FINAL VERSION OF
FIRST CHAPTER – 12.12.2019
TRANSFORMING
HINDUISM
INTO A UNIVERSAL RELIGION
CHANGE IS THE ORDER OF UNIVERSE
Dear
Reader,
I
invite you to the threshold of a huge, positive change that is awaiting
to take place in all of our lives. To take a leap into it, or not – is the
choice before us.
If
we consciously accept and initiate this magnificent change and steer our lives into
it, our lives will undergo a phenomenal change into unlimited bliss and truth.
If not, life will still change but in unpredictable and undesirable ways. The
very nature of our life is that it tends to move downwards unless we consciously
propel it forwards and upwards. That is the invariable law of life.
100
years from now, Hinduism could either become the world religion or it could disappear
totally.
Either the
current weaknesses in it could disappear totally and it could emerge as a united, harmonious,
universally acceptable religion or it could disappear totally and get replaced by a few
mutually antagonistic, warring religions.
100
years from now, we could still be embracing blind, illogical beliefs in the
name of religion or we could be embracing the path of the absolute, universally
manifest truth as our religion.
100
years from now, we could be blissful or revengeful.
What
is our choice?
If we take a conscious leap and make a choice, what will it be? Are we willing to re-write and re-build the
world religious and social order in a
positive, absolutely honest and scientific way, or, are we going to live in
blind, mutually antagonistic, revengeful ways as at present.
We
have the opportunity and choice to discard blind, illogical faiths and embrace absolute
truth. We have the choice to unite human society in a most comprehensive way, paving the way
for harmony in humanity, like never before.
If
we choose to ignore and turn away from this great, harmonizing, unifying
change, religion(s) across the world will prove to be the single largest cause
of human suffering and conflict all over
the earth, for all time to come. Choice is ours.
Actually,
there is no real choice. We must only choose the unifying change that uplift the humanity.
The other option is not a choice at all for us.
Incessant
change is of course the order of this Universe. It is difficult to explain why this is
so, but, everything in this universe changes every moment and, our lives too
are changing every moment. We know this. It doesn’t require further proof. None
of us can ever dispute or deny it. Change is forever.
Do
you consciously realize this fact and wholeheartedly and unreservedly accept it? That, you are changing all the time. That, everything around you is changing all the time! You know it. Come on. You are powerless to
stop this change in you and around you.
Change
is the very order of everything in this universe. Everything from sub atomic
particles to the huge Galaxies is always changing spontaneously. This change asks nobody’s permission. The living and the
non-living both change all the time.
The
living sprouts from the non-living at some time and again goes back into the
non-living, some time later.
From
birth to death, we change continuously. We also change before birth and after death too.
It is involuntary and spontaneous.
Another important factor is – nothing which comes to life lives forever.
Whatever is born must die. We live, react, respond, eat, grow, procreate,
degenerate and then we must die some time.
We
do approximately the same things that all other living beings do. But, we, the
human beings, are endowed with a choice. We can live consciously or we can
live unconsciously. We can be truth seekers or blind believers. We can live in
absolute bliss or in unpredictable suffering.
The
degree of consciousness in us is much superior and higher than that in the
other living beings on earth and this is the main differentiating factor. The
quality of our lives differs to the extent of the consciousness we infuse into living.
If we live consciously, we
can ask all sorts of questions and seek answers. We can ask –why something
is something and why something is not some other thing. We can ask – why something
exists at all. We can ask -why some other thing does not exist at all?
We can
ask - why we can’t see, hear, taste, smell or touch certain things? Why certain things are beyond our five senses?
There are many such perplexing questions in the universe which we can always
ask and seek answers.
Some questions get answered. Some don’t. Many questions
don’t get asked. Sometimes, we don’t know what to ask and how! But, we do have
the choice to ask questions and seek answers. No other living being has that
choice.
2
such questions are –
(1)
where from did we come? And why? - and
(2)
where will we go and why?
