Curious about Hinduism

@ABCDEF7 Shiva, Vishnu and..another one Krishna...were not they fondations of the Hindu religion ?

@revenant Sorry, I missed your comment notification.

The one answer is No. Hinduism is not Religion. But it is termed as religion by others. The idea of faith in Abrahamic religions and Hinduism is not same. So the Abrahamic definition of religion cannot apply to this.

There are many paths in in this culture. Technically Hindu is just an geographical identity. When outsiders came to this land, they were not able to find a single believe/faith/book here, so they started to say all people Hindu who used to live beyond the river Sindhu(or you can say the people living between Himalayas and Indu Sagar(ocean). It is not polytheist, it's pluralistic culture. The four major paths are Karma(Action & Duties), Gyan/Janana(Knowledge), Prem/Bhakti(Love/Devotion) and Samkhya(popularly known as Yoga).

These four major ways to attain the ultimate consciousness can be chosen separately as well as collectively, but one may require to include other to attain the ultimate goal. In this culture the ultimate goal is not heaven, it's the Moksha/Mukti(liberation from the cycle of death and rebirth).

Two basic principles of Karma and Reincarnation is even followed by all other paths/religions emerged from this ancient culture, be it Jainism, Buddhism, Sikhism, etc.

There is no exact equivalent word for religion here because it's not like other religions, even the word Dharma is very loosely translated, and it doesn't exactly mean religion. There is no concept as such religion here, there are no commandments, no rule book, No single book to be followed.

The trinity here are Brahma(creator), Vishnu(maintainer/protector), Shiva(Not only destroyer, he performs all three roles as and when need arises). Brahma is not same as Brahman(consciousness). Krishna & Rama are just avatars/incarnations of Lord Vishnu. Brahma is usually not worshipped. Shiva is considered as Lord of Lords, as well as Lord of Devils. He is considered as ultimate consciousness by his devotees. Vishnu keep coming to guide people in different avatars.

To follow the path of Karma, Gyan and Samkhya/Yoga you need not to believe in the any God like the Brahma, Vishnu and Mahesh(Shiva). It's only the Bhakti marg(path) that you may require to believe/follow any bhagwaan(God/Lord).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W0--cUGIu6c

Please feel free to DM me if you have any questions/doubts or want to ask/discuss anything.

@curiouspirit It is about one of the different paths in Hinduism, called Advaita(non-dual), an unpopular one.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-RFz56gb9E

@ABCDEF7 I find Swami Sarvapriyananda and Pravrajika Divyanandaprana's videos very soothing and enlightening. Sadhguru also has his unique ways of teaching

@revenant There are various interpretations and connotations.. which is to be understood by the context. Shakti is Shiva's wife or the form .. Shakti is also strength ..

But in your context it is benign or the force beneath..not considered dormant.

@in10RjFox force above and force below ?

@revenant
forces all around..

And I reply from my comprehension of life which is from various interpretations and analysis that lead to discoveries of my own ...

@Gangstress Whatever is most important to know?