Hinduism Basic Religion

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.

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.

There are numerous gods in Hinduism, in which the most important ones including the Creator Brahma, the Preserver Vishnu and the Destroyer Siva. Brahma created the earth, the mortal world and the heaven, Vishnu safeguards the world and preserves the order and peace in

There are five basic Hindu beliefs that are a part of Hinduism. The first Hindu belief is Brahman, Brahman is the supreme god and everything is a part of Brahman. The second Hindu belief is Multiple gods, Multiple gods is when Hindus worship many gods, and that each god controls an aspect of the universe. The third Hindu belief is Dharma, Dharma performs one’s duties and lives in an honorable way. The fourth Hindu belief is Karma, Karma is made up of all the good and evil a person has done in their past lives. Finally, the last Hindu belief is Samsara, Samsara continues the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. These basic Hindu beliefs are all a part of Hinduism, and each have a special meaning.

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.

The Brahmans are priest and nobles at the highest point, which Hinduism considers their god. “The three most important Hindu gods are Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the preserver, and Shiva the Destroyer.” (ocs.cnyric.org).

Some may say Hinduism shouldn’t be classified as a religion for it has more to do with an expansive and complex socio-religious body that demonstrates the complicatedness of Indian society. So what makes

According to sources we have confirmed that Hinduism is thought to be the world’s oldest religion. It has a staggering estimated 900 million followers with some evidence to suggest that this number has already reached 1 billion. Due to this astonishing figure Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, it originated from a place called India by the humans and has since spread around their planet over thousands of years. Hinduism is special because unlike most religions Hinduism has no single founder, individual scripture and has no single way of teaching. Hindus (followers of Hinduism) believe in a cycle of birth, death and re-birth ruled by karma. They believe that the next life of a soul is depended of how the life of the last soul was lived, this is how karma (a non-existent being) works. Most Hindus also believe in a supreme god who is represented my many ‘mini gods’ which are all representations of his qualities. We have come to understand that Hinduism appeals to many humans as they see it as a way of life rather than a

Hinduism is considered the oldest living religion in the world because some elements can be traced back thousands of years, predating even elements in other religions like Christianity and Buddhism (British Broadcasting Company, 2009). Despite the age of the religion, the range of practices and beliefs found in Hinduism make it difficult to give a concise definition regarding central tenets, scriptures, and practices. Hinduism is different from most other world religions because it does not have a solitary founder, no commonly agreed set of teachings, and no single scripture that is read. For these reasons, Hinduism is considered by many, especially practicing Hindus, as a “way of life,” or as a family of religions instead of one religion (2009). Some claim that Hinduism’s core feature involves the belief in a supreme being that is impersonal, while other strands of the religion describe and worship a personal God.

Aside from the deity of the creator, Hinduism has a deity for many aspects of life, and while there are many deities, there is something called the Trimurti or “triple form.” The Trimurti is made up of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. These “Three gods have been particularly important in the devotional and artistic life of Hinduism. Although differing in origins, they have sometimes been linked together—particularly in philosophy and art, where they represent the three forces of creation, preservation, and destruction.” (Molloy, 2013, p. 95). While these are the three main gods, there are other major Hindu gods, including Devi, Kali, Rama, and Ganesha. Some of these gods are manifestations of other gods, and some represent some other aspect of life, such as success, music, love, and destruction.

Hinduism is very similar to many religions. Hindus have gods whom they worship and have relationships with. They have Brahmins, who are priests, who conduct all of the necessary public rites and sacrifices. Also like many religions, Hinduism has sacred writings from which they look to for to guidance and for the knowledge of their practices and beliefs. They have the Vedas, there are four in the collection of the Vedas, with the most important being the Rig-Veda. It is the main and the oldest, it contains over one thousand hymns and reflecting the religious devotion of long-established family and other groups. There is one thing that makes Hinduism different than many religions though, Hinduism is an orthopraxy religion where others are orthodoxy in practice.

The statement "everyone is a Hindu" is an extremely broad one that is open to much interpretation. This owes partly to the fact that Hinduism itself is a broad and vast religion with many ways of following. In this paper I seek to explain that the statement "everyone is a Hindu" is a worthy one because Hindus have a sense of interconnectedness in all organisms and life on earth, and that the ultimate goal of a person is to join the rest of the universe in "moksha." Additionally, the attribute of the Hinduism that lends well to the statement is that Hinduism is a very hospitable religion that not only requires no specific adherence or conversion, it stresses the understanding of other religions as well.

Most people think of Hinduism as being polytheistic and while that may be partially correct because multiple gods are worshipped, it is also incorrect as all of the gods are really just manifestations of one supreme deity known as Brahma. These manifestations represent specific things and have specific characteristics, but they are all worshipped with the purpose of achieving salvation for the worshipper’s soul. Hindu’s live life trying to reach this salvation, following what is written in sacred texts. While there are many influential texts to Hinduism, including the four Vedas, the Upanishads,