Basic Aspects and Clinical Implications of Hinduism

Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest and largest religious traditions. For centuries, non-Hindus have spoken for Hindus and Hinduism in secular, university-based academic settings. For the past 30 years, Hindu and non-Hindu scholars influenced by postcolonial studies have questioned how Hinduism is represented in such settings. This chapter provides statistics on Hinduism, reviews dominant representations of Hinduism in religious studies and mental health scholarship, and critiques such representations for striving to impose conceptual unity on a vast diversity of human experiences. Mental health providers can learn most about what is relevant for individual Hindu patients by adopting the person-centered cultural formulation approach that affirms the value of dialogue similar to the Hindu tradition of samvāda.