Tracing its roots to the 4,000 year old Indus Valley civilization in modern-day Northwest India and Pakistan, Hinduism, alternatively called Santana Dharma, is one of the globe’s oldest living faiths. With over 1.2 billion followers, Hindus make up about 15% of the global population, according to Pew Research Center. Furthermore, the largest concentration of foreign-born residents of King County are from India, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. The growing Hindu population in the area has prompted outreach initiatives from local groups, such as the Vedic Cultural Center, to increase public knowledge regarding the religion’s history and philosophy.
Hinduism spread south and eastward, weaving through the Indian subcontinent, and it evolved by integrating and mixing with local cultures. Due to this complexity, the religious structure of Hinduism is different amongst Hindus themselves, with disparate sects focusing on their own deities, largely due to region. Deities such as Hanuman — depicted as a vanara, (Sanskrit for “monkey-like being”) — and Jagannath started out as local, tribal figures that came to be widely regarded. For Hanuman specifically, he was a key player in the central Hindu epic Ramayana, the tale of Lord Rama vanquishing the rakshasa (Sanskrit for “demon”), Ravana. This story also serves as the primary reason for the celebration of Diwali, commemorating Rama’s victory and the triumph of good over evil.
Hindu philosophy has notoriously been a subject of bitter debate amongst scholars and followers alike, in part due to the lack of ultimate guiding books in the faith, unlike other religions such as Christianity or Judaism. The Vedas, the foundational texts of Hinduism are separated into four books (the Rigveda, Yajurveda, Samaveda and Atharvaveda), and are similar to a ‘Hindu Bible,’ but they serve as a collection of hymns and philosophical teachings rather than a canon of historical events and religious laws. While many of the moral principles posited by Hinduism are often interpreted as objective, Dr. Prem Pahlajrai (he/him), retired University of Washington professor of the Hindi language and Hindu philosophy, said that the concept of dharma is one of Hinduism’s core philosophical ideas.
“Simply put, dharma is doing the right thing,” Pahlajrai said. “What’s the right thing? You know what the right thing is, if you’re honest. Just doing what needs doing, period, regardless of what anybody else thinks. That’s dharma.”
Similarly, karma is another core Hindu philosophical idea, and is more widely known globally. In Hinduism and similar religions, the term refers to the principle of cause and effect, effectively turning Newton’s third law into a moral rule as well. Essentially, good actions lead to positive consequences and vice versa, creating a supposed perfect moral balance for the world after all is said and done.
“Karma gives you a sense of, ‘there’s a broader system that’s at work, and it’s an impersonal system,’” Pahlajrai said. “It’s kind of like gravity. Gravity — if you weigh 300 pounds, it’s going to be hell on your joints. But gravity doesn’t have it out for you, right? It’s just how gravity works. If stuff is happening to you, karma is not out to screw you.”
Followers of Hinduism interpret their personal dharmas in many different ways. Hindu and junior Taanvi Arekapudi (she/her) said that for her, Hinduism is not strictly about belief in a higher power.
“It’s not really saying that you’re religious,” Arekapudi said. “But I consider being Hindu a way of life, and there’s different events, or different gods, or different parts of the way of life.”
Arekapudi said that from her perspective, Hinduism is akin to a jigsaw puzzle. The number of pieces and final product may be different for everyone, but there’s still a picture to be made.
“Even if you’re going to the temple and you don’t do any other traditions or events, you’re still considered Hindu,” Arekapudi said. “The jigsaw can be different sizes.”
Due to its lack of strict regulation and creed, people have often raised the question of whether Hinduism constitutes a religion. The lack of a central authority amongst Hindus is another factor in this debate, and a stark contrast from the Abrahamic faiths, which are centrally managed by hierarchical power structures.
“This split between philosophy and religion and spirituality, that’s a Western thing,” Pahlajrai said. “From an Indian perspective, particularly from a Hindu perspective, it’s a blend, right? What is religion, and what is spirituality, and what is philosophy? It’s all kind of conjoined.”
Dr. Pahlajrai himself is Hindu and said that he subscribes to Advaita Vedanta, the largest and most popular school of Hinduism founded by the philosopher and monk Adi Shankara. While different schools emphasize different beliefs, they all strive for the common goal of achieving moksha, the Hindu “Heaven” — though really not like Heaven at all — where one achieves freedom from the death-rebirth cycle and enters a higher, enlightened state of being. While there are schools that are strictly dualistic in believing in the binary separation between spirit and matter, Advaita Vedanta emphasizes pluralism.
“Advaita literally means non-dual,” Pahlajrai said. “What Vedanta is saying is there is really only one being, one unifying principle that is embodied between what we see as diversity. There is no other. We’re all part of a larger puzzle.”
Nonduality is understood as the philosophical principle that reality is one seamless, undivided whole rather than a collection of several varying parts. It emphasizes interdependence, and asserts that perceived differences are merely illusions.
“Water occurs in different forms, right?” said Pahlajrai. “There’s droplets of water that occur as rain, droplets of water that occur as spray. There are waves in the ocean that are differing intensity, but ultimately it’s all water. That’s what nonduality is. You can get attached to what form you happen to be in, but ultimately we are all that indivisible ground.”
