I am a Hindu because I was born in a Hindu home. I have listened and discussed, read and thought about Hindu philosophy, and the Hindu way of life appeals to me because it allows me to think and act in freedom from the dictates of swamis. It does not bind me to rigid codes or some particular Book, but requires that I try to follow the first two parts of the eight-fold ashtanga yoga, namely, yama (abstentions) and niyama (observances), which are nothing more than being a good member of society. Practice of the next six parts is left to my own sweet will.

Hindu philosophy admits the atheist and the worshipper of a formless God (nirguna brahman)
as much as those who worship one or more forms of the Divine in the Hindu
pantheon. I am not an atheist, but I neither pray nor perform puja (worship). Yet
I am a Hindu. The Hindu accepts all other Ways – Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, etc. – as valid, as the Ramakrishna Order of Hindu monks expresses so
beautifully, thus demonstrating the universality of Hindu philosophy. I am proud of Hindu philosophy, yet ashamed of the practices that denigrate, oppress or reject oth­ers within and outside the Hindu fold for being born in circumstances over which they had no control. I believe that those who make others suffer violence, indignities or discrimination against any “caste” commit a social crime.

I was born into a Konkani-speaking family and so my mother tongue is Konkani. My inherited physical characteristics (features, skin colour, build, etc), mother tongue and religion are all by chance of birth. I believe that my birth is a result of a com-bination of the karmas of my parents and ancestors and my own earlier existences. However, in my 65 years of life, I have performed actions and hold opinions for which only I am responsible, not any God or Satan.

I believe that “caste” is a Hindu social construct that depends on the work an individual performs to earn a livelihood: “brain-workers”, people who work the land and/or defend it, people who conduct business for profit, and people who provide services and labour for their society. With such an interpretation of caste, I am today a mix of all the “castes”, as indeed most of us are, if only we would see it so. I was born and brought up in a liberal Saraswat brahmin home but it does not give me hereditary claim to brahmin caste.

I am brahmin because I use my knowledge and intelligence to earn a living. I am also kshatriya because I served long years in the army to earn a living. I have saved some money and invest it so that it will multiply, and that makes me vaisya too. I personally clean my house toilets used by visitors who may be from any “caste”. I, not a servant, carry household garbage to the dustbin; I dig and plant in the garden; do “menial” work around the house; perform odd jobs for friends, and that makes me sudra also. I am content if my fellow citizens recognize me as a Hindu without ascribing caste, since I am a mix of all castes. Hence, I do not believe in “caste”, and yet I am a Hindu.

In my daily life during service and in retirement, I meet, mix and dine with people of all “castes” as well as with non-Hindus. None of this makes me any less of a Hindu, and my worshipping in a temple will not make me a better Hindu. I am just another human going through life and I will die and, I believe, go to a different existence in a subsequent birth.

I believe that religion should serve to inspire a person to a higher level of thought, by which I mean matters such as helping those who are under-privileged through no fault of theirs, considering the effects of one’s actions on others and on society, oppos­ing injustice of the powerful especially on the poor and weak, etc. We are all are born into Hindu, Buddhist, Jain, Christian, Muslim, Sikh, etc. families by chance and not for discernable reasons. I believe that opposing another person merely because he or she has different religious beliefs is foolish.

I believe that cooperation and understanding are the necessary requirements for happiness of all segments of society. Though I may sometimes go astray, I take toler­ance and non-violence as guiding principles, but also believe that they do not mean cowardice, meekness or “turning the other cheek”. Notwithstanding, I reserve the right to defend myself and my family using physical force only when necessary.

My understanding of Hindu philosophy tells me that faith in God and in whether and how to worship (religious practice or ritual) are matters of belief that are personal and private. I cannot prove the existence or attributes of my God nor disprove the existence or attributes of anybody else’s God. In matters concerning God, everybody is right and nobody is wrong because of belief. Insistence on only one “Way” to God is foolish since there are as many Paths as there are people.

I cannot change my neighbour’s belief just as I cannot change even my children’s beliefs, for they believe according to their individual experiences. But I can try to influence their thinking if I consider that the issue is important enough. I can only try to change myself according to my beliefs and experience, and God has nothing to do with it. It is similar to the idea that no teacher ever “teaches”, but only exposes and guides the student, who learns according to individual ability. Belief comes from within the individual, just like learning.

I should not allow God or religion to intrude into interpersonal and social mat­ters, as it only leads to discord and conflict. Hindu philosophy is one of peace for the individual and society and one of its important prayers is, “Asato ma satgamaya // Tamaso ma jyothirgamaya // mrthyorma amrthamgamaya // Om shanti, shanti, shanti”. It says, “(Take me) from untruth to (realizing) truth, from darkness (of ignorance) to light (of knowledge), from (corporal) death to eternal life. May there be peace!” It is a simple, clear prayer that may be directed to God of any religion.

Hinduism can bring change for the better in India and the world only if it is used as a non-violent instrument of persuasion. This I believe as a proud Hindu.

Major General S. G. Vombatkere joined the Indian Army in 1961. The President of India awarded him the Visishta Seva Medal (VSM) in 1993 for distinguished services rendered. He has held various command, staff and instructional appointments in both combat and technical units and formations. He holds a Ph.D. in Structural Engineering from I.I.T., Madras. He retired in 1996 and is settled in Mysore, where he is engaged in voluntary social work. This article was originally published in an edited and abbreviated form in The Times of India, 20 December 2002.

