HINDUISM IS NOT ISLAM OR CHRISTIANITY ... 1
Hinduism is not a monotheism like the Semitic monotheistic religions are. The absolute reality of the formless Brahman devoid of attributes (nirguna Brahman) in the Sanatan Dharma is not the Allah of Islam or the God of Judaism or Christianity. The latter somewhat but not quite approximate to the formless Brahman with attributes (saguna Brahman). So, to equate Hinduism on the basis of its principle of the formless Brahman with attributes with Islam, Judaism and Christianity and to label it a monotheistic religion is a travesty of truth and an erroneous fractional oversimplification of Hinduism.
Neither may Hinduism be termed polytheistic in fundamental content, for the countless deities of Hinduism are merely objectification of a singular essence and a post-numeral transcendence of divinity that lies past all conceptions of space, time and causality.
Hinduism is such a vast network of spiritual ideas that to label it as monotheistic is puerile, an exercise in futility, and all that may be said about it is that it is the encyclopedia of spiritual thought and realisation, the summation of ideas that abound in the realm of the Spirit and, as such, the aggregate of all the religions of the past, the present and the future that humanity has been affiliate to, is such and is likely to be. Hinduism, a sad historical aberration of the original name, the Sanatan Dharma (Perennial Philosophy), is the totality of sentient relative experience and the transcendental experience beyond the senses as well. It is even more than that. The Sanatan Dharma is the realisation of the ultimate reality beyond form and attributes that is the trinity of existence, consciousness and bliss in the absolute.
So, to compare Hinduism with Islam or Christianity is a folly that is best avoided for the sake of maintenance of truth. Hari Om Tat Sat !
End of Part 1
To be continued ...
Written by Sugata Bose
Hinduism is not a monotheism like the Semitic monotheistic religions are. The absolute reality of the formless Brahman devoid of attributes (nirguna Brahman) in the Sanatan Dharma is not the Allah of Islam or the God of Judaism or Christianity. The latter somewhat but not quite approximate to the formless Brahman with attributes (saguna Brahman). So, to equate Hinduism on the basis of its principle of the formless Brahman with attributes with Islam, Judaism and Christianity and to label it a monotheistic religion is a travesty of truth and an erroneous fractional oversimplification of Hinduism.
Neither may Hinduism be termed polytheistic in fundamental content, for the countless deities of Hinduism are merely objectification of a singular essence and a post-numeral transcendence of divinity that lies past all conceptions of space, time and causality.
Hinduism is such a vast network of spiritual ideas that to label it as monotheistic is puerile, an exercise in futility, and all that may be said about it is that it is the encyclopedia of spiritual thought and realisation, the summation of ideas that abound in the realm of the Spirit and, as such, the aggregate of all the religions of the past, the present and the future that humanity has been affiliate to, is such and is likely to be. Hinduism, a sad historical aberration of the original name, the Sanatan Dharma (Perennial Philosophy), is the totality of sentient relative experience and the transcendental experience beyond the senses as well. It is even more than that. The Sanatan Dharma is the realisation of the ultimate reality beyond form and attributes that is the trinity of existence, consciousness and bliss in the absolute.
So, to compare Hinduism with Islam or Christianity is a folly that is best avoided for the sake of maintenance of truth. Hari Om Tat Sat !
End of Part 1
To be continued ...
Written by Sugata Bose
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