Securarism v/s Hinduism

Last evening I was reading an article from one of my net friend on the Kashmir conflict.

Though I dint agree her views on Kashmir, she sure made me to rethink my stand on secularism.

I don’t agree with the basic idea of secularism. Though it sounds ‘being separate from religion’, on a personal level being ‘secular’ person is like being ‘tolerant’ towards other religions. A tolerant society can loose its tolerance and start erupting hatred even on a little provocation.

This is where Hinduism stands tall against secularism.

The foundation of Hinduism is “Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam.” Only a Hindu can say that the whole world is his family. That’s why Swamy Vivekananda could address the Chicago gathering as ‘My dear brothers and sisters’.

The pillars of Hinduism being: “Sarve Jana sukhino bhavantu”. (सर्वे जाना सुखिनो भवन्तु )Only a Hindu can pray for the well being of the entire mankind.

Just from these two phrases, Hinduism gives utmost freedom to a person to practice any religion he/she may want to practice. To be more precise, it does not compel anyone to praise or, worship any one single god or creator. Even a non believer is also entitled to be happy and content under Hinduism.

Any and everybody, irrespective of cast and religion can be a Hindu. Instead of tolerating, it (Hinduism) teaches one to respect other religions. There is a hell lot of difference between tolerating and, respecting. Where there is respect, question of intolerance doesn’t arise. In fact it doesn’t hesitate a bit in absorbing good from any religion. This is the reason why a Hindu can go to Ajmer sheriff, Haji Ali, as he goes to Amarnath and Thirupati. He can light a candle at any church as he lights incense sticks at a temple. For doing so, the creator does not reserve a place for him/her at the hell.

It’s very sad that some people want to bring down Hinduism to the level of a religion. For All those people I want to scream and announce that Hinduism is not a religion. It’s a way of life. It’s a culture which was and is being practiced form the time of ancient Indus Valley civilization. Hinduism doesn’t have fixed boundaries as a religion. Sarvapalli Radhakrishan observes Hinduism as not "just a faith", but in itself related to the union of reason and intuition. He explicitly suggests that, it can not be defined, but is only to be experienced.

So I feel immense proud in claiming myself as a Hindu, rather than a secularist.