Hinduism: Not Cast in Caste - Executive Summary

[Ahimsa]

Hinduism, or Sanatana Dharma, is a rich and dynamic collection of hundreds of spiritual and philosophical traditions that are based on certain essential, core tenets. Its transcendent insights into the existential questions of humanity – the meaning of life, why we are here, fate versus free will – have led to a profound and global embrace of such Hindu concepts as religious pluralism, yoga, meditation, ayurvedic healing, reincarnation, karma, environmentalism, the celebration of the divine feminine, and vegetarianism. Yet, even as Hindu precepts are ascendant in contemporary discourse, Indian citizens, Hindus in the diaspora, and many Western seekers eager to immerse themselves in the Hindu way of life, see a glaring dichotomy in the vast gap between the religious teaching of divinity inherent in each being and the continued social reality of discrimination and inequality in parts of Indian society predicated on the “caste” of one’s birth – a striking contrast between Aham Brahmasmi (“I am that Divine”) and untouchability.

The Hindu American Foundation (HAF) seeks to elaborate on six key themes in this report:
…
Theme #1: HAF reaffirms that caste-based discrimination is not, and has never been, intrinsic to the essential teachings of Hinduism. Hindu history is replete with revered saints who were born into castes considered “backward” (used interchangeably with “lower”) and whose contributions are significant. Hinduism also has a history of inspiring numerous religious movements through the millennia where saints have shown the way in rejecting caste-based discrimination and emphasizing the eternal teachings of Hinduism about the true nature of mankind and its relationship to the Divine (God). Notions of birth-based caste and untouchability (caste-related social ostracization) themselves are much later social developments and do not span all of Hindu history…

 

[azerty]

“Hinduism, or Sanatana Dharma, is a rich and dynamic collection of hundreds of spiritual and philosophical traditions that are based on certain essential, core tenets. Its transcendent insights into the existential questions of humanity – the meaning of life, why we are here, fate versus free will – have led to a profound and global embrace of such Hindu concepts as religious pluralism, yoga, meditation, ayurvedic healing, reincarnation, karma, environmentalism, the celebration of the divine feminine, and vegetarianism”

Seems like the goal is to tell us intolerant and stupid westerners that in hindouism all religions are equal paths.
But isn’t there a form of orthodoxy in true hindouism ? Didn’t Shankara the great founder of the Advaita Vedanta the dominant school in hindouism think Buddhism was a heretic doctrine in regard to the revelation (shruti). Didn’t he refute the buddhist doctrine of vacuity in his writings ?

People in the West have embraced reincarnation but they seem to forget that in hindouism reincarnation isn’t a good thing and that the goal is to stop reincarnating.
Liberating yourself from the endless cycle of life by dying to the world and uniting to Brahma (God) is the essence of the Advaita Vedanta (which is a monotheist doctrine : indeed the doctrine affirms that there is an ontological difference between that which is not manifested -uncreated- and that which is manifested-created- by maya the divine art)

“reaffirms that caste-based discrimination is not, and has never been, intrinsic to the essential teachings of Hinduism”

I don’t think that this is what the great indianist Ananda Coomaraswamy thought.

 

[Ahimsa]

“reaffirms that caste-based discrimination is not, and has never been, intrinsic to the essential teachings of Hinduism”

I don’t think that this is what the great indianist Ananda Coomaraswamy thought.

What did Coomaraswamy say?