Essence Of Hinduism
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HINDU THEISM

As every one knows, religion is not a matter of mere rituals. Nor is it a matter of mere ethics. Morality is of religion, any more than the gateway to a temple is the temple itself. So moral life is not enough for the liberation of man. Hinduism, no doubt, insists on a man's acting according to his Dharma and acquiring purity of soul by leading a righteous life. But it also teaches us that in morality there is no completeness. The last word in the teaching of the Gita is:-

"Surrendering all Dharmas come unto Me alone for shelter." 

For after every moral success we see a higher ideal, which condemns once again our life of littleness and sin. Morality is like the horizon, which ever recedes as we approach it. It always keeps us at arm's length and perpetually reminds us of our weaknesses. The unaided human soul feels that it is helpless and craves for some thing, which will take it out of the region of perpetual conflict and give it the assurance of victory and peace. This is religion, where "ought" gives place to "is". A merely moral life cannot give us the feeling of love, joy and exaltation and the spirit of courage and self-sacrifice which religious life gives. 

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