Aditi is the Vedic All-Mother. The word "Aditya" means "Son(s) of Aditi". The word "Aditi" means "not-bound."
Aditi is the heaven, Aditi is mid-air, Aditi is the Mother and the Sire and Son.
Aditi is all Gods, Aditi five-classed men, Aditi all that hath been born and shall be born.
(RV 1.89.10)
The feminine aspect of Veda Purusha is Gayatri and she manifests herself in three forms Savitri, Gayatri and Saraswathi. She along with Pushan and other gods exists in the Agnisoma Mandala itself and the master of Agnisoma Mandala is Savithru and He is our true God.
Just because Savithru is called as one single from of Adithya doesn't mean he is the son of Gayatri, what they mean when they say sons of Aditi is the 33 Adithyas as described in the Yajur Veda of Yajnavalkya. These Adithyas are the different rays of Savitri and hence they are called as the sons of Aditi.
Hence that verse of the Rig Veda doesn't contradict with what I am saying. The goddess Savithri, the feminine aspect of the Veda do exist along with other gods in the pleroma of Savithru itself, he is the master and hence Savithru is our true God.
I agree with you about blind belief, though. I do, however, enjoy mythology and believe it can have much to teach when viewed in the proper ways.
Its important on how you interpret the mythology. Myths are mystical and here it should be taken in allogerical and not in literal. When they say that Adithyas are the sons of Aditi, it should not be taken in a literal way, it should be taken in a allegorical way as Aditi is the feminine aspect of the Veda Purusha and sons means that these gods emanated from her and not literally giving birth to them. Sons means rays emanating from the Goddess Savitri and each ray represents a God and that's how it should be interpreted and not in a literal way like the Purunas say it.
I know, I was mainly just jokingly nitpicking. The word can mean both things depending on the context; the definition I gave is the one used by historians and linguists, as a synonym for Indo-Iranian.
I am using the word in my context. Scholars outside the tradition take it in your context. Linguistics and History is based on the emiprical and it is based on a different methodology where as I am talking about the numinous and its based on a different epistemology. So lets not go there.
Except that the religion Vedic and Avestan religions are linked together; I'd wager that at one point they were the same religion, and then eventually split, likely by time, cultural diffusion, and geographic distance. It is well known among scholarly circles that Lord Varuna and Ahura Mazda are the same God.
I am interested in Comparative religion, there is a common esoteric essence in all religions and its something we should investigate it and only the empirical investigation would not suffice we also need to investigate the numinous to really know the truth of Religion.
Defining Hinduism is difficult mainly because it's an umbrella term more than anything else; it primarily refers to any religion that originated in India that is tied to the Vedas and/or Puranic literature. It also doesn't help that it's an ever-evolving religion that has changed rapidly throughout the ages, unlike most Abrahamic religions which went through centuries of relative stagnation at certain points in their histories.
However, there have been attempts in the past to more solidly define Hinduism, such as one by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami:
The world's billion Hindus, one-sixth of the human family, are organized in four main denominations, each distinguished by its Supreme Deity. For Vaishnavites, Lord Vishnu is God. For Saivites, God is Siva. For Saktas, Goddess Sakti is supreme. For Smartas, liberal Hindus, the choice of Deity is left to the devotee. Each has a multitude of guru lineages, religious leaders, priesthoods, sacred literature, monastic communities, schools, pilgrimage centers and tens of thousands of temples. They possess a wealth of art and architecture, philosophy and scholarship. These four sects hold such divergent beliefs that each is a complete and independent religion. Yet, they share a vast heritage of culture and belief--karma, dharma, reincarnation, all-pervasive Divinity, temple worship, sacraments, manifold Deities, the guru-shishya tradition and the Vedas as scriptural authority. While India is home to most Hindus, large communities flourish worldwide. The Vedas elaborate, "He is Brahma. He is Siva. He is Indra. He is the immutable, the supreme, the self-luminous. He is Vishnu. He is life. He is time. He is the fire, and He is the moon."
While Hinduism is certainly more vast than just those four religions, I think he's right in saying it refers primarily to multiple religions that share a common historical, literary, and cultural link.
Have you read Adithya Hridayam? The hymn which was given to Rama by the sage Agasthya in the battlefield.
Sage Agasthya begins by saying that there is an esoteric secret in Sanatana Dharma which is very old and ancient and advices Rama to know it.
rama rama mahabaho shrinu guhyam sanatanam |
yena sarvanarin vatsa samare vijayishyasi || 3
There is an esoteric secret in Sanatana Dharma. guhyam - esoteric secret, sanatanam - Sanatana Dharma.
esha brahma cha vishnush cha shivah skandah prajapatihi |
mahendro dhanadah kalo yamah somo hyapam patihi || 8
He(Hiranyagarbha, Sun God) is Brahma, He is Vishnu, He is Shiva, He is Skanda, Indra, Yama, Kala, Soma, Varuna. All is He.
He is the God of the Gods.
pitaro vasavah sadhya hyashvinau maruto manuh |
vayurvahnih praja-prana ritukarta prabhakarah || 9
He is Pithru Devathas, He is Ashvini Devathas, He is Manu, He is Agni, He is Prana, He is Vayu, He is Praja, He is ritukartha.
All is He and none beside them.
He goes by an another 49 names and all is He.
This is the true definition of Hindu, we don't have separate religion like you have mentioned, we have one True God and he is Hiranyagarbha and He is the rishi who taught us the Vedas and all forms of Yoga, all our knowledge originated from him. All glory should belong to him.
Even Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva worship this Hiranyagarbha because he is the one True God, the master of the Agnisoma Manadala. This is the esoteric secret of Hinduism.
This is what makes a Hindu. Hiranyagarbha is our true God and none beside him.
We don't have separate religions, we all are One. There is no difficulty in defining what Hinduism is and we can trace back all our knowledge to Hiranygarbha.
