About HIM

A chat with LaChat got into interesting groove. I'll leave the gist of that out, esp since she is touchy about Sai Ram as she puts it. I'll write about what troubles me in whats generally called as Hindu faith.
While I would say I'm a Hindu and quite proud of it, some of my views may distress the more common practisioners. For one, I don't like temples. Not as in the structures, but rather what they have become. Most temples invariably are dirty. Reason mostly being the plastics of incense sticks, rotting flowers, edibles offfered to deity etc. Someone remarked that while some of the offerings are same as in Gurudwaras, the latter are usually clean because of sewa done by the worshippers. Maybe thats it, Hinduism being more personal, does not foster the same comunal civic feelings.
Then there are those pujaris. Most temples I find too commercialised where often, the richer your offerring, the nearer to deity you get. I find that reprehensible.
For me, Hinduism is about our glorious philosophies. If you look at the discussions in our ancient discourses, you will realize that Hindu thought ( and its also the Indian thought of that time) is about following the right way of life. Wealth and connections are not counted in goods, its the thinking that determines greatness. There is plenty of debate and debate shows tolerance.
I find the same qualities missing in most of modern Indians, though we all pay lip service to the same.
Then there is that talk about idols being symbols of Gods, representations so that we weak of mind, find it easier to concentrate. What I however see is that for most of us, its the idols which have become God. I feel we worship that stone/clay statue as God, not as representation of God. So whats supposed to be the way to concentrate, becomes the object of concentration. That would neccessorily limit the spiritual God, because we don't try to reach that level where the easy way is not needed.
So the net result is that people find me less of Hindu, while I find them primitive.