Education guides inner meaning by Jiv Parasram

"Well, first of all, Hindus have a pantheon of gods."

These words have been lectured to me all too often by teachers.

During class, I would often attempt to gain enough time to explain the concepts of Hinduism. It was usually glazed over by overworked and underpaid instructors trying to compact the world's spiritual history into a neat package palatable to the western intellectual diet.

Perhaps living as a Hindu in Canada is a challenging reality. However, I know no other.

I was born in Ottawa, a Canadian citizen. Soon I was living in Dartmouth, N.S., — I was the personification of "minority". Dartmouth is a beautiful town, with beautiful weather, beautiful parks and a quaint collection of world religion books in its libraries.

I would have to search through the mythology section (located close to the religion section) to find in oversized picture books (after several chapters of Ancient Greek and Egyptian myths), finally the Hinduism chapter! This was a major part of my initial religious education.

There was no denying that I was different from other children in my area. The pigment was a dead giveaway. What was probably a minority complex would act as a catalyst in my need for knowledge about Hinduism.

Religious discoveries made

My parents and brothers were all born in Trinidad. I am a Canadian, and the teasing joke was to constantly remind me of this. So, I decided that if I was to fit in with my family culturally, I had to find a common link. An ancient link. It would be much easier than fitting in at school.

There, we would sing Christmas carols every year and I would try to figure out what exactly Diwali, the Hindu festival of light, meant. The truth was that I was no different than anyone to whom I might now explain my take on Hinduism. My knowledge was based on encyclopaedias and what I could learn from my parents, who never talked much on the topic.

I couldn't read Hindi, nor can I now, so my reading was very limited. There was nowhere that I felt I belonged that might teach me about the religion, therefore I decided it best to learn myself. After some time, my father noticed my interest in the religion and went to great lengths to ensure that I had the resources available to read. My whole family was very supportive.

And I certainly read. The Ramayana, The Upanishads, The Rig Veda, The Mahabharata — I soaked up as much ancient philosophy as I could. And that's when it began to make sense.

Spirituality trumps dogma

In Canadian youth, religion tends to be taboo. Spirituality is in, dogma is out. Unfortunately, yoga is also trendy and, with it, a very basic vaguely linked reference to Hinduism.

To avoid that, I have a further need to become informed on my found heritage. For me, the only way I could look at the religion was from a relatively objective standpoint as philosophy.

This is the way I believe I can truly live as a religious Hindu. Like most Hindus, I believe there are many paths to God. As to how I define "God" is another matter altogether.

Perhaps I'm a product of the information age. But when I can watch the Robert Dziekanski Taser incident at Vancouver's airport on YouTube, I can't believe that there is a physical god who chooses to not intervene.

I've come to interpret the teachings of Hinduism as a certain laissez-faire energy held within every living thing in the universe. To explain this to the followers of Dawkins is not always the easiest, not to mention those of other faiths.

Yet in my generation, I see so much potential and so much hope in the embracement — not mere tolerance — of diversity. The patronizing tone of the past will someday die with the unnecessary dogma of wayward lecturers of religion, and reincarnate itself into a release of acceptance — not of god's way, but of our own. What is more divine than human harmony?

Had I grown up in Trinidad, my views on my religion would more than likely be identical to that of my cousins back in Mc Bean village. Not wrong, but not my own.

Canada is part of who I am, is me. Had I not grown up here, in crowded isolation I would not have found my own path and possibly discarded the religion as archaic dogma without ever truly examining it.

"Well, first of all Hindus have a pantheon of Gods." Whatever makes you happy.

Jiv Parasram is a third-year student at the University of Toronto working towards a double major in international relations and drama.

Read more at CBC News: Where is God?