The Hinduism religion - some vital messages

The topic of this page is Hinduism religion.

To start this page on a personal note, I was born a Hindu and raised a Hindu. But I never took much interest in Hinduism religion. I was more attracted to Buddhism. To write this page I asked my mother for a book on Hinduism that I could refer to. She gave me The Message of the Upanishads by Swami Ranganathananda of the Ramakrishna Mission. I had not even read half the introduction that I had a list of some 9 points about the philosophy of Hinduism and the Upanishads. All nine points deal with issues of critical importance to modern society and the individuals living in it. I was struck by the rationalism of the message – this is a philosophy and religion of the present and the future, not of the past. I will definitely make it a point to read the whole book, though I no longer need to now for the purposes of this website.

You will excuse me if I do not elaborate on all nine points mentioned above. The page would be overlong and I need to discuss only one or two points to give you a taste of the spirit behind the Hinduism religion and the Upanishads.

In the introduction a distinction is made between sruti and smrti. The Upanishad are referred to as sruti which address themselves exclusively to the discovery of essential spiritual truths and leading man to their realization in his own life. These teachings are contrasted with smrti, which are another class of religious literature. A smrti would contain a large number of rules and regulations, dos and don'ts, which guide individual conduct in public and private life. In the category of smrti would fall the Gita, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and all the Puranas besides Manu smrti. The significance of these is merely local and temporary and they are incapable of universal application and are not relevant for all time.

The book specifically mentions that as socio-economic conditions change, laws regulations and customs need to be recast and reinterpreted. A smrti that sustained society in one period might choke it in another. Hence Hinduism religion makes this clear distinction between the timeless and timely teachings contained in its own religious books.

When you look back over the history of the world, with so many wars being fought over petty disputes in theology and customs, I can only think that if only leaders of those nations in those times had made this simple distinction all of those wars could have been avoided. And you don't even have to read history. Just the other day I read in the newspapers of a woman being stoned to death in Afghanistan for adultery. The Muslim leaders who ordered this punishment have clearly not made the distinction between sruti and smrti. Another example would be the prohibition on the use of condoms by the Roman Catholic Church.

Another message of the Hinduism religion and the Upanishads which is relevant to our times – in fact to all ages – is it's emphasis on strength. Swami Vivekananda made this point clearly and eloquently more than a century ago. A quotation from the Complete Works Volume III reads as follows: "Strength, strength is what the Upanishads speak to me from every page. This is the one great thing to remember, it has been the one great lesson that I have been taught in my life. Strength, it says, strength O man, be not weak. Are there no human weaknesses? – Says man. There are say the Upanishads, but will more weakness heal them, would you wash dirt with dirt? Will sin cure sin, weakness cure weakness … and the Upanishads are the great mine of strength. Therein lies strength enough to invigorate the whole world. The whole world can be vivified, made strong, energized through them. They will call with trumpet voice upon the weak, the miserable and the downtrodden of all races, all creeds all sects to stand on their feet and be free. Freedom – physical freedom, mental freedom and spiritual freedom – are the watchwords of the Upanishads."

I have no wish to criticize other religious faiths but when I think of the undue emphasis on the concept of sin in both Islam and Christianity I have to think that they are barking up the wrong tree. Strength and not weakness is the way out of our troubles, strength is necessary to make progress on the spiritual path. And an undue emphasis on sin and encouraging the belief in men and women that they are sinners only weakens man.

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