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HINDUTVA: REVIEW: 'Shri Klaus Klostermaier:
On The Ethos And The Future Of Hinduism'
Author: Shri Ashok
Chowgule
Publisher: Hindu Vivek Kendra
Over the last couple of centuries, the essence of Hinduism has been perverted.
In the first 150 years, this was a programme being conducted by the
missionaries, as a part of their efforts to convert India into Christianity. In
the next 50 years the programme of calumny was taken over by the Communists,
who happened to be Indian citizens. Their intention was to convert India into
Communism, and Hinduism was a threat in this crusade. Shri Klostermaier notes
that 'the majority of Indian political scientists and sociologists are Marxist
oriented' . It is now clear that both these efforts failed - the first
substantially, the second miserably. However, there is a great deal of
confusion amongst the people of what Hinduism stands for, and why this ethos is
necessary not only for Hindus, but those following other faiths.
Shri Klaus Klostermaier's A Survey of Hinduism is used as a standard text-book
in the United States by students interested in Hinduism. It will help people to
appreciate the ethos of Hinduism and its relevance in today's world, if we give
a few quotes from the book. To understand that Shri Klostermaier is not a
votary of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, we will first give what he thinks of
the organisation. It goes without saying that we do not agree with his
assessment, but that is another subject. These quotes are taken from the book
published by Munshiram Manoharlal Publishers Pvt Ltd (Delhi, First Indian
Edition, 1990). The book was first published in 1989 by the State University of
New York Press, Albany, New York, United States.
1 The more recent history of Hinduism is also fraught with intolerance. The
Arya Samaj and its offspring, the Hindu
Mahasabha and the Rastriya Svayamsevak Sangh, have intimidated and often
provoked non-Hindus. They have been responsible for numerous Hindu-Muslim
riots, for atrocities in the name of the true religion, and finally, for the
assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, whom they considered an enemy of Hinduism. (p
59.)
2 The quite phenomenal expansion of Mahesh Yogi Maharishi's Transcendental
Meditation Society, the success of Swami Bhaktivedanta's International Society
of Krishna Consciousness, and the mass pilgrimages of plane loads of Americans
to Balyogeshwar Guruji's camp were not merely the result of smart organisation
and cleverly manipulated publicity; they also reflect an obvious need on the
part of many people in the West, especially among the young. In the new Hindu
movements, they hope to find what they have missed in their synagogues and
churches: practical guidance in self discovery, an integrated world view,
systematic training of psychic powers, emotional satisfaction, and perhaps,
true mystical experience. It would be very sad if Hindu propaganda in the West
were to lead only to the establishment of a few Hindus sects, missing the great
opportunity for the growth of new, genuinely modern forms of spirituality by
entering into dialogue with the still living Western religious tradition. (p
29.)
3 Hindus, as we have seen, can be very critical of Hinduism, too, but that
should not mislead us into thinking they are waiting for Westerners to solve
their problems. (p 400.)
4 Political Hinduism, I hold, cannot be understood by applying either a
Western-party democratic gauge or a Marxist-socialist pattern. Its potential
has much to do with the temper of Hinduism, which was able throughout the ages
to rally people around causes that were perceived to be of transcendent
importance and in whose pursuit ordinary human values and considerations had to
be abandoned. (p 412.)
5 It would not be surprising to find Hinduism the dominant religion of the
twenty-first century. It would be a religion that doctrinally is less clear-cut
than mainstream Christianity, politically less determined than Islam, ethically
less heroic than Buddhism: but it would offer some- thing to everybody, it
would delight by its richness and depth, it would address people at a level
that has not been plumbed for a long time by other religions or prevailing
ideologies. (p 413.)
6 Hinduism will spread not so much through the gurus and swamis, who attract a
certain number of people looking for a new commitment and a quasi-monastic
life-style, but it will spread mainly through the work of intellectuals and
writers, who have found certain Hindu ideas convincing and who identify them
with their personal beliefs. A fair number of leading physicists and biologists
have found parallels be tween modern science and Hindu ideas. An increasing
number of creative scientists will come from a Hindu background and will
consciously and unconsciously blend their scientific and their religious ideas.
All of us may be already much more Hindu than we think. (p 414.)
Shri Klostermaier also quotes Swami Vivekanand predit the preservation of Hindu
(only I say Indian) values. I really believe that one of the failures of
Congress secularism was that it treated everything Hindu, thereby Indian, with
disdain. Our schools and universities do not teach anything to do with India.
There are no possibilities to study ancient, or modern, Indian literature,
theatre or art. Sanskrit scholars are slowly dying out and to modern Indians
Ramayana and Mahabharata are only gaudy television soaps."
Of course, both Shri Mattoo and Smt Singh do not admit that they were equally
guilty parties to what Nehru and the Congress party did. The change in their
thinking has come about due to a resurgence of Hinduism, as reflected in the
Ram Janmabhoomi movement. On this, Shri V S Naipaul, in an interview with The
Times of India (July 18, 1993), had the following to say: "What is happening in
India is a new historical awakening....Indian intellectuals, who want to be
secure in their liberal beliefs, may not understand what is going on. But every
other Indian knows precisely what is happening: deep down he knows that a
larger response is emerging even if at times this response appears in his eyes
to be threatening....
The intellectuals have a duty to perform. The duty is the use of the mind. It
is not enough for intellectuals to chant their liberal views or to abuse what
is happening. To use the mind is to reject the grosser aspects of this vast
emotional upsurge....It is not enough to use that fashionable word from Europe:
fascism. There is a big, historical development going on in India. Wise men
should understand it and ensure that it does not remain in the hands of
fanatics. Rather they should use it for the intellectual transformation of
India."
It is becoming quite clear that the intellectuals have failed in their duty.
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