Good deal of attention has been paid of late to the Theoretical aspects of our Hindu Religion, and most people are familiar with the various systems of Hindu Philosopy - of the Dvaita, Visishtadvaita and Advaita aspects in particular. And in such a study, one is likely to lose sight of the practical aspect of the Religion, and it is to this aspect, 1 wish to-day to draw your particular attention.

Difficulties In Understanding Hindu Religion

To the ordinary foreigner, Hinduism appears as a fantastic combination of the grossest superstitions and the most dreamy speculations. Even the sympathetic student of our religion, though he is prepared to admire and appreciate particular aspects of our philosophy, looks down with pity on our so-called errors. And one Christian friend put it to me whether, in Hinduism, we have any real and practical religion. Of course, to the onlooker, the contrast between Temple-worship and its attendant festivals and the austerer practices of the Sanyasins, the ablutions and pujah of pious people and the 'Tatvamasi' and 'Ahambrahmasmi' meditations of others, cannot but be bewildering. Even some of us are apt to look upon so much labour and money spent on Temples and in Temple-worship as so much waste, or we are prepared to relegate these practices to the illetirate lower orders, as we are pleased to call them. Can all these various practices have any real meaning and purpose or can they not? Can all these be reduced to certain definite principles or not? These are the questions which I' propose to discuss in this paper.