This is a record of a discussion on another forum.

The four are also sometimes referred to as religions because they have their own revealed scriptures, temples, lineages, practices, the vast gulf of differences in philosophy, making them full and complete religions unto itself, having all he ingredients of a religion. In short they are independent of each other. Also included in Hinduism are the numerous, mostly 20th century, neo Hindu reform movements such as TM, Sai Baba, Ananda Marga, Arya Samaj, Brahmo Samaj, etc. All Hindus belong to one of the sects or groups. Balinese are recognised as Hindu because they accept the Vedas and their practices are near identical to other Hindus in India.

1) I believe in the divinity of the Vedas, the world's most ancient scripture, and venerate the Agamas as equally revealed. These primordial hymns are God's word and the bedrock of Sanatana Dharma, the eternal religion which has neither beginning nor end.

2) I believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.

3) I believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution.

4) I believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words and deeds.

5) I believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, spiritual knowledge and liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained. Not a single soul will be eternally deprived of this destiny.

6) I believe that divine beings exist in unseen worlds and that temple worship, rituals, sacraments as well as personal devotionals create a communion with these devas and Gods.

7) I believe that a spiritually awakened master, or satguru, is essential to know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry and meditation.

8) I believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore practice ahimsa, noninjury.

1) "Hindu", I think, should continue to signify a nationality/polity/ethnicity. It has traditionally been defined "as those people who live east of the Sindhu who are neither Muslim, Parsi, Jewish, or Christian," ... To me, Hinduism is like a massive (Indian) family. The difference between a family (like Hinduism) and an ideology (like Christianity) is that you can switch your ideology at will, but joining or leaving a family is considerably more difficult. There is plenty of room for disagreement even within a family, but this is why a family remains the same or changes as time goes on; ideologies change for different reasons, and are prone to internal division.

Beliefs? An orthodox Brahmin might believe in varnashrama; I do not. Practices? A farmer in Andhra might pray to Pochamma; I do not. Geography? What about the Balinese Hindus or the European converts? A moral or ethical ideal, like ahimsa? Well, you decide whether this works or not. Default non-Christian, non-Muslim, non-Parsi Indian? Tell that to some militant Dalits! Reverence in the Vedas above all else? Tell that to Dr. Loganathan!

A True Hindu is the One who follows the Karma with Bhakthi or devotion with descipline of Yoga and always eager to reach and receive the Divine knowledge of the Brahman through Jnana and intution, not just analytical scientific study alone. And one who is willing to discard all these when one has to Protect his own Faith, his Divine duties, his Guru, his father, his mother, his spouse, and his progeny [not just himself] - [here take her also in places of him].

Here, this is diffrent from the Western teaching of take care of yourself, do what pleases you, protect yourself and your faith. Please note, when one performs one's karma and lives the life without greed ot passion, one need not believe in a GOD or offer any prayers to HIM. There are well known atheists who also call themselves Hindus. One may believe in One God, Many god or in one form of the many form of gods, or the formless, just go beyond all that and ignore Its presence, and just perfor the duties as ordained with the faith that "If He is there, He will look after Us". So, to make it simple, in Vikram's way, if you feel you are a true Hindu, You are a Hindu. No other person should impose a definition nor a judgement on that.
Dr. Bala N. Aiyer (Apr 13, 2003)

Hindu is: A religion or Dharma or way of life. Comparisons are always made in like subjects or matters. Religions are to be equated and compared with religions and not with Dharmas or other social orders. Religion is a set of systems or disciplines that provide and satisfy the spiritual needs of the human mind ….A way to realization of God…..And to spread goodness in this world to combat evil tendencies of the mind bedeviled with animal instincts.

But Hindu does not come under this analogy as it encompasses various isms, religions and /or other social moorings connected with ethics, economics, duties and obligation of a human being towards his fellow beings and environment and other forms of life also, universally. So all those who stayed back in India [after partitioning] are a Hindu. Nation irrespective of the religion they practices or ism they follow.

1. Unlike Christianity, Buddhism, or Islam, and like Judaism, Hinduism is both a culture and a religion.

2. For many long centuries, and even today, the vast majority of Hindus become Hindus by virtue of being born of Hindu parents. But, aside from these genealogical or involuntary Hindus, there are also a number of voluntary Hindus (i.e. people born in other traditions who willingly choose to become part of Hindu culture, tradition, and religious framework. Indeed, it is in this context that the question "Who is a Hindu?" arises at all.

3. In thinking of affiliation to any religion, it is useful consider various dimensions. Let us consider these in the Hindu context: [Even for those who are born of Hindu parents, none of the following is obligatory. Even for those who embrace Hinduism, there is the option to accept some, and not necessarily, all that follows.]

(a) Revelational authority: In traditional Hinduism, the Vedas held this place. Most Hindu accept the authority of the Vedas (Sruti) as revealed spiritual knowledge.

(b) Doctrinal: The three most basic doctrines of Hinduism are (i) Law of karma. (ii) Reincarnation. (iii)Considering each living person as a spark of the Cosmic principle (Brahman). (iv) Multiple paths to divinity.

(c) Culture base: All adult Hindus are (should be) familiar with the story line and principal characters of the two great epics Ramayana and Mahabharata. They should observe at least one of the principal festivals of the tradition, such as Divali, Holi, Sivaratri, Ramanavami, Krishna Jayanti, etc.

(d) Knowledge base: All Hindus should be at least aware of the existence of the spiritual literatures known as the Bhagavad Gita and the Upanishads. All Hindus should be aware of at least some personal gods of the tradition: Brahma, Vishnu, Siva, Sarasvati, Lakshmi, Parvati, Ganesha, Siva, Rama, Krishna, Lakshmi, Sarasvati.Most birth-based Hindus are generally aware of the caste-affiliation of their parents, whether or not they accept the rules and values of the caste system. But this is fast changing.

(e) Sacraments: All Hindus should undergo at least one of several canonically prescribed sacraments which involve the ritual utterance of some mantras (in Sanskrit or in Tamil).

The general theory is that every Hindu accepts the rights of others to have their own belief.

While we work to define Hinduism and set a criteria to identify a Hindu, we can certainly know who is not a Hindu.

Hinduism become widespread in the Indian subcontinent and beyond in the ancient world not because it excluded other deities and practices, but because it accepted and included them. In particular, I refer to the tribal deities. Mariamman, Manasa Devi etc. were incorporated into the Hindu pantheon as forms of Devi Shakti. This is why tribal deities can also be considered as Hindu deities, and should not be considered as any less of a vision of the Paramatma.

"dalit culture for centuries they had their own Gods such as Elamma and Veerappa".