Essence of Hinduism

I write this for my children when they reach an age to understand and ask questions about the religion of their birth.

When I was at a school going age and studying in a Catholic convent, I was frankly ashamed of my religion. So many gods..elephant god, monkey god, sun god, snake god. The list was endless. The Christians were taught that there is only one God and the son of god is Jesus Christ. There seemed to be a good structure in Christianity. You have to read the bible, go to the church every Sunday. Hinduism had none of it. We were not forced to go to the temples. We were not forced to study any scriptures. We were really free. We occasionally went to the Hindu temples and did the rounds. I asked God for the things that I want. But it never felt true for me. I forced myself to do it because I thought that's how things should be.

I have come a long way. Over the last several years, I have come to believe that "the invisible power in all of nature is what we call god" . We are part of it and hence a part of god. Every bit of creation is god. Animals, plants, sky, birds, trees, snakes, ants - everything!!. That's why Hinduism allows anything to be a god. There is no restriction and that is the beauty of Hinduism. The truth about Hinduism gets masked in all the rituals, mantras, festivals, but the truth is still there, albeit hidden.

Living in harmony with all things in nature, cherishing it, protecting it is the real Hindu way of life!