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groups that deny freedom and diversity to sustain their power and control may not be happy
with demands for pluralism. They may prefer to have their own territory where no
competition is allowed. But their period of rule is coming to an end. Even singularistic
religious traditions will soon have to recognize the validity of pluralism, including
granting a new respect for the very pluralistic and so-called polytheistic traditions,
like Hinduism, that out of intolerance they have not only failed to understand but have
oppressed. In Hinduism the ultimate goal of
life is freedom or liberation, Moksha. This is not an outer freedom to get what we want
but an inner freedom to go beyond all external limitations. This freedom is the real unity
behind the diversity of Hinduism and the key to its many sides. Hindu pluralism therefore
is not the denial of unity but the affirmation of real unity that transcends outer
differences. True unity is built upon freedom, not
conformity, and is a state of the heart or inner consciousness, not an outer condition of
labels and slogans.
While the West has emphasized external freedom, which has
given it a sense of pluralism in the outer aspects of life, Hinduism teaches inner
freedom, without which outer freedom has no real meaning. This inner freedom allows for the full flowering of the soul so that our
entire human potential, which is ultimately one of spiritual aspiration, can manifest and
bring truth and beauty to our entire existence.
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