Hinduism And The Indian Culture

Hinduism is one of the main religions in South Asia that focuses on one’s soul and eternity of themselves. This religion has shaped into a patriarchal society in India with a caste system that affected gender. In addition, Hinduism has impacted some of the aspects in United States politics. As the Aryans brought this religion to India around 1500 BC, its system and practices spread and evolved around the world into a primary belief. Hinduism has impacted the world socially, politically and even economically.

Hinduism is a major religion in India as well as Nepal and a few other Asian countries. It has more than 900 million followers throughout the world but interestingly, this religion has no single founder, no single scripture and no single set of teachings that are uniformly believed and followed by all Hindus. Hinduism is said to exist as a supreme being while both Buddhism and Confucianism are based on the teachings of a man while Taoism revolves around a concept.1 (Kokemuller, J.) All of them have similarities and differences to a great extent.

Hinduism, the world’s oldest religion, is the third largest religion in the world after Islam and Christianity with close to one billion followers. The followers of the religion are called Hindus and are mainly located in India, and their place of worship is a temple. The religion doesn’t have any one specific founder, however,

First, I would like to introduce the religion of Hinduism. The term Hinduism was derived a river of South Asia, the Indus. This term was used by the ancient Persians to classify the people of that region of the North-West territory of the subcontinent. Indian religion, Hinduism, was the term given by the British in the nineteenth century to the population of India that were neither Muslim or Christian.

Since the beginning of civilization many religions and cultures have come and gone. One of the few that has stood the test of time is Hinduism. Hinduisms base flourishes from the practical view of human life, belief in eternal truth and it’s ability to make small adaptations to it without compromising its core values. Hinduism is the oldest known religion in the world and also the third largest in the world. Most of its one billion followers live in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Even with its immense amount of followers and lengthy existence, many non followers are unaware of its history, beliefs, and practices.

In Chapter ten the history of Hinduism is discussed in America and India. Instead of illustrating the religious doctrines of Hinduism. The author lists statistics about the livelihoods of Asian Indians. For example, there are eighteen different official languages in India. As the author emphasizes that doctrines have nothing to do with Hinduism, but the actions that individuals commit. The orthodoxy is a set of responsibilities that Hindus must carry out. If they wish to be reincarnated into a higher caste. In addition, the origin of Hinduism is mentioned within the chapter. That Hinduism is the only major religion that does not have a founder and has no beginning as there is not a specific known date of when it originated. Moreover, Hinduism is the oldest major religion and is the only polytheistic faith among the five popular creeds.

Hinduism is a very broad term that encompasses a multitude of different backgrounds, traditions, beliefs, and practices. Hinduism, as we know it today, has gone through many changes. To fully understand how Hinduism became as it is currently, knowledge of its development over the course of history is essential. This paper will demonstrate the primary shifts of its central beliefs, practices, and goals between periods of Early Vedic, Late Vedic, and Classical Hinduism.

Hinduism is one of the most diverse religions still practiced today. They are an adaptive religion, often taking in the local Gods of its followers, leading to many branches of the religion that occur much like dialects within a language. Although it is difficult to catalog all of the Hindu Gods and Goddesses, there is estimated to be over 300 million of them. It is common for people unfamiliar with the religion to generalize all those living on the Indian subcontinent as “Hindu”, since they are usually not aware of the many religions that are practiced in India, and how similar they can be. This generalization can trace its roots back to imperial British rule of the country. In an attempt to offer their colony representation in Parliament, a census was taken of the colony to offer representation based on religion. The census did not allow for the diversity of belief that occurs under the Hindu

