Hinduism, in a true democratic way, has given us the opportunity to choose any one of several paths for our practice that is acceptable to us instead of a single dogmatic path. This way, different people in varying levels of understanding and involvement and various stages of life can practice and follow the same teachings, though with slightly different set of rules. Even in the earliest verses of Rigveda, the oldest literary text ever known, the fact about "One God" worshipped by different name was established. The Vedas do preach the Impersonal reality, `Brahmam', as the ultimate Truth and not the personal God in any form. However, they make adequate room for such a personal God in any of the thousands of divine forms in various shapes and names as desired by each one of the devotee in their prayers. This truth was seen in the Vedas several millennia earlier, before all other organized Religions of the world preached in their teachings.

Many world societies, who were praying to multiple figurines as several "Gods" and Celestial forces without a philosophy, started following this path of "One God" much later. Every one is allowed to pray to God in any form one wants as personal Deity or "Ishta Devatha". One may pray to natural forces or to a formless Deity through rituals, prayers or meditation. The daily practice of the religious faith and the philosophy is well described in the various portions of the Vedas. Many saints have written explanatory treatises on this, but there were slight difference in each one's explanation which has given rise to a subtle fragmentation of otherwise monolithic society. Sometimes strong support given to one view started some forms of group rivalry among various sections of the community. The diversities in rituals and practice in language and culture were not able to destroy the deeper spiritual unity in their thought and practice. The leaders of our faith have always repudiated the claims from time to time, that the faith as practiced by any one school to be the exclusive means of obtaining a realization of the ultimate truth and liberation of the Soul or reaching the heavens.