Leaving Hinduism

• To know whether you have left a country or not, it is essential to know where the border is. Such a demarcation of territory is contingent in the sense that the demarcation could have been drawn elsewhere—and probably has. Sometimes, the borders are first drawn on a map to create the country in question and then are implemented later. Sometimes, however, the boundaries grow organically through centuries of warfare and cultural negotiations and follow the natural terrain of rivers and mountains. The notion of Hinduism as a world religion has both this artificial, neat character and the fuzzy boundaries resulting from the accumulation of religious ideas, practices, and cultural traits over millennia. As Knut Jacobsen remarks in his introduction to Brill’s Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Hinduism “does not refer to a homogeneous religious tradition but a conglomerate of rituals, religious narratives, art, music, institutions, traditions, theologies, artefacts, and activities” (Jacobsen 2013). Therefore, leaving “Hinduism” is both easy and exceedingly challenging.

Subject headings

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Religionshistoria (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- History of Religions (hsv//eng)

HUMANIORA  -- Filosofi, etik och religion -- Religionsvetenskap (hsv//swe)

HUMANITIES  -- Philosophy, Ethics and Religion -- Religious Studies (hsv//eng)

Publication and Content Type

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