On Hinduism

Seeing is believing. But seeing is not the only confirmation of existence. Time cannot be seen. Gravity cannot be seen. And yet, no one can deny the presence or effects of either time or gravity.

To see God, we have to go beyond ordinary perception. For Hindus, yes, God can be seen. All-seeing is the seeing of God.

When you dip a straw into water, it bends due to refraction. Is the straw really bent? No, of course not. But it appears bent. Its broken-ness is an illusion. For Hindus similarly, God himself has separated a part of Himself (not gendered) into the material world and the individual selves. The fact that we see the world and yet don’t see God, is the success of this magician’s illusion. Just like the straw that seems to bend inside water, God has obscured himself in this illusory world, and the Hindus refer to this magic act as Maya (“it is not there”). And just the way you can learn a magic trick with persistence and patience, you can see through this illusion and see God directly through the practices in the Hindu traditions of yoga (meditation and devotion).

Hinduism’s core principle is the recognition of the Brahman – the primary source of energy and creation, all-pervasive and eternal. We are a result and a part of this Brahman – often also referred to as the “Truth”. 

The premise of the question that there is a God, is not a valid interpretation of the “Truth” for Hindus. It is all energy (the Truth) and its creation (Maya).  The question, therefore, for Hindus is not, “Can God be seen?” Rather the question is, “How can I get closer to the Truth?”, and “How can I learn to get detached from Maya?”

But in simpler terms, this universe is a creation of the Brahman. Therefore, yes, it can be said that God is in everything that exists in this creation. God is everywhere.

Other reading material:

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand1, Swami Nikhil Anand2

Contributor: Rajeev Singh

Location of this post (1a): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/can-god-be-seen/

Hinduism’s core principle is the recognition of the Brahman–the primary source of energy and creation, all pervasive and eternal. We are a result and a part of this Brahman–often also referred to as the “Truth”. Hindus, therefore, often say, “Aham Brahmasmi”, or, “I am the Universe”. This view of our world, including us, as Brahman (God) asserts an identity that is not separate from God. It will rather generate a good debate from a Hindu.

Other reading material:
Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand

Contributor: Rajeev Singh

Location of this post (1b): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/why-are-we-separate-from-god/

Hindus have a very modern relationship with Divinity. We know that the one single divinity, that pervades everything and everyone, can be known to our hearts in our own unique ways.

I will answer your question, but first I must ask–what is the color of your car? (assuming the answer isn’t “Black”. If they say Black, just ask another person that doesn’t have a black car).

So you have a Silver colored car? Did you pick it yourself? Why? Because you liked it!! Surely you liked the Black car as well?

Hindus have many expressions of divinity. You may translate these roughly into “gods”, but that is just a mis-translation. We have many expressions of divinity, and so you can say that Hindus are poly-theistic. That would only be partially right because usually, polytheism relates to the Roman/Greek pantheon of warring gods that are always at odds with each other. The Hindus don’t approach divinity in the same manner.

Now let me tell you the story of Mister Ford. He invented the modern factory, making automobile cars cheaply through his use of the conveyor belt. He was very famous, as I am sure you know, but he had some detractors. You see, some people didn’t want black cars. Why did they have a problem with our Mister Ford? He didn’t want to sell them colored cars. His Model-T car was only available in Black because he didn’t want to stop his conveyor belt to change the color of the car. So he declared that “people can have ANY color of car they want, as long as the color is BLACK”.

This Model-T-ism is the state of today’s monotheism. “You may have only one God as-long-as he is a white-bearded old man who is somewhat grumpy and gets angry at times”. That monochrome monoculture may work for those religions that spring from sparse ecologies but denies the obvious richness and variety that all creation represents.

To recap, Hindus have a much more modern relationship with God. We know that the one single divinity that pervades everything and everyone can be known to our hearts in our own unique ways. Whatever conception of divinity is dearest to us, Hindus believe that the idea of their chosen deity (Ishta devata) is the god (or deva) they will pray to.

Some hearts want a silver car, and they should have the ability to drive a silver car, wouldn’t you agree? Why should all of us have to deal with the Model-T-ism of divinity?

Other reading material:

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand , Dilip Amin,

Contributor: Gaurav Rastogi

Location of this post (1c): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/is-hinduism-a-polytheist-religion/

God is one, however God manifests in different forms. Hindus believe in the trinity (Sanskrit: त्रिमूर्ति trimūrti) of gods (three main forms): Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the preserver), and Shiva (the dissolver). The trinity is the triple deity of supreme divinity Ishwara or Parmatma.

