HINDUISM

HinduismGuess I have been reading a lot of stuff on Islam and Hiduism. Both in terms of history and philosophy. In India we who call ourselves Hindus must understandthe term Hindu. Its become a misnomer for a ritualistic, paganish, religion.First and foremost Hindus must understand Hinduism is not a religion as definedby Cicero.The word religion : re =again and legre = lecture It would mean to gothrough again.Even the common usage of the word religiously means, to dosome thing again and again as a matter of routine.The word Dharma does nothave an equivalent english word. It comes close to words like "Nature","conduct" etc.,.Hinduism is the Dharma of people who lived in the cradle of Indus valley. It was their way of living life consciously.The icon they worshippedwere irrelevant. It got converted into a ritualistic polytheist paganish religion,after the invasion of Arabs and turks.People to shroud their cowardice startinglooking for Gods. What was achievable only through courage and convictionthey tried to achieve through Gods mercy or miracle.That started the longseries of ritualistic worshipping. Worshipping and temples have been theresince vedic period.That time it was in different percept. It was an altar todefuse all negativity and draw strength.It became a common refuge andescapist after the invasion and abject surrender by the weak hindu rulersduring and post 12th century. Hinduism word is not to be found in any of thescriptures. But if we go beyond the word, this Dharma as defined in theUpanishads (the most relevant scriptures) is all inclusive.It is for all livingbeing.Unlike Islam or Christianity it does not lay a pre condition that unless youconvert and start worshipping a particular God or obey any particular book youcan not achieve salvation.It repeatedly insists on spiritualism alone.Spiritualismis beyond any common percept of God.The Four Mahaakyas do give a glimpse of the Dharma (commonly known as hinduism). Let us pick up the most commonone i.e., TAT TWAM ASI. In this statement there is no God. It only says Thou artthat. That would mean we must shed our EGO alone to and understand that weare a subset of Him.This would hold true for all concerned, irtrespective of theIcons he or she is anchored to.A simple word like "Namashkar" used by all of usmillions of times by all of us. How many have understood the message behindit. It is as follows : Namashkar= Namah+Akar. That is I bow (namah) to the Godin your shape and physic(Akar).Such beautiful sublime eruditeness in everydaysalutation. It woud be difficult to find a parallel in any other religion.YetHinduism today has become a symbol of derision. It has become a synonym forall that is fundamentalist,obscurantist,conservative and ancient.The so calledEnglish speaking chatterati masquerading as media has done immense harm tothe percept of Hinduism. No doubt the Brahmins of India too have causedmajor damage over the centuries to a wonderful Dharma.These days largely theBrahmins have become irrelevant though. What is visible is lot moreperceptible then what is written in the Books. The rituals have become theface of Hinduism. A whole Yuppy class has grown up in this country. The socalled tomorrows leaders, passing out of the Business Management and such