On Wednesday 01 Aug 2007 8:06 pm, Shyam Visweswaran wrote: > animism is not a very > prominent or distinctive feature of Hinduism.
Shyam, I would dispute that. Hindus show reverence to animals (cows, snakes, monkey) and inanimate entities like rivers, and books. Trees are revered. Every Hindu house gets a Tulsi (Basil) in its yard. Every pooja (ritual of adoration) involves preparing an inanimate (stone, clay wood or metal) idol with a bath, dressing, decoration and food and the spirit of the God in question is invited to occupy the place of the idol for the duration of the pooja. ( I have translations of the mantras of some) Unless I am mistaken - these are very very animistic beliefs. shiv
