CONSCIOUS LIVING
Spirituality is a word, intellectual honesty is its virtue
Spiritual living does not come with a set of rules or guidelines from an ancient scripture, or information you have gathered from your parents, teachers or books. It is your personal intellectual moral integrity that frees you to grow into the highest version of yourself from which others can also reap fruits from your virtue. Religious books can provide guidance though when you seek reality of goodness, even without a dual thought god outside of you. I find the Bhagavad-vita the closest to Buddhist teachings (today's mindful theory without reincarnation) and the most spiritual of all religious books. Some background to it below.
As it is - भगवद गीता Hindu wisdom from the Bhagat-vat-gita 
“The wise man beholds all beings in the self and the self in all beings. As rivers east, and west merge in the sea, all creatures lose separateness when they merge into pure being.” This Hindu quote equates to the spiritual modern idea where the self is depicted as a wave, who after seeking enlightenment outside, comes to realise that it itself is the ocean. It is opposite to Christian beliefs where there is human and out there in the heavens an old man or god, with the Holy Spirit and Jesus as well.
Spirituality in the form of being, does not hate, love, aspire, brag or lament. Instead, it understands that the part is not greater than the whole and it recognizes that human ties to material gains and sense gratification limit transcendental knowledge. Its purpose being to rise above material nature, passion and ignorance by secondlessness, or non-difference. This is the only way to reconcile our material and spiritual worlds, as worldly attachments always lead us away from spirit.
“He who is rooted in oneness, realises that I am in every being, wherever he goes, he remains in me. When he sees all beings as equal in suffering or in joy because they are like himself, that man has grown perfect in yoga.” (BG 6.29-32) (Prabhupada, 1983). Thus, in true experiential awareness any subject-object relationship no longer exists. For example, you the subject see the flower, an object, but in true awareness, there is neither. You are the flower and the flower is you. “Renounce the world of appearances to enjoy the nectar of your natural self. Through non-difference things such as beautiful, ugly, success or failure become non-existent, and the ego, intellect, mind and senses, are left to enjoy an unchanging bliss. "Beyond the sorrows of worldly existence lies the root of serenity.” (Abhayananda & Dattatreya, 1992; 2000)
“He who is rooted in oneness, realises that I am in every being, wherever he goes, he remains in me. When he sees all beings as equal in suffering or in joy because they are like himself, that man has grown perfect in yoga.” (BG 6.29-32) (Prabhupada, 1983). Thus, in true experiential awareness any subject-object relationship no longer exists. For example, you the subject see the flower, an object, but in true awareness, there is neither. You are the flower and the flower is you. “Renounce the world of appearances to enjoy the nectar of your natural self. Through non-difference things such as beautiful, ugly, success or failure become non-existent, and the ego, intellect, mind and senses, are left to enjoy an unchanging bliss. "Beyond the sorrows of worldly existence lies the root of serenity.” (Abhayananda & Dattatreya, 1992; 2000)
Thus, what the Christian bible teaches in “do unto others what you would have them do unto you," is only a recapture of a much older Hindu value of many centuries before, which understood that what one does to others it ultimately does to itself. The idea of non-difference or secondlessness leaves no room for greed, ego, or the desire for material gain over others, as just Co-vid19, we are all in this together. You can think you trump others and are better, or have “the right/better/truer religion but in the true nature of reality, you are only fooling yourself.
Advaita - art of non-difference
The Beginnings
Hinduism is the oldest religion dating as far back as the third millennium BCE. Historians write that Indo-Aryans, who were nomadic pastoralists, passed down songs, poem and stories through the generations, sharing prayers, cultural rituals and philosophies. In trying to understand the unknown nature of our existence, and origin of the universe, old recorded Sanskrit texts, later translated to Greek, Latin, and even Germanic languages, spread the idea was that there was an entity called God.
The Vedic literary works are the foundation of modern Indian culture and religion, with the oldest book, the Rig Veda, believed to have been recorded around 1200 BCE. As the bronze age moved into the iron age, and language was discovered, Persian Sindhu culture became Hinduism. It all began though when Lord Shri Krishna was born into a family who were thrown into the King’s dungeon at his birth, owing to a royal dream which prophesized that a rival would be born. The family escapes and as a young child, Krishna begins teaching that selfishness and unkindness pollute the stream of life.
The Beliefs
The philosophy of Hinduism is recorded in the Upanishads where the central idea is based around Brahman which is the true reality of things. It is shapeless, genderless, and cannot be described but only experienced. We are not separate to Brahman, but our senses, ego and personal identity create an illusion (Maya) that we are. The purpose is to dissolve this duality, and our spirit (Atman) reincarnates, according to our karma, experiencing new identities, lives and realities until duality has been resolved.
The Cardinal virtues are to get rid of our passions and violent desires, for only then do we pierce the veil of the material dual world of cause and effect, and become one in Brahman. Hindu sages or spiritual teachers believe that all religions follow a God that is just a branch of Brahman. Therefore, Hindus are free to follow any Hindu deity, and there is a myriad of them, each representing different values. “Worship may be as various as you please, because religions are like the arches of a bridge which stand apart but are all similarly constructed, to form a unified whole.” (Mahadevan, 1983)
Hindus practice Advaita, which means the art of “non-difference.” Desire arises due to objects other than us, which can breed fear, hatred or a disturbed mind, but when desire ceases we see things as identical to us. If we are one with everything, a sin is a wrong against the self. The Upanishads declare that fear subsides when all is one, and the material illusion fades for only the real to remain. Sages explain the difference of what we see and what actually exists with the analogy of the sun being very large, yet we can cover it from our eyes using just the palm of our hand. Duality chains us to the world of relativity which is not the self-truth of our consciousness. “Consciousness is self-luminous and a truth beyond thought and speech. It is the supreme non-dual self, like the ocean and the God of life.” (Mahadevan, 1983) All paths which encourage knowledge of the supreme self are seen as different rivers flowing into the ocean so intellectuality and non-judgement are revered. With non-difference, one attains freedom of attachment facilitating the soul’s roots in ethical morals.
Sages and Gurus voluntarily forsake their own material gains when working on inner awakening and are recognized by sacred ash on their forehead. They practice Vedic rituals, such as yoga and meditating with Rudraksha beads, to attain pure consciousness and freedom from the material world. “When high leaders and thinkers perceive that there are no differences, not even from people of an enemy country, and others’ suffering is experienced as their own, they will become the central pillars of lasting world peace.” (Mahadevan, 1983).” Even though there are more deities than just the trinity of Vishnu, Brahma (not to be confused with Brahman) and Shiva, Hindus understand their religion as being monotheist, because Brahman, is the one ultimate conglomeration of all deities and humans. Worship of any of the deities depends on geographical location but it is free of gender restriction and rituals are varied because there are different levels along the karmic path, and some may follow Krishna, Shiva or Rama’s 7th or 8thincarnations.
