Hinduism is acknowledged as a religion.\nYet, when we start understanding the different traditions, there are some major even contradictory beliefs within Hinduism...\n\nFor exemple: Some will focus on God in the form of a man (Krishna)\nAnd others will focus in a God that is not different from their deepest Self.\n\nMy point is not what is right or wrong...\nI would like for you to share why with these fondamental differences, people from these different vision of understanding and relating to the divine, still identify themselves without any hesitation to being Hindu.\n\n(I am not seeking explenation on Hinduism please, but much more something that pertains to the inbuilt feeling of being a Hindu regardless of the Outside fondamental differences...) \n\nWhat is the commonality, in terms of belonging, stands on ?
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Hinduism is a process - for this reason, Hinduism must be studied not as a fixed body of doctrine, but as a developing tradition that has changed considerably throughout the centuries and which is still changing in a creative direction. Everything in India makes sense in the light of the changing process. Nothing makes sense without it. Hinduism is still a living, changing process and must be seen as such." \n\n (source: Religions of India: Hinduism, Yoga, Buddhism - Thomas Berry p. 3-16).\n \n  O Lord forgive three sins that are due to my human limitations:\n   Thou art everywhere, but I worship you here;\n   Thou art without form, but I worship you in these forms;\n   Thou needest no praise, yet I offer you these prayers and salutations,\n   Lord, forgive three sins that are due to my human limitations.   \n\nHinduism allows everybody to reflect, investigate, enquire and cogitate. Hence, all sorts of religious faiths, various forms of worship or Sadhana, diverse kinds of rituals and customs, have found their honorable place side by side within Hinduism, and are cultured and developed in harmonious relationship with one another. \nThe Bhagavad Gita, with a clear grasp of the historical, warns us against taking away the psychological comfort of people by unsettling their faith." \n\n"Though I manifest Myself in all things, I am identified with none of them".\n\nAccording to the Bhagavad Gita, even those who worship other gods (anyadevatah), ancestral deities, elemental powers, if they do so with faith, then their faith is justified, for the Divine accepts every form conceived by the worshipper. \n\nToleration is the homage, which the finite mind pays to the inexhaustibility of the Infinite.\n\nHinduism, unlike other religions, does not dogmatically assert that the final emancipation is possible only through its means and not through any other. It is only a means to an end, and all means which will ultimately lead to the end are equally approved. \n\nhinduism is really not a religion it western sence.\n\noff course there are contradictions. they are bound to be. the simple reason is that in hinduism every sage/scholler presented god in his own words. but nobody actually rejected other theories. \n\nas far back as rigveda you will find discription of one abstract god. upanishads are deep philosophies and they concentrate on abstract god. soul and their relation. but even they had many different schollers and different schools.\n\nupanishads simply say also say "munde munde matirbhinna". as many heads as many opinions.\n\nthere are different books of law written by different writers. most famous is Manu samhita but it wa lost a long time ago. there are yagyvalkya and narad samhita too. so there is no one hindu religious law either. thats why reforms in hinduism are easier. those laws are not considered god made. \n\n  hindu schollers tended to retain the culture.\n\nthe main difference between Indian and western tradition is acceptance of all types of forms of worship as legitimate in hinduism or india. at least till it is not harming or hurting someone or others. not all Hindus practice all of the traditions and we like some and we do not agree with some other philosophies but none of them is called false. just that everybody has his own interpretation and is free to express his devotion as s/he wants. \n\nit is really confusing for an average westerner to understand that hindus are Monothist and believe god can is beyond depicting yet they worship him in form of icons.\nwhen muslims came to india they destroyed thousands of temples and thought they have proved supremacy of their god by destroying local ones. it was a surprise for them that hindus threw away broken icons and built a new one and kept worshipping them. they had learnt to respect and understand the concept to some extent. and you will get some devotional songs and poetry written by muslims writers in hindu tradition .in some sufi tradi
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A person with strong faith does their sadhana (spiritual practices), keeps their dharma (does their duty...to their family, job, society, etc), and they seek to learn from spiritual teachers and to find a their guru. It is normal and acceptable to have doubt, to even go and look into other paths to see if perhaps these are better for you. It is common to return to the faith and again be at the same level of belief. It is said that some of us who have entered Hinduism now in this lifetime were at one time Hindus in past lifetimes...we have just come home now. So "longer absences", yes there can be very long absences. :)
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Hinduism (real name Sanatan Dharma- Eternal Relgion), is basically a way of life.\n\nAnybody worshipping the God by any name or by any ritual is a Hindu in broad terms.\n\nAll the religions in the world are sub-sets of Santan Dharma for example christians follow the Bhakti Yoga path of hinduism and muslims follow the Karma Yoga path..with some deviations.\n\nThe main soul of hinduism is its deep philosophy which mainly deals with the mysteries of the Universe, creation, evolution, life, Death and God.\n\nThe philosophy of hinduism is found in Upanishadas and Gita with no fairy tales but concrete logics to show the truth
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It's not even about how God is different.  Most religions are just viewing the All (God) through their own lense.\n\nThe difference in religions are cultural.  It is the path that is different, not the outcome.
