The Role Of Hinduism In American Culture

Hinduism is a religion found throughout India with a mysterious origin that has been around for over three thousand years. It is arguable whether Hinduism is definitively monotheistic or polytheistic but the ultimate goal is to break the birth-death-rebirth cycle of samsara to achieve moksha and become the ultimate self- Brahman. Recently, Hindu ideology has made its way into American culture through the concept of karma and having a karmic self- one of the most important aspects in Hinduism, meaning all of your actions have rewards or consequences. Pushes from the Millennial generation have integrated more Hindu culture, like the use of Bindis, and a large “spiritual but not religious” feeling towards the transcendent. Hinduism has been prominent

Thanks to the British East India Trading Company, the founders of the United States also had ties with India. “Supercargo trading routes between North America and China and India required American employees to be stationed in both countries to manage trade operations” (Lucia). This led to relocation diffusion of ideas in both Christianity and Hinduism, throughout America in the early nineteenth century. One man, Rammohan Roy, “became the first Hindu whose monistic interpretations of Hinduism became popularized in the United States in 1828” (Lucia). Roy wanted to focus on scriptures and writings of Hinduism instead of the exotic aspects- like polytheism, the kama sutra, and more- so Americans would be more open to the idea of the religion. Primarily Christian Americans were still fascinated by the idea of Hinduism, but nevertheless the beliefs became seeds that would soon blossom. Ralph Waldo Emerson, father of the transcendentalist literary movement in the mid nineteenth century, was too fascinated by these Hindu ideals; however, Emerson took them to heart. In fact, transcendentalism itself was fueled by Hindu thinking. The movement “celebrated the spiritual potential of man by encouraging nonconformity so that, through a sense of individuality, man might be released from mass conditioning enough to intuitively experience God’s all-pervading oneness by personal efforts of unbiased and open-minded

To put that number in perspective, the number of Hindus that live in America is actually greater than the population of the entire state of Mississippi, which is quite the demographic. While Hinduism has spread mainly through the ways aforementioned, it is important to note that Hinduism has diffused through other ways in our modern culture. Religion is not everything to Indians, and while it does play a large role in their life, an income still must be made. The American dream is still alive and well, and many Indians will come to the United States to practice, especially doctors. Many operate in medically underserved communities, which allows them to spread their religion on a local scale and educate others about it. This has happened to me, as both my parents are in the medical field, and became good friends with an Indian doctor that practiced Hinduism. It’s how I first learned about the religion, and has helped me shaped my own personal religious views to this day, proving that this form of relocation diffusion does work, even on a small