Even though there can be only one God, different people think of God different ways. Many Hindus like to think of God as a father in heaven. Some Hindus like to think of God as a mother in heaven. Hinduism says that there are hundreds of different ways to think about God. Some Hindus think of God as their best friend. There are some Hindus why even like to think of God as a little baby. The important thing to remember is that even though there is only one God, there are many ways to relate to Him. This is called pluralism. Hinduism teaches that different religions are different ways of thinking about the same God.

There were two boys who were best friends. They liked to play football. One day while they were playing, one boy said, 'My mum is the best in the world.' The other boy disagreed. He said, 'My mum is the best in the world, she cooks the best food.' The first boy said, 'That is not true, remember you brought those home-made cakes last week, they were like rocks! Your mum is not the best in the world, mine is.' Now both the boys loved their mums very much and thought their mums were the best in the world, so they started to fight over it. Soon they were hitting each other and getting bruised. A wise man passed by and asked why the were fighting. When the boys explained the reason for their fight, the wise man suggested, Why don't you both say, 'My mum is best' but then add two magic words at the end of the sentence, then there will be no reason to fight each other. Say 'My mum is best for me.' Both the boys agreed that this is what they meant in the first place. Their mums were best for them, not for everyone else. They again became best friends and started play football. This is what pluralism teaches: Each one of us can say my religion is best for me, but we must not say that it is best for everyone else too. Other people may have their own religion (or sometimes have no religion) and that is best for them.

A famous person called Swami Vivekananda brought the message of pluralism from India to the West about a hundred years ago. He taught that all religions are different ways of becoming spiritual. No one religion is better than another. The religion that suits our needs is the best for us. We must not fight that our religion is better than any other. He also said that there are many people who can be spiritual without believing in God. For example in the Buddhist and Jain religions there is no need to believe in a God. There are many other ways of becoming spiritual without having to believe in religion or God.

Reference: Primary Hinduism by Seeta Lakhani (Ch.2, 'Thinking About God', p.13,14)