Benefits प्रयोजनम्

Union and protection

  • The protective umbrella of hinduism can resist and push back rabid memes [Eg. Indonesian dayaks - NYT].

Fitness qualification

  • In its hard classical form, it meets this important qualification: One should never have alleigence to an ideology that reduces one’s (overall: individual/ group) fitness (in the biological sense).

Vaccination against bad dogma

  • A person or society not vaccinated with Chicken Pox is susceptible to Small Pox.
  • At a personal level, many have not had the typically hindu/ pagan experience of dogma *and transcending dogma* [an essential feature of the diverse Hindu tradition, unlike the book-centred Abrahamisms].
    • Deracinated atheist west-is-best rationalist pseudo-secular hindu-s do not realize the true value of being rooted in their own tradition. Not knowing the maxims “a known devil is better than an unknown angel”, and “There is no such thing as a blank slate”, they easily fall prey to comparatively worse alien dogmas.

Examples

  • Siddharth Dhar who turned into Abu Rumaysah, [WP]
  • Neil Prakash, also known as Abu Khaled Al Cambodi. [DM]
  • Others of intermediate intelligence, such as: G1.

Emotionally satisfied and responsible life

  • Elegant, well considered concepts such as rta, purushArtha-s, dharma, the beautiful rituals, art and literature enable Hindu to live a happy life, which is also responsible.
  • The hindu way of cultivating oneself is a good (perhaps gentler, more imaginative, more emotional) way of approaching life. So it provides an attractive alternative to crass materialism and various abrahamisms. Of course, this does not necessarily mean believing in the supernatural (when dealing in the Adibhautika realm).
  • One part of the hindu ethos is the fact that one cannot separate the spiritual from the secular. Feeling good is important, as are aesthetics. These can be cultivated with personal and state rituals.
  • One’s ancestral pagan tradition is the best structure for self cultivation and happiness.
    • Analogy: The soil of southern India is more suited for Sandal wood trees, which have prospered there for millennia, than that of England.

Life’s purpose, meaning

Religion, even when claiming to provide a reward at the end of a life as a result of actions, provides meaning and structure to life; and the religious may then feel some safety from feeling the pointlessness of life.

Greater effectiveness

Religious beliefs - especially polytheistic and animist ones - allow practitioners to externalize strength, creativity and inspiration - perhaps into deities. Thus, they assume the role of media rather than the originators of good work. Having externalized desirable qualities, they are able to negotiate with these qualities and tolerate setbacks.

Being able to tolerate repeated setbacks by rationalizing them as being acts of deities, and being dedicated to serving their deities, the religious are able to achieve remarkable dedication in their work.

Connection and a sense of belonging

  • An attractive aspect of the dharmika civilization is its (x> 5000 years) continuity: from the days of the vedas to the present. The sentiment of having deep roots in this civilization is important to me and my identity. भद्रप्राचीनाग्नेस् स्फुलिङ्गो ऽस्मि, खलु?
  • I also feel a deep sense of gratitude for my ancestors, regardless of their various philosophical inclinations, for preserving and transmitting the vEdas, their view of the human condition and psychology, and the rituals I use.

[Incomplete]

Why fight?

“Avidya: Hinduism will survive, no need to do anything.” Vidya: “Every great thing perishes if its heirs are petty. –Oswald Spengler” [OGS16]

Also see general comments on the problem with monotheism.

For context in India see here.