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 the lives of individuals ordinary they are satisfying their customs and conventions. The act of Hinduism is a religion which favored a number of these ceremonies into observances and consecrated occasions in their day by day life. A devotee who takes after the Hinduism religion must study the conviction framework, the ceremonies and convention, and their social practices in which they consider holy to them, keeping in mind the end goal to comprehend this practice. Keeping in mind the end goal to comprehend, the first step would be to know their convictions. Hindu supporters have numerous Gods in the religion of Hinduism, they trust that stand out of there Gods is the genuine god. Hindus has a faith in karma, that it is one of the laws of the world, they feel that in the event that you do great things, then great things will happen to you and in the event that you do things that are pessimistic, then adverse things will happen to that individual. They likewise trust that a dairy animals is holy, in light of the fact that it speaks to life they could call their own and different

In Hinduism there are many gods, deities or beliefs. Hindus don’t worship or believe in just one god or deities, they can worship many at a time. They worship Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver and Shiva, the Destroyer. These are their main gods of worship but not only these gods, they also worship deities. Rama, Krishna, and Kali are considered as one of the most popular deities in Hinduism. There are plenty more deities or gods, and each have an interesting and beautiful meaning or significance. Many Hindus worship many gods or deities and don’t see anything wrong with it, because they believe that there are "many paths to moksha" that is liberation. Hinduism might be one of the few religions, if not the only religion, that worship more than one god. Judaism on the other hand, worship or believe in only one god. The Jews god only want them to worship him, he is a jealous god. Their god chose them has his people, nation and his children. He saw something in them, that he didn’t see in any other nation. As we read above, he saved, supplied, protected them in many occasions and yet his "children" failed him time and time again. While he was disappointed, he never gave up on them, but he did want something in return. In return he wanted a close relationship with each and everyone of them. He wanted them to obey him and also get to know who he was. He also states many times, that he wants them to only worship him, no other gods. Jews only pray, worship and believe in only one god, they believe there is only one way to liberation and that is through one god. Hindus as we read believe in many ways to liberation, there isn't just one way for

Hinduism is an Indian phenomena, it is difficult to define, and difficult for the outsiders to understand some of the unusual religious, philosophical and cultural beliefs. It is according to Huston Smith, the…” least dogmatic and most diverse of all religions…” because of the belief that there is a ‘flowing though’ cycle where in samsara ones is born, lives, suffers, dies and is re-born over and over until the ‘moksha’ occurs. This spiritual liberation is achieved by yoking oneself to God then one may reach Atman: the real self that is separate from the physical body. It is unchanging, eternal and a sign of the soul and spread throughout all the parts of and in the earth. This is the God that cannot be understood or always known yet Hindus are encouraged to relate to the God they know best.

On the topic of Western tradition, the three key questions will be answered relating to Hinduism. In Hindu religions over the course of the semester, we found that it is a henotheistic religion. In it, there are four deities of which three are principal deities and one is the supreme. The One or main God in Hinduism is called Brahman, who is the highest God/ deity worshiped in this religion.

Brahma is the god of creation. In today’s world, he is the least worshipped god in India. There are only two temples in all of India dedicated to him (Brahma). Brahma has a unique look, with four heads and four arms. The second god, Vishnu, is the god of preservation. Thus far in creation, he has been said to be incarnated nine times. Worshippers believe that he will incarnate one last time near the end of the world. Similarly, to what Paul thought of Jesus, “Like any major god, Vishnu is involved in a number of colorful stories which illustrate his virtues as the protector of cosmic order” (Vishnu). Vishnu is uniquely depicted by having blue skin, and four arms. In his four hands, he holds objects representing what he is dependable for. Shiva, the last god, is the god of destruction. In Hinduism, destruction is considered necessary for new life forms to appear. Shiva is portrayed by his blue face and white body, three eyes, and four arms.

Hinduism originated in India over four thousand years ago. The India-based religion lacks an individual founder. In the beginning, the term “Sanatana Dharma” erupted; but Sanatana Dharma soon transformed to “Hindu” after Islamic invasions occurred: “the Muslim invaders pronounced H for I” (Patheos), thus, the inhabitants along the Indus River were called “Hindus” as a result. The primary goal Hindus hope to achieve is to become reincarnated – thus reaching closer and closer to the state of nirvana every Hindu is called to with each transformation after death.