Hinduism

Hinduism


        The term Hinduism refers to the civilization of the Hindus (originally,
the inhabitants of the land of the Indus River).Introduced in about 1830 by
British writers, it properly denotes the Indian civilization of approximately
the last 2,000 years, which evolved from Vedism the religion of the Indo-
European peoples who settled in India in the last centuries of the 2nd
millennium BC.
        The spectrum that ranges from the level of popular Hindu belief to that
of elaborate ritual technique and philosophical speculation is very broad and is
attended by many stages of transition and varieties of coexistence. Magic rites,
animal worship, and belief in demons are often combined with the worship of more
or less personal gods or with mysticism, asceticism, and abstract and profound
theological systems or esoteric doctrines. The worship of local deities does not
exclude the belief in pan-Indian higher gods or even in a single high God. Such
local deities are also frequently looked down upon as manifestations of a high
God.
In principle, Hinduism incorporates all forms of belief and worship
without necessitating the selection or elimination of any. It is axiomatic that
no religious idea in India ever dies or is superseded-it is merely combined with
the new ideas that arise in response to it. Hindus are inclined to revere the
divine in every manifestation, whatever it may be, and are doctrinally tolerant,
allowing others - including both Hindus and non-Hindus - whatever beliefs suit
them best. A Hindu may embrace a non-Hindu religion without ceasing to be a
Hindu, and because Hindus are disposed to think synthetically and to regard
other forms of worship, strange gods, and divergent doctrines as inadequate
rather than wrong or objectionable, they tend to believe that the highest divine
powers are complement one another. Few religious ideas are considered to be
irreconcilable. The core of religion does not depend on the existence or
nonexistence of God... [continues]

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