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A Series of Lessons on the Inner Teachings of the Philosophies and Religions of India1296
and no central ecclesiastical authority. Among the Hindus their Universal
Religion is known as either the “Arya-Dharma” or “Aryan System”; or else
the “Sanatana Dharma,” or “Eternal System”—the term “Sanatana” being
the common term for the system.
The Sanatana is most universal and catholic in its views, and allows
countless opposing sects to take shelter under its tents, and to participate
in the worship of its temples. It is no uncommon thing to see followers of a
dozen or more sects engaged in common worship in the temples or holyplaces.
The general feeling among the Hindus is that they are all worshiping
the same Infinite Reality under some form or symbol, and consequently
there is an absence of that fierce strife and rivalry that is so deplorable
in other lands both East and West. So long as the individual accepts the
Vedas as the Divine Source of Truth, and does not dispute the Fundamental
Principles, he is welcomed as a brother-in-religion, and is given the “righthand
of fellowship.” The Buddhists and Jains, however, while not persecuted,
are looked upon as outsiders, and the Mahommedan is, of course, a “stranger
to the Faith,” and the Christian is regarded as a well-meaning (if he really
happens to be so) follower of an “unscientific faith” erected on the original
pure teachings of Jesus the Christ, for whom all educated Hindus have a
profound respect, deeming Him to have been a great Spiritual Master,
and an Illumined Soul. They also regard Buddha as an Avatar or Deity, but
deplore Buddhism, which they claim is the degenerated form of Gautama’s
original teachings. The Jews are respected, but are held to have but little in
common with the Hindu faiths, by reason of the narrow claim that Jehovah
was the Deity of only one race of “Chosen People”—a Race-God, rather
than an Universal Divinity. The Parsees are Zoroastrians and Fire Worshipers,
and have little in common with the Hindus.
* * *
It is interesting to trace the rise and progress of the Sanatana, or “Eternal
Religion” from the earliest writings. The early Vedas show a peculiar dualaspect,
inasmuch as while there is always an undercurrent of Monism or