These
two questions, in essence, started all religions. But unfortunately, after they
came into existence, most religions prohibit all truthful, scientific
further questioning and enquiry into these questions, in spite of the glaring contradictions in the religions.
Most
religions order you to have blind faith and belief in the incomplete and
unsatisfactory answers that they provide. They strongly and forcefully discourage
further logical questioning and seeking further facts and answers. No
experimentation, no seeking and no questioning is permitted in most religions.
The
first explorer in every religion may have asked many questions and may have
found some answers. That is why the new religions came into existence.
But,
his followers are not permitted to ask further questions and explore further
and therefore are forced to become blind followers.
Religions remain changeless from the beginning, as no further, searching and no questions are allowed from the followers, although, all religions have glaring
inadequacies.
I
am not going to talk much about other world religions – other than the one and
only Hinduism, which always permitted such further questioning, exploring and
seeking. Hinduism was and is essentially a seeker’s religion and not a blind
believer’s religion.
The only problem now is – for some historical reasons, we
too have not been asking questions for a long time. We have therefore become a blind
believers’ religion.
I
am born into Hinduism, I have read a lot in it; I have constantly questioned a
lot in it. I find, Hinduism permits all types of questioning. There have been great
reformers and major reforms in Hinduism till a few hundred years back. This is its
beauty and its greatness. But, the reforms are still incomplete. This is the problem.
For a long time since its birth, Hinduism
had always flowered and reformed itself with constant, continuous, deep
questioning and answering. Hinduism had always permitted and relied on such
questioning and seeking and used
extensive, flawless logic to develop its postulates.
But,
it failed in conveying all this
knowledge and wisdom to all its followers, especially to the poorest,
unlettered, innocent, ignorant strata, which are the majority and which was left to understand Hinduism
from Itihasas, Puranas etc which were retold to them in story form.
The known Hinduism and the unknown Hinduism have become two different streams. Hinduism in
theory and Hinduism in practice have become two different things. Hinduism of
the seeker has become different from the Hinduism of the blind believer.
This
difference was inevitable and acceptable in a primitive agrarian , village
based society. But, the world has been changing a lot from the olden days. Consequently, many old
systems are no more relevant now and many old institutions need urgent reform.
Let us look at some of the major historical events. First,
there were the invading religions. Then, there were forced and willing conversions into those religions.
The New religions which had come into India had some attractions for
the poorer and ignorant sections of the Hindu society. Comparisons became inevitable in a
competitive society.
After
Independence, all sections of society are advancing in secular, western type education and all have begun to want deeper
insights into religious education. Other world religions are now jostling with Hinduism in India.
They are actively advocating religious conversions based on the
advantages that they have to offer and cite the weaknesses and draw backs of
Hinduism.
The greatness of Hinduism is extensively described and embedded
in its sanskrit scriptures and is prevalent to some extent, in the extraordinary theories and practices of Yoga and
many other spiritual practices. But, this great beauty of Hinduism is not percolating to
all sections of Hinduism. Its weaknesses are however open and wide spread.
Religion must unite all. But Hinduism has promoted certain social structures which are disuniting. Hinduism
must therefore introspect, and make way for drastic reform of all of its weaknesses.
It must ensure that its strengths reach all sections of society.
Ancient
Hindu Saints were the first humans to realize and proclaim that, since
creation exists, it presupposes the existence of a creator also.
Without a creator, this great, wonderful, perfect and logically bound
creation would not have come into existence and existed so long, in the way we see it.
Likewise,
if change exists in the creation, there must also exist a change maker.
If
annihilation exists, there must be an annihilator also.
The
Hindu saints clearly saw order and discipline in the whole creation, change ,
annihilation and further creation. Behind all this was a creator. These are the
oldest postulates in Hinduism.
The science of Logic, or Tharka sastra, was
extensively used to debate, prove and disprove all sorts of possible
postulates on the creation and the creator. Nothing was accepted without the
deepest possible questioning.
