Author: Maria Wirth

This was a question on Quora to which I replied the following: I was baptized as a Christian (Catholic) in Germany when I was only 3 days old, but if somebody asks me whether I am Christian, I reply that I am Hindu though I did not do any ritual to ‘become’ Hindu. Conversion means to change into some other state. Christianity and Islam do it big time. They force perfectly normal human beings into blindly believing some unverifiable dogmas that do not add to their spiritual wellbeing. For example, even as children they are told to believe that the…

The German philosopher Hegel (1770 – 1831) didn’t have a high opinion of Indians, in contrast to most of his German colleagues. He even claimed that the character of Indians is “cunning and deceitful and that moral and human dignity are missing”. (By the way, he never was in Bharat). Yet he wrote this about Indian women and he meant Hindu women: “There is a peculiar beauty in Indian women, whereby their face is covered with pure skin, with a slight, lovely blush, which is not just like the blush of health and vitality, but a finer blush, like a spiritual…

It is again this beautiful time before Diwali. Five years ago, I got a glimpse into the simple and spiritual lives of villagers off the beaten track in the Himalayas. ‘Would you like to come to some villages around Chamba?’ a friend had asked. I happily said yes. He wanted to visit the people who had formerly worked as domestic helpers for his family; and bring them gifts before Diwali. After buying boxes of sweets and drawing money from an ATM, the three of us set off from Mussoorie. The air was crystal clear, and the snow peaks shone in…

In 1999, the Pope declared in Mumbai that in the 21st century the cross will be planted in Asia. Strangely, there was not much objection in the media that the Pope expressed so openly his eagerness to convert Hindus. Not only the Pope but also the different evangelical sects want to convert Hindus in big numbers. And unfortunately, they are doing it successfully because they have lots of money. In the last 20 years, after the Pope made his statement, Christian missionaries have become increasingly visible, blatant and controversial. As I grew up as a Christian, I would like to…

Though I have lived in India for a long time, there are still issues here that I find hard to understand. For example, why do so many educated Indians become agitated when India is referred to as a Hindu country? The majority of Indians are Hindus. India is special because of its ancient Hindu tradition. Westerners are drawn to India because of Hinduism. Why then is there this resistance by many Indians to acknowledge the Hindu roots of their country? Why do some people even give the impression that an India which valued those roots would be dangerous? Don’t they…

By Maria Worth Though I have lived in India for a long time, there are still issues here that I find hard to understand. For example, why do so many educated Indians become agitated when India is referred to as a Hindu country? The majority of Indians are Hindus. India is special because of its ancient Hindu tradition. Westerners are drawn to India because of Hinduism. Why then is there this resistance by many Indians to acknowledge the Hindu roots of their country? Why do some people even give the impression that an India which valued those roots would be…

This question is natural for any human being and is asked in every generation by many of the youth. I remember it troubled me a lot when I was young. I don’t think I could have found the answer on my own because some basic philosophical knowledge about us and the universe is needed, but luckily I landed in India and was even luckier to become familiar with India’s profound wisdom. This philosophical knowledge is contained in the Vedas and has painstakingly been memorized by Indian Brahmins and handed down to us over many millennia. One could call the Vedic…