How can Hinduism be the true religion when it is almost exclusively practiced by Indian descendants?

[mrthenewuser2]

With respect, I am interested in hearing others try to justify the fact Hindus are almost exclusively Indian (or Indian descendants) .

It seems very obvious that Hinduism developed culturally in ancient India by people and has remained alive, like other religions, by tradition.

Or perhaps you believe brown folks are the chosen people?

Or perhaps you don't take the religion as being true but rather just practice it culturally?

 

[Valjean]

Well, there's Hindu theology or metaphysics and there's Hindu practice.
The metaphysics is universal, the various practices just tradition.

 

[Breathe]

With respect, I am interested in hearing others try to justify the fact Hindus are almost exclusively Indian (or Indian descendants) .

Hinduism doesn't go around proclaiming doom and gloom and coercing people into following it. There are many non-Indian Hindus on this forum.


Also, Hinduism has a significant influence throughout Southeast Asia. For example:

Angkor Wat? Originally a Hindu temple.
Island of Bali in Indonesia? Predominantly Hindu.
Phillipines? Hindu in past.
Indonesia? Hindu in past.
Thailand's city Ayutthaya? Named after Ayodha, the birthplace of King Rāma.

However, Hinduism was replaced by Buddhism throughout southeast Asia, most probably due to Buddhist missionary activity, which would explain why it pretty much died out as a common religion throughout the rest of Asia.

It seems very obvious that Hinduism developed culturally in ancient India by people and has remained alive, like other religions, by tradition.

And Taoism developed in China. Religions develop in the culture they are from, and religions influence the culture. Doesn't make it any less true, though.

Or perhaps you believe brown folks are the chosen people?

No such concept in Hinduism.

Or perhaps you don't take the religion as being true but rather just practice it culturally?

Some do, but not all.

 

[Madhuri]

With respect, I am interested in hearing others try to justify the fact Hindus are almost exclusively Indian (or Indian descendants) .

It seems very obvious that Hinduism developed culturally in ancient India by people and has remained alive, like other religions, by tradition.

Or perhaps you believe brown folks are the chosen people?

Or perhaps you don't take the religion as being true but rather just practice it culturally?

There is evidence of Hinduism practice in past times throughout Europe and also Africa (such as temple ruins and relics).
Just because some religions have trampled the world, killing and forcing others to convert and thus making the religion the largest in the world does not make it the 'true' religion.

Truth is truth. It is not dependent on people knowing it.

Also, Hinduism does not profess to be the 'one true religion'. For adherents such as myself, it is the greatest wisdom available to mankind, but we also believe that most religions hold truth (and if you are like me, you will see that religion has evolved over time, and that 'Hinduism' is perhaps the origin of some other major religions).

The only reason that most Hindus are Indians is because the Indian population did not decide to spread over the world, and were in fact invaded themselves. But knowledge of it is growing globally and as the misconceptions about it are gradually being shed, there are more and more people turning to it.

 

[Vinayaka]

With respect, I am interested in hearing others try to justify the fact Hindus are almost exclusively Indian (or Indian descendants) .

It seems very obvious that Hinduism developed culturally in ancient India by people and has remained alive, like other religions, by tradition.

Or perhaps you believe brown folks are the chosen people?

Or perhaps you don't take the religion as being true but rather just practice it culturally?

This isn't true, especially today. Hinduism is all over, and includes lots of non-brown people. (I didn't know how to word a response to your racist implication.)

As Madhuri said, Hindus do not consider themselves the chosen people. We wrap our large philosophical circle around all of humanity, unlike some other faiths that draw boxes around theirs. In other words, we include them, but they exclude us.

Personally, I think Hinduism gets (or used to get) the bad rap it does because its seen as a great threat. That's because its not a philosophy based on fear. When asked, "Why are you interested in Hinduism?" , many non-Indians will respond, "Because it doesn't practise exclusivism -My way is the only way." mentality.

Most Hindus I've met certainly take the religion as true ... for themselves at least.

 

[Onkara]

With respect, I am interested in hearing others try to justify the fact Hindus are almost exclusively Indian (or Indian descendants) .

It seems very obvious that Hinduism developed culturally in ancient India by people and has remained alive, like other religions, by tradition.

Or perhaps you believe brown folks are the chosen people?

Or perhaps you don't take the religion as being true but rather just practice it culturally?

I don't think it needs to be justified, it just is and we need to understand why.

I read somewhere that India is the only country which has never invaded or colonised another country. If true then Hindus and Hinduism has remained at peace within itself for thousands of years (civil unrest and Pakistan are exceptions). Also as others say it's way doesn't require people to justify it is right (unlike some semitic religions). There is debate if conversion exists or is even required in Hinduism; you just find you are growing through it with love.

Culture and religions go hand in hand, with dress, language and other factors found explained in religion and religion explained through culture.

Dispora (movement of people) was not nearly as common 200 years ago as it is today, with jet transport, trains and cars. People didn't change country (or village) as much. Nor did they move en mass and form communities, as we have seen today. Those who do leave India make no drama or protest that I have seen, but adapt whilst preserving what they cherish.

Don't let us over look that 200 years ago, we may never have even questioned our country's religion (e.g. Christianity) or have met Hindus etc as we may today.

I also feel that many people are not open to Indian culture or religions specifically, even whilst they live in the same city. Many people are not religious or may choose not to ask about religion to avoid embarrassment or being preached to. Others go along with the bits of info they have picked up at school or through the media, choosing to be more interested in sports, cars or other hobbies. I really think it is that simple.

 

[zenzero]

Friend methe.......,

How can Hinduism be the true religion when it is almost exclusively practiced by Indian descendants?

