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Message: <blockquote data-quote="spnadmin" data-source="post: 103105" data-attributes="member: 35">To anyone ji who is interested: I keep trying to make the point that many times when "ism" is added to the name of a religion the followers themselves did not do that, do/did not label themselves that way. Others, trying to label and categorize, add the ism or invent the name.Is there such a thing as Mohammadism?  That is what Westerners would call Islam as recently as 50 years ago. When I was a child we did not use the word "Islam."Did followers of Judaism call their religion Judaism originally?  NO! They were Hebrews and Isrealites who were followers of the Hebrew God, Yaweh (understood by virtue of their tribal membership). Later Judaism became a popularized term because of the western way of labeling ideas.Which brings me to the next point -- again based on the importance of thinking outside of the "Western European box" of labeling things. Many peoples on this planet do not think of their belief system as  "religion"  but refer to it as their "way."  The question put would be What is Your Way? What is your Panth or Path? -- implication of this is What ethic do you follow? That is why what we erroneously refer to as  "Hinduism" should really be termed adherent of the path, follower of "Shiva, or Vishnu, or Kali.  Today Hinduism is used for ease of labeling. But it creates a false notion.And Guru Nanak had the same idea: Sikh is follower, disciple,  of the way or path or ethic of Ik Oan Kaar. Or the Nirmal panth (way of the pure, path of the pure). Thanks Gyani ji.</blockquote>

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