(Ebook) Hinduism: From a Catholic Perspective by Fr. Martin Ganeri OP ISBN 9781784693688, 1784693685

(Ebook) Hinduism: From a Catholic Perspective by Fr. Martin Ganeri OP ISBN 9781784693688, 1784693685

Both the terms, ‘Hindu’ and ‘Hinduism’ are terms that non-Hindusdevised and can be misleading. The term, ‘Hindu,’ was coined by Persianspeaking Muslims to refer to those inhabitants of India (al-Hind in Persian),who were not easily identifiable as Muslims. The term ‘Hinduism’ wascoined in the 19th century by Europeans to refer to the religious culture ofthe Hindus. Because any ‘-ism’ suggests a single system with a definableset of beliefs and practises, it has often been assumed that there is a singlereligion that all Hindus ascribe to or at least that there is some systemwithin Hinduism might be taken to represent the ‘essence’ of Hinduism andmight serve as a parallel for the kind of religion represented by Christianityor Islam.It is not uncommon for Christians to be invited to take part in interreligiousprayer with Hindus. Christians are sometimes asked to attend interreligiousevents at which prayer or other acts of worship are offered and sometimesare invited to occasions when worship of the deity in the temple is takingplace. This is usually a sign of friendship and hospitality, but it can lead toconsiderable anxiety about what to do. In itself a visit to a temple is simplya response to the gesture of friendship and it is fitting to show respect forthe beliefs and customs of Hindus, such as removing shoes. Much moredifficult is attending or taking part in an act of worship taking place there.The formal prayer or cults of Christianity and Hindu theistic traditionsare expressions of distinct and different religious traditions. This kind ofprayer is fully meaningful only as a public affirmation of the tradition andas an expression of desire to be formed by it. Actively to participate in theprayer or worship of another tradition, even without personal assent, canthus lead to confusion on the part of others about the intentions involved. Itcan lead to a reduction of the integrity of one’s own spirituality as formedby, and the expression of, a particular tradition.