None follows/practices *hinduism* but by birth every human staying any where in the universe practices and follows SANATAN DHARMA*.

Best wishes for your understanding and converting the understanding to realization.

Love & rgds

 

[Riverwolf]

With respect, I am interested in hearing others try to justify the fact Hindus are almost exclusively Indian (or Indian descendants) .

I'm of Irish/Greek descent and have never set foot in India once. I'm a convert.

It seems very obvious that Hinduism developed culturally in ancient India by people and has remained alive, like other religions, by tradition.

Well, so long as we're making broad generalizations here, aren't most cultures and religions kept alive through tradition?

Or perhaps you believe brown folks are the chosen people?

1. Not all Indians are brown-skinned.
2. There are other brown-skinned people in the world.

Skin color is determined by exposure to the sun. Have you ever noticed that the closer a certain people live to the equator, the darker their skin is?

Therefore, if someone DID think this, it'd be pretty stupid. Like I said, I'm caucasian, and have skin so white that I literally cannot tan; I just burn.

Or perhaps you don't take the religion as being true but rather just practice it culturally?

I believe that there is One Truth that manifests itself in many ways. That's the thing that you're getting wrong: Hindus don't consider their religion to be the "one true religion".

 

[Jainarayan]

I'm of Irish/Greek descent and have never set foot in India once. I'm a convert.

American born of Italian & Sicilian descent, so white the full moon pales in comparison to me, and I'm a Hindu convert. I think I was in India during at least one past life. Never been there in this one.

 

[Madhuri]

Since we're mentioning ethnicity, I am entirely of European decent, although I have traveled to India.

 

[Breathe]

English and Welsh, here. Never been to India - yet.

 

[Marble]

There is no such thing as the Hinduism, Hinduism is a gathering of many different spiritual traditions.
Also from Hindu point of view there is One Truth - but not one true religion.

 

[Andal]

With respect, I am interested in hearing others try to justify the fact Hindus are almost exclusively Indian (or Indian descendants).

Hindus are not almost exclusively Indian. Sure there are more Indian Hindus than other nationalities but that means nothing. there are European Hindus, African Hindus (Did you know in Ghana there is a thriving Hindu community with out a single Indian there?), East Asian Hindus, South Pacific Hindus, Latin American, and North American Hindus.

Let me break this down for you. Before the Greeks invaded from the West, Hinduism spanned from Persia to Vietnam. It went as far north as China and as far south as Indonesia. By the 4th century BCE the Greeks were planning to invade India and Buddhism was rising to power. Buddhism unlike Hinduism was a missionizing religion. They went throughout the Hindu world and gained converts. That coupled with the Greeks to the west pushed Hinduism out of some parts of the world. It wasn't completely gone though until the Muslims invaded, pillaged, tortured, and destroyed Hindus throughout western Asia and then eventually all the way into India.

As Hindus we do not fight holy wars or try to "win converts" People become Hindu out of choice after recognizing its truth and beauty. We force it on no one.

Today Hinduism has a presence in most countries and that is not due to Indian immigration.

It seems very obvious that Hinduism developed culturally in ancient India by people and has remained alive, like other religions, by tradition.

Isn't that how all religions stay alive... by culture? Oh wait no I'm sorry, some religions stay alive through scare tactics like eternal damnation or through the use of crusades, inquisitions, jihad, and jizya

Or perhaps you believe brown folks are the chosen people?

LOL first of all, the only brown people who think they are the chosen people are the Semitic peoples and members of the Nation of Islam.

Even if we were to believe that, so what is wrong with that? White people have been thinking it for centuries.

Oh and by the way, I'm Irish, Polish, Russian, and Swedish- don't get much whiter than that.

Or perhaps you don't take the religion as being true but rather just practice it culturally?

Nope, I take my religion to be completely true. It isn't about cultural practices, in fact there are a number of cultural practices that I don't keep. It's about developing a relationship with the Divine.

Aum Hari Aum!

 

[kaisersose]

With respect, I am interested in hearing others try to justify the fact Hindus are almost exclusively Indian (or Indian descendants) .

It seems very obvious that Hinduism developed culturally in ancient India by people and has remained alive, like other religions, by tradition.

Or perhaps you believe brown folks are the chosen people?

Or perhaps you don't take the religion as being true but rather just practice it culturally?

Can you define "True Religion" and perhaps mention the source of this definition?

I am an Indian and without a definition, it is hard to respond to your query.

 

[Marble]

With respect, I am interested in hearing others try to justify the fact Hindus are almost exclusively Indian (or Indian descendants) .

Why would that need justification?
Followers of Shinto are (almost) all Japanese, followers of Taoism are most often Chinese.

 

[Gaura Priya]

I'm Filipino... with a mix of Chinese, Japanese, and one Spanish ancestor (great great grandma Emilia!)!

Hinduism had great sway over the Philippines via the Sri Vijaya empire, and during that era and reign, the Philippine Hindus produced a civilisation that levelled with mayan and incan gold. They had evidences of gold deities (murtis) and solid gold brahminical threads, as well as the obvious Sanskrit in Filipino vocabulary (asha = pag-asa, mukha = mukha, devata = diwata, guru = guro, Bhattara = Bathala, etc.). They had a form of writing (Baybayin, which is a corrupted indirect script from the Brahmi Script, the Mother Script from India that has created all Southeast Asian scripts to this day), and had so much gold that they made daily utensils with it and adorned their servants in gold. A few ancient Filipino chiefs of different tribal kingdoms were Hindu.

Hinduism was the first 'organised' religion to reach the Philippines. Buddhism was also somewhat popular, but most ancient Filipinos were Hindu... until Islam swept over, and then Christianity finally conquered the whole nation. And of course, much of that history was lost during Spanish Christian rule.