What does Hinduism tell its followers

1. That whatever path one chooses, what ever aspect one likes, “Ekam sat viprah bahudha bhavanti” –Truth is one, sages call it by different names.

2. That variation is the very law of the nature. Hence all the humans cannot be forced into following the same method or path. As the nature both internal and external of no two are same, it is natural that their paths too will be different.

3. It teaches that fights in the name of God will not stop by making al the ppl follow only one form of God – by saying that ours is ‘universal brotherhood’, and become an enemy of every person who opposes this ‘universal brotherhood’(irony of that word).

It teaches that fundamentalism will not be gone by making all ppl uniform, but only by teaching ppl to respect diversity, coz fundamentalism is not coz of a person being different from us, but coz of a persons inability to tolerate the idea that someone can think and act different from him.

4. It teaches that religion is not about rituals, nor about doctrines, nor about temples- they are secondary details. It teaches that religion does not lie in theories, but in practice.

5. It teaches that there are four valid goals for a human life: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha. The ultimate and highest aim of a man is Moksha.

6. It teaches that there are 4 main stages in a person’s life: Balya, Bramacharya, Grihasta, Sannyasa.

7. It teaches through Karma Yoga to “do the work, leaving the results to Him”. It thus teaches that work is not about failure, nor about success, but about perfection. We do what is our duty; we do it with perfection, and full dedication, and leave the results to Karmaphala vidhata.

8. Through the law of Karma, it teaches us that our present is result of our past actions, and thus it also naturally follows that our future is the result of our present actions.

Karma is a warning – as it tells that no bad act of ours will ever go unanswered.
Karma is a assurance – as it assures that no good act or thought will ever go wasted, without making the intended result.
Karma is fate – as our present is decided by our past karmas.
Karma is opportunity – as the future is result of our present actions, and hence we have ability to make our own destiny.

9. Sri Krishna teaches us “that a man ought to live in this world like a lotus leaf, which grows in water but is never moistened by water; so a man ought to live in the world — his heart to God and his hands to work.
It is good to love God for hope of reward in this or the next world, but it is better to love God for love's sake, and the prayer goes: "Lord, I do not want wealth, nor children, nor learning. If it be Thy will, I shall go from birth to birth, but grant me this, that I may love Thee without the hope of reward — love unselfishly for love's sake." One of the disciples of Krishna, the then Emperor of India, was driven from his kingdom by his enemies and had to take shelter with his queen in a forest in the Himalayas, and there one day the queen asked him how it was that he, the most virtuous of men, should suffer so much misery. Yudhishthira answered, "Behold, my queen, the Himalayas, how grand and beautiful they are; I love them. They do not give me anything, but my nature is to love the grand, the beautiful, therefore I love them. Similarly, I love the Lord. He is the source of all beauty, of all sublimity. He is the only object to be loved; my nature is to love Him, and therefore I love. I do not pray for anything; I do not ask for anything. Let Him place me wherever He likes. I must love Him for love's sake. I cannot trade in love." (this points copy-pasted from the works of S.V)

10. It divides the religion into two parts: Shruti and Smriti.

To any law, there are two aspects –ones which are eternal and ones which differ from time to time, depending on the needs of the time.

Shrutis (Vedas) are those parts which do not depend on time, place, and person and are universal in nature. They are thus eternal.

Smritis (Itihasas, Puranas, Smritis) are parts which depend on time, place and person.

Thus we have the liberty to accept which are still relevant, reject what we feel are redundant, or even to make new smritis according to the needs of the time.

11. It tells it followers that religion is about Truth, and not what we feel is truth, but rather what IS truth. Hence it is not opposed to, or rather encourage being scientific, coz ppl who claim that they are ‘true’, but at the same time shy away from any form of testing are contradicting themselves.

12. Quoting Swami Vivekananda from here :
Above all, there is another thing to remember.. that religion, in India, means realisation and nothing short of that. "Believe in the doctrine, and you are safe", can never be taught to us, for we do not believe in that. You are what you make yourselves. You are, by the grace of God and your own exertions, what you are. Mere believing in certain theories and doctrines will not help you much. The mighty word that came out from the sky of spirituality in India was Anubhuti, realisation, and ours are the only books which declare again and again: "The Lord is to be seen". Bold, brave words indeed, but true to their very core; every sound, every vibration is true. Religion is to be realised, not only heard; it is not in learning some doctrine like a parrot. Neither is it mere intellectual assent — that is nothing; but it must come into us. Ay, and therefore the greatest proof that we have of the existence of a God is not because our reason says so, but because God has been seen by the ancients as well as by the moderns. We believe in the soul not only because there are good reasons to prove its existence, but, above all, because there have been in the past thousands in India, there are still many who have realised, and there will be thousands in the future who will realise and see their own souls. And there is no salvation for man until he sees God, realises his own soul.”