Practical Hinduism: Who is a Hindu?

"English education has made suspect, all Indian narratives." 

This statement resonates strongly with me.  This is so when I encounter the reactive response of the current generation of western-educated Indians. This is the norm for them. When any discussion around concepts/facts, propagated/discovered by our forefathers, is initiated, they react with a skeptical “Whatever!”.   

It is sad, but true, that the British systematically and deliberately destroyed all that is the true essence of being an Indian by teaching us to toe their line and to assume that everything Indian is inferior to everything western.  Modern western educated Indians are a byproduct of this indoctrination, and they get to be as close minded as can be about anything Indian.

Even today, India (especially Hindu India) is presented to the west as a land of people who are cheats, charlatans, heretics, people with bizarre practices (like that of the Aghori swamis or rigid caste systems), or men and women who are drowning in superstition.   Our western siblings and western educated youngsters (whether living in India or abroad) are perpetually brainwashed by these images and see the negatives in our culture and blow them out of proportion.  

Of course, no culture is without its share of charlatans and superstitions. Hinduism cannot be an exception. But exaggeration or dismissal, is not the way to go.  It is important to separate the chaff from the grain in any exercise that must lead to a true understanding of the truth.  So, I would like to invite my western compatriots and Indian hardliners alike, to pause awhile and join me in this journey of discovery of the truth. 

Before we proceed, let us list out a few facts that are often overlooked.

First, Hinduism is not a religion. It is a democratic framework that allows the believer, agnostic, and atheist to co-exist.  It is an accommodative conglomeration of beliefs with numerous shades of black, white, and grey in practice. 

Second, a Hindu is not a “believer”. He/ She is a seeker of truth.  The Hindu is welcome to be a theist, agnostic, or atheist. The fundamental purpose of an ideal Hindu life is to question everything, till the truth is revealed.    Personal Gods, community Gods and formless Gods are all considered to be tools that must be harnessed to arrive at the truth.  The scriptures themselves are only guidebooks and not sacrosanct works that have to be believed blindly.  Temples are not places of worship, but a concentrated powerhouse of energy for helping the truth-seekers reach their goal.

The term Hindu was coined by foreigners to refer to a set of people who occupied the land beyond the Indus.  It did not refer to the religion of the people. For a want of a better name, the term Hinduism came to be attached to the people who practiced a set of spiritual and moral codes in the region.

Having said all this, let us define the characteristics of the system that holds the people called "Hindus" together.

Intense individualism. Each soul is on a journey of realization and the soul will find God in one lifetime or in many whatever the path taken and whatever the form worshipped. 

Unflinching Democracy. Every form of God is true--even Jesus and Allah are acceptable as forms or formless representations of God. The individual has the free will to choose his God, path, and theoretically, no one has the right to interfere. So much so that, each member of a Hindu household may devote himself/herself to the worship of a different form of God or a formless God or even assert that there is no God and be completely accepted by the family and the society. 

Monotheism—God is one, but his forms; names, and paths to realization are numerous.  No one should be constrained to worship only one form of God or follow only one type of worship methodology. 

Reincarnation of the Soul. The goal of a Hindu is to attain liberation or Moksha from the cycle of life and death. It is imperative to be good, do good, and see good if one wants to attain the goal.

One may ask at this point--what of the factions that cause so much friction in Indian society? 

History is a witness to the fact that organization creates rules, regulations and belief systems. The crusades were organized by “Christians” who were “believers” and ISIS is the outcome of fanatical adherence to a particular faith. So long as Hinduism remains democratic and unorganized, caste, creed, beliefs, and methodologies of worship have no meaning. The moment sects of people organize themselves into “believers” in any one specific brand of philosophy, fanaticism becomes the driving force.  The battle lines were drawn only when the groups began to organize themselves into sects and sub-sects.  The various “isms” that plague the practice of Hinduism are a result of organization around philosophical lines.  The caste system is an organization around economics.

           In this blog, I have chosen to critically examine the thousands of years of the practice of Hinduism and focus my attention almost exclusively on the tools that have been provided by our ancestors in the form of the “guidebooks (in form of vast so-called-scriptural literature)”, in my search for the truth. You are free to agree, disagree or remain neutral about my understandings. These are my musings—wanderings- my search for the truth encapsulated in these essays. They may or may not help you in your journey of seeking.  You are free to validate your views with whatever tools you can find and use. Truth, like gravity, does not cease to exist because someone does not believe in its existence! The methodologies may be different, but the goal is the same!