Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. Hinduism sounds awesome. Had I been born in India I might have never become an atheist.

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  I'm Hindu, have always celebrated Xmas, and will probably continue to. Even if it isn't technically part of my religion doesn't mean the spirit isn't.

(I am an atheist, but I was raised in a Hindu family and culturally identify with being Hindu)

Man, you're more awesome than me. I gave up the 3-in-1 God. How many gods did you give up?

Not that many, actually.

The one thing about Hinduism is that its been around so long that it has a million different splintered interpretations, and it encourages discourse on the different interpretations. Hinduism is more of a shared cultural experience with different theological views, and the one you're most likely going to adopt is the one you were raised into, though its not always the case.

Hinduism has its own trinity - Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. However, Shiva is viewed as more of a destroyer of evil, and hence the religion is theoretically equipped to deal with theological change as the world is considered to be in a constant state of flux. While there are many other minor gods, they are all linked in some way to the main trinity, either through celestial familial relationships, or as avatars of the main deity himself. Vishnu, for example, is supposed to have had 9 avatars on Earth, and is hence linked to Rama, Krishna, the Fish (an avatar story almost identical to that of Noah's Ark, which raises some interesting questions), and is supposed to return for a tenth.

Another school of thought goes further to claim that all versions of the divine beings are all manifestations of Brahman, while is essentially the essence of all living thing, and the cycles of rebirth and death are meant to empower souls (which are splinters of Brahman) with worldly experience, and that doing good and accumulating karma is for the eventual goal of reuniting with Brahman. This school of thought maintains that idolatry is for the common people to identify with this supreme being which is too abstract for most people to grasp, in order for them to better perceive divinity.

All in all, based on a purely theological perspective, it wasn't hard for me to separate the notions of doing good with the connection to divinity. I don't believe in the rest of the background, but even in the worst case, being a good person isn't going to hurt me as faith is not a requirement to be a good Hindu - doing good deeds is (at least, that's my personal interpretation of it). And since I don't view religion as a prerequisite to be a good person, I consider myself to be of all religions and of none. I fast for Ramadan, celebrate Christmas, participate in Hindu festivals (which I obviously have a closer cultural connection to) and during my time in the Northeast US, have participated in Sabbaths. And frankly, being an atheist to me doesn't mean cutting off all connections with the cultural aspects of religion - at the end of the day, its a great sense of community, and as long as that doesn't hurt other people, there's no harm in participating.

Overview of my thoughts on theology in Hinduism, and my movement to atheism in the realization that faith doesn't preclude being a good person and its less harmful to other people by not having that dogmatic faith.

Hey and we get to make up crazy stories that normal people call Superstitions coz it just didn't work right for them.

- It is bad to ask "where are you going" to anyone going out of home.Indians dare to ask their relatives or family members this question because it brings bad luck to the person going out.Moreover it is considered that harm will come to the one who is being asked that dreaded question.

- It is bad when a cat crosses your path or road.If that happens, people mostly return to their homes or pray to god and proceed on their path.

- It is also considered bad to see a widow face to face while going out.And, the worse part is that widows are unwelcome at any functions like marriages.

- It is bad to drop a cut finger nail inside the house,even in the dustbin. It is believed that nails brings economic damnation to the house.

- Mirrors should not be shown to children,because it makes children to become dumb, that is infants seeing mirror at very young age will fail to speak.

- Taking photos reduces ones lifetime.So,indians avoid taking photographs of their infants.

- Menstrating women are forbidden from entering temples,or even to pray at home,since menstruation is a sin.

- The month named "Aadi",that is the first month of windy season is forbidden to perform any functions like house warming,marriage or starting anything.

- Dreams in the early morning are expected to come true.So if anything bad happens in a dream, people will meet with certain religious men and perform poojas to prevent the dream from coming true.

-When a coconut is broken in the temple, it should part in to two regular and equal halves and not break at tangent in to the eyes of the coconut. A decayed or rotten coconut foreshadows serious mishap to the devotee .

- After sneezing, people exclaim 'Shiva', 'Rama ' or 'Krishna'or whatever god they pray to.

- It is not good to give money to anyone after sunset.If anyone does that,all their money will go away from them.So,when the newspaper/current/mobile bill collector knocks after 6:00 PM,it is a waste of their time.And,it is strictly forbidden to lend needles or oil after 6:00PM.

- When faced with dilemma, instead of considering merits and demerits, villagers put colored flowers in a temple and see which colour falls first due to wind.The colour of the flower which falls first determines their action.

- Nothing should be started on a Tuesday.Wednesday is the best day for important ventures and is as 'good as gold'.

- When the first tooth of a child falls out the fallen tooth is carefully placed in a lump of cow dung, and thrown over roof in the belief that such action will hasten the re-growth of the child 's teeth. (this one is a sort of related to tooth fairies i suppose,but practiced by parents instead of children)

- It is a bad sign to place hands behind the head when trying to relax,since it can cause the death of parents.

- The sound of door hitting the wall should never be made by children,since it causes fights to happen between the parents.

- A lizard falling on head can cause death.

- The cawing of a crow in one's house foretells the coming of guests.

- If a lizard makes a sound when you make a statement, it shows that what you said is true.And if a bell rings or even if a mobile phone rings,its also considered that what is told is truth,or it will come true.

- If anyone kills a snake,he has to goto a snake nest found in most temples and place eggs and milk to prevent the snake from taking revenge.


The fact about this list is that these superstitions are still believed throughout India,in villages as well as cities.  {Via}