| How I Became A Hindu My Discover Of Vedic Dharma |
 |
| Books By David Frawley |
| ADDITIONAL STUDIES OF CHRISTIANITY AND ISLAM | |
| Vedic pluralism
gives rise to a free and open spiritual path, the many ways of yoga. It is not limited to
monotheism, though it includes theism as an important approach at a devotional level.
Vedic pluralism does not give rise to any need to convert the world but rather to the
nurturing of ever new insights and local applications of truth. Nor is it a form of
polytheism, reflecting a belief in many separate gods. It is a free approach to monism on
an individual level, recognizing both the universal and the unique in human beings. Such a
view is necessary today to link all the varied religious aspirations of humanity and the
many sages, teachings and forms of worship that are our heritage as a species. The Hindu way is a universal pluralism that combines the one and the many, the unique and the all. It is not a pluralism of anything goes, a mere promiscuity, but a truth that is vast, many sided and adaptable, like the great forces of nature. It is the pluralism that arises from the One, but the One that is infinite and unlimited. Such an inclusive view is necessary to integrate human culture throughout the world today, which is and should remain diverse. The exclusivist model belongs to the Middle Ages and reflects the urge of one group to triumph over the rest, which leads to conflict and destruction. Hinduism does not claim to hold the big or the final truth, or to dispense it to a doubting humanity from on high. It holds that a Supreme Truth, a unity of consciousness, does exist but that it is beyond human manipulation and outside of human history. This spiritual truth has nothing to do with proselytizing and is not bound by any belief, identity or leader. Discovering it is ultimately a matter of individual search and aspiration. Hinduism provides tools for this self-discovery, but leaves the individual free to find out directly what it is. As a religion it makes itself dispensable and does not make itself into the last word. Once we know ourselves we go beyond all the limitations of humanity. But at the same time we become connected to all the great seers and yogis of all time.
|
|
|
