Hinduism is the Persian name for the Indus River, first encountered in the Old Persian word Hindu,

corresponding to Vedic Sanskrit Sindhu, the Indus River.

Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of South Asia. Hinduism is often referred to
as Sanatana Dharma (a Sanskrit phrase meaning "the eternal law") by its adherents. Generic "types" of
Hinduism that attempt to accommodate a variety of complex views span folk and Vedic
Hinduism to bhakti tradition, as in Vaishnavism. Hinduism also includes yogic traditions and a wide
spectrum of "daily morality" based on the notion of karma and societal norms such as Hindu marriage
customs.

Hinduism is formed of diverse traditions and has no single founder. Hinduism is often called the "oldest
living religion" or the "oldest living major tradition".

Demographically, Hinduism is the world's third largest religion, after Christianity and Islam, with more than
a billion adherents, of whom approximately 1 billion, live in India.

A large body of texts is classified as Hindu, divided into Sruti ("revealed") and Smriti ("remembered")

texts. These texts discuss theology, philosophy and mythology, and provide information on the practice
of dharma (religious living). Among these texts, the Vedas are the foremost in authority, importance and
antiquity. Other major scriptures include the Upanishads, Puraṇas and
the epics Mahabharata and Ramayaṇa. The Bhagavad Gita , a treatise from the Mahabharata, spoken
by Krishna, is of special importance.

