Oh, my poor Religion! How thou hast suffered!

The first purely religious post I am about to write. With due respect to all Atheists, of course. However, I have no sympathy or patience with Atheists, who are convinced that not believing in God is only for smart people. I welcome constructive dialogue with Atheists, if they are sincere about understanding the reasons and the meaning of having faith in God. And why I choose to do it. I am not interested in Theatrics. They have a stage and actors for that. Thank You.

I was born and raised a Hindu. Today, I am a Hindu by choice. And I am writing this out of the sheer pain and frustration brought upon by misunderstood Hinduism all over the World, but mostly, and sadly, in India itself. I love my religion, despite everything it comes with, like there being a justification for everything good and bad happening to you. I'll take that. I truly believe that the faith you lean towards is completely reflective of who you are. For someone like me, a faith that teaches you acceptance, and inspires spiritual motivation and growth, holds a lot of appeal.

Mind you, this is not the Hinduism that you see today. Much like other religions, Hinduism you see today in most of India is a dogmatized, exploitative, and ritualistic form of Hinduism, which has long been rid with political and social agendas of a precious few who, unfortunately, have misused their gift for inspiring others for brainwashing the masses and for personal gain. It has been an era since the Hindus had religious leader who motivates people to move towards the growth of their inner Being. Hinduism today is marked by a glaring lack of people like Rabindranath Tagore, who wrote poems focused on the Creator and the Being, and the connection between them. Which is why, even though Tagore was a Hindu, his prayers resonate with all human beings across the spectrum. Because in the end, that is what it is about: a connection with your Creator. The clichéd phrase that you've heard before. "To be one with God," yes? The power of reflection, inspiration, humility and knowledge that these poems inspire can never be recreated by anyone else. But if this means that Hinduism will forever suffer from lack of inspiring spiritual Gurus, we're doomed. The entire philosophy is suffering the risk of a slow and painful death, from constant degradation, misinterpretation and misrepresentation.

With that said, we do have many many many people pretending to lead others towards spiritual growth and religion, Ramdev being a good example. However you must think like they do, believe what they do, sometimes even buy their herbal remedy products and attend their camps, before they will give you the key to enlightenment. They are easy to spot, and if you have ever heard the likes of Glenn Beck on the television, you will know them right away. It's just a different kind of brainwashing but the desired outcomes are similar. The sad part with that is that most Indians, still, remain uneducated and below the poverty line, and that affects their ability to be able to think for themselves. When all you have known in life is how to make ends meet for two meals a day, it is difficult to question someone who is promising you the World. (A better health, cure for all diseases, even "homosexuality" according to Ramdev, and increased wealth because if you pray to God like he tells you, he'll be SO HAPPY and give you everything!) It is literally is "a carnival of idiots." When such people go unquestioned, their power increases, and before we know it, they become an organized group with great political influence. Shiv Sena and Bajrang Dal are good examples. Burning down theaters showing movies with lesbian-interest themes, exploiting women who don't cover every inch of their bodies, beating up couples on Valentine's Day in the name of religion, are a few examples of the things they do. Primitive teaching methods that keep you limited and insulated from the World are supported by these groups, for "western thoughts and beliefs are corrupting India." If you think this is the scary part, hold your horses. The scary part is that there are a lot of people in India who actually agree with them.

I hope that by now, you are starting to understand exactly how dire, yet helpless the situation it is. Hinduism gets presented to the World in an alien form. It is what it is not. And they start to believe that this is what Hinduism is indeed about and this is what is supports, when really, it is not. It is begging for you to give it a chance. To understand it. The same is true for Islam.

My advice to you: no matter where in this World you are, if you are free enough to choose your own religion, be bold enough to take it's understanding upon yourself. Don't go looking for someone who will teach you about Hinduism. If you can read and write (and since you are reading this blog, I assume you can), you are in luck. And no, you don't have to know Hindi or Sanskrit. Some understanding of these helps but it is no longer a limitation. Most scriptures of importance now have been translated in many languages and are at your disposal. Go pick up a copy of the Bhagvad Gita from a bookstore. For starters, that is Hindu philosophy for you in a nutshell. It will tell you more about Hindus and their values than any spiritual leader will. It will show you, that unlike other religions that are goal-oriented, Hinduism is duty-oriented, action-oriented. Action gives character. What you do will determine what you become. There are no five tenets, or ten commandments. As an orthopraxy faith, it is not what you believe in that makes you a Hindu, but it is what you practice makes you a Hindu. To get the information from the horse's mouth is always a good idea, right?

Once you have some basic knowledge, and hopefully a few good questions about the Hindu philosophy, you are ready to seek someone knowledgeable for answers. You have enough knowledge to prevent yourself from being misinformed or brainwashed. You are in a position to actually enhance your understanding through constructive dialogue and discussion.
Of course, there have been some great teachers of Hinduism but I haven't delved much into their works myself. However, upon recommendation from others, Swami Vivekananda, Adi Shankaracharya, Osho, Sri Sri Ravi Shankar are a few prominent names whose teachings have influenced the world. However, I recommend that you be alert while studying these philosophers' ideas. Hinduism is a very open religion in terms of thought, it invites you to create your own Hindu philosophy. Therefore, each philosopher has drawn their own conclusions and interpretations of the teachings.

You are invited to do the same. Be your own Hindu. Nothing else is more important. And even though I don't know much about other religions, but I daresay that this is true for them all.