Imagine a first-grade student looking at Ph. D. level curriculum; it would seem confusing! Hinduism is comprehensive. It has many Scriptures (4Vedas, 108Upanishads, 18 primarypuranas, 18upa-puranasfor each primarypurana,Itihasas, the Bhagavad Geeta,tantras,samhitas,upa-samhitas, and 1000s of othershrutiandsmrutitexts; and many other books, compositions and commentaries by theacharyas) that provide a profound system of attaining complete and direct knowledge about the Divine. Even a literal study of Hinduism's many Scriptures can take lifetimes. Add to that the fact that most scriptures of Hinduism are in Sanskrit, which needs several years to master. Otherwise, one is often at the mercy of widespread mis-translations by non-Hindu (often anti-Hindu) so-called scholars. Hinduism can be confusing to one who has not studied and understood its basic principles, which are like the grammar to understand a language. Hence, rather than trying to understand Hinduism with one's own limited intellect, it is important to learn it from an authority on the subject, that is, Hindu Saints/Gurus. They can make us well versed in the “grammar” to understand and live Hinduism (Dharma).
I think newcomers often find it confusing because they use an Abrahamic lens and see it as much smaller in scope than it actually is. They don't see the vastness, and try to 'take it all in' which is impossible. One cannot live in 20 cities simultaneously, learning all the traffic routes, great restaurants, etc. A person has to live in a single city at a time. That's why sampradaya is so important. It's not all that complicated IF you narrow it down. Another analogy would be to learn 'Indian' as a language. No, there is no such thing. You have to learn Hindi, Gujarati, Bengali, Malayalam, etc. You can't learn them all simultaneously.
Even its confusing for me, sometimes i find it really good when it talks about eternity but sometimes i get bogged down with heavens and hells concepts which is part of major religions around the world. what i like about Hinduism (as far as i know) i can question anyone and anything till i get satisfied..
Good to hear. I'm lucky in that I never was part of the heaven/hell idea, and it made no sense. So as part of the narrowing down idea with Hinduism, as soon as a came across a school with even the vaguest hint of that, I just went, "Well, that ones not for me," and moved on. But it's so true, the last part you said. if you ask 10 Hindus from different sects the same questions, you'll get 10 different answers. Chances are pretty good that one of them will really resonate with you.
