10 things a Hindu should keep in mind while using the English Language as told by Francois Gautier.
- Please stop using the term “God fearing” – Hindus never ever fear God. For us, God is everywhere and we are also part of God. God is not a separate entity to fear. It is integral.
- Avoid the meaningless term “RIP” when someone dies. Use “Om Shanti”, “Sadhgati” or “I wish this atma attains moksha/sadhgati /Uthama lokas”.
- Please don’t use the word “Mythology” for our historic epics (Ithihaasa) Ramayana and Mahabharata. Rama and Krishna are historical heroes, not mythical characters.
- Please don’t be apologetic about idol worship and say, “Oh, that’s just symbolic”. All religions have idolatry in kinds or forms – cross, words, letters (calligraphy) or direction.
- Please don’t refer to our temples as prayer halls. Temples are devalaya (abode of god) and not prarthanalaya (prayer halls).
- Please don’t wish your children a “black birthday” by allowing them to blow candles on a birthday cake. Don’t throw spit on the divine fire (Agni Deva). Instead, ask them to pray: “Oh divine fire, lead me from darkness to light” (Thamasoma Jyotirgamaya) by lighting a lamp
- Do not differentiate between “spirituality” and “materialistic”. The separation comes from European Christians who had a concept of Church vs State or Science vs Religion. In Bharat, sages were scientists and the foundation stone of Hindu Dharma was Science.
- Avoid using the word ‘Monkey God’ for Hanuman and ‘Elephant God for Ganesha’. They are gods of all creatures on this planet.
- Please don’t use the word “Sin”. We only have Dharma (duty, righteousness, responsibility and privilege) and Adharma (when dharma is not followed). Dharma has nothing to do with social or religious morality. ‘Paap’ derives from Adharma.
- Please don’t use loose translations like meditation for “Dhyana” and ‘breathing exercise’ for “Pranayama”. It conveys wrong meanings. Use the original words.
Remember, the world respects only those who respect themselves.
(This article has been collated from the tweet thread of Rakesh Thiyyan @ByRakeshSimha)
Fantastic