The genius of Hinduism, then, was that it left room for everyone. It was a profoundly tolerant religion. It denied no other faiths. It set out no single path. It prescribed no one canon of worship and belief. It embraced everything and everyone. Whatever your personality there was a god or goddess, an incarnation, a figure, a deity, with which to identify, from which to draw confort, to rouse you to a higher or deeper spirituality. There were gods for every purpose, to suit any frame of mind, any mood, any psyche, any stage or station of life. In taking on different forms, God became formless; in different names, nameless.
An excerpt from "The man who knew infinity" by Robert Kanigel.
This is perhaps, the best representation of Hinduism I've come across so far. I respect the depth to which the author has studied and understood the religion. After all, the book is not about Hinduism but is about a mathematician. A mathematician so religious that the author might have found it impossible to separate the two. I for one don't know the deep seated ideologies and philosophies of Hinduism, or any religion for that matter. However, what I've come to realize after reading this paragraph is that whoever designed Hinduism was perhaps a genius. Of course the one designer theory is, let me correct it, an assumption. Liberalization and decentralization, what I see as one of the most effective forms of administration was perhaps the sole motto of this designer, letting people be free to choose, amongst other things, even their God.
An excerpt from "The man who knew infinity" by Robert Kanigel.
This is perhaps, the best representation of Hinduism I've come across so far. I respect the depth to which the author has studied and understood the religion. After all, the book is not about Hinduism but is about a mathematician. A mathematician so religious that the author might have found it impossible to separate the two. I for one don't know the deep seated ideologies and philosophies of Hinduism, or any religion for that matter. However, what I've come to realize after reading this paragraph is that whoever designed Hinduism was perhaps a genius. Of course the one designer theory is, let me correct it, an assumption. Liberalization and decentralization, what I see as one of the most effective forms of administration was perhaps the sole motto of this designer, letting people be free to choose, amongst other things, even their God.
4 comments:
Hinduism is a very tolerant religion. I would say Hindu people are more peaceful than anyone else in the world.
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It is interesting the author has used past tense while describing hinduism. Does he think it is any different now?
Harsha - I haven't used past tense in describing the religion. The crux of the religion, the philosophy has not and will not change. Interpretations of the religion, however will change according to people's whims and fancies :).
Appreciate your views on Hinduism. I would like to add here few points: In true sense, there is no proper english word for Hindutva (it can not be well described by any single english word Hindutva = Hindu + Tatva). When we talk about 'ism', it is a closed set of ideas, having a fixed set of thought line raised by selected few. This has not been the case with Hindutva. Hindutva is a constant flow of set of thoughts and insights spoken/written/experienced by many many 'rishi', 'muni', 'tapasvi' and common people of this Nation. Having said that, Hindutva is not a religion which tolerates others. Hindutva provides mutual respect to other faiths. For tolerance vs mutual respect, I would like to point out here the book "Being Different" and discussions by Rajiv Malhotra - (An Entrepreneur turned Historian & proponent of True Indian culture & value system). http://beingdifferentbook.com
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