Yep. It's so true when it comes to Indian philosophy. There is a ton of revisionism and strange understandings where people pretend an idea invented in 1800s is ancient. It's also somewhat true for China and Japan.
Do you have any quick sources for the Indian perspective. I was arguing with a co-worker the other day about some of the, to my mind, odd statement they had made about Vedic practices and yoga, but didn’t have a concrete citation ready.
My understanding is that, although this teaching was technically formulated in the 8th century AD, it became popular and gained widespread resurgence in the West around 19th century. Hare Krishna movement and Theosophical Society come to mind.
My guess, as a hobbyist historian, is that most everyday Hindus practiced normal, layperson devotions to humanized gods rather than truly believing in a universal soul that underlies the entire universe.
Basically, any time someone tells you that Indians and Chinese people believe in "philosophy" rather than "religion", they are probably bringing in a Western orientalist bias. Actually, unsurprisingly, Eastern people are actually just religious. There is no woke philosophy going on except for the elite scholars and religious monks.
