Journey of leaving dharma and finding it again

I grew up not understanding anything about being Hindu. I used to go to temple and hated being there. I was staunchly atheist and had no real guiding principles of life other than loving science. I would learn about world religions in undergrad and a lot of them just never resonated with me. The abrahamic religions seemed to have a God who was a metaphorical kid with a magnifying glass on an anthill. It was also very exclusionary and how could you say to a ton of people, they couldn’t participate in having birthdays or even learning about different culture and customs. It was always being compared to the devils work. I do think there are positive aspects of these religions and if someone feels fulfillment in participating in them but not judging or hurting others, I think that’s ok too. I remember Jehovah witnesses always coming by to speak with my parents about Christianity and looking back, that was their attempt to convert my parents. My parents always listened intently to them with curiosity and trying to underhand but they never had any intention of converting. I could not say the same curiosity would ever be displayed by them to us. As I started to learn more about Santana Dharma, the more I found it align so much with my thinking of the world and how vast it is. It seemed to be a philosophy that encouraged people to go seek answers out into the world and not be scared of the infinite nature of the universe. To accept that there are many ways to find enlightenment and seeking one’s true identity was the answer to truly live in one’s dharma. It also aligns itself with science rather than other religions having to do mental gymnastics to fit science or outright deny it. It has no qualms with it because in a way it is the same type of thinking employed by the scientific method but in this case it’s for spirituality. I’m so glad that after the times in my life where I didn’t know what I believed, I found Santana Dharma again. I truly believe that sometimes the truth finds you and not the other way around.