HINDUISM: Hard to define, if not impossible.

 When we think of Hinduism, we find it difficult, if not impossible, to define Hinduism or even adequately describe it. Unlike other religions in the world, Hinduism does not claim any one prophet, it does not worship any one god, it does not subscribe to any one dogma, it does not believe in any one philosophic concept, it does not follow any one set of religious rites or performances, in fact, it does not appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion or creed. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more.

Hinduism does not neatly fit into the normal definition of religion as there is no founder, the highest Supreme (Brahman) is not directly worshiped. Hinduism is a collection of believes / philosophies/sciences of the people from the region of the Indus valley. But I guess that you knew this already.

Hinduism” Being the oldest and the third-largest faith in the world and with over a billion followers – many believe that Hinduism is a choice of living (way of living) and is only one absolute, pure and eternal reality that can be found through enlightenment. It's all about spirituality.

Some Hinduism practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, “the eternal tradition,” or the “eternal way,” beyond human history. Scholars regard Hinduism as a fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This “Hindu synthesis” started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE following the Vedic period.

Now others have already pointed out in some detail, what Hinduism is, but these are still incomplete answers. From these answers, you would gather that detailing what Hinduism could be a gigantic task. This detailing has been done for thousands of years in the form of Upanishads, Puranas, The Epics Mahabharata & Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita, Vedanta, And a whole lot in modern times.

We, Indian never needs to define Hinduism, of course, because it’s my way of living. And, it is almost impossible to be defined by another world. Although, how they describe Hinduism is engrossing.

Sir Monier Monier Williams, a Sanskrit professor at Oxford University, relentlessly believed in the strength of infinite adaptability to the infinite diversity to the human character and human tendencies mentioned in the holy books of Hindus. He stated that “no description of Hinduism can be exhaustive which does not touch on almost every religious and philosophical idea that the world has ever known.”

Dr. Arnold Toynbee, a British historian, said that “This spiritual gift i.e Hinduism that makes a man human is still alive in Indian souls, go on and give the world Indian examples of it, nothing else can do so much to help mankind to save itself from destruction.”

Mark Twain, an American author, believed that the only way to save oneself from any danger, loss, or harm would be through Hinduism. He also said, “Our most valuable and instructive materials in the history of man are all treasured up in India, it is already becoming clear that a chapter which had a western beginning will have to have an Indian ending if it's not to end in self-destruction of the human race. In Hinduism, we have the attitude and spirit that can make it possible for the human race to grow together into a single-family.”

Being a Hindu, these descriptions made by a man of foreign land gives something like goosebumps. As Swami Vivekananda rightly said that, “I am proud to belong to a nation which has sheltered the persecuted and the refugees of all religions and all the nations of the earth. I am proud to tell you that we have gathered in our bosom the purest remnant of the Israelites, who came to southern India and took refuge with us in the very year in which their holy temple was shattered to pieces by Roman tyranny.”

In my view, a Hindu is a person who seeks the truth about the Supreme, One who understands that the path to the Supreme is a personal one & therefore the individual chooses the path to the Supreme that he/she wants to follow. For this reason, the individual would not ever force his beliefs on others. They understand that there are different modes of worship which is just a vehicle to the path to the Supreme Just as there are many paths up to the mountain top.

The different philosophies of Hinduism are nothing but the different paths to attain the supreme or say moksha, nirvana, self-knowledge, liberation, Mukti, freedom from samsara/Maya. All these philosophies have five things in common known as Pañca-Śraddhā.

BRAHMAN — the belief in an Absolute qualified by sat-chit-ānanda - space-time-consciousness. 

JĪVĀTMA– the individual Self - a spark, or mode, or ray of BRAHMAN which takes the form of creatures, animals, humans, gods, anti-gods.

SAMSĀRA — the cycle of birth-death-rebirth - the ocean of conditioned existence in which we all have our being and in which we are reborn again and again.

KARMA — the law of cause and effect, action and reaction - it is Karma that turns the wheel of Samsāra.

MOKṢA/NIRVĀNA — the possibility of attaining release from the cycle of rebirth and reuniting with the Godhead Brahman - the details of this union vary among the sects.

All Hindu sects accept all these five key doctrines but different in their view of them and how they intersect with each other. Hence philosophy in Sanskrit is called darśana which means “view”. The different schools of thought pass the time by having lively and respectful debates with each other about these points of difference.

Each of these topics can be dilated upon to the size of dozens of volumes this is why the spiritual library of Hinduism is the largest in the world.

The underlying unity in Hinduism is based on the concept of unity in plurality - we all respectfully acknowledge that there are different views and that is fine and we generally all get along together.

Hinduism is an open and organic system that is constantly changing, improving, adjusting, adapting, and integrating new pieces of code and information.

Now some would even disagree with what I have written here but that is the beauty of Hinduism – We can discuss it, disagree, not force our beliefs on the other and still be Hindu & friends.