Understanding Hinduism

One of the books which we are working on at the moment, an offshoot of our recent book on India, is on Hinduism - India’s main religion. For centuries people in the west have always been fascinated by Hinduism and we thought a guide book explaining Hinduism was long overdue.

My Friend, Ian reckons that the reason for the allure of Hinduism is it’s enduring nature…Surely there must be some reassuring truth in beliefs so old that they are almost timeless, having survived the advent of other religions, like Buddhism, Christianity and Islam. In fact, in India these religions are able to co-exist, and often one religion may influence another, moderating it and creating a very mature belief system.

This tolerance and moderation, though not universal, is one of the greatest strengths of mainstream Hinduism, in which many paths to the same spiritual goal (even through other religions) are regarded as equally valid. This concept of Advaita (or non-dualism) gently nudges the believer in the direction of tolerance.

Perhaps this explains yet another reason why people are drawn to Hinduism. Whilst some other religions have come into conflict with the logic of science, surprisingly Hinduism seems to have always avoided this impasse. In fact philosophical and logical debates between Hindu scholars were commonplace, even in ancient times. Even today around the world many scientists of Indian origin carry out their scientific research, then observe ‘pooja’ (prayer) at a small religious shrine at home, reaffirming their beliefs.

I wonder if this isn’t an attractive choice compared with the one we here in the west feel confronted with - science (which one may feel requires atheism, and a possible lack of spiritual support) or a religion one finds hard to reconcile with the modern world. Perhaps more than anything, the calm and gentle faith of this ancient religion is what attracts people to it.

Whilst I am enjoying having philosophical conversations with people, contemplating, gathering information and learning more about this fascinating religion, I am at the same time, struggling hard to write a book on it according to publisher’s criteria. Hinduism is very complex and a list based religion. For example there are ten ‘avatars’ (incarnations) of God Vishnu, Seven streams of Hindu philosophy, several sects, 108 places of Salvation mentioned by Hindu saints, 12 most sacred sites of God Shiva, thousands of other Gods, several holy books, etc and this is another area where I am having difficulties. Hopefully, we should have this book completed by the year end.

This entry was posted on Thursday, 12 June 2008 at 11:55 pm and is filed under Books, General, India, Religon. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.