Let us get very clearly to the point of how dare you comment on Hinduism and our traditions without studying the Shastras in Sanskrit in some Gurukul etc? This is a Protestant mindset of no intermediaries!

First of all, I am impressed with your sympathy with Catholicism :)

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Secondly the Protestant mindset (or the Wahabbi, Ahl-e-Hadith or evening Quranist one despite many nuances) while ignoring intermediaries still believe in literal interpretations.

That is very different from Hinduism where there is no one central book to follow anyway.

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I see Hindu Dharma as a religion of spiritual independence. You may not that is fine. I may learn Sanskrit at some point in my life, I may not. I don’t think a language stops me from thinking about these issues. I respect the ancients but I don’t think they are infallible.

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These issues have come up again and again. About Brahmos, Aryas, caste, about sex and sexual orientation etc. I refuse to concede any so-called Adhikara to someone unless he or she has earned my intellectual respect and sparked my spiritual curiosity. I will respect but disagree.

From Roy to Dayanand Saraswati to Gandhi to Modi to Yogi, they have all been a mix of heterodox and orthodox. Even Adi Shankaracharya who was called a Neo-Buddhist by some orthodox folks back then. This is a yin and yang and it is healthy. But there is both a yin and a yang.

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