We human beings are like the survivors of a shipwreck, huddled together in a lifeboat tossed about on the stormy ocean of existence. We need a plan for reaching the shore safely. Our religions, philosophies, and sciences are the plans we have devised, inherited, discovered, or received by revelation. One of those plans is the Theosophy of the Theosophical Society.

The Theosophical Society is a religious organization, in the sense of “religious” as “concerned with things of ultimate value”. But Theosophy is not a religion in the sense of an organized set of beliefs and practices that people identify as their “religion”.

Annie Besant, a reformer and orator of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and the second president of the Theosophical Society, said that Theosophy does not ask us to leave our religions, but to live them. The Theosophical Society thus has members who adhere to many of the religions of the world: Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Zoroastrian, Hindu, Buddhist, Confucian, and so on.

The Theosophical Society is a nondogmatic organization, which does not ask its members to espouse any set of beliefs or to practice any particular lifestyle. The Society’s members subscribe only to its three objects:

1. To form a nucleus of the universal brother/sisterhood of humanity irrespective of race, creed, sex, caste, or color.

2. To encourage the comparative study of religion, philosophy, and science.

3. To investigate unexplained laws of nature and the powers latent in humanity.

These objects are not matters of belief or of particular activities, but rather they are matters of attitude, of a mental and spiritual orientation that is harmonious with various doctrinal formulations and ways of life.

Theosophy, on the other hand, is a body of concepts that offer an explanation
of the nature of the universe and of the beings who inhabit that universe. These
theosophical concepts are offered only as ideas to consider – ideas with implications for how we live – not as requirements of belief or as a regimen. Members of the Society are not asked to accept all of these ideas or, indeed, any particular one of them.

Theosophical ideas cover a range from the very general to the very specific. All of them can be subsumed under three fundamental heads:

1. The essential unity of all that is.

2. The cyclical order of the universe and everything in it.

3. The purposefulness of life as a process of increasing sensitivity, responsiveness, and awareness.

Theosophy holds that all the great religions of humankind are expressions of the same underlying need for human beings to come into an understanding of and rela­tionship with the essential and ultimate Reality of existence. Each religious expression is a cultural and historical articulation of that need, especially suitable for a particular place, time, and people. The Theosophical Society therefore respects and honors each of those expressions, but looks for the commonality among them.

The English word "religion" is from a Latin root meaning literally “bind back.” That etymology has a double interpretation. On the one hand, a religion binds its adherents back to the group – uniting them as coreligionists. That binding serves the interests of the group by strengthening it. It also helps the individual members by giving them a sense of identity and belonging. But, as the novelist Ursula LeGuin has observed, to light a candle is to cast a shadow. The shadow side of the light of this interpretation of religion is an emphasis on separateness, pride, and opposition to other religious traditions.

On the other hand, another interpretation of the etymology of religion is a binding-back of all humans to their common nature and source – their shared physical, intellectual, and spiritual nature and origins. It is this second interpreta­tion that Theosophy emphasizes and that the Theosophical Society seeks to pro­mote. It is the essence of the Society’s three objects and one of the more general Theosophical concepts.

Among the more specific ideas that many theosophists hold, but which have no official standing in the Society, are the following:

1. The present life each of us is leading is only one link in a long series of reincarna­tions through which we experience many cultures and social levels, as well as the biological and social roles of both sexes, and by which we grow as individuals.

2. The circumstances of each life are determined by the choices we have made in past lives, and our choices in this life will determine our future life-conditions, by the principle of karma.

3. All life is evolving towards greater material sensitivity, intellectual responsiveness, and spiritual awareness of our substantive unity.

4. The universe consists of nonphysical dimensions of being of which we are aware only indirectly as feeling, thinking, and intuiting, as well as other dimensions of which we are normally unaware.

5. Each of us is responsible, through the choices we make, for our own identity. Although there are advanced beings, such as the great spiritual leaders of human­ity, to guide us, we alone determine our future.

6. Each of us has latent spiritual powers that are developed during the course of our evolution and that are the means by which we can perceive the truth of things beyond our physical senses and empirical mind.

7. We progress in our evolution and we develop our latent powers by forgetting our­selves and working instead for the welfare of all humanity and of all life, which pervades every atom of matter.

Theosophical ideas, both fundamental and specific, have implications for daily living. Those implications, practiced by individual theosophists according to their own conscience and the circumstances of their lives, include such actions as the following:

1. To practice, out of respect for all life, harmlessness with respect to other living beings, including vegetarianism and the humane treatment of animals, as well as an active concern for the ecology of our planet.

2. To study in order to learn about ourselves and the universe in which we exist.

3. To meditate in order to incorporate into our being the truths we have learned and to come into contact with the highest and inmost core of our being.

4. To serve others in ways that will help them to live effectively and to discover their own paths to self-realization.

The essence of Theosophical ethics is a conviction that none of us can reach
personal well-being or eternal happiness alone. If all life is one, as Theosophy
holds, then all living beings are inextricably linked. Every action, feeling, and thought of ours affects all other beings. We are all together in that lifeboat on the ocean of existence. To reach the shore, we must work together.

There is no other option.

John Algeo, Ph.D., served for nine years as president of the Theosophical Society in America and is now international vice president of the Theosophical Society. Author of the Quest Book Reincarnation Explored and most recently editor, with Adele Algeo, of The Letters of H. P. Blavatsky, 1861 – 1879 (vol.1), he is published widely in Theosophical magazines.