Is Kirtan a 'Hindu' practise? Well,
what is a Hindu? The term has only been in use for less than a thousand years
and began more as a geographical term rather than referring to a religious
system. The invading Arabs referred to the peoples beyond the Sindhu river as
being Hindus. The spiritual texts of ancient India themselves refer to the
concept of Sanatana Dharma. This term refers to the eternal constitutional
position or duty of the spiritual being.
The essential point is that
kirtan is a non-sectarian practice and it does not matter what faith
group, or none, one associates oneself with, or is born into.
It is common to designate
people according to groups so we can put them 'into a box': he's a Nigerian, an
aborigine, she's a traveller, they're Jews, he's a Hare Krishna. Sometimes
there may be a motivation that in conversation with others we can group ourselves
into a 'better' group or designation (I'm Irish, I'm from Dublin, I'm from
Castleknock!). In this way the world will realise that I'm rich,
happy, aristocratic, and above these lower persons. In Vedic philosophy, this
is all seen as coming from ahankara, or false ego. Subtly (very subtly)
Vedic philosophy sees these thought processes or ideas as a desire for the
finite living being to usurp the position of the Supreme Being. But we can
never do so!
In conclusion, kirtan
should never be viewed as a sectarian practice.
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