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They revere Krishna as the supreme Godhead just as many Vaishnavites revere Vishna as the supreme personality or those that follow Rama see Rama as the supreme personality and Saivites see Shiva as the supreme personality. Ganapatiyas see Ganesh as the supreme personality. \n\nWhy? Because Hinduism teaches that there is only ONE God, one supreme personality, one cosmic consciousness, one ultimate realtiy, one unmanifest reality (all terms used by various Hindu philosophical schools). The One can be called by any name. For ISKCON this is Krishna. For other Hindus it is Ganesh, Shiva, Vishnu, Lakshmi, Parvati, Kali, Durga, Ayyappa, Murugan, Rama, or any other name. Some use images, some don't use images. The images are merely a tool, much like the name. Hinduism teaches that no matter what name you call God by, God will always hear your prayers and answer.
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I think you've answered your own question. ;-)  That being said, let me tell you what I think.\n\nSome people of some religions have this elitist notion that their religion is the one, right, true and only way.  They think that everybody else is a Satanist or the like.\n\nI've learned about, and in some cases gotten deeply involved in, quite a few religions and spiritual traditions.  Just about every one of them that I can think of has some sort of moral or ethical code.  In Buddhism, the religion I was raised with, as well as in Hinduism, one must take responsibility for one's actions and have compassion for others.  Wiccans try to live their lives in such a way as to avoid harm to others and to accomplish what they were put on this earth to do.  Judaism and Islam all have moral rules that are to followed.\n\nChristians seem to be particularly divided on the issues of Christian morals and ethics (though few of them seem to realize that this division even exists!).  To many Christians, Jesus' teachings in the New Testament replace the Ten Commandments.  To them, the point is to love their neighbor as themselves, avoid judging others, to do to others as they'd have others do to them, etc.\n\nTo other Christians, the point is to follow the Ten Commandments.  Still to others, the point is to see the Bible as one big, literal law book.\n\nWhat fundamentalists in any religion fail to understand, seemingly (or perhaps they understand it all too well and are just bullies) are the following:\n\n1. That they might be wrong.\n2. That other religions have morals and ethics, too.\n3. That other mystical experiences are equally valid.\n4. That there are fundamentalist of other religions who thank THEY'RE wrong and that THEY'RE going to burn in Hell.\n\nSome fundamentalists claim that they've had these mystical experiences that "prove" that they're right.  What they don't realize is that:\n\na. Lots of people in lots of religions have all sorts of mystical experiences, but that they may have mystical experiences involving some other conception of Divinity.  For example, a Hindu might have a mystical experience of Krishna.  A Native American might have one of an animal spirit.  A Christian might have one of Jesus, a saint or an angel.\nb. Just because we have interesting psychological experiences, doesn't mean that some Deity or spirit is really talking to us.  It might be all in our head.\nc. There's a difference between objective reality, to which I think we're better off turning to science, which is based on impericism and logic rather than faith, and subjective experience.  Our subjective experiences are valid for ourselves.  If some God or spirit comes to us in a dream and tells us, maybe that's useful.  Who can say?  If we get something out of that, does it really matter whether or not that Being really exists?\n\nFor example, fundamentalist so-called "Christians" (personally, I don't see how anyone can be a true Christian and be so judgemental as the fundies) love to tell everyone they meet about their mysical experiences of Jesus.  But, if some Hindu told them about a mystical experience of Vishnu, they'd say that Vishnu is a demon.  