MYSTICAL Masti instead of Mythological Masti

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Gosia

@vedantka

Beginner

Posted: 13 years ago

😊Hi everyone!😊

I'd like to propose a change of this forum's name from Mythological Masti into MYSTICAL MASTI.
And also wherever you used the term "mythological" in regard to Ramayan, Mahabharat,etc, you could replace that word with the word "mystical".

The term "mythological" is highly inappropriate, incorrect, misleading and disrespectful towards anything and everything regarding Vedic Scriptures.

The term MYSTICAL reflects the truth about Vedic Scriptures and is very appropriate as Shree Krishn is the Supreme Mystic Himself.

Some arguments in support of my proposal are presented on this forum under the thread :

"mythological versus historical events and stories"
http://www.india-forums.com/forum_posts.asp?TID=2698914&PID=51969252&#51969252

Definition of MYTHOLOGICAL

: of or relating to mythology or myths : dealt with in mythology

: lacking factual basis or historical validity : mythical, fabulous, imaginary

Definition of MYSTICAL

1) a : having a spiritual meaning or reality that is neither apparent to the senses nor obvious to the intelligence
b : involving or having the nature of an individual's direct subjective communion with God or ultimate reality <the mystical experience of the Inner Light>

2) mysterious, unintelligible
3) having a divine or sacred significance that surpasses natural human apprehension

Jai Shree Krishna!

Edited by vedantka - 13 years ago

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Frequent Posters

Janaki

@RamKiSeeta

Achiever

+ 6

Posted: 13 years ago

Hi Gosia,

I read your previous thread and agree with you. The term 'mythological' is rather offensive a term to describe Hindu puranas, but I think we've all grown accustomed to it that many of us here don't let it bother us anymore.

However, I'd like to let the others here share their views. Should our forum's name be changed?

-Janu

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Gosia

@vedantka

Beginner

Posted: 13 years ago

Originally posted by: JanakiRaghunath

The term 'mythological' is rather offensive a term to describe Hindu puranas, but I think we've all grown accustomed to it that many of us here don't let it bother us anymore.

However, I'd like to let the others here share their views. Should our forum's name be changed?

-Janu

Hi Janu, 😊😊

I truly find it strange that being accustomed to something can be an argument not to correct it ?????
I'm a Westerner and as I follow Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, a rasik saint from India, many times people try to argue with me that I'm kind of insane as Hinduism is all about millions of gods and goddesses plus strange fairy tale stories. And now you guys help them to promote this offensive type of thinking.
You have bought into Brithish scheme from colonial times and you continue it very carelessly.

Yes, I do believe it is very very important to change the name of this forum and correct all these "mythological' offenses.

Look at Christians or Muslims. How proud they are about their religions, how loud they can speak to defend their holy books and you meekly accepted that absolute nonsense of using the term mythology towards your Divine Scriptures and carelessly continue to do it.
According to my guru, this is regarded as a spiritual transgression.

Imagine that Shree Krishna is reading this forum , you think He would be happy to see your carelessness ???

Jai Shree Krishna!

Edited by vedantka - 13 years ago

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Janaki

@RamKiSeeta

Achiever

+ 6

Posted: 13 years ago

Originally posted by: vedantka

I truly find it strange that being accustomed to something can be an argument not to correct it ?????
I'm a Westerner and as I follow Shree Kripaluji Maharaj, a rasik saint from India, many times people try to argue with me that I'm kind of insane as Hinduism is all about millions of gods and goddesses plus strange fairy tale stories. And now you guys help them to promote this offensive type of thinking.
You have bought into Brithish scheme from colonial times and you continue it very carelessly.

Yes, I do believe it is very very important to change the name of this forum and correct all these "mythological' offenses.

Look at Christians or Muslims. How proud they are about their religions, how loud they can speak to defend their holy books and you meekly accepted that absolute nonsense of using the term mythology towards your Divine Scriptures and carelessly continue to do it.
According to my guru, this is regarded as a spiritual transgression.

Imagine that Shree Krishna is reading this forum , you think He would be happy to see your carelessness ???

Jai Shree Krishna!

I think it is only offensive if we take it offensively. After all, is that not Lord Ram's teaching, who is also an incarnation of Lord Vishnu just like Krishna? I believe that as long as we keep our faith in God and believe his incarnations to be true, nothing else really matters. Whether His stories are referred to as mythologicals, fairytales, historical tales, whatever...God, whether it be Krishna, Ram, Shiva, etc does not really care as long as his devotees believe in him.

