▲ 9 r/hinduism
New to Sanātana Dharma. Former Eastern Orthodox Christian.
Hello, I am relatively new to Sanātana Dharma and I have been looking into it and researching for sometime, I’d say a little over a year. Before that I was an Eastern Orthodox Christian for about three years.
I left my faith because I became very unconvinced of its historical claims and certain aspects of its theology and dogma. This could also apply to my view of Christianity in general, as I have been through a few different Christian denominations throughout my life, being raised Christian and in a heavily Christian society. After I left orthodoxy, I became pretty much agnostic for a while, but I definitely still had a vague belief in the spiritual. Eventually, I came across this figure known as Ramakrishna and I was absolutely enamored by his view of the oneness of all religions and the philosophy of Vedanta. I found in his teachings the answer to all the contradicting and illogical dogmatism that I experienced within Christianity. This idea that all religions and spiritual paths are just many ways of reaching the same divine source. As many faiths, so many paths, as he says.
I also found that a lot of ideas within Sanātana Dharma, as well as certain ritualistic practices, have a lot of similarities with practices and beliefs specifically in Eastern Orthodox Christianity. In orthodoxy there is a practice called Hesychasm, which is a monastic spiritual practice in which someone is working to achieve union with God (often called Theosis) through constant repetition of the Jesus prayer, that goes like this: “Lord Jesus Christ, Son of God, have mercy on me, a sinner”. this practice is done using a prayer rope, and there are even practices used by monastics such as breathing techniques and posturing such as you would see in yoga. It is believed that through this constant prayer that one will eventually reach what is called theoria.
So I was not at all uncomfortable discovering the practice of chanting mantras and using a Japa Mala to chant the name of God, as this is pretty much exactly what I was doing within orthodoxy.
Even though I am no longer convinced of eastern orthodoxy and its claims of being the one true path of salvation, I still very much miss the practice of repeating the Jesus prayer on a prayer rope or even praying the rosary as you see in Catholicism. My question is, from the view of Sanātana Dharma, is it valid to still practice the Jesus prayer and the rosary except now from a Hindu point of view? Or would it be better for me to try and practice naam japa exactly as it is practiced within Sanātana Dharma?
I also want to specify that I am drawn to the path of Bhakti yoga and devoting myself to God through one of his many forms. I find a very hard for me to leave the figures of Jesus and Mary. And the only deity within Sanātana Dharma that I feel a closeness to is Ganesha.
Any advice and insight will be very helpful. Thank you.
u/CraftyShelter7813 — 3 days ago
▲ 59 r/exorthodox
For all their foresight and clairvoyance, they sure don’t know a damn thing about basic evolutionary biology.
u/CraftyShelter7813 — 8 days ago
▲ 60 r/exorthodox
Orthodox Priest blocks Pride Parade Convoy in Thessaloniki
u/CraftyShelter7813 — 15 days ago
▲ 2 r/exorthodox
Universalist/Cafeteria Orthodox?
This is a comment I posted on a previous post about how Hinduism/Buddhism have similar miracles to Orthodoxy, such as Eucharistic miracles. But it details my choice to leave and then return to Orthodoxy with a more perennialist/universalist viewpoint. I understand this is the Ex-Orthodox subreddit, but with this I’d also like to see if there is anyone else who is in a similar boat. I for sure still have all my gripes and problems with Orthodoxy that definitely reflect Ex-Ortho sentiment.
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“This is something I've been having to face for awhile. I left Orthodoxy a year or so ago and dabbled in Hinduism and the perennialist philosophy, coupled with Near Death Experience testimonies and how they talk about the universality of belief systems and that love is the true spirituality/religion.
I made the decision a week ago to return to Orthodoxy, but mainly as a sort of cafeteria orthodox. I think it is the flawed dogmatism/fundamentalism of human beings to proclaim that their beliefs alone are the foundation of all truth, and that any similar miracles or events in any other tradition is indicative of demonic mirroring. For as much as orthodoxy loves to tout humility, it shows itself to be a pinnacle of pride to make such a claim. And then to say that anyone who isn't orthodox is outside of the bulwark of salvation and risks eternal separation from god. This contradicts the all encompassing love and mercy of Jesus Christ that they claim to believe. It's such a vast contradiction.
For me, I've come to the conclusion that God indeed does exist, but does not care about religion, rules, dogma, etc. and doesn't damn anyone for any reason I believe God is the epitome of love and light, and there is not one crevice in the entire universe that isn't filled to its brim with the unlimited and infinite love of the creator. I believe we come here and incarnate on earth to experience and to love and to grow, and that suffering and evil are simply opportunities for love and mercy to be practiced. But fundamentally all will be reconciled to divine love, no matter what.
I believe that these miracles are legitimate in all religions and so similar to each other simply because these are ways the same divine love manifests itself in these traditions, and they are all valid paths to experience this love.
If you read about NDE's, there is almost always an experience with a sort of divine light, filled with infinite love, understanding, and knowledge. It encompasses the person without blinding or burning them, and they feel immense peace and wholeness. This is eerily similar to the experience of divine light in Buddhism/ Hinduism, etc. and the Uncreated Light in Eastern Orthodoxy, and really all religious experiences of a divine light. It is amazing how much these experiences are exactly the same in substance.
And so I believe that where God is truly reached and experienced in these religions, is when love is practiced. This divine light does not care about dogma, rules, whether you are LGBTQ+, or even an atheist for that matter. It cares that you love and love abundantly, and share this divine love with your fellow creatures. Human, animal, and plant alike.
So for me, I've decided to return to orthodoxy and follow it as one of many paths to reach divine love. I pray the prayers, I keep icons and venerate them, I go to confession but only confess things that I believe are not conducive to this love. I take communion, and l choose to commune with this love through the image of Christ and the saints, and I take from their lives and stories what I can learn about love, and leave all the dogmatism behind. I don't care much about fasting, I choose to remain intimate with my girlfriend who I'm not married to and who isn't Orthodox nor wants to be, I think it's perfectly fine to be gay and trans, and I could go on and on.
This may seem useless to some, seeing that it doesn't make much sense to stay in a church full of people who are all about fundamentalism, Infernalism, homophobia, bigotry, and everything under the sun.
But I think it's perfect, because it teaches me to practice patience and love with and towards people who I vigorously disagree with.”
u/CraftyShelter7813 — 19 days ago
▲ 43 r/exorthodox
Saw this on X
The cult like fascination with Rose to the point of naming your daughter after him even before he’s canonized (btw, he’s not even canonized yet as she says) and making a post about it is a bit odd to me.
u/CraftyShelter7813 — 2 months ago
▲ 0 r/exorthodox
Is there anyone here who left Orthodoxy and ended up joining, or are looking into, Freemasonry? I am a Mason myself and curious to see if there is anyone here who is too.
u/CraftyShelter7813 — 2 months ago
▲ 36 r/exorthodox
Hello everyone,
I will be working on a series of articles where I plan to debunk the claims of Seraphim Rose in his book Genesis, Creation, and Early Man. Specifically as it pertains to evolution, biology, and paleontology, as well as claims of Young Earth Creationism.
I have found this necessary as it is absolutely ridiculous how many orthobros think and proclaim that he somehow knew anything about evolutionary biology. His claims are nothing short of egregious and I believe they need to be addressed, especially given that these are claims so heavily outdated and wrong that are being peddled as “BASED AND TRUE!!!”
Here is the very short preface to the series simply introducing what I plan to do. I hope you all stay tuned and look forward to it.
u/CraftyShelter7813 — 2 months ago