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Switch to Forum Live View Why Hinduism is not Global?
4 years ago  ::  Dec 01, 2008 - 9:30AM #1
Thomas_R
Thomas_R
Posts: 71
Namasthe All,

Could some kind Hindu enlighten me as to why the Hinduism has not become a real global religion?
When you look at major religions, Christianity (including all denominations): Is the truly international religion that can be found in all continents.
Islam comes next, it can be found in many countries in Asia and Africa though still not found in-roads in Americas and far-east.
The Buddhism also has spread across Asia to the far-east
Hinduism on the other hand, did not spread into other countries except for the population of Indian origin living in those countries. (few exceptions may include Bali in Indonesia).

Some reasons that come into my mind are:
a) Hinduism is difficult to comprehend by individuals that has no cultural back-ground of or in India.
b) Hinduism is not compatible with materialistic societies of the west
c) To become a Hindu, you should follow caste system.

Please let me know my assumptions are correct/wrong/quite off-target.

BTW, this is my first post in the Hindu board and sorry for starting with a question. Hope I can get some insight into Hinduism through these discussions.

Regards
Thomas_R
=========================
Born a Muslim; openly apostate since childhood because Allah gave me the ability to think for myself (@_@)
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4 years ago  ::  Dec 01, 2008 - 11:13AM #2
Chiyo
Chiyo
Posts: 5,799
Hinduism is such an excellent religion, I'd like to have some insight regarding this question as well.
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4 years ago  ::  Dec 01, 2008 - 2:04PM #3
gangajal
gangajal
Posts: 835
Namaste  Thomas, Chiyo

         Hinduism is not a global religion because

(1) Hindus have no central organization,

(2) Hindus have no policy of converting all the peoples of the world, and

(3) the Hindu idea that all peoples of the world will benefit only by becoming pure in heart and not by converting to any particular religion.

Regards

Gangajal
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4 years ago  ::  Dec 01, 2008 - 2:09PM #4
gangajal
gangajal
Posts: 835
Namaste Thomas, Chiyo,

     God does not look at a person's religious label. From a Hindu point of view the concept of a "one true religion" is fallacious. God only looks at a person's heart.

Regards

Gangajal
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4 years ago  ::  Dec 01, 2008 - 2:30PM #5
Chiyo
Chiyo
Posts: 5,799

gangajal wrote:

Namaste Thomas, Chiyo,

God does not look at a person's religious label. From a Hindu point of view the concept of a "one true religion" is fallacious. God only looks at a person's heart.

Regards

Gangajal



Thanks, Gangajal.

I don't believe there is only "one true religion" either. But on the other hand, I most definitely do not see all religions as being equal, either. There are religions out there that contain an immense amount of institutionalized bigotry and which promote violence. Hinduism in not one of these, in fact, quite the opposite! Hinduism is open-handed, open-hearted and peaceable, as well as providing a path to enlightenment... It amazes me that Hinduism isn't more widespread than it is.

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4 years ago  ::  Dec 01, 2008 - 7:23PM #6
mainecaptain
mainecaptain
Posts: 20,474

gangajal wrote:

Namaste Thomas, Chiyo,

     God does not look at a person's religious label. From a Hindu point of view the concept of a "one true religion" is fallacious. God only looks at a person's heart.

Regards

Gangajal

Thank you for your kind explanation. I thought that might be the reason, very honourable in my opinion. :)

A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion. Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom they consider god-fearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side. Aristotle
Never discourage anyone...who continually makes progress, no matter how slow. Plato..
"A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives" Jackie Robinson
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4 years ago  ::  Dec 03, 2008 - 8:40AM #7
Thomas_R
Thomas_R
Posts: 71
Gangajal says in message #3:

Namaste Thomas, Chiyo
Thanks Gangajal for the reply. Here's my comments on them.

Hinduism is not a global religion because
(1) Hindus have no central organization,
Hmm.. IMO, not a good reason to be not global. The other major religion Buddhism also originated in India and has no a Vatican or Mekkah equivalent yet it propagated to many foreign lands.

