Darshan with Swami Krishnananda – 1997

by Swami Krishnananda

50. The Benefits of Hinduism

(Darshan given on September 17th, 1997)

A visitor: I am a retired journalist here to learn about Hinduism, and I am particularly interested in how Hinduism benefits your society more than, say, Christianity or Islam would benefit their societies.

Swamiji: You repeat that sentence once again.

Visitor: I'm interested in what ways Hinduism makes your society better, and in what ways it falls a little short in affecting the whole society as compared to Islam, Christianity or others.

Swamiji: We do not consider any religion as defective. They are all various degrees of the perception of Truth. Every religion has some good point. You cannot say that one religion is superior and the other is inferior. We do not say that. There are levels of approach in the perception of Reality, and every level should be respected. Just as every stage in the development of the human personality is an important stage, right from babyhood, adolescence, adulthood, maturity, and the state of genius, all these are developmental processes of a human personality, and each stage is important. Babyhood is as important as the developed condition of a genius. In a similar manner, the perception of Truth, which is what we call religion, is valid from different angles of vision, from different levels of reality, and in different degrees.

This is an ashram founded by a great saint, called His Holiness Swami Sivananda. He had a universal gamut of perception. He did not stand for Hinduism or any particular religion. He stood for humanity in search of God, and in this context you may consider him as a leader of the people throughout the world and a friend of all religions, and highly sympathetic with every viewpoint in its own level.

You are asking me in what way Hinduism has made us better. I am mentioning to you briefly the concepts of Hinduism. The aim of all evolutionary process, the very purpose of human existence, is the attainment of ultimate perfection. The purpose of human existence, the aim of life of every individual, is the overcoming of the finitude of personality and moving towards the infinite perception of God. This is the aim of every human being, whatever be the religious denomination one may be adhering oneself to. This is the wide vision of the founder of this institution, Swami Sivananda.

Coming to the point, Hinduism as it is to be understood, not as it is misunderstood, is a comprehensive approach in one's life. Our life has to be comprehensive, integral, total, and multifaceted. It should not be a fraction. The acquisition of material values, imbibing emotional values, and the attainment of eternal value, these are the three requirements of human nature. You require material facility, emotional integration, and spiritual perfection. These are the things that we are aiming at. The law which operates in this universe is the very same principle that integrates these three kinds of aspiration: material, aesthetic or emotional, and spiritual.

The spiritual is not to be considered as something segregated from ordinary life. It is the consummation and perfection of the otherwise-inadequate levels of our existence as human individuals. Everything that we do, every thought that we think, every manner in which we are living is good enough from its own point of view, but it is inadequate, and therefore, nobody feels completely happy. The development of these inadequate values into their pinnacle of complete realisation is what is called spiritual life or, rather, the planting of the element of God in the realisation of the values of life is spirituality.

So if you have understood the meaning of these few words that I have spoken, you would be able to find an answer to your question how Hinduism supports, maintains and enriches the life of people. But if you consider it as one religion among other religions, then it is not a correct understanding of Hinduism. I have already mentioned in the very beginning that it has the capacity to absorb within itself the value of every religion, every cult, every level of existence, and it is supposed to be a friend of all the values of life.

The word Hinduism is a misnomer, really speaking. That is not the real name of this perception in India. The word Hindu – please listen to me – the word Hindu does not appear in any of the Hindu scriptures. It is something that has been imported under historical circumstances. You know Indian history or world history? In the early period of Indian history, Persians came here. They saw a river which they had to cross, which today is called Indus River. It is called Sindhu in Sanskrit, Sindhu River. The Persians do not pronounce the word S. They pronounce it as H. So Sindhu is pronounced as Hindu, and they considered all those people beyond the river as Hindus. So it is a word coined by them, not necessarily explicatory of the people of India. Then later on Greeks came, Alexander came, Alexander the Great. The Greeks pronounce S, H in a different way. They converted, according to their own linguistic parlance, the sound H into I. Hindu became Ind, so the word India came from that word. So it is a historical concomitance and, really speaking, this religion cannot be designated by any particular word. It is the religion of God, if you want to call it that – the religion of God.

So, coming to the point once again, when understood properly, Hinduism is a friend of all, and in that sense you have answered your question how it benefits people. But it can be distorted as one of the narrow-minded religions, and completely disconnected from other cults and faiths. Then it is a misuse and abuse of religion. Swami Sivananda, our great founder, does not want to misuse or abuse the word. It has to be understood in its proper context. This is a brief answer to your question.

Another visitor: I'm an educator and writer, and my question is: What is the difference between the personality of one individual and the stages of life for a profession? For example, if somebody has a predominantly contemplative personality, does that person have to go through the four stages?

Swamiji: It is not obligatory. If a person is well integrated in oneself, sufficiently perfect in the alignment of one's inner constitution, and is ready to concentrate the mind on God Almighty, then these things that I mentioned are not necessary. But when a person is not prepared for it, then as an educative and disciplinary method, these methods have to be followed.