Comments on: Hinduism and Evolution

By: David

David — Sat, 07 Aug 2010 00:03:15 +0000

At its core, Hinduism relies on equivalence of energy (Bramha) and matter (physical manifestation). God (a physical manifestation of the cosmic energy) is 'aware' and able to control the physical world. As a result, nothing in Hinduism is bizaare or impossible including evolution!

However, this question is more related to sociology than theology. Tolerance (or intolerance), of a religious group is based on how its leaders intend to use any issue. If the leaders use an issue to drive a wedge or incite its followers, any topic can be used to breed intolerance. If it wasn't made into an issue by some nut jobs looking to mobilze a crowd for some political gain, I don't believe a majority of muslims would be bothered by things like a Danish cartoonist's drawings of their god and you would be asking about exceptional tolerance of Muslims.

Hindus lack the coherence and structure of other religions and its leadership structure is weakly defined. A few god-men don't hold sway over a large enough populace to define issues clearly. If that were the case, it wouldn't take much to make Hindus (or substitute any religious group) friends or foes of evolution.

By: Gopal Reddy

Gopal Reddy — Sat, 17 Jul 2010 11:48:41 +0000

Frankly speaking Hindu scriptures have spelt evolution in many ways. It is a very hard and vast subject to discuss or discard. I think there is nobody who can decipher the complete knowledge about Hinduism ( I mean its evolution form, the creation and its creator (s) and the complete knowledge of the Epics (Mahabharata, Ramayana) being them in a different versions. So it becomes very complicated and puzzled subject. I tried to gather some pieces from here and there, but still I get so many (crazy) questions cropping inside my mind. There are pundits who clarify my doubts to some extent but couldn't fully satisfy me, as there appear more questions and I shy myself away. I want some solid basic theroy and want to have the knowledge to atleast pacity my doubts to some extent. Like – who is the Greatest of our Hindu religion (greatest in the sense who has control over the different countries with different faiths, religions etc. how will He judge them) which will satiate my eager mind.

By: Roopesh

Roopesh — Thu, 27 May 2010 18:53:57 +0000

Modern science actually questions the existence of a supreme deity or deities; and has an explanation for most natural processes which do not involve any god. Also, science has found and explained very important things that are not in any religion – dinosaurs, plate tectonics, supernova, black holes, DNA to name a few. Then why is religion even in the picture? Why does evolution need the approval or recognize conflicts or make common cause with the followers of any religion, including Hinduism?

By: Shiva

Shiva — Tue, 25 May 2010 04:49:05 +0000

There are several people who argue that Hinduism infact echoes mordern scientific views. For example the dashavtars progressing from Matysaavtar, Kurmaavtar to the more human like Rama and Krishna mirrors the evolutionary process.

Similarly the concepts of helicentricity, relativity of time (1 kalpa is half a day for Bramha), etc somehow point to the fact that there is probably more to hindu scriptures than being figments of imagination or works of fiction.

By: Basab Pradhan

Basab Pradhan — Sun, 23 May 2010 18:00:43 +0000

A friend comments on this post on Facebook:

Hindu world view is essentially non-evolutionary.. ref [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manvantara ].
It does not have all or nothing approach of revealed religions. There is no counterpart to the books/prophets of the revealed religions. This makes it quite amenable to adapt to scientific and evolving world views. it is more cultural. the clergy has by now been decimated over centuries of reform movements. Even arrests of Sankaracharyas hardly agitate anyone..

Indian people of all religions are quite willing to adapt to new ideas. Well certainly, some get politicized and grounded..That is more a result of competitive religiosity than real resistance.
For example, Abortion in India has been legal since 1971. Nobody ever questioned it.. This quite remarkable compared to its status in the neighborhood and in developed countries..

By: Basab Pradhan

Basab Pradhan — Sun, 23 May 2010 17:51:33 +0000

@Ram. You are right. Depending upon your criteria for success different species could be called more successful. If you look at just biomass certain species of ants are far more successful than humans. Rats and cockroaches will probably survive the worst nuclear winter that most of animal kingdom won't.

By: basab_prad13041

basab_prad13041 — Sun, 23 May 2010 17:47:22 +0000

@Wit Real, I agree. I missed reincarnation. I don't think it is like evolution in any way. Homo Sapiens are not the apex of an evolution process, merely one of the tips of the branches of the evolutionary tree. But reincarnation does create the visual image that an ape could be my ancestor, something that Creationists can't accept.

By: Wit Real

Wit Real — Sun, 23 May 2010 06:38:15 +0000

>> Vedanta means just that

Vedanta is the end of Veda. i.e. Appendix. i.e. Upanishad

By: Krishna

Krishna — Sat, 22 May 2010 13:32:38 +0000

The flexibility ingrained in Hinduism takes its root from its very objective – of seeking knowledge throughout one's lifetime. Vedanta means just that (Veda – knowledge, Anta – end, meaning – at the end of one's lifetime quest for knowledge, one shall realize Brahmn or God) Its scriptures (say, Upanishad for example) have been authored by several practitioners after exhaustive debate, based on their need to maintain relevance to posterity. Perhaps they even recognized that their findings may not be the masterpiece and so left it amenable to inference and interpretation. That's why when we read Shrimad Bhagavatham or Bhagavad Gita, we feel it talks about each one amongst us, right here and now.

By: Ram

Ram — Sat, 22 May 2010 13:23:25 +0000

Very nice reply. I like the perspective.. but am not sure if other forms of life are really 'lesser'. From a human angle, they appear to be but not sure if they really are!