Explore Hinduism
Bansi Pandit
Heart of Albion Press 2005 @ http://www.hoap.co.uk/explore.htm
Book Review by: Balgrim Ragoonanan (
[email protected])
In Explore Hinduism, Bansi Pandit painstakingly organizes the study of Hinduism into a simple but meaningful and stimulating reading manual. He makes the complex but dynamic and penetrating subject of Hinduism easily approachable.
It is said that it takes more than a lifetime of reading and comprehending the subject of Hinduism, whose voluminous body of literature most likely surpasses that of every other religion. The complexities of unraveling and explaining all the esoterics, mysteries and philosophies of Hindu scriptures and literature is an enormous task for any one single person, but Bansi Pandit has achieved this goal. He easily makes the subject of Hinduism a sort of child's play in presenting it and making it more comprehendible to the average student who desires just an introductory grasp of the subject.
As Bansi Pandit puts it, "the ultimate goal of Hindu religious life is to transform ordinary human consciousness into divine consciousness." He summarizes Hinduism as the essence of a metaphysics whose "aim is not only to make people perfect beings on earth and/or reward them in heaven, but to make them in their very lifetime one with the ultimate reality, the eternal spirit, residing in the heart of every creature." In other words, the book further declares that the Hindu goal of liberation/salvation is achievable in any one lifetime on earth, and not necessarily in a Heaven after death.
In my opinion, Explore Hinduism is an excellent manual about Hinduism for all, but especially for the High School student, who in a hurry, may wish to understand the basics of Hinduism. I hope this book can find a place in all public and private schools and libraries. This title is a tribute to the Hindu character and spirit of humility, as it simplifies the basics of Hinduism, but provides the stimulus for a personal entry of inquiry for those wishing to understand in more depth the vast subject of Hinduism.
This book ia available from
[email protected] Balgrim Ragoonanan, MS, Sociology
Foster Care Director (Retd.)
Catholic Charities of the Archdioce of Chicago, IL, USA
