There is really no such thing as Hindu-ism. The term and concept were only coined in recent times. The Hindu civilization was born on the banks of the river Sindhu, which is known as Indus in English today. When the Persians came, they introduced the term “Hindu”, derived from the Sanskrit word Sindhu, to denote the people who live beyond the river Sindhu. Essentially, what you call Hindu is a geographical and cultural identity. There was never an intention to org.ze it into a religious identity. The whole culture was just oriented towards realizing one’s full potential. In this culture, the only goal in human life is mukti – liberation from the very process of life, to go beyond everything that you know as limitations. The Hindu way of life is not an org.zed belief system but a science of salvation.
Science of salvation
The conflicts in the world have always been projected as good versus bad, but really, the conflict is always one man’s belief versus another man’s belief.
In the past, religion was far more important to people than it is now, but still there were no theocratic states in this culture; the ruler had his religion and the subjects had the freedom to follow theirs. There was no conflict because people did not look at religion as an org.zed process. Org.zation was only to the extent of making spirituality available to everyone – not for conquest. A farmer worshipped his plough, a fisherman worshipped his boat; people worshipped whatever aspect of life they related to most, and that was perfectly fine. Essentially, in the East, religion is about you. It is about your liberation; it is not about God. God is just one more stepping stone that you can use or skip towards your ultimate liberation.
Someone believes in God, someone else can choose not to believe in God. Everyone can have their own way of worship and way to salvation. If there are five people in your family, each one can worship the God of their choice, or not worship anything, and still be a good Hindu. So you can be a Hindu irrespective of what you believe or don’t believe.
Culture of seeking
Everywhere else in the world, if anyone spoke anything other than the existing org.zed religion of that time, the first thing that the people said was, “Kill.” Whether it was a Socrates, a Mansoor or a Jesus – these are the famous people – a million other people who never became known to the world have been killed for this same reason.
Five hundred years before Jesus, Gautama the Buddha made fun of all the gods in this land. He said, “You worship snakes, trees and cows. You don’t know what god is.” So people stepped back and said, “We also know there is only one god but we just enjoy the variety.” Gautama pushed on and said, “There is no god.” People stepped back and said, “Even our Up.shads say there is no god but there is atman and there is a universal soul, paramatman.” Then Gautama said, “There is no atman or paramatman. You are an ‘anathma.’” That means he is saying you are a non-soul.
In this manner, the man contradicted everything that they were saying but no one ever thought of throwing a stone at him, poisoning him or crucifying him. Such things never arose because the pursuit is truth. People sat down and argued whether what they knew was true or what the other person knew was true. People were searching to know. They were not just believing and trying to prove that their belief was right because there is no belief system in the Hindu way of life.
One must not forget that the basis of seeking is that One has realized that One does not know. One does not know the nature of One’s being. Instead of settling for a culturally convenient belief, for a whole populace to have the courage and commitment to seek the truth about themselves – this is the basis of this nation that is called Bharata.
To preserve, protect and nurture the fundamental ethos of Bharat, the legacy of wisdom and unbridled exploration of life is a true gift to hum.ty as a whole. As a generation, this is an important responsibility that we should fulfill. Let not the limitless possibilities that the sages of this land explored and expounded be lost in religious bigotry and senseless simplistic dogmas.
(Sadhguru is a Yogi, mystic, visionary and a New York Times bestselling author. He is also the founder of Conscious Planet – Save Soil)
