Abstract

Hindu spirituality has been misunderstood as literature, history, or mysticism. In reality, it looks at the cosmos as an “all-inclusive” system of a network of relationships, interconnected and without a firm foundation. What connects fish to turtles and the rose to the apple and all four of them to me and me to you? Science has been trying to find answers to this question. Hindu spirituality has been in search of answers to the above question for centuries and established the theory of Brahman or the theory of shakti “Energy,” which is comparable to the scientific String Theory. It provided the scientific foundation for understanding the dynamic nature of existence and the connectivity and interdependence between diverse existents on a biological and socio-cultural level. Due to its evolutionary development over a long period, Hinduism created diverse spiritualties that are dependent on timely needs. The unique features of this ever-changing, socio-cultural-religious tradition are acceptance of diverse ideas, their eclectic adaptation, and skillful creation of a new syncretic spirituality. Since it is inclusive of diverse philosophies—orthodox, heterodox, monistic, and pluralistic—and reflective of universals and particulars, it can help understand the worldly reality of paradoxes and irrationalities, and the modern-day problems of separatism and differentialism arising from globalization and diversity. The scope of the paper is limited to the investigation of the distinguishing features of Hindu spirituality, which is useful for understanding the cosmological and cosmopolitan nature of life required for global citizenship in the twenty-first century.