Hindu Society

Hinduism is often described as the world’s most ancient and sprawling religion. Its scriptures and teachings are voluminous and wide-ranging, addressing everything from science and history to philosophy, art and spirituality. Comparatively speaking, the Hindu teachings are uniquely inclusive rather than exclusive. Hinduism can be described as a collection of religions originating from Ancient India. For this reason, it is widely felt by Hindus that the term
‘Hinduism’ is not appropriate name for what it represents. The preferred terms are ‘Hindu
Dharma’ or ‘Sanatan Dharma’; ‘Sanatan’ meaning eternal and ‘Dharma’ can be translated as
truths, values or way of life. Rather than being restricted to one set of teachings given by one person, it is continuously evolving through divine seers(rishis) so that it is appropriate to the time, place and circumstance, while at the same time maintaining these eternal truths at its core. The teachings of these rishis have traditionally been transmitted aurally by religious teachers (gurus) through disciplic succession (parampara). Although these guru-disciple lineages continue to exist, these teachings have now been written down to form the various Hindu scriptures.

Hindus believe in the authority of the Vedas (the oldest Indian sacred texts) and the Brahmans (priests); the existence of an enduring soul that transmigrates from one body to another at death (reincarnation); and the law of karma that determines one’s destiny both in this life and the next.

**Hinduism on campus:**

We talked to the President, Kartik Joshi, who said that whilst the society is very active, they focus more on the cultural aspects of the society rather than the religious. He believes that cultural aspects play a larger role in peoples’ lives than religions do, and described the campus as largely secular.

Kartik says that he does not view this as a negative thing, saying that he believes it is necessary for individuals in a diverse community to listen to each others beliefs, but ultimately make their own choices.

### Vitals

– **President:** Kartik Joshi

– **Membership:** Around 130

– **Events:** Weekly religious ceremonies and social events such as religious dances, sporting competitions and community and volunteer work.

– **Aims: **To provide a cultural community as well as a religious society, that differentiates itself from other cultural societies by actively promoting values derived from the Hindu faith.
The Hindu society is a chapter of the National Hindu Students Forum (UK) which is an
umbrella organisation uniting the affiliated Hindu societies across the country. NHSF (UK) declares in its official slogan to protect, preserve, promote,and practice Hindu Dharma.
The term Hindu refers to a “civilisation” and the term Dharma refers to “sustainability”. The ethos of the British organisation is to seek and practice Hindu versions of sustainability and this is motivated by the teachings of Hindu Dharma given by many different Hindu scriptures, teachers, gurus, seers and other such sources. To follow Hindu Dharma is to be motivated by the Hindu civilisation’s teachings to sustain society, the enviroment, humanity, animals so that
all can be sustained as much as possible. This is something that many people of all
religions want.