Yes, I know that many people of other faiths speak out loudly against whatever is offensive to them, and many Hindus are like that too, but unless someone directly tries to argue against me about God, I will not speak up because I just don't believe it makes a difference to me or my faith. Even if Lord Krishna himself read this topic, he would not feel offended because God is above such earthly feelings. Ram and Krishna were never offended in their lifetimes. They always laughed at criticism and took insults lightly, and I think we too should be like that and follow their example. It is us humans who get angry, feel offended, and argue, but God himself just smiles at everything.

I honestly do not care whether Hindu puranas are referred to as scriptures or mythologicals. The name does not change the meaningfulness and the special place they hold in my heart. I believe them to be true, and that's all that matters to me.

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Gosia

@vedantka

Beginner

Posted: 13 years ago

Hi Janu,

I never said that Krishn would be offended. I asked if He would be happy.
It does not matter to me as per say but I think it matters to the image of Hinduism on a worldly forum and may help those who are confused to find a right path.
Why not to name things by correct names?

I find the word MYSTICAL so much more mystical and reflecting the essence of your scriptures.
It is a beautiful magical word, why not to change???

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Janaki

@RamKiSeeta

Achiever

+ 6

Posted: 13 years ago

Originally posted by: vedantka

Hi Janu,

I never said that Krishn would be offended. I asked if He would be happy.
It does not matter to me as per say but I think it matters to the image of Hinduism on a worldly forum and may help those who are confused to find a right path.
Why not to name things by correct names?

I find the word MYSTICAL so much more mystical and reflecting the essence of your scriptures.
It is a beautiful magical word, why not to change???

That's what I was trying to say...I don't think Krishna would feel anything, because a name does not matter to him as long as devotion is right.

Yes, I agree that the image of Hinduism may be improved if the term 'mythological' was changed, but it's not that easy. People have used this term for so long and even if you and I use something else in place of it, it will take a long time for people not to refer to these stories as mythos. Btw, I think mythos sound better than myths, don't you? I don't know...somehow they seem different to me.

Mystical is a nice name, but it does not really give a viewer an idea of what the forum is about. When we use 'mythological', people know that this forum is dedicated to Hindu puranas, so if we want to replace that, I think we should think of a synonym for mythological that conveys the same meaning of what this forum is about.

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Gosia

@vedantka

Beginner

Posted: 13 years ago

Quote:

That's what I was trying to say...I don't think Krishna would feel anything, because a name does not matter to him as long as devotion is right.

Yes, I agree that the image of Hinduism may be improved if the term 'mythological' was changed...(end of Quote)

Dear Janu,

Is there any other country on this earth whose own people call their own history a mythology???
You may have a lot of devotion for Krishna but if you officially call it a myth, that's simply sooo weird.
My Polish logic cannot accept it.
I'd never call the history of my country a myth and say it is O.K. as long as I don't really accept the official meaning of the word "myth", it is just a word, for anybody else it means something unreal/imagined/fantasized but for me it means history(????) or it is only a word...?

But we do communicate through the use of words. So proper understanding of the meaning of any word and its use are important, otherwise how could we properly express ourselves?

Would you call your own grand grandparents mythological figures? Wouldn't it sound weird?
For me calling puranas or any divine personality a mythological character is so so so strange, unless somebody truly thinks they are mythological figures, like many Westerners do.

Zeus and other Greek gods are mythological characters , Egyptian gods were fictitious, Roman gods were imaginary, that's what mythology means. It means something or somebody that NEVER existed.
You can not put to the same category your history of Divine events and Divine personalities.

What you do guys here is called staying in self denial. Taking an easy comfortable way but it will not produce good results for the image of Hinduism on international forum.

Well, the sums of zeros equals a zero but the sum of small efforts can bring a huge change.
Change into something positive/correct is always very powerful.

You could use the term: "mystical stories from puranas" or "mystical masti-puranic stories of Bharatvarsh". Or you could use transitory term: "from mythological masti to mystical masti". Your forum is available world wide, why not to use it to educate your own people and others and contribute to a very positive change???

I know quite few people from India who totally turned away from your religion as they regard it embarrassing and mythological, these guys simply want to fit into modern Canadian society.
And because their understanding and knowledge of Sanatan Dharm is basically none, they can even feel embarrassed at the word Hinduism (!).

Besides such attitude(officially using the term mythology) helps Christian missionary efforts in converting your own people into their religion. Too bad ...

Well, you do whatever you want. No one can change it for you.

Namaste!

P.S. Synonym for mythology is also inappropriate . It must be antonym of the word "mythology" as puranic history of Bharatvarsh is real and mythology is unreal, these two terms are opposite, they are antonyms not synonyms.
So mystical is actually the best option as it emphasizes the mystical/magical character of these stories and yet it does not imply that they are fictitious.

Edited by vedantka - 13 years ago

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Shivang

@ShivangBuch

Voyager

Posted: 13 years ago

Originally posted by: vedantka
You could use the term: "mystical stories from puranas" or "mystical masti-puranic stories of Bharatvarsh". Or you could use transitory term: "from mythological masti to mystical masti". Your forum is available world wide, why not to use it to educate your own people and others and contribute to a very positive change???

