Hinduism

Hinduism is one of the great world religions. Its origins are lost in the mists of time. It certainly predates Christianity and Islam and possibly Judaism too. Some of its scriptures are amongst the oldest written texts in the world. Hinduism is really a whole culture, not just a religion. But here we are going to focus on the spiritual aspects of Hinduism. Those aspects are rather unique amongst all the religions of the world. Hinduism is the one which is by far the broadest church. It is the least dogmatic of religions. In a way it is the most feminine of religions. It can yield to new influences, absorb new thoughts, new philosophies. It is a fluid religion, not hard like a rock but soft and flowing like water. It is this characteristic which has allowed Hinduism to prosper; in India it is still very much alive.

One aspect of Hinduism is its many gods. It is the exact opposite of a monotheistic religion, it is polytheistic in the extreme with thousands, millions of gods. Belief in these gods is not a matter of exclusion. Yes, most Hindus have their favourite god, the one they worship in particular, but they are not antagonistic towards the other gods. These various gods reflect different aspects of our life. This is one of the beautiful aspects of Hinduism, that there is a god for anything you can think of in life. If you want to focus your energy on one particular aspect of life the religion allows for it. You can worship the god or goddess which most reflects that aspect.

This pantheon of gods is not a closed shop, new gods are added whenever appropriate and, indeed, the deities of other religions are often absorbed into Hinduism. So, for example, Jesus is seen as one of the many gods who have come to Earth in human form. Similarly the Buddha, Gautam Buddha, has been absorbed into Hinduism as yet another incarnation of a god. All of this gives Hinduism a very non-exclusive feel. Other religions seem to be so exclusive in everything they preach. Hinduism is more open than that; it can accept change; it can evolve; it can allow differences between people, between their forms of worship, between their beliefs. Hinduism, more than any other religion, allows us to pursue our own path within its religious structure.

There are many other aspects of Hinduism which we could look into but here I will limit myself to making a few comments about yoga. The term yoga, coined by Patanjali, covers the many forms of discipline and practice which are followed within Hinduism. Again, there is not just one form of yoga, there are many different forms suitable for different sorts of people. In the West we tend to think of yoga in terms of the physical postures, the asanas. This is hatha yoga and in India hatha yoga is just one of many different branches of yoga. There are forms of yoga for people who are very devotional, that is bhakti yoga, or for those who are inclined to provide service to their fellow human beings and animals. Or there is raja yoga, the royal yoga for those who are given to contemplation and meditation. These and many other branches of yoga are seen as equally valid forms of practice.

So perhaps the most fundamental feature of Hinduism is that it accepts differences between different human beings and that allows us to be ourself. This is a great contribution of Hinduism, not to force everyone down the same path, not to assume that we are all identical, but to be this broad river with many different paths of equal validity. More than any other religion, Hinduism rejoices in this great diversity. For me this is the greatest contribution of Hinduism but it has also been the fertile breeding ground for other religions and I will talk about a few of those in other episodes.