Thoughts on: Social Effects of Spiritualism in India

There are parts of India that are exactly what I expected and there are other parts that still surprise me. As a whole, I love India more and more every day, and this growing love is a result of the amazing beauty of the scenery, the hospitality and good-naturedness of the people, the peaceful manner in which people go about their everyday lives, the amazing food, and the spirituality emanating from almost everything here.

Especially after I had the opportunity to hear the Dalai Lama speak this summer, I anticipated India to be a very spiritual and religiously pluralistic place. It is true that India is extremely spiritual—Hinduism, we’ve been reminded time and time again, is a way of life, not a religion—and while that spirituality is oftentimes inspirational, I have also found it self-destructive. By “self-destructive” I do not mean that an individual’s spirituality leads to that one person’s destruction, but rather the nature of all of India’s spirituality. Her obsession with spirituality has, in many cases, contributed to social dissolution and disregard among Indians. So, in my use of the term “self-destructive”, India as a nation is the self to which I refer.

To explain what I mean, I’ll need to back up a little further.

When we’ve been told, “Hinduism is a way of life, not a religion”, it’s always accompanied by another statement: “Hinduism [the word] was created by the West to distinguish their own [Judeo-Christian] religious practices from those of the native Indians”. What these two statements mean in the day-to-day life of an Indian is this: nearly every native Indian is a hindu, regardless of religious belief (Indian Christians are often referred to as “church-going hindus”), because the word literally just means “Indian”; and Hinduism—as the religious or spiritual practices of native Indians—is practiced differently from person to person. This makes it a bit difficult to study Hinduism as one subject: the best one can do is explain the historical development and common rituals of Hindus today.

Fun Fact: Contrary to popular thought, Hinduism is actually, at its core, a monotheistic belief with an overall GOD or “oneness” called Brahma. The “little” gods (there are over 330,000) you’ve no doubt heard of (Krishna, Durga, etc) function similarly to Catholic saints: specific regions, villages, and professions have patron gods. Just like the saints and the Holy Trinity can seem polytheistic to people of other religions, many people have misunderstood Hinduism to be polytheistic. Qualification: there may be Hindus who do practice and believe in polytheism, but that is not the case among the majority, as I have come to understand it.

Aaand back to the main discussion of spirituality in India...

As I mentioned, I have found Indians’ omnipresent spirituality to be inspiring in many ways. I have relished in the peace—internal and external—I feel after a session of yogic asanas (what I’ve naively called “yoga” up until now), and I am consistently reminded through the kindness and positive attitudes of the Indians I meet that my spirituality should be a lifestyle, and not isolated to a few moments once or twice a week.  I don’t need to go to seminary or devote myself to a hermetic monastic life or regularly read a certain book to live a life in accordance with my spiritual and moral ideals. Although I’ve believed this for a long time, it’s been nice to get all this reassurance. For now, I am challenging myself to incorporate more moments of stillness into my everyday life.

Added bonus: according to our Yoga lecturer (who has her doctorate in the field), research shows that regularly including meditation-like practices into your life improves all areas of health: physical, mental, and spiritual. Look it up if you don’t believe me!

So, in a very important sense, the Indian spirituality is very beneficial. In other ways, I am disturbed by the ease with which it enables social degradation. Of course, one of the main topics we have breached in India is the caste system. At the beginning of our time in India, we were ensured by a professor and students at Rizvi Law College in Mumbai that the caste system is no longer relevant in modern India, with the occasional exception of marriages. However, the longer we spend in India, and the more time we spend in areas less “modern” than urban Mumbai, the more clear it becomes that the caste system is not only relevant, but still very strong throughout India.

As foreigners, it is difficult for us to perceive the small acts that make up this unique form of prejudice. In tea shops, one man is given a glass cup, while his companion of darker skin and more modest upbringing is provided with a plastic cup. To us, it looks as though the shop has just run out of glass cups, but the actual reason he’s been given a plastic cup is for his uncleanliness or untouchability to be more easily erased by simply throwing his cup away, rather than washing it.

Caste, we have been assured, is not inherently nor originally Hindu, but has been incorporated into the religious hierarchy over several centuries. Originally, caste was simply a division of labor: priests and those concerned with religious matters; soldiers and those concerned with security; merchants and those concerned with cultural and economic trade; servants; and those delegated to the dirtier jobs of society (sanitation, etc). Over time, caste became immobile and unchangeable, and religious significance was incorporated into the whole hierarchy. While Hinduism did not create caste, it is maintained in Indian society through cultural Hinduism, which, as I explained before, permeates all of India, regardless of religious affirmation. Sadly, some Indian churches have become infamous for their use of caste. Not all churches, thankfully—in fact, it almost seems like the caste system is a pre-packaged sermon for many ministers: just plug in “untouchables” for “lepers”, etc. 

One of the ways caste is continued is through the Hindu concepts of karma and dharma. The aim of the Hindu life is to reach moksha or liberation from the cycle of rebirth, which all souls are victim to until this liberation is attained. Karma is the explanation for one’s current state—if you completed your dharma (karmic duty) well in your past life, you are rewarded with good status in this life. In this philosophy, to help an individual of untouchability or outcaste status is to interfere with their karma, so it is better to let them suffer. Many Indians today recognize the harmful social effects of this philosophy and are working to improve humanitarian efforts in India, but they have a long battle to fight against such a culturally entrenched concept.

***This has been a very abridged explanation of some of the current effects of caste, but I hope it at least clarifies a few things—and brings up many more questions***

Another implication of spiritualism in India is the question of religious pluralism and secularism. Hinduism is praised as a religion of tolerance. Because it is so undefined and dynamic, there is much room for personalization of Hindu faith or spiritualism. There is a lot we can learn from the tradition of tolerance in India, but with certain precautions.

Is the tolerance or expansion of Hinduism the same thing as religious plurality? I’ve learned that Indians often separate themselves in religious-based communities, meaning that, while Christians, Muslims, and Hindus may all live within the confines of a certain region, those groups are segregated in their own communities, which often serves to increase polarization. Is co-existing (with sporadic clashes) really pluralism?

India suffers from intolerant and violent acts from extremist groups, just like every other religious community. In recent years, there have been several cases of inter-religious violence and terrorism in India. While the motivations of these events cannot be generalized to the entire population, stereotypes do pop up, making the work of ecumenical and interfaith centers all that more critical. Check out the ECC—Ecumenical Christian Centre of Bangalore (where we’re staying) and the Quo Vadis Interfaith Dialogue Center of Tiruvannamalai.

Obviously, these “faults” in Indian society are easier to observe as a cultural outsider, but these observations and subsequent reflections on India have led me to consider the social implications of our Western Judeo-Christian-based world and my role in it. India is nothing if not thought-provoking.

I have few short internet connections, which is why this post is so long (and photo-less). What else would you like to hear about my time in India? My daily life here? Food? A few funny “cultural experience” stories? Political/economic issues in India? Indians’ perspectives on globalization? An Egypt-India comparison? A photo-post? Give me suggestions!