An introduction to complexity

Credit: Pradeep717

 “An Introduction to Hinduism” is a 1996 book by Gavin Flood, a British scholar. I just realized that I never reviewed his book, which I use and reread on a semi-regular basis. At about 330 pages, it really is an “introduction”, since Hinduism (so called) is probably the most complex and complicated religion in the world. Indeed, it could be argued that it´s not really *one* religion at all, but rather hundreds of quite different traditions LARP-ing as a single one! The newbie will probably be even more confused after reading the book than he was before, and even I find Hinduism bewildering in the extreme.

One distinct feature of the South Asian traditions is that they almost never repudiate what came before them – at least not nominally – but rather try to reinterpret it or integrate it into the new paradigm. We see this already in the original Vedas (the Veda Samhitas), which probably incorporate deities and traditions associated with the margins of Vedic society. It´s even more obvious in the Bhagavad Gita, which tries to incorporate pretty much everything (including ancestor worship) into its new theistic synthesis. The Upanishads are another example, since these scriptures – very different from the Veda Samhitas – claim to explain the “esoteric” meaning of the Vedic sacrifices. With some creativity, I think both Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism could be reassimilated into the “Vedic” fold, I mean why not? That being said, the diversity and conflicts are just as obvious, including unexpected outliers such as the monotheist and iconoclastic Arya Samaj, or gurus which have inspired both Hindus, Muslims and Sikhs. And then there are all the Tantric cults…

“Introduction to Hinduism” covers everything a good but not super-advanced student of comparative religion needs to know on the topic: the deep roots of Hinduism in both the Indus Valley Civilization and the Indo-European Vedic society, yoga and renunciation, the Epics and early Vaishnavism, bhakti, extreme Shaiva cults, various forms of Goddess worship, the temple cult, and the modern theatre (somewhere in there, even Madame Blavatsky makes a brief guest appearance). There is also a chapter devoted to Vedanta and other Hindu philosophical schools. The book was written before the modern Internet era: Flood believes that Kashmiri Shaivism is virtually extinct, YouTube is teeming with people who actually claim to practice it. Sadhguru´s peculiar obsession with black holes and ancient aliens is nowhere to be seen, and neither is Tulsi Gabbard. Maybe in the next edition…?

If Hinduism continues on its usual trajectory, all kinds of newly evolved stuff will bewilder foreigners and perhaps even Hindus circa 500 years into the future, say, but the old sediment layers will still be fully visible (as in the Grand Canyon) and Flood´s book will therefore never grow old.

Recommended.