Inclusivity of Hinduism
Concepts of divinity
Inclusivity, acceptance, respect — essential requirements for being human. Those who deny these to others, diminish, even destroy, their own humanity.
Nationalism, promoting the superiority of one’s own country, inevitably encourages the denigration and exclusion of other groups, undermining their value, prejudicing their best interests.
Recently religious intolerance and exclusivity has fed the flames in various conflict-zones, worldwide. Nationalist Zionism devastating the lives and hopes of fellow members of the Abrahamic family, bombing mosques, some with irreplaceable manuscripts, desecrating what others revere as sacred, excluding them from the basic human right to food, water, shelter, medication.
Likewise, exclusivist nationalist Hinduism — “Hindutva” — promoted by India’s Bharata Janata Party, espousing Hindu supremacy, betraying the right of Muslims and others to inclusion in the rich heritage bequeathed by the Islamic faith throughout the Indian subcontinent.
Ironically, such religious intolerance directly contradicts the unique Hindu example of inclusivity: encompassing a vast range of spiritual concepts, grappling with the millennia-old indefinable enigma of existence; nurturing a more compassionate, egalitarian world for all its diverse inhabitants, human and others.
ANCIENT ORIGINS OF HINDUISM
Home to one of Earth’s oldest civilisations, India has fostered some of the earliest human spiritual quests, numerous strands amalgamated into the wide-ranging cornucopia of “Hinduism”.
Unlike most religious traditions, Hinduism has no single founder, no clear historical beginnings, no central authoritative body, no common creed.
Throughout the millennia Hinduism has cultivated a rich diversity of conceptions of deity, and the human relationship with the Divine.
Despite periods of religious conflict, providing an incomparable example of a pluralist approach to religion, revering various paths as offering aspects of the ultimately ineffable truth.
Many sages striving to encourage harmony and wellbeing among communities, respecting the views of others, uniting rather than dividing those with differing beliefs. Such tolerance, a fundamental principle of democracy.
Some of the earliest manifestation of what may be considered pre-Aryan, proto-Hindu religion from c.4000 BCE, are the hundreds of female terracotta figurines uncovered at the Indus Valley sites of Harappa and Mohenjo Daro.
Amalgamated with nature spirits associated with mountains, rivers, caves, trees; animals such as snakes, tigers, peacocks, cows, bulls, owls — expressing a holistic vision of the universe revering all nature as infused with sacrality.
No doubt associated with numerous folk deities such as the Tamil Amman/Mother Nature goddesses, manifesting both nurturing and destructive aspects of life.
From such archaic times, the cycles of day and night, light and darkness, creation and destruction, death and rebirth, good and evil, form central themes around which Hindu mythology and religion revolves.
Along with these aboriginal deities, a melding of various worldviews and practices, later enhanced by profound philosophical elements, has evolved into a rich plurality expressing divine essence.
The arrival of nomadic Aryan peoples from northern Europe during approximately 1800-1500 BCE, settling in the Indus Valley and Gangetic plain, and the development of the Sanskrit language, marks the beginnings of the Vedic period and the compilation of the Vedas the earliest scriptures of Hindu religion.
Consisting of hymns and prayers addressed to deities such as Indra, Varuna, Agni, Surya, Soma, Sarasvati, these foundational scriptures have been meticulously preserved over thousands of years,
Even this ancient period acknowledged an inclusive pluralism: “They call it Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni .... The Real is One, though sages give it various names.” (Rig Veda.)
Though the Rig Veda still plays a strong role in Hindu identity, according to Indologist Axel Michaels, “most Indians today pay lip service to the Veda and have no regard for the contents of the text.”
But, such abundance of views has promoted a unique tolerance for dissimilar beliefs and practices.
THE RICHNESS OF HINDUISM
The later Upanishads, two vast Sanskrit epics Mahabharata and Ramayana, and the Puranas, offer a vibrant, pluralistic range of concepts of deity, from a polytheistic-type image-veneration, to many alternative concepts enhancing the envisaging of Ultimate Reality.
Upanishadic philosophy advocated recognition of the identity of Brahman, the supreme reality of the universe, with Atman, the essence of humanity.
Lack of awareness of this truth, it is claimed, subjects the individual soul to endless rebirths, the status of which depends on one’s Karma — good and bad deeds. Union with the infinite, unfathomable Brahman, freeing oneself from material attachments, will grant final liberation (Moksha) from the chain of death and rebirth.
For many, engagement in Bhakti-marga, the “path of devotion”, part of very archaic Hinduism, will grant this union with divinity, liberating the soul from Samsara, the cycle of reincarnation.
This path, focused on an image, a “murti”, an Ishta-devata, meaning “chosen deity”, evokes passionate veneration assisting towards the ultimate destiny of oneness with Brahman.
Expounded by Krishna in the much-loved Bhagavad Gita, the Bhakti Movement was embraced by a group known as the Alvars in south India between the sixth and ninth centuries CE, later spreading to north India. Regardless of caste or class, devotees cultivate an emotional and ecstatic attachment to a favourite deity, frequently centred on Krishna.
One of the most famous Bhaktas was Mirabai, born about 1498 CE into a north Indian Rajput family, whose husband died, leaving her a virgin, which freed her to follow her heart in her passion for Krishna. Despite evidence of fierce persecution by her late husband’s relatives, she isolated herself from the family, rejecting the strict traditional roles imposed on women, and consecrating the rest of her life to Krishna devotion.
