Origins in Experience
The Hindu tradition was not founded by a single person or based on a single historic event. Hinduism emerged from the profound experiences of a number of great seers and saints. It has gone through several transformations and has produced an extraordinary wealth of art and literature. The most bewildering thing about the tradition is its enormous variety; but what is particularly fascinating is the way in which it has dealt with this incredible variety. Hinduism has never prescribed a uniform belief or rite or ceremony. It refuses to reduce life to a formula, and looks upon all human-made institutions as restrictive. It has inspired many to develop new spiritual pathways. Hinduism actually encourages its followers to celebrate each other’s way of realizing God or Supreme Truth.
Diversity, however, is not the final note of Hinduism. The saints and sages belonging to different Hindu sects and schools teach an approach of harmony (samanvaya) and reconciliation The Nature of Hinduism (samadhana). They hold that if a person becomes too much attached to particular dogmas and creeds, he can not make further spiritual progress. The attachment becomes a hindrance on the path towards Truth and spiritual freedom. Religious rivalry overpowers the concern for Truth, and finds satisfaction in fighting to establish dogmas. The Hindu tradition encourages the development of sects in abundance as spiritually beneficial, but it regards sectarianism as spiritually harmful. Although it is natural to love and admire one’s own tradition, the sages teach that it should not result in defensive distortions, one-sidedness, and hatred of others. An attitude of intolerance and hatred cannot bring peace and happiness to the individual or to the society at large.