Hinduism: Religion or Way of Life?

httpvh://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUrMErdMdzY

This video is based on the Hinduism Today publisher’s desk “Hinduism: Religion or Way of Life?”
Additional material has been added to further develop the topic.
From Satguru Bodhinatha Veylanswami:
The first section addresses the question “Isn’t Hinduism simply a way of life?” This is a question I am frequently asked at satsang gatherings. It invariably makes for spirited discussion, as there is avid interest and a lively diversity of opinion.
Years ago, Swami Chinmayananda, founder of Chinmaya Mission, gave a dramatic lecture on the subject (bit.ly/hinduism-way-of-life). Here are key excerpts: “‘Hinduism is not a religion. It is a way of life.’ You can today hear it in every drawing room wherever youngsters are sitting and discussing Hindu culture and India. You can hear them blabbering this quotation: ‘Hinduism is totally different; it is not a religion. Then what is it? It is a way of life.’ This is a false statement! No thinking man will accept it or give it any credit at all. What an abominable stupidity is wrapped up in such an attractive
sentence! ‘Hinduism is not a religion; it is a way of life.’ Oh! I see! And Christianity? It is a religion? Oh! So it is not a way of life? What is religion without a way of life? How can there be a way of life without religion? Think! It is a self-contradiction to say it is not a religion; it is a way of life. If Hinduism is not a religion, it is only a way of life; then
Christianity is a religion and therefore no way of life. What is religion without a way of life? Does not a religion guide us in our world, in our life? So, it is an empty, highsounding statement.”