What is Hinduism? A Personal View

allah, philosopher:

You might want to exchange your "pleasantries" on Unplugged. Thanks.

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Re: article
Dost,
One of my dad’s friends describes Hinduism as “Your search for your God”. According to him there are the religious books are there to help you along the way. But what you believe in is up to you. Quite like doing a PHD, there is a lot prior work in the field i.e. the religious books. But your thesis has to work for you.

Your thoughts!

Regards,

Faruk

Re: # 16

" do not think that your certitude is shared by your coreligionists. Go to any dargah in India on a Thursday and you would find that the majority of those praying at those dargahs are not Muslims but Hindus."

You mean you did a head count?? What about the certitude of millions who walk all the way to Tirupati or Vaishno Devi?? You have a poor understanding of their faith my dear!! I think your understanding of contemporary hinduism is very much dhimmized which appears to emphasise 'superiority' of "formless" form of God (as in Sikhism). You must read more of Visistadvaita or even Dwaita paramparas in order to appreciate the issues regarding Nirvikara and Sakara Brahman!!
If possible try to understand and also perform Shodapochar Pujan on some idols of your Ishta Deva/devi!! Perhaps then you would understand that "certitude" does not come from reading books but from "parokshanubhava"!!!

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khurram#18:

I would call them "hinduised". A true believer in Judaism, Christianity and Islam would believe his religion to be the Absolute Truth. There is a lot of openmindedness these days, especially in the West, with respect to new ideas even in matters metaphysical.

mohar11:

I take the Abrahmic faiths' definition of religion because the concept itself is Abrahmic, in my opinion. Why must Hindus insist upon theirs being A Religion? I think that it is perhaps more accurate to call it as a convenient term that encompasses a number of faiths.

Having said that, I would add that most of these faiths do have some common threads, the most common being a belief in the concepts of reincarnation and moksha.

The good thing about this amorphous nature of Hinduism is that it lets a thousand flowers bloom; the negative side is that it lacks the discipline of a single faith, so you have people worshipping snakes and temples devoted to rats, not to mention that mushrooming of con-artists masquerading as swamis and "godmen".

DM,
Your 'definition' in the last paragraph may describe most hindus. But it is not sufficient as a definition because it does not exclude Non-hindus.
Many westerners would desribe themselves this way without identifying themselves as Hindu.

laddu#7,8:

"DM talks about "certitude" and ignores the certitude of idolator like me who considers that the formless can only be attained through the worship of idols depicting the positive qualities of the Sakaara Brahman."

I do not think that your certitude is shared by your coreligionists. Go to any dargah in India on a Thursday and you would find that the majority of those praying at those dargahs are not Muslims but Hindus.

Thank for your other comments. Re. Charvak, I agree that he is materialistic and I included him among Sankhya people because he is non-theistic. Charvak fascinates me but I could find very little on him on the Internet.

laddu#7,8:

"DM talks about "certitude" and ignores the certitude of idolator like me who considers that the formless can only be attained through the worship of idols depicting the positive qualities of the Sakaara Brahman."

I do not think that your certitude is shared by your coreligionists. Go to any dargah in India on a Thursday and you would find that the majority of those praying at those dargahs are not Muslims but Hindus.

Thank for your other comments. Re. Charvak, I agree that he is materialistic and I included him among Sankhya people because he is non-theistic. Charvak fascinates me but I could find very little on him on the Internet.

Re: # 10 DM

HP has no clue... the five-dal is rich in nutrients from five different sources... he may not like the taste, but that's the point... the primitives don't understand the rich diversity...

DM

One god,one book, one prophet - while this is good for simple folks - it's actually a step behind in human evolution... evolution of the thought process... it's tribalistic and primitive... those who take these "religions" too seriously end up being primitive... I mean look at the bedouins...

You are looking at an ocean here... and you are wondering why it's not pond... well, why bother about the little ponds, little poodles of stagnant water where nothing gets in or gets out? which is guarded by zealous primitives who call it their "religion"...

While your attempt to get a "personal view" is commendable - you are viewing it from a wrong side of the prism... turn around and look it from the other side - then you will see all the colors... Religion is what hinduism is - one-book faiths are mere sects... they have yet to grow into a real religion...

hamidm2#5:

Don't knock grandpa gopinath. You owe your good looks to his decision. And but for him, you would still be eating the heeng-laced daal.

jayp#2:

My concept is similar to that of the Kerala high court. Several hindus on chowk have declared themselves to be agnostic or atheists. Are they non-hindus, as Vivekanand's definition would suggest?

Re: # 6 hamid muttar


''this sounds like something you too should look into ... it is time people like you and i went back to our roots''

The roots where there is ''gao-muttar and and goaber khaad(fertilizer)'' that help your roots grow to the new spirtual and intellectual heights. ''aa ab loat chalain''.
hamdid...along with that you will have to aviod messing up devta toilet bowl ji with non vegetarian filth as well.

Muttar knows better