That is why I became a Hindu. I was in India when this idea came to me and Hinduism looked quite appealing.
After approx. 2 years as a practicing Hindu. having visited a number of the most sacred places for Hindus in India, I realized that I was not a Hindu anyway, since Hinduism in its entire practice is polytheistic – one worships several different gods. And I knew very well that I was a monotheist myself. I believed, as I have always believed, that there was only one God.
Thus, when I became aware that I was not a Hindu, I left my Hindu practice. However, I still had a strong longing to approach my God somehow. And since I didn’t know where or how to find God, it was obvious to let God find me.
Therefore, I began from time to time to sit with my eyes closed and pray a kind of prayer. I would then, for example, say something like:
Dear God! If you exist, You know who I am. You can see me, though I can’t see You. You can hear me, though I can’t hear You. You know my needs, which I am poorly aware of myself. You know what’s good for me and what’s not good. Show me the right way to move on!
At this time, I was back in Denmark, where I lived as a Rock & Roll musician with a number of friends in a shared premise in central Jutland.
Meeting Old Friends
One day, a friend of mine, who had become a Muslim a few years earlier, came and invited me to visit him in Copenhagen. I knew that he was living with another old friend who had also become a Muslim, and I left to visit them.
They actually lived three men together, two of whom were my old friends, a Norwegian and a Dane. The third man in the company was an Englishman.
That was in May 1982.
Best as I lay sleeping at night, the first night I was with them, I was awakened by a “crazy shout out” into the night. I thought somebody was on some kind of a bad-trip. But it turned out that it was the Norwegian who stood and called for the first prayer of the day.
It was in the dark of the night at about 2.30 AM, and the time of night when the duvet is at its best – where you at least want to let go. And yet the others stood up and went to wash and pray. I was deeply puzzled and impressed. It was like a slap in my face.
It was clear to me that if you really grabbed hold of yourself, got out of bed, washed and stood to pray in the last hours of the night, shortly before daybreak, it would be something that was significantly more powerful, than the prayers I used to pray once in a while when I managed to curb my own vain desires.
So I got up too and stood to pray with them. I thought to myself that no matter who or what they prayed to or for, I knew, at least, that I prayed to the Creator, and I had something that I wanted from Him.
At this point I had long known that I was a believer in one God, and I did not hesitate to use that term.
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