The inner path of Hinduism, the mystical path of the East, is the world’s oldest religion. It is also one of the
least understood in the West.
Hinduism is the fount from which all the world’s mystics have drunk whether they knew it or not. It is the
oldest source of the idea that latent in each one of us is the self that is God. Hinduism gives the first stepby-step instructions on how to realize or become one with God. It teaches that there are many paths to
salvation and that each of us should choose the path that best suits are temperament.
The inner path in Hinduism is a well-marked one, and yet to the casual observer it may appear to be lost in
a mire of superstition and the rote worship of many gods. Unlike other world religions, Hinduism has no
founder. Its origins are obscure. The earliest Hindu texts, the Vedas, say that they were given by God to
seven seers at the dawn of time.
Since the 18th century, scholars have believe that Hinduism was rooted in primitive nature worship. The
Vedas contain prayers to a multitude of gods, leaving many with the impression that Hinduism is
polytheistic. It is not until later texts, the Upanishads, that the idea of the God within is clearly stated.
Scholars think the Upanishads were written between the 8th and 4th centuries BC they are the root
mysticism in all the world’s religions. We find echoes a them in Buddhism, Taoism, Sufism, mystical
Christianity, and Judaism.
The Upanishads tell us “that which is Supreme Brahman, the Self, the great support of the universe, subtler
than subtle, eternal, that alone thou art. Thou art that alone.” This affirmation, “that Thou art”, Tat tvam asi,
sums up the inner path of Hinduism: You are Brahman.