The grand Old Religion: Hinduism

In the history of mankind, three religions have come down from time prehistoric - Hinduism, Zorostrianism & Judaism.

All of them have received tremendous shocks, and all of them prove by their survival their internal strength. Judaism failed to absorb Christianity and was driven out of its place by its own daughter. A handful of Parsis is all that now remains to tell the tale of their grand religion. Sect after sect arose in India, seeming to shake the religion of Vedas to its very depths, but like the waters of the seashore in a tremendous earthquake, it receded for a while, only to return in an all-absorbing flood, these sects were all sucked in, absorbed and assimilated into the mother faith, Hinduism. There are so many religions which rose, some as canals, streams, tributaries, some as wild rivers etc. The one which rose as a Mahanadhi is Hinduism. But all of them have originated with the sole aim of mixing with the ocean, GOD.

The Hindus have received their religion through Vedas. They hold that the Vedas are without beginning and without end. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons at different time. Just as the laws of gravitation existed before its discovery, and would continue to exist even if all humanity forgot it, so is with the laws that govern the spiritual world. The discoverers of these laws are called Rishis and we honor them as perfected beings.

The Hindu nation has been producing sage after sage during the thousands of years of its existence. But these sages or great incarnations are not the originators of our religion. And we must be proud of it. For no individual can determine what is right and what is wrong for the whole of humanity.

Hinduism is just a way of life. These rishis have preached how to live a divine life by setting examples. Hence, no one can convert to Hinduism. There is no procedure to convert to Hinduism. But nevertheless, anyone can practice Hinduism. If you are good, trying to evolve divinity in yourself, then you are practicing Hinduism.

Hinduism calls the man as "Children of immortal bliss"-- what a sweet name, huh ... immortal bliss? The Hindu refuses to call them as sinners. We are children of God, the sharers of immortal bliss, holy and perfect beings.

Hinduism does not force people to believe a certain doctrine or dogma. The idea is in realizing, not in believing, but in being and becoming. Thus the whole object of their system is by constant struggle to become perfect, to become divine, to reach God and see God, and this reaching God, seeing God, becoming perfect constitutes the religion of the Hindus.

The Christians and Muslims make fun of Hindus when they worship an idol. The DK and their likes too join them in its rhetoric against only the Hinduism. They ask if the prayers will reach the respective gods, if at all there is one.

I say that, Superstition is a great enemy of mankind. Agreed. But bigotry is worse. Why does a Christian go to church? Why is the cross holy? Why does a Muslim pray facing the west? Why do the DK remove their slippers when they garland the statue of Periyar or Anna?

Why b'cos, by the law of association ordinary human beings cannot think about anything without a mental image. This is why the Hindu uses an external symbol when he worships. It helps to keep his mind fixed on the being to whom he prays. It is a tool to keep your concentration. He knows as well as you do that the image is not God. There is a crucial issue that all those who abuse Hindu idol-worship do not quite get. No Hindu is under the impression that the idol or image is in fact God or the demi-god of choice. We are perfectly aware that it is only a representation of an idea; and therefore we do not worship it but the idea behind it. We merely use it as a means of concentrating our energies in prayer. This distinction seems lost on the average iconoclast.

Here is what His Holiness the Sankaracharya of Kanchi says,
"God exists everywhere. So a question may be asked why there should be any temples with idols. We know that God exists everywhere, but still the idea does not get firmly established in our mind. If God is merely omnipresent, how can He help us? We all long for His grace somehow. So we have to worship Him and get His grace. But how? The Agama Sastras tell us how this should be done. The sun's rays contain a lot of heat energy. If we keep a piece of cloth in the sun, it does not catch fire by itself. But if we place a lens and focus the sun's heat rays on that piece of cloth, after some time we find that the cloth catches fire. In the same way in order to get the grace of the Omnipresent Lord, we have to build temples where we can focus the power of the Lord in a consecrated idol for our benefit in an easy way. "

When they say God is universal and is omnipresent, why are there so many gods in Hinduism? Hinduism recognizes the Unity in diversity, which is also the plan of nature. Every other religion lays down certain fixed dogmas, and tries to force society to adopt them. It places before society only one coat which must fit Jack and John and Henry all alike. If it does not fit John or Henry, he must go without a coat to cover his body. Hinduism recognizes this. And that's why there are no fixed rules or dogma to worship god. That is why there are so many gods in Hinduism which suits his own image of a god. That is why Kaali is as equal a mother as Durga. That is why Shiva is as divine as Rudra and that is why Narasimha is as much a savior as Mahavishnu. Hinduism thus says that if an Ant has to create a God for itself, it will create a God in the shape of a Giant ant.

There is nothing wrong in creating something which fits your imagination to bring concentration to your mind. Ofcourse, as long as it does good to the society. They are simply symbols/rituals to hang their spiritual ideas. It is not a necessity that this help is needed for everyone. But those that do not need it have no right to say that it is wrong. That is why Hinduism does NOT set any rules that you should go to temple or pray as many times a day or any such rules. That is why, unlike other religions, Hinduism DOES NOT say that on the day of judgement, Armegadon as the christians say or the Kayyamat as the muslims call, only hindus will be saved or only hindu soles will go to heaven. It only says that, whoever has done good karma will go to heaven. That's all.

If a man can realize his divine nature with the help of an image, would it be right to call that a sin? Nor even when he has passed that stage, should he call it an error? In Hinduism, man is not traveling from error to truth, but from truth to truth, from lower truth to higher truth. To him all the religions, from the lowest fetishism to the highest absolutism, mean so many attempts to realize the divinity of GOD.

Any Hindu ritual has meaning. For example, why is an Agni sakshi needed in a marriage ceremony? B’cos, the bride and the groom promise to the fire that, I will be true to the other and if I break the promise, please burn me down.
Why is a band played at the time of wearing mangal sutra? Both of them should think of each other and nothing else. They shud listen to no nonsense at that time. That is why the band is neither music nor a noise which might distract them. It is a combination of both.

Likewise, every ritual that revolves around the daily life of a Hindu has a meaning. Ofcourse like every other religion, like every society there are some meaningless superstition, which need to be condemned. But, by and large, it is full of meaning. It is full of perfected habits, which help mankind to lead a good life.

In Hinduism they say that there are 3 phases/yogas of attaining god. Karma yoga, Bhakthi yoga & Gyana yoga. Likewise, we can keep on talking about the grand Old religion ... Lastly, it is imperative that all these should be carried out in practice; mere theories about them will do no good.

Religion is realization; not talk, nor doctrine, nor theories however beautiful they may be. It is being and becoming, not hearing or acknowledging, it is the whole soul becoming changed into what it believes. That is Hinduism.

Compiled from the following sources:
Hinduism, Its Philosophy - By Swami Vivekananda
Hinduism , Universal Religion - By Swami Vivekananda
Arthamulla Indu Madam - By Kavi Arasu Kannadasan
Mind, Its Mysteries and Control - By Swami Sivananda
http://www.hindunet.org/