(2) Hindus have no policy of converting all the peoples of the world, and
I understand. I think this follows from your answer below.

(3) the Hindu idea that all peoples of the world will benefit only by becoming pure in heart and not by converting to any particular religion.
Great philosophy indeed. In all other major religions I am familiar with, "Not following that religion" is a great sin that will cause burning in hell. So, according to Hinduism, belonging to a different faith does not result in ending up in hell?

Have a nice day.
Thomas_R
=========================
Born a Muslim; openly apostate since childhood because Allah gave me the ability to think for myself (@_@)
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4 years ago  ::  Dec 03, 2008 - 8:59AM #8
Thomas_R
Thomas_R
Posts: 71
[QUOTE=gangajal;928950]Namaste Thomas, Chiyo,

     God does not look at a person's religious label. From a Hindu point of view the concept of a "one true religion" is fallacious. God only looks at a person's heart.

Regards

Gangajal[/QUOTE]

If this is true Hinduism, it is a wonderful concept. I am wondering why these concepts are not propagated outside India. When we think of Hinduism, what comes to our minds are mystic rituals, Yoga, and caste system. Sorry if it sounds like stereotyping but I wanted to express my feelings.

BTW, Does the name Gangajal mean River Water?

Regards
Thomas_R
=========================
Born a Muslim; openly apostate since childhood because Allah gave me the ability to think for myself (@_@)
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4 years ago  ::  Dec 03, 2008 - 1:44PM #9
gangajal
gangajal
Posts: 835
[QUOTE=Thomas_R;932837]If this is true Hinduism, it is a wonderful concept. I am wondering why these concepts are not propagated outside India. When we think of Hinduism, what comes to our minds are mystic rituals, Yoga, and caste system. Sorry if it sounds like stereotyping but I wanted to express my feelings.

BTW, Does the name Gangajal mean River Water?

Regards
Thomas_R[/QUOTE]

Thomas,

    Most people outside India, in the last 200 years, get their information about Hinduism from western scholars and not from practicing Hindus. This is the reason why most non-Indians do not know much about how Hindus view their dharma from the inside.

    You are right that western scholars have indeed propagated a stereotype of Hindus. For example, why do Hindus practice Yoga? They practice it to purify their mind. This simple idea is not explained by western scholars. Western scholars usually look down on Hinduism, many of whom do not understand the principles underlying Hinduism and thus only propagate stereotypes.

    In the last 110 years Hindus have tried to inform non-Indians about the Hindu view of Hinduism. The address of one such center, located in Japan, is

KAMAGAWA-KEN
Nippon Vedanta Kyokai
4-18-1 Hisagi Zushi-shi
Kanagawa-ken 249-0001
Japan
Phone: 81-46-873-0428
Fax: 81-46-873-0592
Email: info@vedanta.jp
WWW: http://www.vedanta.jp
   

Ganga is a major river in India. It is usually translated as Ganges. Jal means water in Bengali. So Gangajal means water of the river Ganges.

Regards

Gangajal
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4 years ago  ::  Dec 03, 2008 - 6:19PM #10
Maya3
Maya3
Posts: 928
Thomas,
Thanks for visiting our board.

If this is true Hinduism, it is a wonderful concept. I am wondering why these concepts are not propagated outside India. When we think of Hinduism, what comes to our minds are mystic rituals, Yoga, and caste system. Sorry if it sounds like stereotyping but I wanted to express my feelings.



I agree with Gangajal that there are a lot of stereotypes about Hinduism, that has been put out there by western scholars and I would also say by missionaries.

But the reason that Hindus do not propogate their religion outside India (I hope I understood your question right?) comes mostly because since we find that every relgion is as worthy as any other, there really is no reason to get someone else to convert.
For us like Gangajal said, every ritual ours or others is just a way to connect to God.

But there is some knowledge of India seeping in to the west though, I myself is a convert to Hinduism.

Maya

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