Hinduism is the world's oldest religion, going back to the dawn of history in the ancient Vedas, and the third largest religion after Christianity and Islam with over a billion followers. It is the largest of non-Abrahamic religions and the basis of India's dharmic traditions that teach karma and rebirth. Hinduism has given the world Yoga and Vedanta, showing the depth of its spiritual practices and insights into the nature of consciousness that we can explore within ourselves.
Yet Hinduism remains the most misunderstood of the world's major religions as it follows a very different view of humanity and the divine. It recognizes life and consciousness as pervading the entire universe, which has many worlds, beings, and levels of awareness from our material Earth to pure Being itself.
There is a mistaken tendency to reduce Hinduism to an India- based religion-one has to be born into-not having any universal view. Hinduism has from its origins been based upon an inherent universal view that embraces all existence and is said to take on different forms in every world system and in every world age (yuga). This is explained in its many profound philosophies and paths of devotion and meditation taught by its numerous great gurus and yogis.