Now
the sad fact is – all this logical questioning and scientific exploration has
disappeared from Hinduism with the invasions of the west Asian armies and the
western cultures. Lakhs of books and manuscripts were destroyed at the Nalanda,
Taxila and other University campuses by the invading west Asian armies. Similar
tragedy happened at most other Hindu places of learning.
The
world always belongs to the conquerors and winners. History is usually written
from their perspective. Hindu kings, Hindu Society and Hindu wisdom stood largely
on the side of the defeated ones, largely because of their disunity.
Physically, Hindu Kings and armies were
defeated. Culturally, many were converted into the other religions. India came to
be ruled by the west Asian rulers first and the European rulers later, for a very
long time. These are historical facts.
Consequently,
today, we are a multi religious society in which comparisons are inevitable.
There are blind, unquestioning faiths of the west Asian and western cultures.
And, there is Hinduism in which questioning ,seeking and reforming always
existed but has now died down. The former are aggressive in absorbing others into them. The latter is largely a passive onlooker.Hinduism has no institutions to unite and absorb others into its fold.
There
were extraordinary sciences in India 2000 years ago. There were great
Universities teaching them at Taxila, Nalanda etc. But, today, most of that has
been lost and very few remnants have survived the western and west Asian
invasions.
When
the British finally left India, India was left with rudiments of a secular education, some scholastic
system, some college and University system on modern lines. It was all tailored to
suit the ruling British needs. Indian religious ethos were largely excluded
from the educational system.
Seventy
years after Independence also, we are still reading only the western sciences
and almost nothing of our ancient sciences and culture and almost nothing of our religion.
The Best aspects of Hindu religion are never taught and nowhere taught.
So, disquieting questions arise in thinking minds. Is it
OK if Hindu religion and culture die down gradually and is replaced by other
religions? Or, is it necessary to rejuvenate and re invent the Indian religion, culture,
Indian sciences and Indian logic and weed out unscientific and illogical
constructs which have taken deep roots in them?
What
are we going to benefit by this exercise? The culture and religion of this land
must again become one of seekers and explorers of truth. This is necessary not only for us but for all humanity. We must accept the
best of our religion and the best of all other religions and unite all of them to form a
world religion acceptable to all those who want to seek truth and live by it,
rather than live by blind faith.
We
must create a universally acceptable culture and religion, call it by whatever
name, which is attractive to all and acceptable to all. This is a great world
need today, to establish truth and non violence in the world and prevent blind beliefs,
superstitions, religious strife, quarrels and wars and unethical conversions happening
all around the world.
We
must thereby ensure that human happiness moves up by several leaps and bounds,
all over the world. Is this not what we all want? Is it not necessary that human society lives by
absolute truth rather than by blind belief. We need freedom of
thought; we need absolute and flawless logic and truth to prevail over blind
beliefs. We definitely do not need blind
faiths which are constantly at war with each other.
The question is,
How to bring about that freedom of thought and culture which is acceptable
to all. The most exploratory religion in the world was always Hinduism but it
too has serious unscientific aspects like caste and caste-ism in it.
So, my dear Readers, Do you accept that Hindu religion and culture definitely needs reformation
and rejuvenation ? Do you accept that Hindu religion and culture needs to unite all, become
harmonious and hoist themselves as universally acceptable? Do we not need to
make it a world reality that we are all Brothers and sisters and need to live in
that spirit, as Swami Vivekananda proclaimed at the world congress of religions
at Chicago?
We must agree that , as a first reform, all HINDUS, irrespective of caste,
creed, sex, state, language and other divisive factors must wholeheartedly
accept each other as Brothers and sisters giving up all forms of superiority
and inferiority complexes and practices like untouchability?
Hinduism
was highly dynamic in the most ancient past and had actually gone several
steps beyond this.
"I
must see myself in all of you and I must see all of you in myself". This is the often
declared definition of the highest evolved human being in Hindu culture. Shall we
strive for this goal?
*
* * Here ends chapter.1 * * *
