are sometimes worshipped as gods. Some walk about naked; many never bathe – for them this is holiness.

Holiness and righteousness mean fulfilling the work that corresponds to my caste. Each caste has its own vocation and work. A Hindu does the work that corresponds to his caste, the same as his father and grandfather did before him. If he does good, he is born in the next life in a superior caste. If he follows carnal desires, he will be born in an inferior caste, or perhaps as a snake or even an insect. When he dies, his soul transfers to another physical body that corresponds to the spiritual development he has reached.

The social groups that establish the moral norms of the Hindus are:

• Neighborhoods ( )
• Castes ( )

 https://huongdionline.com/2016/05/13/second-misunderstood-word-sin/ << Previous