The most sacred symbol in Hinduism is the OM. It is not a name. It presents God The Absolute, which is referred to as Brahman (speak: bram-han). Nothing can be said about Brahman except that Brahman is the only 'thing' that exists, the only thing that has true realily, the only thing that is permanent (eternal) rather than peripheral and transient. The visible world is only a shadow, a reflection, of Brahman's reality.

Brahman has no attributes, but we say that Brahman IS sat - chit - ananda (existence - consciousness - bliss). Brahman does not engage with the visible world, Brahman does not 'act' in any way. Brahman only exists. Brahman is more real than we are. We do not have to believe in Brahman. We have more reason to doubt our own existence than that of Brahman.

We do not pray to Brahman, we merely try to be aware of Brahman and stand in awe and respect of Brahman. (We cannot use the words 'he', 'she', 'him', etc, when referring to Brahman.) It is the ultimate goal of Hindu life to become fully aware of Brahman, and when we have achieved that goal, after innumeracle cycles of birth, death and rebirth (reincarnation), we achieve moksha (liberation of this cycle) and become one with Brahman.

Meanwhile, en route to that ultimate goal, it is our duty to lead the best lives we possibly can (let the good we do outweigh the bad we inevitably do), and we worship God and gods in a more personal, more accessible, more tangible form. Such worship and customs help us as individuals to gradually improve our life styles, to acquire a sense of what is good and bad, and to purify our minds and hearts in such a way that, with time, we can at least get an inkling of the concept of Brahman, handed down to us by our ancient sages, the Rishis.

The worship of a personal god, and the associated festivals and customs, also help our communities to stay together and to have common points of reference. God can be worshipped in many different forms and manifestations. These manifestations are conveniently referred to as 'gods', and there can be any number of them.

When Christians say that they worship "one God in three persons (Father, Son and Holy Ghost)", we can say that we worship one God in a million persons (our many gods).

Brahman, the Absolute, manifests as Ishvara, God the Personal. You can not call to Brahman, but you can call to Ishvara.

Ishvara manifests in many forms, of which today the most widely worshipped are Vishnu, Shiva and Devi.

All Hindus respect all gods of their different communities, but each community, each family and each individual has a particular chosen god to whose worship and customs they give preference (ishtha devata = the chosen deity). Concentrating on our one chosen deity (god) is important so that we do not dissipate our efforts. But the Jewish, Christian and Muslim concept of 'false gods' is alien to us. It makes no difference whether we worship one god or another, the sun, the earth, a tree, our guru, our husband, wife, teacher, or guest, a beggar, or even our bank account, because all prayers, no matter who they are ostensibly addressed to, reach the one God. God has a very efficient mail forwarding system.

The same notion exists (albeit well covered) in Christianity:

• "Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, 'Lord, when saw we thee hungry, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?'
  And the King shall answer and say unto them, 'Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.' (Matthew 25:37)
• Likewise the Spirit also helps our infirmities: for we know not what we should pray for as we ought: but the Spirit itself makes intercession for us with unutterable groanings. (Romans 8:26)
  

Similar to Hindus, who worship different aspects of God, by worshipping different gods, Christians may, by personal preference, or at different times of the year, particularly worship Jesus as a baby, Jesus the teacher and healer, the suffering Jesus, the risen Christ, the Holy Ghost; or the Madonna of Fatima rather than the Madonna of Lourdes or Loreto; or a variety of saints, whose example helps them to lead a better life and to come closer to God.

Vishnu incarnates from time to time and in different forms whenever evil gets the upper hand on this earth. He does not create a perfect world (that would be unrealistic), but he ensures that there is a reasonable balance between the power of good and evil. Only Brahman is pure and perfect. In this relative world, good and evil will always be mixed and difficult to keep apart.

The two of these incarnations of Lord Vishnu (and their life stories) which are most widely worshipped are Lord Rama and Lord Krishna.

Whereas Christians believe that God incarnated only once, in the form of Jesus Christ, and whereas Muslims believe the The Holy Prophet Mohammed was the last and definitive prophet, Hindus allow for any number of incarnations of God to appear on this earth, as and when required, and they may, or they may not, be recognised as such.

Lord Vishnu's particular function is to uphold the moral order in this world. He is called the preserver.

Lord Shiva is the destroyer. Destruction is part of life. We do not abhor it. For the world to be renewed what is old has to be destroyed to create space for new growth. This is divine activity. Lord Shiva represents this function of God. Christians have a corresponding saying: "Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit." (John 12:24)

We also worship god in female form, as The Devi (the goddess). This worship is particularly popular in Bengal. The Devi manifests in many different forms and under many different names, such as Parvati, Sati, Durga, Kali, Lakshmi. She is also referred to as Mata (the universal mother), and many stories are told about her great power.

The stories that are told about each God are extremely important because they contain the lessons that the worship of this God provides. There is a symbiotic relationship between us and our gods, and we need each other for our continued existence. A god who is no longer worshipped 'dies' (as has happened to some ancient Vedic deities, such as Rudra whose worship was later absorbed into he worship of Shiva).

Worshipping a God means taking in the lessons associated with this God, absorbing them through prayer and meditation and using them in our daily life.

Among the most popular festivals are the following:

• Ram Naumi: The Birth of Lord Rama, incarnation of Lord Vishnu
• Krishna Janma Ashthami: The Birth of Lord Krishna, incarnation of Lord Vishnu
• Maha Shiva Ratri: The Great Night of Shiva (his wedding to Goddess Parvati)
• Nava Ratri and Durga Ashthami: The festival of nine nights in honour the Devi (Durga)
• Diwali: The festival of lights, celebrating the return of Lord Rama into his capital Ayodhya from fourteen years of excile and the beginning of the Golden Age of that city.

Let us return to the OM. It is said to be the primordial sound. As an indication of its sacredness (and not with any historical pretentions) we say that all sounds have developed out of this sound, and that all alphabets have arisen out of this symbol. It is based on the Sanskrit alphabet. The 3-like part represents the sound /a/, the loop on the right represents the sound /u/ and the dot in the tray represents the sound /m/. In pronunciation the sounds /a/ and /u/ (which used to be a diphthong in proto-Sanskrit) are contracted and become /o/ . When we chant it during our prayers, sometimes over several seconds, we extend the /o/ (and NOT the /m/ as westerners sometimes do).

Christians also identify God and his creation with a 'word', the Logos: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God (John 1:1)'.

The most beautiful and profound text about the OM is in one of our scriptures, the Mandukya Upanishad:

from Mandukya Upanishad, ch 1

(translated by Shearer and Russel, publ. Harper & Row, New York 1978)

Click here for condensed versions of this explanation, suitable for displays and leaflets.