. Non-duality of the Ultimate Reality

Vedanta calls the ultimate Reality Brahman. Brahman is eternal Being, eternal Knowledge, and
eternal Bliss. It is pure, infinite, all-pervading, formless, and without attributes. 
The threefold distinction of the knower, the known, and knowledge is common to all empirical
experience. This distinction does not exist in Brahman, since nothing exists apart from It. Thus It
is described as nondual, or one-without-a-second. Brahman is the eternal Subject and is hence
unknown and unknowable by the mind and the senses. It is Knowledge Itself. Brahman is
unknowable but one can be united with It. 
Conditioned Brahman is Brahman with forms or attributes, and It is worshiped in different
religions as Personal God. According to Swami Vivekananda, Personal God is the highest
reading of the Absolute by the human mind. 
On the identical nature of God with form and God without form, Sri Ramakrishna says,  “God
the absolute, and God the personal are one and the same. A belief in the one implies a belief in
the other. Fire cannot be thought of apart from its burning power; nor can its burning power be
thought of apart from it. Again the sun's rays cannot be thought of apart from the sun, nor the sun
apart from its rays. You cannot think of the whiteness of milk apart from milk, nor milk apart
from its milky whiteness. Thus God the absolute cannot be thought of apart from the ideas of
God with attributes.”  
On the need for different manifestations of the same Reality, Sri Ramakrishna observes: “The
Lord manifests Himself, with form or without form, just according to the need of the devotee.
Manifested vision is relatively true, that is, true in relation to different men placed in different
conditions and environments. The Divine Dyer alone knows in what color He has dyed Himself.
Verily He is not bound by any limitation as to the forms of manifestation, or their negation.”  
The one Reality appearing as the many can be compared to the sun seen from different
perspectives and through different colored glasses. Each view of the sun is true in that it
represents the same sun. According to the Rig-Veda, “Truth is one: sages call it by various
names.”  
Sri Ramakrishna practiced spiritual disciplines of different religions and realized that they all
lead to the same ultimate Reality. He taught that all religions are valid paths to God-realization.
His message of “As many faiths, so many paths” is a much-needed antidote to all discordance in
the name of religion.
2. Divinity of the Soul
Brahman, the ultimate Reality, is one-without-a-second from the absolute standpoint. From the
relative standpoint, however, Brahman appears as the universe of names and forms, including a
multitude of individual souls, called jivas. As jivas, we are attached to our body and mind, and
believe that we are limited beings. Freed from this attachment, we are essentially the Atman, the
core dimension of our personality. The Atman is the imperishable Reality behind body and mind,
and is the source of eternal Knowledge, eternal Bliss, and lasting fulfillment. Brahman and
Atman are not different, but “This Atman is Brahman.” (Mandukya Upanishad, 2)
Journey to perfection
Maya, or cosmic illusion, keeps us ignorant of our real nature, and we take the world to be the
only reality. We seek lasting fulfillment in it, and subject ourselves to good and evil, pleasure
and pain, birth and death, and other inevitable pairs of opposites that characterize the world. Our
experiences leave their impressions on our mind, called samskaras. These impressions fashion
our character and shape our life.
Vedanta assures us that as we gain experience in the world, a time will come when we realize the
impermanence of the things of the world and begin to seek something permanent and
unchanging. Then begins our spiritual quest. This must happen to everyone sometime or other, in
this life or in a life to come. All is not over with death, but after death we assume a new body and
the journey continues. The new embodiment is another opportunity for us to discipline the mind,
evolve morally, and grow in devotion to God. This birth-death cycle continues until we become
fully free from attachment to body and mind, and realize our divine nature.
Says Swami Vivekananda, “The soul [jiva] is a circle whose circumference is nowhere
(limitless), but whose centre is in some body. Death is but a change of centre. God is a circle
whose circumference is nowhere, and whose centre is everywhere. When we can get out of the
limited centre of body, we shall realize God, our true Self.”
How does Ishvara differ from jiva?
Brahman associated with maya is Ishvara, or Personal God, and Atman associated with maya is
jiva. What distinguishes Ishvara from jiva? First, Ishvara has maya under His control, while jiva
is under maya’s control. Second, Ishvara is responsible for the creation, sustenance and
dissolution of the universe, while jiva forgets his real nature and undergoes pleasure and pain in
the world. Third, Ishvara freely moves about in his creation like a spider in its web, whereas jiva
is trapped in the world like a silkworm in its cocoon.
The differences between Ishvara and us persist as long as we are conscious of our body and
mind, names and forms. Realizing our divine nature, we become one with God. It is like a clay
elephant and a clay mouse: both are different in form, but essentially one as clay.
In the words of Sri Ramakrishna, “God is the infinite Being, while jiva is only a finite being.
How then can the finite grasp the Infinite? It is like a doll made of salt trying to fathom the depth
of the ocean. In doing so the salt doll is dissolved into the sea and lost. Similarly, the jiva, in
trying to measure God and know Him, loses his separateness and becomes one with Him.”
3. Oneness of Existence
   Whatever exists is one: the ultimate Reality called Brahman. But Brahman appears as the
universe of names and forms because of maya, the veiling and projecting power inherent in it. At
twilight, we can mistake a rope for a snake and experience fear and trepidation by seeing the
“snake.” If we shine a flashlight on the “snake,” we see the rope as it is. The snake never actually
appeared or disappeared. Similarly, in the darkness of ignorance of the Divine in us, we perceive
the universe in place of Brahman; but in the light of Self-knowledge, assures Vedanta, the
universe will “disappear” and Brahman will reveal itself.
   Similarly, our body and mind are appearances on the Atman, our true spiritual Self and the
source of eternal Bliss. Yet due to our attachment to our body and mind, we look for lasting
fulfillment in the outside world. When wisdom awakens in us, we understand that the world
cannot bring us either peace or fulfillment.
   So all beings and things in the universe are just one existence appearing as many. This truth of
oneness of existence has several practical implications.
Change of attitude toward others
   When we look upon ourselves as Spirit, we naturally look upon others as the same Spirit. We
give up judging people by their physical or mental differences, and strive hard to perfect
ourselves, so that we will always see oneness around us. A spontaneous sequel to this attitude is
looking upon all forms of service as worship of the Divine in others. And our love for others will
not stop at the human level, but extend to all living beings. 
Growing in unselfishness
   Practice of the truth of oneness will help us reduce our selfishness and grow in unselfishness.
After exhorting us to cultivate faith in ourselves, Swami Vivekananda explains: “But it is not
selfish faith because Vedanta, again, is the doctrine of oneness. It means faith in all, because you
are all. Love for yourself means love for all—love for animals, love for everything; for you are
all.”
   Looking upon everyone as Spirit does not prevent us from seeking holy company in preference
to bad company. Divinity is the core in everyone, but it manifests in different degrees in different
people. While seeking holy company, however, we should take care not to hate people or judge
them as bad.
Universal love
    Loving and serving others as manifestations of Spirit fosters in us equanimity and detachment.
The universal love advocated by Vedanta is based on the truth of oneness of existence: “Verily,
not for the sake of the husband is the husband loved, but he is loved for the sake of the self
[which, in its true nature, is one with the Supreme Self]. Verily, not for the sake of the wife is the
wife loved, but she is loved for the sake of the self….Verily, not for the sake of the All is the All
loved, but it is loved for the sake of the self. Verily, it is the Self that should be realized—should
be heard of, reflected on, and meditated upon.” (Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, 2.4.5) 
   The saying, “Love thy neighbor as thyself” makes good sense since our
neighbor is truly ourself.