A Closer Look : Hinduism

Hinduism is a religion that dates back about 6000 years and is one of the world's oldest religion. This religion is unlike any other and actually shaped many religions that are still followed today. An example of a widely followed religion influenced by Hinduism is Buddhism. Originating in the Indus River Valley Hinduism is now spread all over the world. Geography played and still plays a huge role in Hinduism. From the Aryans using a mountain pass to take over the original land of Hinduism to the spread of Hinduism today.

Around the world, people believe Hinduism isn’t a religion, but a way of life. Michael Molloy states, “Hinduism is not a single, unified religion; it is more like a family of beliefs (75).” It was constructed from the Aryans who brought it into India in 1500 BC. The religion is one of the dominant religion in India over centuries. “Hinduism is the religion followed by about 70 percent of the roughly seven hundred million people of India. Elsewhere, with the exception of the Indonesian island of Bali, Hindus represent only minority

Hinduism is known as the world's oldest religion. According to ISKCON Educational Services (2004), it is hard to construct a timeline because Hinduism has no identifiable human founder or specific origin in history. It is so old that its past goes into pre-history. It is extremely diverse with the Hindu people being more interested in the meaning of events than in providing first hand records. There is also no clear-cut divide between history and myth.

The world’s oldest religion is Hinduism, it is considered a way of life. The Indus valley is where Hinduism originated. It is located near the river indus. Hinduism is a religion that has no one founder or single governing body. This is part of what makes it different form other religions. Some refer to Hinduism as a family of religions rather than a single

The question of origin- In order for us to completely understand Hinduism, we must first understand that this a philosophical system of beliefs. To give a definite origin of Hinduism would be very hard to address because there are no known origins. There are no beginning points or a name of a founder. Hinduism can be traced all the way back to around 1500 B.C in what we now call India and has a lot of different beliefs, philosophies and views that contradict each other. All Hindus believe in one God, a supreme being known as Brahma. Brahma is an entity believed to live in every single facet of reality and existence throughout the whole universe. Brahma is both impersonal and unknowable and is often believed to exist in three separate forms: Brahma, the Creator, Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva, the Destroyer.

Hinduism is generally regarded as the world's oldest organized religion. It consists of thousands of different religious groups that have evolved in India since 1500 BCE. Because of the wide variety of Hindu traditions, freedom of belief and

Hinduism is a religion that is difficult to define. No one can say who the founder is, or connect it to a certain place or time. So in order to understand Hinduism, we follow a coherent set of assumptions upon which people base their lives; otherwise defined as the Indian Worldview.

In some ways Hinduism is the oldest living religion since some elements of it date back thousands of years; Hinduism has no single founder, no single scripture, and no commonly agreed set of teachings despite many key figures and numerous holy books that might indicate otherwise. Hence why Hinduism is often referred to as a “way of life” and why it makes sense that the religion was informed by so many external conditions around its “birth” (BBC Religion Profile,

Hinduism has no central governing body, no universally accepted capital, no founder, not even one universally accepted book that guides all their teachings. A lot of people have suggested that Hinduism shouldn’t even be considered a religion in the same way other religions are.

Hinduism is the oldest religions. The most interesting thing about Hinduism is that they have no specific founder or date of origin. Based on their beliefs Hindu’s are divided in to two casts. In the current world, there is still a big conflict about whether Hinduism is a monotheistic religion or a polytheistic religion. Because according to Hindus believe it’s one God with many different faces. This concept regarding Gods is accepted by some scholars, but not all of them. Hinduism has four sacred text Vedas, Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita, Epics. The two most common sacred texts are the Vedas and Bhagavad Gita. The authors of all sacred texts are still unknown.

Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world and one of the most complex. However, it has no origin but, it began in at least 2000 BC. This was influenced when the Aryan Indo- European tribe invaded the Harappans who were native to northern India. Consequently, both tribes adopted each other's beliefs such as, the Aryan believed in multiple gods and Harappans believed in sanctity of fertility.

Hinduism is a religion that is most recognized in parts of South Asia in countries such as: India and Nepal. Hinduism is one of the world’s most practiced religions, following Christianity and Islam. (Hinduism, 2015) The word Hinduism originated around the 14th century used by Arabs, Persians, and Afghans. By the 19th century, the term had been adopted by the British colonial administration in India, and used to describe the religion’s beliefs and practice’s used by most of India’s population. (Kinnard, 2015) Hindus have no knowledge of when Hinduism originated, or whom its founder was. Hinduism is about 4,000 years old (1500-2000 B.C.E), which throughout the years has advanced and progressed. Historians have come to this conclusion because

Imagine a religion so old that it is said to be timeless and has always been there, even before humans set foot on the Earth. It’s mindboggling to think that the knowledge of everything is floating in the space of the universe and the mind is just a way of reaching it. Hinduism is a very complex religion, yet it still sets one ultimate goal for the soul. To deeper understand Hinduism we must reveal its origin, doctrines, customs, and culture.

Some schools of thoughts do not describe Hinduism as a religion but rather as a way of worship that informs you about the duties, life-style and vision of living established in the Indian subcontinent. Hinduism is formed from diverse traditions, as such Hinduism does not have a single founder.

There are almost 196 nations in the world. Each country is known for its religious beliefs and culture. In each country, there are various kinds of people living on the globe. Each religion is somehow connected to provide peace in the world. While coming to my country, India is also well known for its prosperity and richness of having different people admiring their own religions. Secondly, Indian constitution allows the citizens of India to follow their own religion. They are also allowed to change their religion any point in their lives. Several religions such as Hindu, Islam, Christian, Sikh and Buddha are followed by people living in India. However, majority of people follow Hindu religion. Over 80% of the population follow Hinduism in India. In my opinion, I would like to say Hinduism is a way of living the life rather than just only religions or bunch of beliefs. Hinduism includes all aspects of living life and inspirational sacred and epic stories taking place in the history such as Mahabharata and Ramayana.