Narendran said "I think seclusion/discrimination is a bad idea..If we dont know or don't make efforts to know people who are different from us, then we treat them based on our past biases/prejudices which may not be true.. and is really harmful in the long run..I can understand from your replies that you feel a lot of bad things have crept into hinduism that really was not sanctioned in vedas.. I don't know anything about the vedas.. so I'll take your word and agree with you.. But then I have a dilemma, pls clarify if my assumptions are wrong.. Are vedas a set of rules for an hindu to live his/her life..??.. I've heard Quran and subsequent hadiths..(or is it sharia??) is one such book which controls every aspect of a Muslim's life..and punishes if he/she flouts the rules as dictated.. Are vedas similar??.. """""
Not a single living person today knows fully what is there in vedas.Even at the height of the vedic civilization very few knew all 4 vedas.One aspect of hinduism is you need not know what is written in vedas to follow them.Even a red-indian in peru could have followed vedic concepts without ever hearing about them.
Krishna says in geetha that there are 4 ways of reaching him.what is the first one?
Karmayoga:"Do your duty without any attachment to results.You will reach me."--You dont even need to be a believer to follow this rule.Even atheists can attain god by following this rule.
Bakthi yoga:"leave every dharma and surrender to me.I will save you from all the consequences of your act"
Here krishna says that when you leave every single vedic dharma and surrender to him he will save you from everything.You dont need to do anything except surrender to him.Then it becomes his duty to save you.What is difficult in this?
What about the people who have never heard about krishna?How will they surrender to him?What about muslims and christians who will never worship him?This is what krishna says about them in Geetha.
"Whosoever desires to worship whatever deity (using whatever name, form, and method) with faith, I make their faith steady in that very deity. (7.21)Endowed with steady faith they worship that deity, and fulfill their wishes through that deity. Those wishes are, indeed, granted only by Me. (7.22)whomever you worship,you only worship me.whatever religion you follow you only reach me"
Narendran said "But then we also need to follow the rules set out by the government of the place we live in.. Do they match??. If not what takes precedence?.. I know that in a democratic form of government, I can with the help of like minded people change the rules if we feel it's not doing the right thing as we expected.. But is it possible to change these so called "holy" texts..?.. Don't you think it's better to believe in something which we have control over.. than to believe in some "divine" document which we all know has been hijacked or misinterpreted by vested interests and hence created a lot of sufferings to a lot of people.."
Now you must have realized that you dont even need to know anything about vedas to follow them.All you need to do is believe in a god and surrender to him.Then it becomes his duty to save you.If your government is atheistic like communist govt of USSR and prevents you from worshiping any god you need not worry.It will become krishnas duty to save you.Once you leave yourself in his hands he will take care of you.You need not worry about anything else.