I was recently talking to my roommates, who are both practicing Christians, about the similarities and differences between Hinduism and Christianity. As a student in Vidyapith, and as a student of Vedanta, I had always heard about Christianity’s similarities to Hinduism — how Christ can be thought of as an ideal karma yogi; how both Christianity and Hinduism stress selflessness; how Christianity emphasizes that we are made in the image of God, and how Vedanta parallels this idea by saying that we are all potentially divine.
But for the first time, my conversation with my roommates revealed some differences — I had never before realized the extent to which some Christians truly believe that only Christians will go to heaven; however, the idea made some sense to me after I thought about it — after all, every religion needs supporters (historically speaking); perhaps spirituality and history got intertwined such that it is now part of the doctrine that conversion is still necessary.
The other interesting idea my roommates brought up is that the ideal Christian is he who lives by every word of the Bible; to pick and choose, my roommate said, is almost like choosing what is convenient for you, rather than what is the right thing to do.
I had always been raised with the idea that in Hinduism, the nice thing is that we can choose which path appeals to us most — the Hindu Gods and Goddesses represent different qualities and ideals that, depending on our personalities, will help us accordingly if we choose them to be our main God. In a similar vein, we can each create a blend of the four yogas to follow depending on what suits us best. As I began thinking of my roommate’s words — does this mean that we are simply doing what is convenient for us? How can we know that doing what “fits our personalities” isn’t just doing what is easiest, and not necessarily what is best, for us?
I asked Swami Tyagananda of the Boston Ramakrishna Vedanta Center this question, and he responded saying that this is why Hinduism stresses the importance of a teacher. Swamiji mentioned the idea from the Upanishads that your mind can be your own best friend, and it can also be your own worst enemy. Our minds have an incredible capacity to justify almost any action we take; until we have enough control on our minds to know when such justification is unwarranted, we need the help of a spiritual guide to show us how to do what is right, rather than what is just convenient and not necessarily right.
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Although each of us have our personal preferences as to how we ‘create a blend of the yogas to follow depending on what suits us best’, it doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re choosing to do something that is more convenient. The use of the word ‘convenient’ denotes laziness and, often, insincerity. However, the special blend of yogas that we create for ourselves is not something created out of laziness, but rather out of preference. And like you said, such a preferred blend cannot be created by a person on his or her own. There must be a spiritual teacher to guide you to the path that is best for you.
Going back to your roomates’ descriptions of Christianity, something else just came to mind. In a way, you can almost compare these different religions of the world to the different types of governments in the world (reminding me of the 12th grade symposium we had watched earlier today).
Christianity, which states that the ideal Christian will understand and follow the teachings of the bible word for word, would be most analagous to dictatorship, where the land is governed by one person of authority and not much freedom is given within the bounds set by the government.
Hinduism, which allows for various practices of worship as long as it is uplifting to the person, would be most analogous to a democracy, which allows for more freedom as long as you are well within the laws set forth by the government.
I just realised that I made a mistake on my previous post. When I was comparing Christianity to the governments of the world I typed in dictatorship instead of monarchy. I sincerely apologize for my mistake and hope that I have not offended anyone.
It is not necessarily the case that even Christians must follow every word of the Bible. Christianity just like Hinduism is composed of many different sects. Such sects evolved because individuals have throughout history possessed varying interpretations of the Bible. It may well be the case that your roommate grew up in a tradition that followed a strict interpretation of the Bible.
One’s religion provides one with a set of rules for decision making. It isn’t necessarily the case where a Hindu may be acting by what is most convenient, but that Hinduism itself provides an individual with a more flexible set of rules for decision making than Christianity.
Since rules within Hinduism are somewhat vague, Swami T advised you to seek a specific interpretation of Hinduism so that you may have a more clearly defined set of rules for decision making. Religion by its very nature is something that lends itself to interpretation. Depending on the scope of the rules of a religion, one will in some context always have the option to make a convenient choice.
Unfortunately, what interpretation to follow may paradoxically itself be a matter of convenience!
It is true that Christianity has many different branches, and it so happens that both Yoon and I, the author’s two roommates, belong to denominations that believe that the Bible should be taken at its entirety. People from my gospel hall have argued that picking out what to believe from the Bible as opposed to adhering to all of its doctrines, as some of the other Christian denominations advocate, is comparable to choosing what is more convenient. Regardless of the validity of such claims (I know that it can sould emotional charged and biased), they compare different perspectives of one religion, and so, for the same purpose, one way of practising may appear more “convenient” than another. But if choosing a person’s preference is what Hinduism teaches, then such methodology needs not to be questioned. In other words, it is difficult, if not impossible, to compare two different religions. At the end of the day, I think both Christianity and Hinduism call for living by faith (apologies if that’s not accurate, I don’t know Hinduism well enough). I remember Sonali saying that in Hinduism, though each person chooses what appeals to him/her the most, there is only one ultimate ideal, people simply get there via different paths. In Christianity, there is also only one set of ideals, namely to live by and walk in faith, and to have, as a result, “love, joy, peace, lonsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, temperance” (Galatians 5:22-23). So if there is a difference between Christianity and Hinduism, it’s not that one is more like monarchy and one is more like democracy; rather, one tells you the end-goals and let you explore ways of getting there yourself, and the other lay out ways that it recommends.
Sorry for rambling on for so long. Sonali, next time beware of what you ask
Amy, I think it is valuable to read what students who don’t consider themselves Hindu have to say, especially since it is only by questioning the methodology that we Hindus will arrive at a faith worth having.
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