Bhawuk, India and Hinduism

There is a daily experience of peace and harmony that has characterized India for thousands of years of recorded history (Bhawuk 2012: 144). In his chapter, Bhawuk (2012) discusses the general state of peace existent in India and details the contributory cultural factors. He goes on to say that this unique, continuing tradition of peaceful harmony arises through the diverse religions practiced there. This framework can be argued to offer hope for engendering peaceful coexistence in other regions of the world today.

Hindu adherents make up 80.5% of the Indian population (Bhawuk 2012: 140). Therefore, this religion can be argued to be an important contribution to the peacefulness of India throughout history. Hindu adherents pray for happiness and health for everybody, everywhere. They wish that all may see only auspicious events and that no one may be unhappy. They pray for peace, as well as ever-increasing peace, everywhere. Therefore, in the Indian culture, peace is an important part of daily life. To emphasize its importance, it is chanted or prayed for on every auspicious occasion by its Hindu populace (Bhawuk 2012: 139).

India is consequently often represented as a culture of peace, peace that has existed for thousands of years in spite of the presence of many conflicts and wars recorded in its history. This is commendable as, according to the Indian census data from 2001, India is also one of the most diverse countries, with respect to religion, and practitioners of most world religions can be found there, including Islam and Christianity (Bhawuk 2012: 140). Additionally, Hindus, Sikhs, Buddhists and Jains are all indigenous to India, and have traditionally lived harmoniously. The question is, how? Even when kings championed Buddhism in India, they did not use swords to convert people to their faith, but practiced nonviolence (Bhawuk 2012: 141).

The history of religious violence and conflict can be contended to arise through cultural distance and a lack of knowledge of other religious beliefs (Bhawuk 2012: 144). Ultimately, education or having knowledge of other cultures is greatly important in terms of peacebuilding. There is great value placed on dialog in providing an understanding and appreciation of others. For instance, one of the cognitive tools used by Indians to create harmony and peace is the simultaneous acceptance of the opposites (Bhawuk 2012: 145). In other words, dialog is the Indian way of creating peace. Additionally, India is one of the few countries that celebrates religious diversity by granting national holidays to celebrate import festivals, including Christian, Muslim and Buddhist holidays (Bhawuk 2012: 151).

Additionally, if a person is not at peace with himself or herself, he or she is likely to create conflict rather than bring peace between communities and nations. Gandhi, for example, was at peace within and in his interpersonal interactions, and that is why he could bring peace to communities and nations (Bhawuk 2012: 140). According to Ragini and Wagner (2009: 303), Gandhi had “a sharp understanding of the Indian psyche which helped him to create a powerful repertoire of symbolic representations associated with non-violence.” This legacy of non-violence, which was both spiritual and political, played an important role in India and the world. However, it is not accepted by all.

Although Bhawuk ultimately argues India, and therefore the Hindu culture, to be largely peaceful, Ragini and Wagner dispute this in terms of fundamentalism. Hinduism is not exempt from such fundamental tendencies (300). Fundamentalism can be defined as “the activity of a group that is directed against the dissolution of traditional order in the course of modernization and that is characterized by a discernible pattern of religious militancy” (Ragini & Wagner 2009: 300). For example, Hindutva fundamentalism in contemporary India depends on rejecting the symbolism of Gandhi’s non-violence, which is widely esteemed as a landmark achievement in the course of India’s struggle for independence from the British Empire. The prevailing social representation of Gandhi and his politics of non-violence are thus condemned to be secularist and anti-Hindu by this group.

So, India, supposedly the most peaceful country on earth, is not exempt from fundamentalism and violence or religious prejudice. If this country cannot sustain peace, then what hope is there for the rest of the world? No country or person is truly selfless and at peace with one another. There will always be religious disagreements or people with fundamental views. The best we can hope for or aim for is to create a world of dialog. Although there is some form of religious violence in India following Ghandi’s rein, India still has a lot to teach the rest of the world in terms of communication, acceptance and dialog.

References

Bhawuk, D. (2012). India and the Culture of Peace: Beyond Ethnic, Religious, and Other Conflicts. In D. Landis and R.D. Albert. Handbook of Ethnic Conflict, International and Cultural Psychology. Springerlink Online.

Ragini, S. and W. Wagner. (2009). Cultural Mechanics of Fundamentalism: Religion as Ideology, Divided Identities and Violence in Post-Gandhi India. Culture and Psychology 15(3): 299-236.