Hindus can advance from polytheism to monotheism or monism by reinterpreting many gods as appearances of a single personal or impersonal reality.
There is contemplation in some prophetic traditions and monotheism in some contemplative traditions. However, contemplative monotheism can be either monistic or transitional to impersonalist monism.
Prophecy is specific and exclusive whereas contemplation is comprehensive and inclusive. Prophecy and prayer presuppose a deity whereas contemplation presupposes only consciousness and reality and therefore is expressed through diverse theories of many individual souls, one universal soul and no soul.
I was educated in a prophetic tradition but now practice in a contemplative tradition. My philosophy is monist but materialist, not idealist. Therefore, I accept neither soul pluralist reincarnation nor no-soulist rebirth. Being has become conscious and each psychophysical organism is a distinct individual conscious subject. We can meditate without believing either in supernatural beings or in post-mortem states.
