Comparing The Five Basic Hindu Beliefs

Hinduism, Buddhism and Shinto, while vast in differences there is much to learn about these three religions similarities as well. Some facts and history of Hinduism include, Hinduism (being the oldest of the three) is dated back in pre-history before 10000 BC even believed to predate the Indus River Valley Civilization! The Vedas (the holy text of Hinduism) is the foundation for Indian culture and also the basic belief system of Hinduism. The basic belief structure of Hinduism is as follows, the three doctrines; Samsara (1) which means “successive rebirths” indicating the belief in reincarnation started by ATMA or the spark of life given by the god Brahma. This cycle continues until the soul collects enough good Karma (2) to break from the

Hinduism is a part of worldview Pantheism. They would state that we all are a part of the universe and no God created us. We are all gods in our own kind. They would say we are a part of atman. Ataman is a part of brahma “an impersonal force of existence that is without separation” (Halverson, 2014). We all will be reincarnated, and the life we live now will determine our next life. In other words, they highly believe in karma. “The effects of our actions, moreover, follow us not only in the present lifetime but from lifetime to lifetime” (Halverson, 2014). Nonetheless, we are all to be born, live, die, and then have a rebirth. Known as the samsara, a wheel of life (Halverson, 2014). A cycle of life that continues over and over. According

Compare and Contrast various views of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. These all share the same concept, Karma, Samsara and Reincarnation. And that the purpose of our existence is to reach enlightenment. Hinduism and Buddhism share similar concepts, but they differ in that Buddhism does not worship a God, instead they make offerings to various Buddhas. Buddhism schools recognize that in some point in time, some of the human lived human lives as Gautama Siddhartha, and others lived in other realms and realities. The Hinduism belief, is a collection of faith, it is one of the oldest religions and they have four Gods, Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahman(who is considered the supreme God force present within all living things). Taoism, believes that “simplicity” is the key to truth and freedom, meaning finding our own path, experiencing our own ideas and taking the time to figure things out in the natural way. Meaning not looking for outside forces to guide us through our life.

Both of the religions Hinduism and Judaism are similar but different in their own ways. Hinduism worships many gods and goddesses, whereas Judaism is a confirmedly monotheistic religion. In the Hinduism religion the bedrock is the belief that the Vedas is sacred and the caste system decribed in it. “Hinduism is a guide to life, and the goal of which is to reach union with Brahman, the unchanging ultimate reality”(75). The dharma or moral law that need to be followed. There are many gods that were worshiped and each person may worship a different god. Images of the gods in homes or temples were presented where each person can show devotion to their personal gods by singing hymns or offering flowers before the images. The Hindus believe in many things such as that the universe undergoes and endless cycle of creation, believe in karma, that the soul reincarnates, the belief that all life is sacred.

Hinduism is a religion of wonders. It is a unique religion because of how ancient it is. It is the world's oldest religion and it covers everything from how to live a noble life, to how to follow the dharmic path. Its traditions, its path towards moksha, and its beliefs are very unique in comparison to other religions. In my opinion, I think the three most important ideas in Hinduism are the beliefs, achieving moksha, and the traditions or the holidays because they are the core principles of hinduism and they are what makes the religion unique and explain why it is being followed by over 1 billion people. For Example the festivals like Diwali and Holi are not followed by other religions and it is very symbolic in Hinduism.

Hindus often insist that Hinduism is more “a way of life” than a system of beliefs. Despite Hinduism’s beliefs diversity, there are common core concepts in which almost every Hindu believes. The first concept in which every Hindu believes is the law of Karma, which determine the nature of one’s incarnations in samsara, which is the continuing cycle of death and rebirth. At the end of this cycle, there is moksha, or liberation, which is the final release from the trials and tribulations of samsara. There are a variety of approaches to the goal of liberation, they are categorized in three paths also known as margas.

I chose a different symbol to show every one of the five main beliefs in Hinduism. To represent Brahman, I chose a hurricane. This is because hurricanes are very supreme and they can also also destroy and create life. In my mandala, the Deities are shown as the periodic table of elements. I chose this because the periodic table shows the many parts that make up the universe, this is just like the Deities making up Brahman. For Dharma I chose an instruction sheet because Dharma is what you are supposed to do. Instructions tell you just that. I chose to show a pyramid with arrows going up on one side and down on the other with an animal at the end for karma. The pyramid represents the caste system. The arrows going up symbolize what

Religion. It's everywhere. It helps people through life and how to make decisions. Religion helps keep civilizations in order and people in peace. There are many different religions around the world. All practicing different thing and worshiping different gods.

