That was the crux of it. Hinduism, like Judaism, is a national rather than a universal faith. One may choose to become a Christian, a Muslim, a Buddhist, or a shamanist, but one cannot become a Hindu (or a Jew), at least not in a manner recognized by the orthodoxy. It is a question of birth. That is why Hindus do not go about proselytizing (the Hari Krishna sect is an aberration). There has never existed any sort of call to conversion, no injunction equivalent to Christ saying, "Go ye into all lands."
— Nicholas Shrady, Sacred Roads