Hinduism At Stake

Hinduism is at a critical point in its variegated history. It is being subjected to ferocious external attacks and very subtle, yet nonetheless destructive, internal attacks. The Hindus themselves are bringing their ancient culture down. All those Hindus who are capable of rational thought should act now. The future of this glorious religion lies in your own hands.

The basis and glory of Sanatana Dharma lie in its vast diversity, which is capable of embracing all types of approaches to the Supreme in its all-inclusive and loving grasp. However, today, this very characteristic is what is bringing us down. The diversity of Hinduism is what makes it unique and glorious, but we should make sure that this will not lead to our downfall.

Unlike the Abrahamic religions, we strongly believe that the Ultimate Truth has many facets and many ways of approach. We never believed that we had an order from God to save those who did not believe in our concept of the Supreme. There was never an urge in us to proselytize and spread "the good word" throughout the world. Abrahamic religions make their faith into something totally exclusive so that anyone who does not belong to this exclusive circle is condemned for all eternity! Hindus, however, have supremacist ideas. Exclusiveness sees only his own truth to be supreme. The supremacist no doubt thinks his own to be the best but does not exclude others from following their own paths. A devotee who sees God as Narayana accepts the jnani who sees God as Brahman and the one who sees him as Shiva, or Allah, or Jesus. Just because we see ours as the highest, it does not mean that we should look down on others. We regard God as omnipotent, and therefore, we do not limit Him to one or another of the meager roles that other religions force Him into.

We have always believed in "live and let live," but unfortunately, this will only work if everyone else believes in the same ideology. Seven hundred years, we were brutally forced to look at the face of an aggressive faith that would stick at nothing to achieve its exclusive aims. We lived through those ages only because of the strength of our beliefs. However, we live in a totally different arena now where our modern generation does not have the strength of their beliefs in their own traditions. This belief has been trodden on by colonial rule and further flattened out by our own "secular" rulers after independence.

According to the young generation, Hinduism means to take part in Bollywood-like displays during Diwali, Holi, Ganesh Chaturti, Navaratri, etc. They know nothing about the deep underlying spiritual meaning beneath these festivals, all of which have a scientific basis. The pathetic part of this age is that our youth see only the external façade of our religions because they have never been taught about the deep metaphysical and scientific reasons behind every type of rule and ritual and festival that Hindus celebrate. It is high time that the government started to educate our youth into our basic culture. The two aggressive world religions are totally against this idea. They believe in "live as we live or else die or face dire consequences!" This is so totally against our view of life that we find it difficult to digest it even though we have been under attack for seven hundred years.

All our scriptures are based on the Veda, but we have never had one single canonized scripture. So we find many different types of approaches were given in our culture and all existed amicably together. However, when something went entirely beyond the canons of the Vedic teaching, masters arose amongst us who argued and brought back the rebels into the mainstream of Hindu thought. In 500 BC, the Vedic ideas were being distorted to promote only the Brahmana portion of the Vedas, which glorified the greatness of external yajna or ritual. It was during this time that Buddha and Mahavira were born, who propounded a new way of life but took from Hinduism the essential foundations of karma, reincarnation, and ahimsa. Subsequently, Adi Shankara arose, who took up the final portion of the Vedas, the teachings of the Upanishads, and proclaimed the idea of Advaita or non-dualism.

This was what caught the imagination of the entire Hindu population and is still the foundation on which everything else is based. He reinstated Sanatana Dharma in India, and the Buddhists were forced to leave the shores of India forever. Then came other great Advaitic masters like Ramanujacharya and Madhvacharya, who proclaimed the theories of Visishtadvaita and Dvaita, respectively, which brought back bhakti or devotion to a personal God. After this, there was an influx of many different gods taken from the Puranas, and all Hindus belonged to one sect or another. However, the fact was that there was no real quarrel among them since they were all based on the knowledge of Advaita or non-duality as the foundation.

However, today's world is a fast-moving, digitized world where we are inundated with ideas from all quarters. Evangelists are proclaiming to the poorer sections of Hindus that there is no harm in converting since Hinduism says, 'All religions are the same.' The fact is that Hinduism never says this. It accepts that all religions are after the same goal of finding God, but it also asserts that our method is the best. However, unlike other religions, it never insists that this means others should convert. Hindus are happy to allow everyone to go by the path that is best suited to them. This idea is embedded in our culture, which is why we have so many gods and why we are happy to allow others to worship God in the way that suits their personality. Today, this very idea is being distorted by those who are out to undermine our religion. The intellectuals among the Hindus themselves are the most culpable. They have fallen prey to Western thought and are determined to bring our religion down. Media channels also keep picking on the worst aspects of our religion and broadcasting them to all and sundry. The Christians have now found another excellent way to convert poor Hindus. They have shamelessly stolen many aspects of our religion, rituals, and stotras, and built churches that look like temples, where the 108 names of Jesus are chanted by priests who go around looking like Hindu sadhus! They even claim that the Bhagavad Gita was given by Jesus and even have him standing in a chariot! Of course, many of the uneducated masses are totally taken by this and become easy prey for the evangelists.

After independence, the states took over control of Hindu temples, and the money placed by countless devotees is still being used to help the so-called minorities. Many Christians were appointed to the board. Recently, a huge amount from the Guruvayoor temple in Kerala was given for the Covid fund when no other religious sect was asked to give anything. Vast lands of the Hindu temples, like Tirupathi, have been sold.

This is the Kurukshetra of the 21st century. It is high time for all Hindu organizations to stop bickering among themselves and try to bring about a consolidated Hindu board on an all-India scale. This is the only way we can combat the threat to our culture. We are being threatened from all sides, and it's urgent to combine our efforts to bring about a united Hindu organization. The new generation should be taught to respect and revere their ancient culture. This can be done only if they know about it. At the moment, the present generation thinks that being Hindu means celebrating our festivals like Diwali and Holi. We dress up like Bollywood actors and think we are practicing Hinduism. Unfortunately, festivals, though a necessary part of our culture, are not the foundation. We have kept the shell and forgotten the kernel.

There is an immediate urgency in starting a Hindu education board. It should be set up immediately. If the government does not do it, the great mutts of India like the Adi Shankara mutts should rise to the occasion and strive to set up such a board. Ashrams like the Ramakrishna, Ramana, Ammachi, and Anandamayi ashrams should all pool their resources and form a united Hindu organization that will be able to stand up to all the calumny being poured on us and bring about a united Hindu Rashtra. The average Hindu in the villages has to be strengthened so that they will have the knowledge to protect themselves against other aggressive religions.

Sanatana Dharma carries within it the solution to the human condition, for it carries with it the truth of our existence. Christianity and Islam have theologies that are forced onto reality, while Hinduism has a philosophy that is utterly in tune with the way life is. Adiveda is one of the organizations that has been started to save this amazing science called Hinduism!