Hindu Encyclopedia Released

Asked what his conclusion was after completing such a comprehensive study of Hinduism, [Swami Harshananda] responded: "After go- ing through so many books and studying the subjects properly, I came to the conclu- sion that ours is a very great religion, a very wonderful religion. There is nothing that is wanting in it. It is like [Sri Ramakrishna] said of a mother feeding her various children. The basic materials are the same-rice is there, sugar is there, dal is there, milk is there. The mother of the house, depending upon the capacity of the children, prepares different dishes from these same ingrethents. Just so, Hinduism has also given various methods of philosophical systems of sadhana (spiritual disciplines) and upasana (worship). Ultimately, all of them lead to the same sense of experience. Suppose I don't like advaita, the nondualist philosophy. Then there is dvaita, dualism, or vishishtadvaita, between the two. If people are serious and sincere about their personal ethical and spiritual life, there is plenty of material in our religion. There is no need to search for it elsewhere. Hinduism is not a bundle of superstitions. It is a quite well organized, scientific religion. It was discovered and rediscovered by the various sages through contemplation and meditation. Only then they gave it to us. That is why our philosophical systems are called darshanas. They are not just intellectual philosophical systems. Darshana means seeing and experiencing. Through prayer and meditation they experience it and are able to see the truth through the inner eye and then present it in the way people can understand."