Choices
This is my first post without an embedded video — because honestly, I don’t remember hearing anyone else talk about this exact idea. It was something my mother once said, and I’ve been thinking about it more deeply ever since.
She told me, “All paths lead to the same destination.” I don’t know where she heard it from, but I’ve come to realize — it’s truer than she might’ve known.
Hinduism is not one fixed doctrine. It’s a collection of philosophies — often contradicting each other — and that’s exactly what makes it profound.
Advaita Vedanta says everything is one. There’s no difference between you, the world, or even God. All is Brahman — a formless, eternal energy. The world is illusion (Maya), and even the concept of a “self” is just Brahman looking at itself.
Dvaita Vedanta disagrees completely. It says Brahman (God) and the soul are eternally distinct. You are not Him, and the world isn’t an illusion. God is real. You are real. And both are separate.
Vishishtadvaita offers a middle ground — the soul and the universe are real, but they are part of God. Everything exists within Vishnu, the supreme.
Sāṃkhya, on the other hand, ignores God entirely. It divides the world into two principles — Purusha (consciousness, the silent observer) and Prakriti (everything that changes — mind, matter, emotion). No creator God, just the dance of awareness and nature.
These are just a few major branches. There are dozens more. But the point is — each claims something different, yet they’re all considered valid within Hinduism. You can follow any one, and you’ll still be walking a valid path.
I know these are all internally consistent systems with a few assertions. If their assertions are taken on faith, it is self-justifying systems which people can use to live better lives.
However, I personally believe that many of their assertions are not right. Like the concept of a soul (Atman) or Heaven (Swarg) or Hell (Narak). These are all assertions, created by speculations through inferring.
This is clearly seen with the texts of Samkhya, where they assert that prakriti is anything that changes and so there must be a soul which doesnt change. Basically the observer of your thoughts which has never changed. In that logic they have inferred the Brain is part of the prakriti, and there is something behind the brain which simply observes, which is the soul.
This is a clear speculation. There is no reason to believe that the brain which is changing is not capable of simply observing it's own thoughts.
Which is the reason why I am creating remixes of the old philosophies. Trying to apply to what I know. Trying to map it to what science tells us. Reject what doesnt make sense, accept that makes sense and simplify models for better understanding.
However, the intention of this post was not to discuss the diversity in Hinduism. But to discuss diversity itself.
Modern physics shows that energy can become matter — that at the base of everything solid is something invisible. It may not be exactly what the sages meant by “Brahman,” but the pattern is strikingly similar. The curious scientist and the meditating monk are staring at the same mystery — just using different words.
Advaita says that everything is formed from one source — Brahman — an indivisible energy. Science doesn’t reflect on the implications the way monks did. It doesn’t say the world is illusion, or that “we are all one” in a spiritual sense. But the essence — that all diversity comes from the same origin — is the same.
And it’s not just science or religion...
An artist who loses themselves in their craft… a sculptor shaping a statue with complete absorption… a musician pouring soul into every note — they all touch the same stillness. The same surrender. The same place.
Devotion, discipline, knowledge, curiosity, creativity — if pursued with sincerity and full commitment — all lead to the same destination.
And interestingly, this is seen in some quotes too :
BG 9.27: Whatever you do, whatever you eat, whatever you offer as oblation to the sacred fire, whatever you bestow as a gift, and whatever austerities you perform, O son of Kunti, do them as an offering to Me.
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