Dharma
The correct name for what we call Hinduism, though seldom used or
recognized today, is "Sanatana Dharma", which means literally the "eternal teaching". It is not in
essence a defined religion but an openness to spiritual experience. We could also translate it as "the
eternally renewed truth"; sanaatana not only has the sense of eternity of
but perpetual change and renewal. It is also called "Arya Dharma", the
teaching of noble people. Yet Buddhism also uses this name, as did the Zoroastrian religion of
Persia, both of which were close to the Vedic.
Yet this term has been degraded by its usage in Europe by German
nationalists and later the Nazis for glorification of their prejudices, and
so it is has many wrong and negative conceptions associated with it. Another name for it is "Satya
Dharma", the religion of truth. More simply it is just called the "Dharma";
a Vedic term meaning the law or truth of one's own nature. However, all religions in India have been
called the Dharma; Buddhism as the Buddha Dharma, Jainism as the Jain Dharma, the Sikhs as the Sikh
Dharma etc.
These we can put under the greater umbrella of
"Dharmic traditions" which we can see as Hinduism or the spiritual traditions of India in the
broadest sense. All these dharmic traditions teach yoga, meditation and aim at self-realization. They
have perhaps more in common with each other than do the different sects of Christianity.
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