ABSTRACT
Experts widely agree on the characterization of Hinduism as ‘the most multifaceted religious entity currently known’.1 This spiritual ‘broadmindedness’ even induced one observer to call the term ‘Hinduism’ a misnomer:
The word Hinduism is not a self-description of an Indian religion but rather an invention of Europeans. It was supposed to label the religion of the Hindus, but unfortunately those who coined the term had insufficient knowledge about the religion. It was not realized rapidly enough that they had several religions. As a result Hinduism has subsequently been written and talked about as one of the major world religions. For some time it was thought that Hinduism would really exist. Today it is clear, though there is an unwillingness to admit it, that Hinduism is nothing more than an orchid cultivated by European scholarship. It is much too beautiful to be weeded, but it nevertheless remains a synthetic plant: it does not exist in nature.2
