"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!