Namaste!

P.S. Synonym for mythology is also inappropriate . It must be antonym of the word "mythology" as puranic history of Bharatvarsh is real and mythology is unreal, these two terms are opposite, they are antonyms not synonyms.
So mystical is actually the best option as it emphasizes the mystical/magical character of these stories and yet it does not imply that they are fictitious.

Namaste Gosiaji!!!

This part of the last PM summarizes this thread in the best way. Until then both you and Janu were correct in your own ways. The name 'mythological' despite being inappropriate, incorrect and weird looking was given and is practically necessary to get members for this forum through search results on the internet. At the same time putting that title in such a way that it raises question mark about its correctness is the best solution in my opinion. "Mythological Masti??? Or is should rightly be said Mystical Masti" or "Hindu purans and Vedic scriptures - the heritage of Indian history" or as you suggested. I am with you. Hindus shouldn't be fanatic about their religion and should consider every person in the world following any religion as their own and with equal respect but must behave with self dignity. And rest assured, what Janu mentioned was just the harsh reality what you mentioned. She never meant to say that she has accepted the TRUTH or MEANING of those words. We all here are full of pride about our HISTORICAL stories and would now be very serious about the point you have drawn our attention to for which we were casual and now very very thankful to you. But that was more the peaceful nature of Hindu rather than casual. The heritage should be preserved by us from generations to generations that is our duty without doubt and we accept it. That's one aspect of looking at it. And the absolute TRUTH is never going to die and needs no evidence or justification. That is also another aspect of it and way of looking at it.

Edited by ShivangBuch - 13 years ago

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Gosia

@vedantka

Beginner

Posted: 13 years ago

Quote:

We all here are full of pride about our HISTORICAL stories and would now be very serious about the point you have drawn our attention to for which we were casual and now very very thankful to you. But that was more the peaceful nature of Hindu rather than casual. The heritage should be preserved by us from generations to generations. that is our duty without doubt and we accept it. That's one aspect of looking at it. And the absolute TRUTH is never going to die and needs no evidence or justification. That is also another aspect of it and way of looking at it.

Dear ShivangBuch,

a peaceful nature does not have to mean that you accept any nonsense introduced by Westerners/foreigners.
You don't have to please them by accepting their incorrect ideas.
You don't have to correct them either, let them think whatever they want to think so you do not go into any confrontation unnecessarily but you should stick to the proper terminology regarding your scriptures for your own dignity and for the sake of truth.

I know that Vedas are eternal breath of God so there is no way they can vanish from human culture.
But I believe that we also have to make an effort to preserve it properly and not leave everything to God. Otherwise, your peacefulness will be used and is already used by those who want to mock Hinduism. Remember that there is a destiny but there is also free will, they both are very interconnected. My guru says that your tomorrow is your yesterday modified by today. So nothing is 100% written in stone, many things can be changed at least a bit.

I'd never like that something dear to me is ridiculed and for sure I'd never participate in it by accepting and using terms that are very unjust to Divine Scriptures.

I know this is not your intention but who can read your minds?

We are not God so we judge others by their words and actions (and not by their unspoken intentions) so the ones who don't like Vedic Sanatan Dharm simply enjoy your naivety.

Even Wikipedia uses this term, it is used everywhere on internet for Hindu historical events.
And absolutely no one bothers to correct it .
It looks outwardly that India accepted Western opinion/judgement about your scriptures.

You can correct it in a very peaceful and graceful way, it will take time for sure but eventually the results will show up and I'm 100% sure , you will enjoy it and it will make you more peaceful and more dignified.

You simply make an effort and leave the results to Krishn.

Jai Shree Krishn!

Edited by vedantka - 13 years ago

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Janaki

@RamKiSeeta

Achiever

+ 6

Posted: 13 years ago

#10

@Vedantka,

Believe me, I know a great deal about many of the atrocities that western missionaries committed in India, dear, and it makes my blood boil to no end, but at the same time I leave their karma to them. They will receive the fruits of their ignorance and sins soon, so why should we interfere?

But at the same time, I also agree that we should preserve our religion for future generations like Shivang said, but I do that more by spreading the stories of the puranas than changing the title 'mythological', but even you have made a correct point that the term 'mythological' is still offensive a term to describe the stories of Hindu scriptures.

But more than Mystical Masti, I think we should choose a title that makes it easy to find for people who use google and other search engines, to let them know that they are entering a forum for Hindu scriptures, something that also has a ring like 'Mythological Masti'.

I think we should ask Lola, our viewbie, if it is possible to change the title of our forum, and if so, to what?