[C-G]

Does Hinduism contain differing groups the way Christianity does, in which one group might say of another, 'That group is not really Hindu'? Is there a dominant tradition in Hinduism?
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Name : C-G, City : Dallas, State : TX Country : United States, 

[Amol]

well yes there are lots of differing groups within Hinduism but in modern times all the groups have more or less merged or acepted the others beliefs. For eg - there were many wars between the vaishnavs( those who worshipped Lord Vishnu) and shaivaites ( who worshipped Lord Shiva)in between 1000 to 1600 AD ... and differnces between the advaitya philosophy( God and creation are one and the same) and the dwaitya Philosophy( they are 2 different entities -> much like in islam) ... now everyone more or less belives in the Advaitya philosophy!!!

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Name : Amol, City : Delhi, State : NA Country : India, 

[Nehal P.]

Hinduism is an ancient religion (about 3 or 4000 yrs old!) Therefore it is quite complex. The religion today is quite different than how it was in the past (for example the main gods worshipped before (e.g Indra) are not worshipped as much now (like e.g. Shiva)) In the religion there are various groups which may hold a certain belief or worship one particular god e.g. Vaishnavites worshipping Vishnu, BUT they will also hold the other primary beliefs of Hinduism. So, there are not denominations in the religion as in Christianity however there are sects which may be slightly different to the 'mainstream' Hinduism. (I apologise if the above makes no sense! Afterall I AM a 16 year old, with poor English language skills and am not incredibly religious - I only know about Hinduism through school and individual studying)

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Name : Nehal P., Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : Asian, Religion : Hindu, Age : 16, City : Leicester, State : NA Country : United Kingdom, Occupation : Student, Education level : Less than High School Diploma, Social class : Lower middle class, 

[Jack]

I don't know if they accuse each other of not being Hindu, but there are different ways of practicing Hinduism. Some are markedly different from the others, one group does pretty much everything that most Hindu groups consider horribly wrong (they're the ones that cover themselves with cremation ashes, if you've ever heard of them).

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Name : Jack, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Gay, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 19, City : Oshkosh, State : WI Country : United States, Occupation : Student, Education level : High School Diploma, Social class : Middle class, 

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