India has fascinated me for decades. Charting in my top five cuisines on Earth with robust flavors from combinations of literally dozens of spices in a dish began my affinity for a culture seemingly otherworldly. Religiously, Hinduism is exceptionally likewise next to Christianity, the bedrock of Western culture. Particularly that applies to America host to myriad strip malls with Indian buffets sporting Hindu ephemera.

     Beyond the colorful and almost comic book/science fiction appeal of religious paraphernalia with multi-handed assassins, elephant-headed deities, and conglomerated animal bodies is our planet's vastest pantheistic dogma. Third dimensionally in followers only to Christ and Mohammed, belief in Brahman - Hindu's head hierarchical god, comprises 15% of the three-quarters of the world population following doctrine. Of that sect, 94% in 2018 were located in India. Similarity to its rivals Hindu includes several denominations.

     One of my earliest affinity experiences with that nation involved a video. Back in the late 2000's making the rounds was a closeup of an Indian citizen who daily took to the streets tending to a needy, infirm population. This level of poverty - India's "Untouchables" were genuine horror walking. Skeletal, quivering, unable to maintain consciousness, the desperate individuals had food spooned into their gaping mouths by the fellow whose benevolence washing their feet and backs on the dusty streets drove me and my circle to sobbing. Some of us wondering where his resources came from as well to attack his unbeatable enemy most days.

     Through this Religious Studies course I learned that Hindu reincarnation belief holds that the caste system is connected to karmic re-birthing, each life well spent advancing the societal station onto the next. Skepticism might offer this allows the opulence of the gold-encrusted elite on Indian streets stepping over the dying Untouchables, deciding they themselves evolved from that place earning their day in the sun and spoils.

     Islam is present in India, involving 14% of the country. Christianity comprises a meager 2.3, Sikhism 1.7, Buddhist (in it's birthplace) 0.7, and Jainism shows at 0.4% according to Indian census figures.

     That Buddhist relationship I mentioned began with a prince, Siddhartha Gautama, who abandoned extravagance to become a panhandling Untouchable. Realizing this did not conquer ennui as any impoverished person or those on the spectrum between could have saved him the labor to discover, he decided middle class values with contentment equaled enlightenment. Pointing again as with one prior paper, this is pioneer social influence. Anyone who sees this as oversimplified, examine an issue of a 20-teens magazine with the cover reading "The Power and Glory of Regina King" featuring the actress and director in a gold gown and an article soliciting her wisdom. As her life gains acclaim and the reality of her station is divorced from that object, descendants could well see her to be a deity or canonized figure outside context. Perhaps we could label this "the Buddha Inheritance/Experience".

     What is oddly autonomous regarding Hinduism is despite it's immensity the lack of combat around it unlike Christians, Muslims, and Jews. Modern history traveling to ancient BCE only documentation of a prior conflict, the Mahabharata, exists. Going to 400 BCE were documents found from the Gupta (4th c. CE) period recalling skirmishes and their codes.

     Practicing Dharma Yuddha, Sanskrit for "righteous warfare" were ethical engagement standards and stories. Inside this "Holy War" equal battled equal exclusively. No "divine" weaponry against common soldiers, elephants against infantry, surprise attacks were outlawed with oppositions informed in advance and readied, and women, ascetics, P.O.W.s, and farmers lives were neutralized and sacred.

     India's exotic mysticism enchants the West with recurring appeal. Almost two decades previous, Eat, Love, Pray broke book sales charts with its vivid descriptions of Bali and notions of rebirth in the Asian hot-spot. Differing scapes and cultural alien-hood capture our imaginations. Myself a Sociology student, Hindu was a easy draw from the typical World Religion conclave. Escapes become pretty desirable when inmates are on the keys.

     

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Resources Indian Census, 2018

White, Mary Gormandy "Five Main World Religions and Their BasicBeliefs" May 2021