Hinduism's Influence
Quotes Basics Science History Social Other Search h i n d u i s m 's i n f l u e n c e o n w o r l d r e l i g i o h o m e c o n t e n t s n From the beginning of her history, India has adored and idealized, not soldiers and statesmen, not men of science and leaders of industry, not even poets and philosophers, who influence the world by their deeds or by their words, but those rarer and more chastened spirits, whose greatness lies in what they are and not in what they do; men who have stamped infinity on the thought and life of the country. To a world given over to the pursuit of power and pleasure, wealth and glory, they declared the reality of the unseen world and the call of the spiritual life. This ideal had dominated the Indian religious landscape for over forty centuries. Hinduism has thus had a long and continuous evolution and in the process has influenced all other major world religions. India, which is, in a sense, representation of the Asiatic consciousness, has never been isolated from the Western continent in spite of geographical, linguistic, and racial barriers. A large part of the world received its religious education from India. In spite of continuous struggle with superstition and theological baggage, India has held fast for centuries to the ideals of the spirit. Its influence or, at any rate, connection with Western thought, though not constant and continuous, has been quite significant.
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