My Hindu Outlook

I attended kindergarten at a Catholic school in Calcutta. Memories of Catholic prayers and teachings are still clear in my mind, even though I am now in my thirties. My Hindu parents were quite liberal and owned a Bible, and at age 10, I read the four gospels. I remember being moved by them. At that time, I did not like my family religion -- Hinduism. I thought it was "dirty" because of it's open sexuality.

But when I was 13, I had my true spiritual awakening.

Returning from a trip, my dad brought back two books which he handed to me -- another Bible and a copy of the Bhagavad-Gita, the "Bible" of the Hindus in some sense. Since I had already read the gospels, I decided to look into the Gita.

After reading from it, I was converted to the general outlook of Hinduism.

One particular verse struck me: Krishna assures a troubled Arjuna, saddened about impending death of his beloved family members, "Never was there a time when I [God], you, or these kings [souls] did not exist; nor shall we ever cease to exist in the future" (2.12).

This was the most satisfying answer to my deepest spiritual question -- what happens to me when I die?

This and few other verses have given me a metaphysical and moral outlook of the world that includes the validity of other faiths.

The Gita has some archaic elements, and Hinduism absolutely has some great social evils, encouraged in other scriptures. However, Hinduism also has occasionally evolved towards a better spirituality influenced by spiritual giants such as Buddha. For me this is a sign of hope not just for my Hindu beliefs, but also for beliefs of others as we live in the modern age. My faith tells me to hold sacred not just another's rights but also another's spiritual views. So I look at the figure of Christ and Buddha with enduring admiration.

As I grow older and start to understand the conflicts of religions, I see that there is no way out but to accept our differing metaphysics with respect. And my father was right to have given me the option to decide for myself.

I was relatively free of indoctrination from my parents. Thank God for that.