Sanātana Dharma: The Eternal Truth

"The Hindu religion is the only one of the world's great faiths dedicated to the idea that the Cosmos itself undergoes an immense, indeed an infinite, number of deaths and rebirths. It is the only religion in which the time scales correspond to those of modern scientific cosmology." - Carl Sagan

The oldest religion in the world that is still widely practiced is Sanātana Dharma, or what is commonly referred to as Hinduism. A diverse and varied tradition, Hinduism is the dominant religion of India, with roughly eighty percent of the Indian population, and fifteen percent of the world population at large identifying as Hindus.

The origins of Hinduism have been traced back by historians to at least 2500 BCE, and may go back even further. There is archaeological evidence of Hindu practices such as yoga, meditation, and veneration of Hindu gods and goddesses going back thousands of years earlier. A religion that has persisted for so long, while still retaining such large numbers of adherents, should be of interest to any seeker of ancient knowledge of the spirit.

Hinduism is a fairly new term used to denote the indigenous spiritual traditions of the peoples of the Indian subcontinent. It is a scholarly invention used to classify a vast amount of different, and sometimes seemingly contradictory beliefs. The term used for thousands of years before the invention of "Hinduism" was Sanātana Dharma. Sanātana Dharma is Sanskrit for "eternal truth," or "eternal way." The term Hinduism comes from a mispronunciation of "Indus," as the religion of Hinduism has its origins "beyond the Indus Valley." "Hindu" is just another way of saying "Indus."

This article is not meant to explain or outline the beliefs of Hinduism in any way. There are a number of articles on the Internet that already do that, many of which I find useful and accurate, which I have listed below. Rather, this article is meant to explain the fundamental truths within Hindu teachings that are universal and can apply to any part of the world. Many Hindu teachings correlate quite well with other world religions and science. Hence, I feel that Hinduism can answer a lot of questions about life and existence that are currently unanswered in the minds of many.

Below are three links to check out for those interested.

* https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/wfchannel/index.php?wfc_cid=5 An introduction to Hinduism.

* https://www.hinduismtoday.com/modules/wfchannel/index.php?wfc_cid=19 The so-called "Nine Core Beliefs" that define Hinduism.

* http://sanskrit.org/hindu-primer/ For a deeper study of Hinduism, there is a lot of information provided here.

Hinduism developed as a synthesis between the practices of the Indo-Aryans, who practiced the Proto-Indo-European religion, and the Dravidians, who practiced their indigenous folk religion. Hinduism came from the influence of these two traditions. Much of the core teachings of Hinduism are found in its sacred historical texts, the Vedas, which are the oldest written works of spirituality known to man.

The Vedas are four books which consist of hymns that discuss the nature of the universe, the meaning of life, rites of worship, and mystical practices among other things. A part of the Vedas are the Upanishads, which are deeply mystical and esoteric texts that require deep study to understand.

A lot of the ideas presented in the Vedas are of Indo-European origin, and are therefore related to Zoroastrianism, which may have developed contemporaneously with Hinduism, as well as European pagan traditions, such as Germanic and Greco-Roman paganism.

However, a lot of ideas in Hinduism are unique to the tradition, such as the Hindu view of God. In Hinduism, there is one God, called Brahma. However, he manifests himself in different forms. In its purest essence, God is Nirguna Brahman (formless), however, this does not mean God cannot be Saguna Brahman (God with form).

Deities such as Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are all forms of the same God (Brahman). As a matter of fact, there are approximately three-hundred thirty million (330,000,000) deities venerated and worshiped in India, all of which are believed to be forms of one Ultimate Reality.

Or, the cyclical nature of creation, with Brahma as the creator of the universe, Vishnu as its preserver, and Shiva as its destroyer. Along with this, Hinduism has a rich cosmology with vast detail, and various different interpretations. Some of these aspects have been adopted by other religions, such as, for example, Zoroastrianism and Buddhism.

For a religion that most think of as confined to India, Hindu ideas are widespread. Hinduism was previously the dominant religion in modern-day Pakistan, Tibet, and Bangladesh. Traces of Hindu culture can be found in Thailand, a predominantly Theravada Buddhist country, though it is the last country where worship of the Hindu god Brahma is still prevalent, and Japan, where Hindu deities such as Ganesha and Saraswati can be seen in Buddhist temples.

Many of these Hindu deities are seen as equivalent with or identical to other Indo-European deities. For instance, Indra is seen as equivalent to the Germanic god Óðinn, and the Roman god Jupiter. This is perhaps the clearest example of a unified origin between Hindu and European deities.

My reason for pointing out this information is to show the universal nature of Hinduism, as a system of beliefs that have migrated to different parts of the world. Also, there is a certain amount of interconnection between Hinduism and other native traditions, such as the aforementioned Zoroastrianism and European paganism. A common belief among Hindus is that Sanātana Dharma is the original religion of mankind, and as time went by, these beliefs were altered and adjusted. The archaeological record points to this in some ways, by showing how far back Hinduism extends.

It is common knowledge that Jainism and Buddhism both originate from Hinduism. Both are native religions to the Indian subcontinent. However, some have even speculated that Western religions such as Christianity may also have significant Hindu influence. This is extremely prevalent in the mystical and Gnostic sects of early Christianity.

In the twentieth-century, many philosophers and writers began hypothesizing the idea of a perennial philosophy, or a primordial tradition that existed long ago in the past, from which all religions splintered, and that its teachings may be preserved within the religions practiced today. The search for this perennial wisdom, first promoted by Frenchman René Guénon and later expanded upon by Italian esotericist Julius Evola, has led many to study Hinduism, a religion which directly claims to hold this primordial wisdom within its teachings.

These thinkers, associated with the thus named Traditionalist School, have developed a keen interest in Hinduism and other ancient traditions in search of sacred, archaic wisdom, perhaps lost to the ages. I am of the belief that this lost wisdom lies within the pages of the Vedas and the Upanishads, as well as the Bhagavad Gita.

The fact that we are talking about a living, breathing tradition that is active today with millions of adherents is only more compelling. A source for attaining knowledge of the divine is at our fingertips. My premise here is to expel this knowledge unto the masses who are willing to see, and hopefully help to contribute an understanding of what Hinduism is.

I think anyone interested in understanding Indo-European spirituality must look at Hinduism as a guideline. When I look at indigenous religions, ranging from European paganism to Native American mythologies, I see Sanātana Dharma. The ancient sages of the Indian subcontinent are not the only ones endowed with this divine knowledge, and therefore, anyone practicing these traditions will see their own religion in Hinduism, if they give it the proper attention.