Every world religion has its great philosophies and ways of the world associated with it. Both Christianity and Islam have it in abundance too. But there are certain things in Hindu dharma that fulfill the gap Islam and Christianity have, given that people get over the stereotypical mindset of the caste system and idol worship that they associate with Sanatana Dharma. If analysed properly, one can come into conclusion that not only does Hindu dharma cover the good things that Christianity and Islam lack, but also it lacks the bad things Christianity and Islam have incorporated in their doctrine, and because of which the whole world has had to go through so much of suffering in the past 2000 years.
The first thing is that Hindu dharma has a genuine inquiry about the absolute truth, about what we really are. This system of belief is not fixed, in that everyone should believe that this is the right way. People have a freedom to choose. What Vedas say is that we are divine, that “Divine is in all and all is in Divine”. The self is the same as the Brahman (all). We are just mere actors of the world, with each actor having to fulfill their own purpose, just as in the movie. But the true identity is that we are one with Brahman.
Is this claim true, however? Christians and Islam have contrary view to this; they believe that the Divine and “we” are separate, and if we don’t believe that then we are to suffer in the afterlife.
Hindu dharma doesn’t tell us to believe what it claims blindly. But instead, it gives us tips, cues on how to analyse these things, on what sort of evidence are there to believe these things, and there are several Q&A sessions between guru and discipline, or husband or wife, or father and son, in the Vedas, so that one can come into their own conclusion. It is just as how scientists come into conclusion that all is one energy. Most Hindus come into conclusion that we are all one awareness and that this oneness can be experienced when the mind is still, just as how many rishis have claimed to do so.
“You are non-local awareness independent of time and space,” says Russel Targ who worked for CIA, NASA, Army Intelligence, and so on for 23 years, which is the view of the Veda. It means that you are not what you see in the mirror. This view was made into a video for TEDx talk. However, it was not accepted for TEDx talk. But you can find it if you google it under “banned TEDx talk, Russell Targ” where he says that everyone is capable of remote viewing if properly train. He quotes Patanjali for trailing.
What does this mean for us then? This knowledge is not a small thing, the implications of this knowledge is huge; it empowers. Knowing that there isn’t anything you can’t do, you can fully trust your inner being, such that there is no room for despondency, for unhappiness, for depression. You will feel internally strong. Not only that, you will also have kindness and respect for others, knowing that everyone is divine.
Isn’t this similar to the general Golden Rule: “Don’t do to others what you don’t want to be done to you”?
This kindness and respect extend to everything in nature, including the animals. It is a fact that majority of vegetarians are Hindus. But strange enough, media portrays Hindus as animal-slaughterers, who just sacrifice huge animals for nothing, which by the way, is a false claim. And they even claim how meat-eating is normal in India when a huge portion of Indian population are vegetarians. Touché?
These aspects of the Vedic tradition in Vedic times of India show that India was a great civilization. But there is a downside. And that falls in part of some of the Indians who ignorantly have not accepted this great civilization whole-heartedly. Instead, they have fallen into the trap of those who have invaded their land, discriminated those who don’t subscribe to their view of Supreme Being, and even killed some.
What about the bad things that Christians and Islam have but lack in Hindu dharma?
There is a religious divide in both Christianity and Islam between those believers and non-believers. Those who believe in the fixed doctrine are considered to be believers and those who don’t are considered to be non-believers. It doesn’t happen in Hindu dharma. Hindus are the world over the great believers in Divine Presence, and yet they don’t segregate someone who doesn’t believe in Divine Presence as non-believers, and they definitely don’t label them as non-Hindu. There is no need for blind belief in the respective doctrine, which is based on what a person allegedly claim was revealed by the Supreme personally and is the one and only truth, like in Christianity and Islam.
Many countries still even base their laws on religion, today, in this time of 21st century. There are even blasphemous laws that punish with death, that comes from an illogical set of beliefs from the religious doctrines.