Essay Hindu Belief of Samsara

During the Han Dynasty, Buddha’s teachings were introduced to China by Central-Asian traders and received little support from the Han dynasty rulers. However, after the collapse of the Han Dynasty, the country was fragmented. While northern China was dominated by invaders from the borderland and steppes, southern China was ruled by continuous “Chinese” dynasties. As a result, Buddhism appealed to people who felt baffled by the loss of an anticipated and durable society. Subsequently, in 581 CE, Sui emperor Wendi reunified China with this new religion and gained state support, therefore further spreading Buddhism. It was not until the Tang Dynasty did the Chinese rulers realize the threat Buddhism had posed on them. Consequently, during the

Beginning in the 5th century, Buddhism became a very popular form of religion throughout Asia. Because this was such a diverse and widely followed religion, it introduced many different architectural and innovational developments that had influence from Buddhism, but depending on the region, the styles changed. Also, High officials, like Ashoka, whose’ primary influence came from Buddhism, created practices for his people to follow and live by to bring peace to his kingdom. As this religion was gaining popularity throughout Asia, the transformation that it took was very diverse and long term.

Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse discusses the many paths of teaching that relate to Hinduism that Siddhartha followed on his journey through life and how each path helped him realize what he wanted with his life. Siddhartha follows many teachings or paths in which to reach his spiritual destination, which at the beginning was to reach Nirvana.

“Hinduism is a collection of religious beliefs that developed slowly over a long period of time.” (World History Patterns of Interaction, 2005) Hinduism has been made up of so many different cultures and beliefs that unlike Christianity and Islam it is unable to be traced back. Hindus believe in karma and reincarnation. Karma is good and

In India there are six orthodox schools of philosophy which recognize the authority of the Vedas as divine revelation, and they generally function as pairs - Nyaya and Vaishesika, Mimamsa and Vedanta, and Samkhya and Yoga. Those who did not recognize this authority were the Jains, Buddhists, and materialists. Even in India where spiritual ideas dominate the culture there were some who were skeptical of those ideals and held to a materialist view of the world; they were called Carvaka, and their doctrine that this world is all that exists is called Lokayata.

free from the cycle of rebirth. However, under this religion moksha can only be attained is one 's

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.

Hindu’s goal is not salvation but to escape the reincarnation cycle. There are several ways in which this can be done: perform good deeds, withdraw from the pleasures

Jainism is one of the oldest practicing religions, although, today Jainism appears in its present day form in the areas of Northeastern India, just as it did thousands of years ago. It's a religion composed in arrangement so that it's characteristic are associated with the religions like Buddhism and Hinduism. In the beginning, however, the Jains prayed to the Hindu gods mainly for earthly support like a male heir, long life, and prosperity. Jainism can be trace its beginnings to the Indus river valley civilization of three thousands B.C. Due to the reaction and demands of the Indian religion by the Hindu Brahmans and its Brahman priesthood, there arose two independent religions with who rejected the materialistic goals and

Two of the most central ideas in Hinduism that are very important to my cultural identity in terms of my outlook on life and other people are reincarnation and karma. I believe that there is a cycle of death and rebirth, and depending on your deeds in your current life, you will be rewarded or punished in your next life. Eventually, every Hindu’s goal is to attain “Moksha” and break the cycle of life and become one with God. My belief in karma and reincarnation affects my everyday life because when I think about my situation or other peoples’ situation, I trace everything back to actions in our previous lives. My religion is the most important part of my life, and the values that it has taught me have stuck with me through times of joy and times of distress. My relationship with God is the most important one in my life, and it is the biggest part of my cultural identity.

Throughout the world, different nations have different beliefs or religion. Some religions evolve from others, and others are combination of other religions. Religion is a way of life, a lifestyle; it should dictate how you live your life. For instance, in India, Buddhism evolved from Hinduism, a religion were people believe in 300, 000 gods. Even though, Hinduism and Buddhism have different similarities such as believes in god, soul, and rituals, which in some ways connected to each other, both religions believe of what happens after life.

What elements of earlier belief systems do you see integrated into Hinduism? What were the external conditions (environmental/societal/political/economic etc.) which gave rise to the origination of Hinduism? What was it about this time period? Location? Population?

The Parable of the Sadhu is a story of men climbing the Himalayas that run into a moral dilemma. These are not just any men. These are groups of men from many different cultural backgrounds. As they are climbing the mountain they run into a nearly naked Indian holy man that is near death. The moral dilemma comes into play when they are forced to make the decision to backtrack down the mountain to save the man and probably never reach their ultimate goal, or ignore the needs of the desperate man in order to fulfill their personal desires. By looking at the situation and what the men did it is clear that they acted through the ethical thought process of egoism and social contract. They acted

The Question of Origin is answered by the Hinduism Worldview as “everything has always been in existence and is a part of god” (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011). A part of the worldview is that the universe and god is one in the same thing. Hinduism believes that itself has always existed, that it did not have a creator. God is viewed "as an infinite, impersonal force" (Weider & Gutierrez, 2011).

Perhaps the most important part of the philosophy of a religion lay in its path to enlightenment. The main ideas of enlightenment come through the Four Ends of Life. The first of these ends is Moksa. Moksa could be considered the realization of separation between the spiritual self and the physical self. It is only through this realization that one can be released from the mortal coil and allowed to spiritual liberty. Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan says it is "To inquire into his true self, to live in and from it, to determine by its own energy what it shall be inwardly and what it shall make of the outward circumstances, to (find) the whole life on the power and truth of the spirit…" It is through Moska that the Hindu follower becomes familiar with the existence of the spiritual world. The second of the Four Ends of life is Kama. This end says that we must pass through life in an ethical manner that brings about the most from life. This includes learning its great values as well as experiencing its enjoyments. This protects the Hindu follower from