Other reading material: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trimurti, ^[2][3][4][5]

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Hinduism Q & A: Who are Bramha Vishnu & Shiva , Bho Shambho Shiva Shambho (Lyrics & Meaning) – Aks & Lakshmi, Padmini Chandrashekar,

Contributor: Nilesh Chaudhary

Location of this post (1d): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/who-are-brahma-vishnu-and-shiva/

Hinduism emphasizes righteous, dharmic actions, performed with the purity of intention.  When we act thus, focusing on the quality and sincerity of the action, rather than worrying about past actions or future results, the action is considered fruitful.  The best actions are those that are surrendered unto the Divine; whatever may be the act, when done with an attitude of surrender and devotion, it gains extra momentum and x-factor; this is what some refer to as “grace”. 

Lord Krishna advises in the Bhagavad Gita, Chapter 18, Verse 62:

 tam eva śharaṇaṁ gachchha sarva-bhāvena bhārata

 tat-prasādāt parāṁ śhāntiṁ sthānaṁ prāpsyasi śhāśhvatam

Surrender and take refuge exclusively unto Him with your whole being, O Bharata; 

by His grace, you will attain supreme peace and the eternal abode.

Depending on the practitioner, the grace of God will be experienced in different ways; while some may see signs of God’s grace in every daily activity, others may feel it on a deeper level, terming it as inner fulfillment. 

God’s grace is experienced by a devotee as different forms of blessings or favorable circumstances. The great 19th-century saint Sri Ramakrishna said, “The winds of grace are always blowing, but it is you who must raise your sails.”  This is the essence of how Hindu tradition views the concept of grace.  Devotees chant specific prayers, visit famed pilgrimage sites, and engage in austere spiritual practices in order to seek God’s grace.  These are tools that enable the spiritual aspirant to face life with courage and humility, exercising dynamic action as well as accepting Divine will, such that the grace of God freely flows through them.

Other reading material:

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Hinduism Q & A: What is God’s Grace

Contributor: Lakshmi Subramanian

Location of this post (1d): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/what-is-gods-grace/

Hindus believe in the one all-pervasive God who energizes the entire universe.  However, Hinduism does not deny God concepts in other religions.

There is the Godhead (The Divine Nature – Impersonal),  there is God (personification of the abstract Divine Nature – Personal) and there are deities known as Devas and Devatās often translated as “gods”.  

Everything in the universe moving and stationary is nothing but a manifestation of Brahman (The Supreme Divine Consciousness).  One can think of quantum energy as God.

The material cause of the universe, the efficient cause of the universe and the accessory causes of the universe are all ONE.  Some examples of many in one and one in many are: 1) everything made of clay is ultimately just clay, 2) all jewelry made of gold are nothing but gold and 3) all the manifestations of the ocean – water, currents, waves, icebergs, clouds, rain, etc. are in fact nothing but H2O.

Other reading material: 

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Hinduism Q & A: What is The Definition Of God, Idol or Murti?  Intro to Hinduism by HAF,

Contributor: Nilesh Chaudhary

Location of this post (1f): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/what-is-god-concept-in-hinduism/

The Truth is One, The Wise Refer to It in Many Ways. In Sanskrit: Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudha Vadanti.

The search for a single Truth is a core part of the Hindu tradition. So also is the understanding that the single Truth can be expressed in multiple ways of truth (with a small t).

Pop quiz: Why are leaves green?  One correct answer is that they contain chlorophyll, and chlorophyll is green colored. Another correct answer might be that leaves are green because they absorb red and blue color, and reflect the green color.  Both are correct answers, but only one might be considered right depending on whether you are writing a quiz for Biology (Chlorophyll) or Physics (color theory).  

Why shouldn’t there be more than one way to approach the truth? Who would disagree with something this obvious? That person will be who is trained to look only for a single right answer. 

Truthfully, monotheism’s invention is a more recent, and political, invention. The Hebrew Bible is not monotheistic (Yale’s Christine Hayes has a wonderful course on it), even though modern interpretations tend to read a type of monotheism into old texts.  The modern insistence on a “single Truth” runs counter to all mystical traditions that know that there are as many ways to know the truth as there are people. 

