Introduction
What is Hinduism?
Demographically, Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion. In 1994 Dr. Simon Weightman, (the former head of the Department of the Study of Religions at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London) and Klaus K. Klostermaier (the world-renowned authority on Hinduism and Indian history and culture), stated in a collaborative work that “Hinduism is viewed as the most complex of all of the living, historical world religions. Despite its complexity, Hinduism is not only one of the numerically largest faiths, but is also the oldest living major tradition on earth, with roots reaching back into prehistory.”
Rather than being one large monolithic “religion,” Hinduism is an umbrella under which a number of different schools of thought exist. Academics categorize contemporary Hinduism into four major denominations: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism. The denominations differ primarily in the understanding and worship of the Supreme or Absolute Truth. However from a broader philosophical perspective there are just two main underlying spiritual perspectives, One is the Vaisnava philosophy and the other is that of Adi Shankara known as Mayavada or Advaita philosophy. Amongst these different traditions or branches, Vaishnavism* is perhaps the largest branch, with hundreds of millions of adherents and countless sub-branches. All of them, however have some common characteristics and foundational philosophical beliefs. To understand and appreciate this is very challenging for people raised in or only exposed to the traditional Christian concept of religion, which is by nature very “centralized” and exclusive.
A good vehicle to help a Westerner learn more about Hinduism is by comparing it to a religion that they do have some familiarity with. For America, that would be comparing Hinduism to Christianity and some of the similarities and differences.
For a comparative study please read the following articles
Hindu Scripture
Religious Organizations/Churches
Gurus and Disciplic Traditions
Vedic Theology
Demographically, Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion. In 1994 Dr. Simon Weightman, (the former head of the Department of the Study of Religions at the School of Oriental and African Studies, the University of London) and Klaus K. Klostermaier (the world-renowned authority on Hinduism and Indian history and culture), stated in a collaborative work that “Hinduism is viewed as the most complex of all of the living, historical world religions. Despite its complexity, Hinduism is not only one of the numerically largest faiths, but is also the oldest living major tradition on earth, with roots reaching back into prehistory.”
Rather than being one large monolithic “religion,” Hinduism is an umbrella under which a number of different schools of thought exist. Academics categorize contemporary Hinduism into four major denominations: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism. The denominations differ primarily in the understanding and worship of the Supreme or Absolute Truth. However from a broader philosophical perspective there are just two main underlying spiritual perspectives, One is the Vaisnava philosophy and the other is that of Adi Shankara known as Mayavada or Advaita philosophy. Amongst these different traditions or branches, Vaishnavism* is perhaps the largest branch, with hundreds of millions of adherents and countless sub-branches. All of them, however have some common characteristics and foundational philosophical beliefs. To understand and appreciate this is very challenging for people raised in or only exposed to the traditional Christian concept of religion, which is by nature very “centralized” and exclusive.
A good vehicle to help a Westerner learn more about Hinduism is by comparing it to a religion that they do have some familiarity with. For America, that would be comparing Hinduism to Christianity and some of the similarities and differences.
For a comparative study please read the following articles
Hindu Scripture
Religious Organizations/Churches
Gurus and Disciplic Traditions
Vedic Theology
*Vaishnavism
Vaishnavas recognize that despite the various ways and methods that different acharyas teach, the apex of perfect yoga, and the ultimate goal of the human form of life, is the achievement of pure bhakti, or spiritual love. Yoga can be simply compared to a ladder. The lowest rung is yoga asanas and the highest rung—the culmination and definition of yoga—is perfect spiritual love.