as hinduism has kind of matured over thousands of years it is matured enough to know there
are plural ways to be spiritual and different sectarian movements promote one some some specific
pathway for making spiritual progress they might focus on a particular deity like shiva or vishnu
or any other modal ones even and they say by focusing on their deity or their particular
personification of the spirit we will make spiritual progress so they cannot produce
this kind of sectarian movement section doesn't mean it's bad it's if you like
reconciliation of different ways of kind of making spiritual progress into one pathway say this is
the pathway suitable for our community our society so certain people subscribe to a secretary of
movement it gives them identity he gives them kind of they get charged up they work together it's
good networking so it's a lot of positive thing we like to find an identity with some group of
people so if you find people with similar you know background focusing on a particular deity that
turns into a sectarian movement it is perfectly fine hinduism is a family of sectarian movements
most of them vast majority of them are very very kind of very mature and very comprehensive they
recognize that this is my pathway i like shiva but at the same time people who like vishnu prefer
vishnu and soviet they were matured there there was conflict as well as well at some stage but
the hindu sector movements have matured extremely well so they sit well with each other they don't
undermine either don't try and kind of overpower each other don't try and score points with each
other so they coexist nicely this is the modern india the many sectors coexist in a nice friendly
manner so suppose i'm a vaishnava devotee but i go to shiva temple i hold my hands and say ah here
people think of ultimate reality shiva that is their way so it doesn't cause any conflict or kind
of loss of interest for me one vishnu i carry on living vision but at the same time it's recognized
other people have different deities to focus on i recognize it and i encourage it so i say fine we
are in a way kind of encouraging each other saying this is your wonderful this is my way oh this is
wonderful this is the mature sectarian movement of the hindu tradition good majority of them are
like that but we also have i must really point a finger we also have some very cultish movement how
do you know it's a cult they will again just like the abrahamic tradition they will say this is the
only way the other hindu ways are secondary they are demigods when you hear stuff like that walk
away from them this is a cultish movement they have lost track of the central teaching of hindu
tradition which says many ways to be spiritual you can say vishnu shiva mother goddess my essential
nature is god focus on any of the pathways and progress spiritually so if one is saying no this
is the only way otherwise you all all of you are lost this is called exclusivism and whenever any
hindu movement talks about exclusivism means we alone are right the rest of you are wrong or
partially wrong then run away that's a cult you see you've seen this in the abrahamic tradition
for example the sunnis and the shias have great problem even though they're both from the same
tradition they have great problem the roman catholics and the protestants or the anglicans had
the same issue they were fighting northern ireland they're fighting for you know hundreds of years
so this exclusivism shows a cultish attitude and hindus fortunately thankfully have matured
not cultish anymore but there are a few pockets of cultish movements and i definitely criticize them
because they are undermining the central principle of hinduism which is pluralism many ways to be
spiritual this is your way good for you carry on to your destination stop bothering the others
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