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[quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous][quote=Anonymous]And I'll just add, THANK YOU for pointing out how far Western yoga practitioners (not all, but quite a few) will say they believe in "Yoga" and "Vedanta" but deliberately avoid using "Hinduism" because of its [b]polytheist[/b] aspects.

Yet they are perfectly okay using the word "Buddhism". A lot of this comes from the mistaken belief that Buddhism is atheist. It's not. Buddhism also has a very polytheistic pantheon, which gets dismissed because who wants to acknowledge Kuan Yin, Tara, and Manjushri?[/quote]

Hindu religion is not polytheistic. It has one God, referred to as Ishvara, Brahman, Parameshvara, etc. All the others are just aspects of this one God. Only Ishvara, Brahman, etc. are complete. Christianity has the holy trinity. Does that make it polytheistic?
[/quote]

OP here. A lot of modern Hindus try to hand-wave the polytheistic element of Hinduism these days, and I don't know why. Polytheism and monotheism and pantheism are not mutually exclusive in Hinduism. I think it's frankly [i]weird[/i] that modern Hinduism are embarrassed about our polytheistic practices.

The one God [i]is[/i] Ishvara, Brahman, or Adi Shakti...but the one God takes many forms. I have 3 deities at my home puja shrine, and you can bet that I worship them as deities, not abstract symbols. [b]Each deity can lead you back to Brahman, and that is the beauty of Hinduism.[/b]

Yes, all the deities are aspects of Brahman, but to say "Hinduism isn't polytheistic" is to ignore that the deities themselves have divinity.[/quote]

Western scholars have misinterpreted Hinduism and created the notion of it being polytheistic with many "false gods" since ancient times. Most Hindus don't give any thought to whether their religion is polytheistic, monotheistic, pagan, or whatever. The division exists for those outside the faith looking in and trying to understand or relate. The misinterpretation, which was perhaps purposeful, has gone on uncorrected since there is no central authority.

Hindus are not embarrassed about their religious practices. There wouldn't be so many different celebrations for different deities if that was the case - Krishna Jayanti (Krishna), Ganesh Chaturthi (Ganesha), Dusshera (Durga), Diwali (Lakshmi), Sivaratri (Shiva), and many more (though Diwali seems to be in danger of getting stripped of its association with Lakshmi). Hinduism acknowledges that God exists in every being, both in form and formless. It's the misinterpretation created by the Western scholars coupled by a lack of strong vedic education that confuses some Hindus and makes them waver.

Agree with the bolded. [/quote]

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