The habits of thought resulting from monotheism have led to the modern education system, where we are taught to seek a “single right answer” to the quiz question. Is that always correct? Should we accept this way of thinking? The “single right answer” is true only for a very small fraction of mathematical truths. In the vast majority of life’s truths, there are multiple truths all competing for attention, and all equally true, but only from a certain perspective. 

Hinduism certainly arrived at that conclusion; a single Truth can be expressed in myriad ways. Ekam Sat, Vipra Bahudha Vadanti.

Other reading material: Yale’s Christine Hayes, 

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Is Hinduism Monotheistic, Why Does Hinduism Have So Many Gods, How Many Gods Are There,

Contributor: Gaurav Rastogi

Location of this post (1g): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/is-hinduism-monotheistic/

Absolutely Yes, and Absolutely Not, with a definitely Maybe inserted in there, I think. (laughter)
This is not a trivial question, because much depends on the intention and perspective of the person asking the question. If you are looking for a white-bearded gentleman about 60 miles in a geospatial orbit, then you are very likely to be disappointed, and many Hindus would agree with you that THAT God does not exist.
Hindus approach the idea of Divinity by exploring the true nature of reality, the same underlying motive that drives modern Physics and Biology, but the Hindu seers worked to identify events and their causes down the chain of causation. There is something, but where does it come from? That underlying Truth (capital T) must be the closest that the western mind can come to the idea of “God”.
However, if you are looking for proof that there is an order to the Universe, then you will agree with those Hindu sages who looked for Rta (Sanskrit ऋत), the cosmic order, and then inferred that the order must be maintained through some processes and an organizing principle. We can see evidence that the Universe is not random, and that laws of physics seem to be followed. That’s your indication that there is a divine order.
If you are looking for physical proof, then just open your eyes and close them. What you see with open eyes is a Universe that seems to exist materially, even though scientific microscopes seem to find only probabilities and space between. A ball that retains all colors except red, but still you will call it a red ball. This is all a play of consciousness, and we say “Jagan Mithya, Brahm Satya”…the material world is an illusion, only the knowing Self is the Truth.
So when you close your eyes, YOU still exist. When you die, your body exists, but not YOU. And if YOU exist, then surely there is SOMEONE that exists (even if it’s just you). Recognizing the self, or the Self behind all subjective experiences is the recognition of God.
Words can be limiting in experiencing the Limitless. “God” is a small word, and that which has created everyone cannot be constrained into it. The vocabulary of spiritual experiences can be broader, and the subjective experience of causeless bliss is proof of divinity to all those that have tasted it.
For Hindus, all-seeing is the Seeing of God, and all Tasting is the tasting of God. Raso-vai-Sah (“He is taste”).

Other reading material:

Relevant videos: Swami Nikhil Anand Hinduism Q & A: Does God Really Exist

Contributor: Gaurav Rastogi

Location of this post (1h): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/does-god-really-exist/

Hinduism does not conform to the archetypal definitions of monotheism or monism, even while maintaining the “only one God” framework.

Religions are generally classified as monotheistic, polytheistic, monistic, etc. Hinduism differs markedly from the predominant monotheism (there is only one true God, there are other not true “gods” or belief systems) of the Western religions (Christianity, Islam, Judaism), in which God is held to be both the creator of the world and ‘above and independent’ of it (meaning there are two separate entities). 

Hinduism is classified as Eastern Monism or Advaita (Advait = not-two-ism) Monism. Most Hindus (though not all, Dvaita School for example) believe in monism, the idea that all reality ultimately has one foundational commonality upon which are the layered expressions that we see as differences. For example, the ocean, clouds, snow, rivers and lakes may look different but all are ultimately H₂O.

Monists believe that similarity of forms of reality–gods and goddess, plants and animals, the material universe, and humans–share a common foundational essence. Hindus call this essence of Brahman, which is one.

Monism as a word and concept has meanings that are different from the above, as a result Hinduism, Sikhism, and large parts of Mahayana Buddhism had to be classified under the term Eastern Monism or Advaita Monism.

David Hume (1711-1776) argues that monotheism is less pluralistic and thus less tolerant, because monotheism stipulates that people pigeonhole their beliefs into one tenet.

Other reading material: https://houseoflac.wordpress.com/2018/05/08/theisms-and-sanatan-dharma/

Relevant videos

Contributor: Dilip Amin, Sandeep Tiwari

Location of this post (1i):: https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/are-hindus-monotheistic-or-monist/

Since the Vedic scriptures are highly cryptic, several schools of philosophical thought emerged in Hinduism, owing to different interpretations. Among them the most prominent one is the Advaita School.

