If they won't become "Hindus", let them be "Vedists"

As many people know, I am of course not Indian but am mostly European by genetics with a healthy dose of Turkish by way of Italy, there were mass migrations for Turkey to Italy so that is not surprising. This brings up a few issues, the first is the question of conversion (or should we say reversion).  Some Hindus are totally against this idea and believe you should be born into Hinduism, other Hindus readily accepted and actually work to bring new races into the fold.  Another issue is how accepted and comfortable White, Black, Red and Yellow races feel within the "Hindu" mystic empire.

For those of us who are interested in making more and more converts to the eternal religion, there is something we all encounter again and again, and even non-missionary Hindus notice it; everyone wants to take Hinduism but not call themselves Hindus.  People of all races are known to go to India, get a Hindu guru, read Hindu texts, follow Hindu shastras and everything, yet they will bend over backward to invent new names for themselves other than "Hindu" and will make it very clear they are NOT HINDUS but some sect of schism.

We all know this is true because we all experience it.  But why is this harmful?  If you want to win, you have to march under one banner, if all us Vedic Dharmics call ourselves different names and fly separate flags, we will have no sense of unity and eventually we will all forget we are even united by anything at all, leaving us susceptible to dissolution and conquest. The problem is that the word "Hindu" too much implies the term "ethnic Indian", even many Hindus themselves make it clear that "Hindu" means India, and some want it to mean India only. 

Judaism and Christianity started in the Middle East, but neither religion has a strict Middle Eastern stigma but are considered world religions, the same is true for Islam.  When one converts to most other religions they are not usually taking on an entire ethnic identity and civilization but simply a philosophy and way of life that may tie them to a region in certain ways but in all other respects they are free to be their own ethnicity and nationality.  The word "Hindu" simply does not carry this connotation. 

Now I am not saying we should not use the word Hindu or call ourselves Hindus, I will always call myself Hindu because by definition that is what I am. What is Hinduism, what is Vedism, are they one and the same and can we use these terms strategically to maximize our impact. Hopefully many Hindus and many converts to Hinduism know that for the most part Hinduism is rooted in the Vedas, our central canonical texts.  Hopefully everyone also knows that there was a time when the followers of the Vedas were more academically properly called "Vedist" and the religion "Vedism" or "Vedicism", as well as "Historical Vedic Religion" and even "Ancient Hinduism", but why make any difference at all and how can this help us.

Modern Hinduism, which can also be called a form of Vedism if we please, arrived in waves and pieces and were preceded by different social and civilizational changes.  As we know, there was a time when the Arya of the early Vedas were situated in Norther India along the Indus River where they composed the four Vedas.  The four Vedas proper are better called Samhita Vedas as this divides them from latter addendums of philosophy and interpretation best known as Vedanta (Veda's End) which relies upon the Upanishads and other books.  Some refer to the religion which emerged from Vedanta as "Brahmanism" or "Vedantism" as there are many religious and social differences which appear between Vedanta and Vedism. 

This change in texts, books, philosophies and civilization happened yet again when the Arya and Vedists and Vedantist moved further into India where they encountered and absorbed much of the Indian tribal wisdom.  Tribal religions molded themselves around the Vedas and Vedanta and infused it with tribal knowledge.  This infusion led to the birth of "Modern Hinduism" which consists also of texts such as the Puranas and Epics and this is where what we call Hinduism got its Indian ethnic flavor such as the use of tribal idols, music, dance, architecture ect. What can be most properly stated is that "Hindusim is Vedism but Vedism is not Hinduism"; Hinduism encompasses Vedism (aka Ancient Hinduism) but Vedism does not encompass all of Hinduism (aka Modern Hinduism).

This brings us to a very controversial topic and that is that the Ancient Vedists are believed to have been a different ethnicity than modern day Indians.  The theory is that the Arya of the Old Veda were lighter skinned steppe people who resemble central Asians.  The idea is that as these Ancient Aryans moved south they began to intermix with the tribal people and created a new race, the Indian race.  There is an interesting tribe of people in Pakistan known as the Kalash People, they look much more central Asian than modern day Indians and they practice a form of Hinduism which is based on the Old Vedas, especially the Rig Veda, but they do not have the later additional texts which led to Brahmanism and later Hinduism proper; even though we can call these people Ancient Hindus and thus by default Hindus as Hinduism encompasses the Vedists.

Like it or not, this is the history that many people consider to be valid.  And that brings us to another sensitive topic, and that is the fact that many potential non-converts, especially whites, feel more comfortable associating themselves with the Vedic Religion, the Vedic people and the Vedic name as these have much less of a modern Indian overtone and are basically free from modern historical entanglements and national alliances. The point is this, when seeking to bring in new converts, we can without cynicism call ourselves Vedists and our religion "Vedism" as this is not a lie, Hinduism contains Vedism and Vedism is all called "Ancient Hinduism".  However among ourselves we will of course call ourselves Hindu and we can use the terms interchangeably depending on the circumstances.

I have heard people call Vedism and Hinduism "Sanata Vedic Dharma" which means the eternal religion of the Vedas, and I am sure we can all agree on that.  Hinduism, Brahmanism, Vedism (aka Vedicism) are all rooted in the Vedas and without the Vedas none of these exist.  However, Hinduism has the added advantage of encompassing the other two religions, while Vedism and Brahmanism are deficient in the matter.  If they become Vedists, they will eventually see that it is very useful to use the texts of Vedanta and than later Hinduism to understand and supplement their religious knowledge.  It is nearly impossible that anyone who enters "Hinduism" by way of Vedism will not be entranced by what the evolved version of the religion has to offer, and I know many of them will eventually call themsleves Hindus wholehearted, but this is what they were from the very beginning.