By modern usage and convenience we may still apply the name Hinduism to this Vedic or eternal Dharma. We should, however, realize that it is a misnomer. To understand it better we will refer to it in this book mainly as the Vedic or Yogic teaching, this being its inner or spiritual side. It is to its universal essence and capacity to renew itself that we look to here, not merely its forms from the past. It is to the that fire we look, not to the embers or the ashes.

Hinduism consists of many different sects and teachings, much more so than any other religion. It is not so much a religion in particular as a compendium of religious and spiritual teachings. It has no overall one messiah, one prophet, savior or great teacher. It has no single bible or scripture. Its ultimate scripture is the Divine word within the heart. Its savior is the Divine within man (which is the meaning of Narayana, the name of Vishnu as the savior).

There is no standard practice. It is not centered on any single name or form of the Divine. There is no set lineage or network of teachers for all to follow. It contains within itself all the different approaches to the Divine used by humanity since the dawn of history, from some of the apparently most primitive to the highest. It allows for the worship of the Divine in all forms; Gods and Goddesses of every kind, with all possible human and animal representations.

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