Inside the Hinduism life, there are four basic rules inside their religion. One being Kama, second being Artha, third Dharma, and lastly Moksha. These are considered to be the four basics in their religion.

Hinduism is the name given to a family of religions and cultures that began and still flourish in India. The word “Hindu,” comes from the name of the river Indus, which flows from Tibet through Kashmir and Pakistan to the sea. It originally referred to the people living in that particular region of the world, regardless of their faith. Hinduism has no original founder and is one of the world’s largest religions following Christianity and Islam, with approximately a billion adherents. Hinduism is henotheistic, which is the devotion to a single god while accepting the existence of other gods. Their god is present in everything, and they believe that their soul repeatedly goes through a cycle of being born into a body, dying, and then becoming reborn into another body, whether it is human, animal or spirit. Hindu’s also strongly believe in karma, which is a force that determines the quality of each life, depending on how well one behaved in a past life. Hindu’s do not separate religion from other aspects of their life. Hinduism in India dictates Hindu’s lives in that it involves a caste system which controls their position in society, assists them in earning a living, helps manage how they raise their a family and controls their diets. Hindu’s believe that freedom or liberation is the true goal in life. True freedom is the freedom from all external conditioning influences, whether of body or mind. This is the freedom of Self-realization,

From the entirety of this course, it appears that every nation has some degree of religious history and that the beliefs of each can vary significantly from other religions from the same region. And often religions in the same religion fought with each other for followers and validation. The Hindu faith saw its own struggle to keep support in an environment home to other major religions such as Buddhism and Sikhism. These faiths shared similar backgrounds and beliefs such as karma so it is not unreasonable for the Upanishads to look at these other faiths and see numerous similarities when making this statement. The problem is that they are wrong about the idea that all religious sages speak the same truth and the content of this course as a whole has not greatly impacted my own thinking.

Most Hindus believe in God but what this means varies in different traditions. The Sanskrit words Bhagavan and Ishvara mean 'Lord' or 'God' and implies an absolute reality who, in essence, controls destroys the universe over and over again. Most Hindus believe in a Supreme God, whose qualities and forms are represented by the multiple forms he has. God, being unlimited, can have unlimited forms and expressions, but the belief in one superior being makes this religion monotheistic.

Dissimilar to Christianity, Hinduism is portrayed as a family of beliefs. “Hinduism unites the worship of many gods with a belief in a single divine reality” (Molloy, 75). Hinduism can be compared to that of the Ganga Ma, a significant river in the Indian culture. Comparing it with the river saying that it flows and gains momentum. The Hindus have four very important life goals; kama or pleasure, artha or economic security, dharma or social and religious duty, and moksha or complete freedom. While Hinduism consist of more than one god, individuals tend to focus on a particular god. Three gods are particularly central in the life of Hinduism. The three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, represent creation, preservation, and destruction. (Molloy, 75).

The Hindu religion and culture is a very complex subject. The Hindu religion combines rich ethnical and standard beliefs. We will take a closer look and try to understand the Hindu religion and culture. The Hindu religion is the oldest religion of the five major religions, which are Islam, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Hinduism (Major World Religions, 2006). The Hindu religion began to develop about 4.000 years ago in India, but it there was no single founder or system of belief (Major World Religions, 2006). There are many diverse and various Gods in the Hindu religion. One of the most important beliefs is the theory of karma, which holds that all beings, human or animal have karma which determines which soul is for which body and

Hinduism is one of the oldest culture and spiritual traditions in the world. While many may conceptualize Hinduism as being a religion it is not in the sense that we Westerners may think of it as, comparing it to Christianity or Islam. It can be better compared to a set of codes that hundreds of millions of people all over the world practice. This code of life is better known as Dharma to these adherents. Practitioners hold themselves to these rules and rituals that in the end they believe will bring them to the three things that people want most: a sense of being, knowledge and joy. Worldly possessions and pleasures are not entirely rejected within this religion, just as long as they are acquired and enjoyed within the context of life, knowledge and joy. The sense of being that is discussed is a Hindu’s atman; this can be compared to the way in which one might associate one’s own soul. Three concepts of Hinduism will be discussed within this paper: karma, the yogic paths, and the caste system. These are three ideas of Hinduism that are separate practices yet can be used ideally together in order to achieve what a person truly wants. A person’s karma, or their actions are usually decided depending on the yogic pathway an adherent chooses to follow; these actions will transcend the practitioner to their chosen caste system, from here the process goes on. These three concepts would not work alone without the other, the main purpose of Hindu traditions is to diminish bad karma