Posted by Sheena Patel

Defining Hinduism has always proved a tricky subject, due to the spectacular diversity within the religion. Hinduism Today magazine is preparing a special issue and book on the subject: ‘What is Hinduism’? As part of this endeavour, they are inviting individuals to answer this question in their own words (click here for further details):

The following is an extract from an article I wrote a couple of years back. It pretty much summarises my definition of Hinduism:

“Hindus are a civilisation and Hinduism is a search for the truth of existence as developed by our civilisation, and the lifestyle, culture, philosophies, yoga (spiritual practices) that were built and are still being built around this central quest. Hinduism can’t be defined in terms of belief, as its foundation is a willingness to seek.”

Any comments/feedback are most welcome.

The recent foiling of what would have been the biggest terrorist atrocity ever to hit Britain, and the fact that most of the arrested conspirators are British born Muslims, has left Britain feeling understandably vulnerable.Discussion of what could drive British born men and women to plot terrorist attacks against Britain has been a major issue of national debate. The finger is often pointed at foreign policy.

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It was nearing Diwali and my family had started decorating our home a few days ahead of date. My grandparents are strictly against using artificial light bulbs and decorations when it comes to adorning the house for spiritual purposes and prefer traditional “diyas” and “rangolis” instead. So we carefully lit the entire house with diyas (in conformation to the commonsense fire safety manual) and decorated the doorway with a rangoli of the sacred symbol: the swastika. To those of you who don’t know, a rangoli is a colourful design traditionally made using flour, rice grains or coloured chalk. It is placed on the floor near the entrance to a house to welcome guests.

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It was on the 6th August 1972 that the government of Uganda, then headed by the infamous Idi Amin, announced that all of the 80,000 Indian origin people living in the country had 90 days to depart, after which their businesses and homes would be handed over to native Ugandans. If any Indians were seen in Uganda after this period, Idi Amin warned: “I will make you feel as if you are sitting on fire!”

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By David Frawley

We live in a culture today in which the use of drugs is widespread at both medical and recreational levels. It has been estimated that nearly twenty five percent of children in the United States are under regular medication, extending to over ninety percent of seniors, who may be taking several drugs daily. Many new drugs have been invented to treat such physical conditions as high blood pressure, heart disease, diabetes, asthma and allergies, as well as a broad range of anti-biotics for infectious diseases. At a mental level, there are many new drugs for depression, anxiety, bipolar disorders, insomnia, and for attention deficit and hyperactivity in children. Certainly many of these drugs have their benefits but one wonders if the pursuit of drugs is the best way to handle our human problem.

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“What are you?” is usually one of the first questions that comes up in conversation when two British Asians meet for the first time. This means, “What is your religion and/or ethnicity?”

Being a Hindu whose mother tongue is Punjabi, I call myself a HP, which stands for Hindu Punjabi. I would have thought that this is quite straightforward to understand. However over the years I have come across so many people who have totally incorrect ideas of what HP means, and have had to explain it to many people (particularly Gujarati Hindus). I am writing this to help remove mistaken ideas about the definition of HP that may exist amongst fellow Hindus.

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In childhood years, many Hindu children nowadays are introduced to Hindu sacred stories through the medium of comic books, such as Amar Chitra Katha. These provide a colourful and entertaining rendering of ancient stories, and most kids read them with great enthusiasm, forming many people’s introduction to the world of Hinduism.

However, in most cases after you reach a certain age and develop a better sense of physical reality, some of the stories will seem quite unrealistic and far-fetched. In the absence of any understanding of the symbolism involved in such stories, our modern mentality would be inclined to view them merely as primitive relics from the past.

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On Wednesday 16th July 2006, Janamashtami celebrations in an International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) temple in the North-East Indian state of Manipur came to a sudden halt, as the occasion became the target of a devastating terrorist grenade blast.

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