Book Club: How to Become a Hindu (Chapter Eleven)

The well respected Himalayan Academy and their guru Subramuniyaswami put out a book several years ago called How To Become a Hindu. Over the next few weeks I’ll be reading the chapters and discussing each one individually. Today we’re looking at the eleventh chapter: Conclusion

(Book can also be downloaded free here: http://www.himalayanacademy.com/view/how-to-become-a-hindu)

This is the conclusion of the book. It wraps up with more emphasis on the importance of a clean and declared start in a new religion rather than a drifting in and out of religions.

He makes the great point that insisting on this formal process allows people to really think about the choice they are making and reconsider previous religious beliefs. Some people do change their mind about converting to Hinduism and rediscover the religion or the belief system of their past.

He warns against “New Age” approaches, saying that this is like walking around the base of the mountain over and over without ever going UP the mountain (as in the analogy of religions being many paths up the same mountain). He fears that “New Age” parents have no tradition and heritage to give to their children. I used to feel the same way; that New Age philosophy lacks depth. But now I think, for some people it does and for others it doesn’t. People get from religion what they need from it and we’re all at different stages on that journey. I value the commitment I have to Hinduism and its system, but I don’t have a problem with other people doing differently. And I’ve known some New Agers who get very deep in their religious experience.

He also encourages born Hindus who have wandered into other beliefs or never got much knowledge about their heritage to use this book and his other resources to re-realize Hinduism in their lives.

There follows a Sanskrit pronunciation guide and an in-depth glossary.

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So now it is time to pick a new book to read through.

I would like to do Dancing With Shiva, but it is written by the same author as this one and I think it would be good to do a book by someone else!

For a very different take, I think what we’ll do next is Eat, Pray, Love. It’s not Hindu per-se, but it is a perspective on Hinduism and has something to say that’s relevant to non-Indian Hindus!