Thanks Vishontar, atleast one person is with me! Here's a little excerpt about what the "real" hinduism is. I've broken into sections. GOD Hinduism believes in ONE God. It also accommodates the ideas of personal and impersonal God. They are different aspects or expressions of the same Divine Reality. God in His impersonal aspect is called Nirguna Brahman, and in His personal aspect He is called Saguna Brahman. In Depth about the Hindu Trinity: Saguna Brahman, who is the creator of this world, is omnipresent, all-knowing and all powerful. Saguna Brahman, even though sexless, can be addressed and adored by Hindus as both Mother and Father. Creation, preservation and destruction go hand-in-hand in this world. Saguna Brahman is not just the creator, but the preserver and destroyer also. The creator aspect of Saguna Brahman is called Brahma; the preserver aspect, Vishnu; and the destroyer aspect Shiva or Maheshwara. These three form the so-called Hindu Trinity. So do you see, it's ONE cosmic power, that is divided into three 'gods" but they are all One. Thats where most people think HInduism is Polythesistic. Vedas are actually against the ideas of IDOL WORSHIP. The hinduism today is totally different from the real santana dharma that was taught in the Vedas. WE WERE NEVER POLYTHEISTIC. Hinduism is not a religion in which it has ONE SIMPLE TEXT BOOK that you read from. It is philosophy, science and everything. YOu actually have to have brains to understand this religion. That is why illerate people who are made to believe things just out of mouths of others are worshipping stones and trees and water. IMPORTANT: Different powers or glories of God are personified through imagination and called Deities in Hinduism. Deities are not so many gods; they are personified expressions of the different powers and glories of the one and only God. THEY ARE PERSONIFIED. THATS WHY WE HAVE INDRA, KALI, LAKSHMI ETC. THEY DO EXIST, but they are peronification of BRAHMAN as BRAHMAN GOD OF WEALTH, BRAHMAN GOD OF DESTRUCTION, BRAHMAN GOD OF HEAVEN etc. IT'S JUST BRAHMAN. IDOL WORSHIP, IMAGE WORSHPPING: Some Hindus worship God through images. As God is intangible, tangible symbols of God, or images, are used by Hindus to establish mental communion with God. A Hindu who adores and worships God through images is fully aware that the images are not God Himself. They are only aids to God realization. IT IS ONLY AID. YOU DO NOT WORSHIP A STATUE, YOU WORSHIP THROUGH IT. ITS ONLY AN AID TO REALIZE GOD. My grandfather used to say that when you are young, it is easy for you to realize god by making him as a mere object, so then you worship a statue of ram, you worship shiva lingha, but once you get old and you realize the real essence of what is, you detach your self from those idols, an know that he is a cosmic power. the main point to understand is that brahman is everywhere. (DONT GET CONFUSED WITH BRAHMA or BRAHMIN. we're talking bout BRAHMAN (the universal cosmic power). THE CASTE SYSTEM Hindu society has a caste or class system which was originally based on the character and aptitude of individuals. The system later became degraded as caste was made hereditary by powerful people. with vested interests. Through the efforts of many saints and reformers this degraded caste system is gradually on the verge of elimination today. All these things are taught in the vedas. If you want to know the real vedic hinduism. then start with the Upanishad. I recommend "The Upanishads" translated by EKNATH EASWARAN. I strongly advise you to read books written by authors of the east, preferbably a hindu not an american or british. Because western authors are known to corrupt the text and change it to make the scriptures look bad espically MAX MULLER, who came up with his bogus "ARYAN THEORY". There is no such race as the aryan race, it's all made up by the german and the british to give an incentive to invade india. Aslo hindu authors can give more indepth of the meanings because they know more about it than the west.