So, Fundies like these are hypocrits.\n\nPersonally, I'm sick and tired of fundamentalists telling me that I'm going to be tortured eternally if I don't believe that their mytholgy is the literal word of their conception of God.  What makes them think they know anything?  To brow beat someone into believing in your mythology by telling them that they'll be tortured forever if they don't believe it is abuse!  I can only come to two conclusions about their behavior:\n\n1. That they really DO want to abuse the rest of us, because it makes them feel superior.\n2. That they're ignorant of other religions, were taught to be fundamentalists when they were growing up and never really stopped to think that
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No I do not believe I have converted anyone to my religion. Hinduism does not require people to make converts. As far as Hinduism is concerned every person will find the path that is right for them, that best represent their experiences of the Divine, and has the spiritual goals they desire. I am a convert to Hinduism, although I was not preached to by anyone. I met others from various different religions, learned about them, read texts, etc and Hinduism connected with me. When I am asked about Hinduism I always answer the questions, but my aim is not to convert the person but simply to educate them. If they should decide to research more on Hinduism and eventually convert (not that Hinduism has any universal official conversion process), then that is up to them. If I inform them and answer their question and they have no other interest in Hinduism, then atleast they have a question answered. Whatever religion, beliefs, spirituality, faith, etc they have is what is right for them. If they are searching, then I was happy to help them on their journey and can help them to other sites, books, people, etc within other religious and spiritual communities to seek other answers should they choose.
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WHAT DO YOU MEAN HINDUS AS IN RELIGION OR DO YOU MEAN INDIANS IN INDIA, BECAUSE SEVERAL TIMES I HAVE SEEN QUESTIONS PERTAINING  TO INDIA REFERED TO AS HINDUS, WELL ADVANCEMENT IN HINDU RELIGION AS IMPROVED OVER THE YEARS NO MORE CHILD MARRIAGES, NO MORE COMPULSARY DOWREY, NO MORE SATI THAT IS BRIDE JUMPING INTO A FUNERAL PYRE, WIDOWS CAN REMARRY IN FACT THERE HAS BEEN A GREAT ADVANCEMENT,THERE IS NO UNTOUCHABILITY WHICH WAS RAMPANT IN EARLIER TIMES,BUT  EVEN WITH ALL THIS FAMILIES VALUES AND RESPECT FOR MOTHERHOOD HAS NOT CHANGED, AS FOR INDIANS IN HISTORY ,SOME OF THE MOST BRILLIANT SCIENTIEST ARE INDIANS,  DOCTORS BUSINESMEN, TEACHERS IN  IT INDUSTRY WE CAN COMPETE WITH THE BEST,WE HAVE A  FAST GROWTH RATE , ITS ONLY A MATTER OF TIME WE WILL BE THE BEST, AFTER BILL GATES COME STEEL INDUSTRIALIST MITTAL, THE LIST CAN GO ON AN ON
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To put it simply, Hinduism has no defined beginning. The people who lived near the River Indus in N. India were the original Hindus, I suppose. When the Aryans invaded their home about 5000 years ago, they called the river the "Hindu River" and called the land "Hindustan." From there, the people that lived there were known as "Hindus" \n\nThere was no one founder.\n\nHinduism today is a life style based on the lives of these ancient "Hindus." Basically, it's a list of instructions to make you a perfect person. Discipline, kindness, certain rituals...anything that the ancient Hindus thought would make them batter people. \n\nHindus today practice things like yoga, and worship various gods and goddesses. Each Hindu, however, has a slightly different belief system. It's sort of like they take the things they find most important from some massive ancient list of "good things" and adopt them as a belief system. They believe that following this list of selected beliefs will bring them absolute peace and happiness (like nirvana).\n\nOh, and Hinduism became popular throughout Asia between 2500 and 1500 years ago, but it only became popular in the western world in the last 200 years. It was spread mostly by traders who traveled across Asia.
