Most people from the west think that Hinduism is a religion but it is not so. The Indus (Sindu) valley culture is names Hinduism by the Muslim invaders in the past, who were not able to pronounce Sindu they called Sindu culture Hindu culture.
Thus name Hindu came into existence. Hinduism is mere culture, not religion. This Hindu culture consists of different castes, creeds, ideologies, beliefs, and ways of life in different regions of India.
Santana Dharma was pure Vedic religion prior to the existence of present-day Hinduism. Hinduism is not pure Vedic religion; it is a hotchpotch mixture of many ideologies adopted by other ideologies, cultures, and traditions.
As one goes deep into annals of the history, one becomes aware of the fact that the so called present Hinduism has adopted many things from Buddhism, the religion of Abraham, Jainism, and Islam. If one goes deeper enough he will become aware everything is mixed up and messed up in time.
No one is taken pains to rectify it, because, people have inherited them, from their ancestors and they think it is blasphemy even to hear anything against their inherited religion and belief. Once one gets involved with the religious class it is the end of the pursuit of truth.
Remember:~
Prior to Sage Sankara in the 8th century, there was no Hinduism. Santana Dharma existed prior to Buddhism, Jainism, and Hinduism.
Sage Sankara never mentioned the word Hindu or Hinduism in any of his writing.
The word Hindu was used initially to describe the people of India; it was never used to describe religion. Thus, Hinduism is not a religion it is the way of life of Indian people with different castes, creeds, cultures, traditions, and ideologies of the different parts of India under a single roof.
Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru: ~ “The word Hindu can be earliest traced to a source a tantric in the 8th century and it was used initially to describe the people, it was never used to describe religion. (The discovery of India” on page -74 and -75)
According to Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru, Its connection with religion is of late occurrence. The word Hinduism is derived from the word Hindu.
The word Hinduism was first used by English writers in the 19th century to describe the multiplicity of faiths of the people of India.
In Encyclopaedia Britannica, it says ~ The word Hinduism was first used by the British writers in the year 1830 to describe the multiplicity of the faiths of the people of India excluding the converted Christians. (Volume -20, Reference -581)
Swami Vivekananda says: - The word Hindu is a misnomer; the correct word should be a Vedantins, a person who follows the Vedas.
Hinduism today group of castes and creeds with diverse ideologies with diverse beliefs and codes of conduct in different parts of India. Hinduism is not the ancient Santana Dharma, the eternal religion, or the Vedic Dharma, the religion of the Vedas.
Max Müller says ~ “The religion of the Veda knows no idols; the worship of idols in India is a secondary formation, a degradation of the more primitive worship of ideal Gods."
Vedic Religion or Santana Dharma is not Hinduism. The word Hindu came originated from the word Sindhu which is another name for the river Indus. Maybe people who stayed along the Sindhu (Indus) valley came to be known as Hindus.
An exact date of the birth of Santana Dharma cannot be given. They say that Santana Dharma is as old as planet earth. Some claim it is 5000 to 7000 years old Ancient India consisted of indigenous people. Aryans, Dravidians, Jews, Christians, and Muslims invaded India and all ingenious people were converted to different faith from time to time. Thus, Hinduism is a group of different castes, creeds, and faith.
The Hindus believed in polytheism, believing all of their Gods to be separate individuals, which was introduced much later by the founders of Hinduism which contains diverse beliefs castes, and creeds.
Santana Dharma or Vedic religion has no founders whereas Advaita and qualified Advaita and Dvaita are identified with their founders. All of them have non-Vedic rituals barred by the Vedas.
Dualism came only in the 12th century. The orthodox Advaita and Dvaita are adulterated add-ons. Both Advaita and Dvaita schools claim that they are based on the Vedas and they condemn each other with the Upanishads and Puranic citations and try to prove they are right and others are wrong.
The religion, including orthodox Advaita, is nothing to do with the ultimate truth or Brahman because they worship idols, human worship, and symbol worship and indulge in non-Vedic rituals barred by the Vedas.
Remember:~ Consciousness is the ultimate truth. There is no higher truth other than consciousness. To realize this truth, there is no need to follow any path.
There is no need to follow anyone. There is no need to become a wandering monk. There is no need to renounce worldly life. Realizing the consciousness (Spirit) is ultimate is spirituality.
There is nothing else to realize other than realizing there is no second thing that exists other than consciousness. Realizing consciousness is second to none is truth realization.
Even if you search for million years you will only come to the final conclusion and realization that the world in which you exist is nothing but consciousness.
If the world, in which you exist is nothing but consciousness, then what else is there to realize other than realizing consciousness alone is real and the world in which you exist is merely an illusion.
If the world in which you exist is merely an illusion the experience of the birth, life, and death that happens in the illusory world is bound to be an illusion.
If the world, in which you exist is an illusion then the division of the form, time, and space is merely an illusion because the Soul, which is present in the form of consciousness is the Self. the Soul, the Self is the fullness of the consciousness.
Mentally reducing the world, in which you exist to consciousness leads to Self-awareness. Realizing the consciousness as the ultimate truth is Advaita. That is reducing the dualistic illusion into the nondualistic reality is Advaita.
Sage Sankara declared the Advaitic truth 1200 years back, but it is hidden and imparted only to a few.
Even if the scientists declare in the future that, the world is nothing but consciousness then Sage Sankara alone is qualified for the Noble prize, not the scientists because Sage Sankara already declared this truth 1200 years back.
Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom has been lost: people misinterpret and falsify it. Advaita is not a theory, but Advaita is the rational truth, the scientific truth, and the ultimate truth. But nobody knows it. The teachers of philosophy and the Gurus or religion do not want to inquire into the truth and have no time for it.
Sage Sankara’s Advaitic wisdom is nothing to do with religion. Thus, all his religious teaching which is meant for the ignorant populace has to be bifurcated from his wisdom. : ~ Santthosh Kumaar
