When spirituality gets monopolized an organized religion is formed

Following my recent post “Does one have the right to be a non-believer?”

https://www.hindumitra.org/post/does-one-have-the-right-to-be-a-non-believer

I made a case that the term “Hindu” was given by those foreign to the practise of Sanatana Dharma and that as such there was never a name for them. To that there was a question asked “What would be an alternative name to be used to categorise those practising Sanatana Dharma?” According to me, I don't think we will find one.

Just as Atma is all pervasive in the cosmic realm, water is available everywhere in the material world. The main utility is to drink it. Plants, animals, humans consume it. What category or name do we give them who drink or consume water? Will it be a descriptive or a name? Has there been a name given to water drinkers ever? As much as I know there hasn’t been a specific name given to all those who drink water. Nor has a specific name been given to all those who breathe air. We can only call them by a descriptive such as "air breathers" or at best we may call them living beings. Hence perhaps I will use a descriptive only to say “water drinkers” or “water consumers”. Understandably these descriptives are not specific as plants don’t drink water but they suck water. The word consumer may mean something else too such as using water for cooking, bathing, agriculture, flushing toilet etc.

Now let us say this universally available water has been patented by a person who says I found the right knowledge of water and I will supply it under a name and in a container that makes it healthy and safe to drink. He names it “Yendamist”. Let us say that the people happily accept this and become its lifelong customers as opposed to the usual water drinkers who have not subscribed to "Yendamist" and are "free-drinkers" just like "free-thinkers." To differentiate those who subscribed to "Yendamist" they will start being called “Yendamistians”. There is nothing wrong so far as they have the right to be different and they are happy for others to remain ignorant and drink the usual water.

However, let us say that this “Yendamist” owner says “Only those who drink "Yendamist" are the real water drinkers and we will tell you how to use this water. You can only use this water as we instruct you to do so and you don’t have the freedom to use it the way you want. You can’t use it to bathe, wash clothes, flush toilets, water plants and so on. Similarly we will impose penalties on all those who don’t consume "Yendamist" as you are not allowed to consume another form of water because that is not real water and only "Yendamist" is the real water.”

It would be even worse if their knowledge of true nature of water is flawed but yet build a narrative that they only know the true nature of water. Much worse would be if they go ahead to destroy the water reservoirs saying that is not real water and forcefully compell and convert "free drinkers" to drink this new "ONLY TRUE WATER beyond which no other true water exists beyond this."

There are no scientific or logical grounds for this monopoly as water has always been available even before Yendamist and will continue to be available. Just as there will be air, fire and other elements.

Similarly the absolute cosmic truth doesn’t have a name nor does it need a name. The various followers or seekers who seek the absolute truth as per their individual understanding are billions in number just as water drinkers. Humanity is not a dichotomy of believers vs non-believers. Just as many billions of minds so many billions of believers and that many billions of non-believers. There can’t be a name nor will there be a name to confine them to a box, book or belief. At best a descriptor to describe them.