Who is a Hindu? Answer...

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>From the Himalayan Academny (publishers of Hinduism Today) online:

 

The following nine beliefs, though not exhaustive, offer a simple

summary of Hindu spirituality.

 

1) I believe in the divinity of the Vedas, the world's most ancient

scripture, and venerate the Agamas as equally revealed. These

primordial hymns are God's word and the bedrock of Sanatana Dharma,

the eternal religion which has neither beginning nor end.

 

2) I believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both

immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.

 

3) I believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation,

preservation and dissolution.

 

4) I believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each

individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words and deeds.

 

5) I believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births

until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, spiritual knowledge

and liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained. Not a single

soul will be eternally deprived of this destiny.

 

6) I believe that divine beings exist in unseen worlds and that

temple worship, rituals, sacraments as well as personal devotionals

create a communion with these devas and Gods.

 

7) I believe that a spiritually awakened master, or satguru, is

essential to know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal

discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry and

meditation.

 

8) I believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and

therefore practice ahimsa, "noninjury."

 

9) I believe that no particular religion teaches the only way to

salvation above all others, but that all genuine religious paths are

facets of God's Pure Love and Light, deserving tolerance and

understanding.