Hinduism is easily the oldest existing organized form of religion on the face of the earth. The Hindu faith has about a billion adherents around the world, migration from India having taken it to almost every country on the planet. Hindus are known to be strongly attached to their native social culture and traditional faith; research by the Trinity College, Hartford, in 2008 indicated that a majority of Indian scientists are believers, even with their rocket science and atomic exploits. The number of Hindu gods and men of piety, and the volume of Hindu religious texts would possibly far outnumber the corresponding numbers of all other religions put together, at times even seeming comical. But the numbers are a reflection of the tolerance, accommodation and acceptance of plurality of lines of thought among its believers. It is the recognition that no two men or women are the same and that every human can follow his or her own ways to explore his or her place in the universal scheme of things, if so desired.
The cornerstone of the Hindu belief system is that multiple paths lead to the same goal of truth and self-realization. Or simply put, do your stuff right, live and let live and you're good; maybe not good enough but you're definitely on the right track. And the "let live" principle holds not only to other humans, but to every piece of matter around you. The plants, the animals, the unsightly worm, the barking stray dog and even the flowing river have the right to do their stuff and as long as the dog doesn't bite anyone, leave it alone. Harmony within you, with others and with the environment is one of the basic underlying tenets of existence of the Hindu faith. Hinduism has no typical founders, no tell-it-all single sacred text and no religion-backed "become-a-Hindu" initiation rites. In fact, even the word Hindu is a comic British colonial holdover; no Hindu religious text in its hundreds of thousands of pages ever assigns the word Hindu to a follower. You, the man on the street, are a Hindu if you follow the Hindu way of responsible and dutiful life, no questions asked, very few conditions apply.
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"In fact, even the word Hindu is a comic British colonial holdover" The article is wrong. The word "Hindu" was first coined by Islamic invaders, not the British.
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