Hindu religion, Hindu way of life, Hindu dharma, Hindu nation

On the eve when nation is celebrating 60 years of freedom from British rule, we are still debating whether it is a birthday or independence? Western oriented intelligentsia is still confused and making masses further confuse over the existence of identity called 'Bharat' or 'Hindustan' or 'India' during pre-christian and pre-islamic period. We have to live with the generations those are educated under british education system and the process is still on. People of India are now paying high price for this ideological confusion and we do not see any way out in near future.

Over 80% population of India is 'Hindu' by government records and still they have to justify anything and everything they want to practice in a free country in the name of 'secularism'. The word has its origin in early 20th century european politics when chruch had overwhelming power to interfere in state policies and to keep them under control the government has to proclaim that it is secular means 'of this world' and church should not interfere in worldly matters.

We in India never had such problem of religious bodies interfering in political matters because spirituality has altogether different meaning for us which can only be understood by term 'dharma' whereas organised religions always worked through political system. When we say India is secular, a common man understands that government has no religion of itself and is suppose to treat all the citizens at par irrespective of their background. But when a so called minority claims that their sentiments are hurt due to majority customs and should not be encouraged or endorsed by government in the name of secularism (eg reciting vande mataram, sarasawati vandana etc) then we need to think the the usage of this term and very foundations of our national ethos.

In the landmark judgment on Dec 11, 1995 supreme court of India made it clear that the word 'Hindu' doesn't synonymous to hindu religion and it is essentially a way of life. So how this way of life is different from other existed ways of life on the earth? And can a non-hindu in India follow this way of life without hurting his/her religious sentiments. And if not then is it justifiable to for him/her to claim to be a part of mainstream of nation?

- Coexistence: All paths pertaining to materialist world or spiritual world are true and we all can live together not only tolerating each other but accepting them as equal.

- Society & individual: Society is above individual. Human is a social animal and he/she cannot exist in isolation. Individual is temporary where as society is eternal. We have to give up lower identity for the sake of higher identity. (individual-family-relatives-cast-language-religion-society-nation). Human being is much more than a body. Individual has body-mind-intellect-soul and society should provide conducive atmosphere for all round development of individual. In return individual should nourish needs of society and develop flexible systems for future generations.

- Family: Between individual and society there should be a buffering system called family. Balanced individual development is possible in the home with strong family bonds. Family is the place where a person starts realizing his/her role and duty in the society by following the elders.

- Character: Morality in thoughts and deeds are not only a social requirement but also should be at personal level which leads to realization of ultimate truth or reason of one's very existence.

- Relation with others: Everyone has the same soul and hence the capability to attain the highest possible goal in materialistic as well as spiritual world with their own paths. Not only human but each and every living as well as non-living entity has a particular place in the universe and without this interdependence, the web of life will be incomplete. Human is not at the center of the universe but a part of it.

- Utilization of natural resources: Nature has enough for every ones need but not for individual's greed. Most of the environmental problems faced by modern civilization are due to exploitation of nature. When the balance is disturbed, nature has its own ways to rectify it and ultimately we are at the receiving end. We are answerable to future generations.

- Whole universe is a single family: Change is life, Diversity is natural. Nothing living is static and identical. Only dead is static. Universe will always have diverse groups of people with distinct cultural identities. Single cap cannot and shouldnot be fit to tom, dick and harry. We all are part of single family with our individual identity on this planet for a particular time and for particular purpose. This universe was existed before our arrival and will exist after our departure as well. We are just custodian, nothing more than that.

Even though 'humanity' is the highest identity, we need all lower identities at the same time, which should not be contradictory and as mentioned earlier we have to give up lower one for the sake of higher one.

This to my knowledge is a hindu way of life and i do not see how it can be contradictory to the constitutional right of non-hindus as well. We should have effective education system which will inculcate these values in all citizens as a way of life. Each one who follow these ideals staying around the globe is hindu irrespective of his/her religious belief. Bharat will be their source of inspiration. Minorities of Bharat should not see this basic principles as threat to their separate identity. Even someone does not accept these values, then also he is welcome to stay in Bharat as we did always in past but in that case he should be aware that it is his personal choice to remain aloof from mainstream. But otherwise hindu way of life is capable of assimilating everyone while keeping their identity intact.

This will be essentially a Hindu nation, where every individual will be same under law and allowed to practise religion of his choice, but the way of life or values of each individual should be based on hindu ethos then only we can prosper as a cohesive unit in the modern world.

Hindu religion is set of customs which were never in past and definitely will not be in future mandatory even for hindus forget about non-hindus. That is the whole reason why we see innumerable sects only under hindu religion.

Hindu dharma should not be confused with hindu religion. Dharma is much more broad term which has no translation in english. Religion is a subset of dharma. Dharma is nothing but set of duties for individual which were evolved and are still evolving as per the needs of society. Organized religions cannot be compared with dharma because they have only one holy book which is revealed to only one prophet and cannot be changed at any cost at any point of time in human civilization. Dharma does not have such a book but which is a continuous process of human evolution and that is the reason for the original name of hindu dharma, a sanatan dharma means eternal or ever changing set of duties.

Hindus of todays Bharat need to be assertive about hindu way of life not only by words but by deeds as well. People of the world should see the positive effect of hindu way of life in practise then only we can claim that this is the valid alternative for western way (christian) of life or islamic way of life for human civilization in long run if human race want to survive on this planet. Hindu philosophy is well recognized and indisputable for its richness all over the world. Now it is time for hindu way of life to be recognized as an alternative for modern competitive world and which can be done only by people of Bharat following hindu way of life.