More than 4000 years old, Hindu is not so much a religion than a way of life; a broad
system of philosophical, religious, and cultural observances, customs, and
traditions. Often Hindo refers to the adherents of various
Eastern religions, namely
Hinduism,
Jainism,
Buddhism and
Sikhism.
With more than a billion
followers, Hindu is the
third largest religion. |
More specifically,
Bal Gangadhar Tilak lists the features of Hindu as
"Acceptance of
the
Vedas with reverence, recognition of the fact that the means or ways
to salvation are diverse, and the realization of the truth that the
number of gods to be worshipped is large."
The theologies which
Hindu encompasses are
henotheistic and as such they are the world's most religiously
tolerant faiths.
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."..the Hindu
religion does not
claim any one
prophet; it does not
worship any one god;
it does not
subscribe to any one
dogma; it does not
believe in any one
philosophic concept;
it does not follow
any one set of
religious rites or
performances; in
fact, it does not
appear to satisfy
the narrow
traditional features
of any religion or
creed. It may
broadly be described
as a way of life and
nothing more."
-
Chief Justice
P. B. Gajendragadkar,
Indian Supreme
Court, 1995
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