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Hinduism worships Rama and Krishna as gods. Both were Human and had birth and death as well. The concept is very clear. We worship them for the great deeds they performed and set themselves apart as people more than Gods.Similarly Hanuman was the true trouble shooter or some one who came to the help of Ram in times of great distress when thinks looked very grim. Hanuman was totally devoted to Ram. Nothing was impossible for him due to his enormous prowess and sharp intellect. Hanuman is blessed with life till the end if time. He is worshipped for his great deeds immense devotion and most selfless being in the entire Ramayana.
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The beliefs of others are always viewed critically and found to be mythology, while one's own mythology is viewed as fact.\n\nWhat I like about the Hindu god is that you can't corner it, you can't trap it, you can't blaspheme against it because, well, because it's god. The Hindus have one of the highest concepts of god on the planet, and if people think it's stupid because there are cows involved then they simply lack the ability to understand what "infinite" means. That's why such people are limited to worshiping a finite anthropomorphic god made in their own image.
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I think the answer lies in historical context.  As I understand it, a group of people came to believe that rather than many gods there might just be one.  So those people who recognized one God banded together, and became known as Israelites, and all this got written into a book called the Old Testament.  These people intermarried and become a people called the Jews.  And then Jesus arrived and spread the idea that God loves every individual, that anyone who chooses to accept God is in the special fold.  Some people felt that Jesus' message was so perfect that he was the long-hoped-for Messiah.  Certain Jews went with this and become Christians, and others did not and remained Jews.  And still other people were none of these things are retained indigenous religious values -- Hinduism, for example, seems to me to be largely a collection of varying spritual practices.\n\nI suspect my answer won't work for people who think that the holy books were handed down fully-formed and perfect.  But the key to understanding and peace, I think, is trying to understand where others come from.\n\nI always find that the difficult part about understanding religion is clinging to the beauty of its ideals without being sidetracked by the human need for rules and absolutes.  I think you are quite right that "Divine expression would manifest in as many ways as there are people on the earth and infinitely throughout the universe."
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Hinduism does not follow any particular book, there is no book equivalent to the christian  bible or the islamic koran. But the bhagvadgita is a holy book, u should maybe read that but it isnt really about hinduism...But read it anyway, its a good thing to read and u will start to get an idea abt hinduism.
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Well I am a Hindu, but I don't even know how to really define what a Hindu is.  Hindus can believe in a wide variety of things and can practice many different things, and can still be considered Hindus.  So how would I even go about determining what percentage I follow?\n\nI believe in the Hindu Scriptures.  I worship all the Gods and Goddesses as manifestations of the One Supreme.  I only go to a temple occasionally but this is because of the distance from my home.  I have murtis at home that I use for worship, but I do not regularly do the normal puja.  I am limited in what I am able to do because I live with my parents and they do not approve of (or know about) my Hindu faith.  I would practice more if I were able.\n\nBut in my heart, I'm very "Hindu" I believe, even though I am Western.  My soul just wants to follow God, and it doesn't "care" so much about the method or the particular religion, just so long as it is the one that leads it most closely to it's Love, which is the Lord.
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Hindus have a great look at this, they too believe that everyone is worshiping the same thing- the Ultimate Reality. You can call it anything you want, and get there however you want to, but it's all the same thing. As long as you have true devotion in your beliefs, they believe that you're good to go! \n\nI'm with you though. It makes me sad that people just can't get along, especially the Abrahamic religions you mention. It is the same God y'all, how bout we all act nice and get to him how we're supposed to?
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oops sorry are you referring to my answer from an hour ago? i made that generalisation. hehe sorry. i never thought that all indians are hindu's, but it is the predominant religeon in india. no one can associate it with islam or judaism can they? when i, and i think i can speak for most people, say that indians are hindu, i'm referring to a culture as well asa religeon.\n\nim curious, is there much judaism and islam and christianity there? or is the other 45% mostly atheist/dont care?
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i know one thing . followers of hinduism are most tolerant people on earth.\n\nall religion talk about peace. but hindus not once attacked any country in the name of religion in any recorded history.\nnor you will get a single hindu who accepted hinduism at gun point ever.