Namaste, everyone.
Having learned about some of the differences between Indian Hinduism and Balinese Hinduism, I have wondered what Western expressions of Hinduism would look like. By ‘Western expressions of Hinduism,’ I don’t mean SBNR (so called ‘spiritual but not religious’) individuals in Western countries doing āsanas at a ‘yoga studio,’ drinking ‘chai tea’ from Starbucks, and talking about ‘carma.’ What I mean is something that might not exist yet: cultural expressions of Hinduism formed by peoples such as Greeks, Italians, Norwegians, Scots, Poles, Lithuanians, etc.
A Greek Hinduism, for example, might include the observance of a revived Attik Calendar or Makedonian Calendar; doing pūjā with traditional, ancient Greek practices such as libations of milk and water and burning frankincense; and worshipping divinities such as nymphs. Moreover, the festivals on the calendar would have Greek names and Hellenized Sanskrit names. The festivals may be completely new or Hinduized Hellenic ones. Temple architecture would be Greek (imagine Viṣṇu and Śiva temples that look like structures in Santorini). Mūrtis would look Hellenic (in my opinion, the ancient Greeks made fine Buddha sculptures). What this Greek Hinduism would have in common with Indian Hinduism would be Sanskrit as a liturgical language, qualified Brahmins, the same scriptures, the same darśanas, etc. Would the sampradāyas be the same? I don’t know. There might be new ones or even none at all.
What do you think? Personally, I feel that such Western cultural expressions of Sanātana Dharma would be fascinating just as Balinese Hinduism is fascinating. If this sounds good to Hindus in the West—be they of Asian or European origin—how might we establish these Western cultural expressions of the Eternal Dharma?
Having learned about some of the differences between Indian Hinduism and Balinese Hinduism, I have wondered what Western expressions of Hinduism would look like. By ‘Western expressions of Hinduism,’ I don’t mean SBNR (so called ‘spiritual but not religious’) individuals in Western countries doing āsanas at a ‘yoga studio,’ drinking ‘chai tea’ from Starbucks, and talking about ‘carma.’ What I mean is something that might not exist yet: cultural expressions of Hinduism formed by peoples such as Greeks, Italians, Norwegians, Scots, Poles, Lithuanians, etc.
A Greek Hinduism, for example, might include the observance of a revived Attik Calendar or Makedonian Calendar; doing pūjā with traditional, ancient Greek practices such as libations of milk and water and burning frankincense; and worshipping divinities such as nymphs. Moreover, the festivals on the calendar would have Greek names and Hellenized Sanskrit names. The festivals may be completely new or Hinduized Hellenic ones. Temple architecture would be Greek (imagine Viṣṇu and Śiva temples that look like structures in Santorini). Mūrtis would look Hellenic (in my opinion, the ancient Greeks made fine Buddha sculptures). What this Greek Hinduism would have in common with Indian Hinduism would be Sanskrit as a liturgical language, qualified Brahmins, the same scriptures, the same darśanas, etc. Would the sampradāyas be the same? I don’t know. There might be new ones or even none at all.
What do you think? Personally, I feel that such Western cultural expressions of Sanātana Dharma would be fascinating just as Balinese Hinduism is fascinating. If this sounds good to Hindus in the West—be they of Asian or European origin—how might we establish these Western cultural expressions of the Eternal Dharma?