Her many passionate poems express this blissful sense of union with deity: “Thou and I are one, like the sun and its heat … Let my light dissolve in your Light …”
Through worship of one chosen deity, a type of theism, the devotee should aspire to the non-theistic, non-duality of “Advaita Vedanta” identifying one’s individual soul with the One Supreme, indefinable entity of the World-Soul. Later spread to the West by Swami Vivekananda, disciple of Sri Ramakrishna, influencing celebrated writer Christopher Isherwood.
The three major traditions of Hinduism can be divided into Shaivism, veneration of the great god Shiva and members of his “family” — largely centred in south India; Vaisnavism, followers of the great God Vishnu and his “family” — predominantly north Indian; and Shaktism, elevation of female principle to supremacy.
Shaktism is the unique manifestation of divine female energy — the term Shakti expressing the personification of female dynamic power.
The Hindu tradition distinguishes between consort goddesses, and independent, unmarried female divinities, who challenge women’s traditional role.
The former, supportive of their male partners, such as Laksmi, consort of Vishnu; Sarasvati of Brahma, Parvati of Shiva, Radha wife of Krishna, and Sita wife of Rama.
From approximately the sixth century CE various goddesses began to be venerated as independent deities: Supreme Being, Mother of all Creation; never submitting to male guardianship. With roots stretching back to the Indus Valley female figures, pre-Aryan, indigenous goddesses like Durga and Kali asserting their sexual independence — such lack of domination by any male authority reflected in their potentially wild nature.
These self-sufficient, unrestrained figures manifested particularly in the south India primordial Amman deities. Mother figures of Dravidian Tamil origin; Mariamman, Angalamman, Yellamma and many others, later annexed to the Brahmanical family — “amma” (mother, Ma) appended to their names: Durgamma, Kaliamma, and Draupadiamman, Mother Goddess of firewalking.
As Earth Mothers, occupied with rural interests, they represent humanity’s attempts to confront the chaotic, demonic, disruptive dimensions of life and the natural world.
Religious scholar David Kinsley suggesting that the ongoing wellbeing of society depends on being able to engage with religious ritual to channel this dark potentially destructive disorder, establishing a new, less fragile, more stable existence.
Their mythology further preserves the motif of woman’s victory over males/demons subjugating and abusing them — the central theme of Durga in the Devi-Mahatmya.
This extraordinarily compelling, little-known, south Indian tradition, dominated by formidable female deities, preserves a unique form of Goddess veneration potentially beneficial to women, challenging the traditionally-expected submissive role of women, directly associating the empowerment of women with their independence from males — thus presenting liberating role-models.
The striking, androgynous image of the Shiva//Shakti, half male/half female, manifesting the perfect synthesis of male and female energies in the creation and preservation of the universe.
Hermaphrodite figures associated with auspiciousness, uniting the human psyche into a harmonious whole; a provocative icon challenging stereotypes and enriching our notions of sexuality.
MODERN HINDUiSM
Since 1828 with the founding of the Brahmo Samaj by Ram Mohan Roy, numerous Neo-Hindu groups have evolved, such as the Ramakrishna Mission, Divine Life Society, Arya Samaj, Iskcon (Hare Krishna), Sai Baba Groups — frequently rejecting numerous ancient observances, including the caste system, as incompatible with contemporary human wellbeing.
A superabundance of great seers, philosophers, gurus, mystics, revealing and enriching multitudinous mysteries of the divine image: Asoka, Akbar, Patanjali, Valmiki, Caitanya, Mirabai, Mahavira, Guru Nanak, Debendranath Tagore, Ramakrishna, Sarrepalli Radhakrishnan, Mohandas Gandhi, Yogananda, Vivekanada, and countless others.
The rich mythology of the Epics disseminated widely in many vibrant art forms — painting, literature, architecture, music, dance, drama, movies, and widely-admired folk-art; street murals perpetually confronting passers-by with sacred icons.
OTHER TRADITIONS IN INDIA
Although Hinduism is the majority faith in the secular republic of India, the country is also cradle to Buddhism, Sikhism, Jainism — also welcoming Zoroastrianism (Parsees), Baha’ism, inheriting the riches of Mughal Islam, stimulating the flourishing of many other faiths.
Over millennia the vibrant southern coast of India has received travellers from numerous civilizations: Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, Chinese, Portuguese, trading by sea for spices, pearls, silk, ivory — Greek geographer Ptolemy (c.150 CE), possibly Christian apostle St Thomas in 52 CE, Christians from Persia during the 10th century building a church over his supposed burial site in Madras — today the San Thome Cathedral forming the centre of a strong Christian community.
An extremely early settlement of Hebrews in Cochin (Kochi), on the Malabar Coast, reputedly dates from the time of King Solomon (c.950 BCE) — joined by other Jews expelled from Spain in the 16th century — a synagogue of 1568 still extant.
Almost all these rich streams of religion can be identified within the vibrant South African Hindu community.
Hinduism offering a distinctive example of the healing potential of religious inclusivity, in a bleeding world where much contemporary religion promotes fear of the other; breeding intolerance, exclusiveness and divisiveness.
Reminding us of the urgency to honour the teachings of Swami Vivekananda, whom Indian Prime Minister Modi claims as an inspiration: “Man has an idea that there can only be one religion, only one Prophet, only one Incarnation.
“By studying the lives of these great Messengers, we find that each was destined to play a part, and a part only; that harmony consists in the sum total, and not just in one note.
“As in the life of all races, no race is born to enjoy the world alone. Each race has a part to play in this divine harmony of nations … its mission to perform, its duty to fulfil. The sum total is the great harmony.”