The term Advaita refers to the darshana or philosophy that Brahman alone is ultimately real, the phenomenal transient world is an illusory appearance (maya) of Brahman, and the true Self, atman, is not different from Brahman.

Advaita is the path of knowledge. By removing ignorance of Self, knowledge is attained. It is a path of self-enquiry that leads to realization.

In Advaita you have to come to the knowledge that you are not the body, you are not the mind. Advaita leads to the knowledge that there is no self. Through that knowledge it leads to the state of no-self.

Advaita is the idea that there is only Brahman, and that everything is Brahman–non-dualism or monism.

Also read:

Other reading material:

Relevant videos: Swami Tadatmanda on reincarnation, 

Contributor: Rajeev Singh

Location of this post (1j): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/what-is-advaita/

Agnosticism and Atheism are both valid concepts in the Hindu thought.

An important thing to recognize is that neither agnosticism nor atheism mean nastik. Within the Hindu traditions there are some that accept the Vedas as scriptures. They are the astiks. Those who don’t accept Vedas as they are, but either partially or utilize them when needed or convenient, are the nastiks. Jainism and Buddhism are therefore nastik faiths. 

To paraphrase Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami of the Kaua’i Hindu Monastery, Hinduism is about advancing the human condition. That said, Hinduism does not ostracize or punish. The multiplicity of paths to the Truth are the foundation of Hindu traditions. Agnostics who find the concept of God to be unknowable and the atheists who reject the concept of God are equally a part of the Hindu tradition.

Swami Vivekanada said, “Man is not traveling from error to truth, but climbing up from truth to truth, from truth that is lower to truth that is higher.” Agnosticism and Atheism are as an aspect of the Truth.

Other reading material: Also see Jainism

Contributor: Rajeev Singh

Location of this post (1k): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/what-does-hindu-philosophy-say-about-agnosticism-and-atheism/

Lord Shiva is often called the “destroyer,” but this is a limited understanding. More accurately, Shiva is the transformer, guiding beings toward higher states of consciousness. This is why he is revered as the Lord of dance (Nataraja), yoga, enlightenment, and mysticism.

What Shiva dissolves is not creation itself, but the illusion of reality (maya)—the false mental frameworks that trap us in ignorance and suffering. This dissolution is not the same as destruction. Rather, Shiva absorbs illusion into the Absolute, making way for renewal and spiritual growth.

In another sense, Shiva presides over the cosmic cycle of life and death. Just as Brahma is associated with creation (birth) and Vishnu with preservation (sustenance), Shiva oversees the transition of the soul (ātman) from one form to another. He is not a destroyer in the ordinary sense, but the administrator of transformation and renewal.

Contributor: Dilip Amin

Location of this post (1l): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/is-lord-shiva-a-destroyer/

Hindus believe that there exists a changeless, all powerful intelligent being called the Brahman (aka God or Bhagavan), which pervades through the entire cosmos. An individual is not just the body and mind. Brahman and Atman exist within each human being. Hindus believe it is possible for the Atman in each individual to reach the Brahman at a higher state of intelligence usually achieved through karma yoga or Bhakti yoga.

Who am I?

I am the Atma (aka Jeevatma), which is different from this body, senses, mind, breath, and its cognitive abilities. The relationship between the Atma and the Body is that of Owner/Owned. When the owner (Atma) leaves the Owned (Body) it is called death. When the Owner acquires a new body it is called birth. Atma is eternal and keeps on journeying from one body to another until liberation.

How am I related to God?

God in His Antaryami (Antaratma) form, pervades everything in this universe and beyond. He pervades this lifeless body as well the life (Atma) within it. The relationship between the Antaratma and Atma is one of Owner/Owned. That is, Antaratma is the Owner and Atma is the owned. 

Overall relationship:

God owns the Atma and directs it’s decision making.

Atma owns the body, makes decisions and directs its actions.

While Atma may move from body to body, God never disowns the Atma.

Sources used:  Hindu Community Institute Course materials on Counselor of Hindu Traditions; Book: Many Many Gods of Hinduism by Swami Achuthananda. Meaning of AUM per Sri Pancharatra Agama.

Other reading material:

Relevant videos

Contributor: Seema Garg Murthy and Sudershan

Location of this post (1m): https://www.hinduspeakers.org/ufaqs/who-am-i-how-am-i-related-to-god/