Questions On Hinduism

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

In India, during the late Vedic Period which lasted from 1000 to 500 B.C, an ancient form of Hinduism flourished. As it possessed no official superior work of literature, such as the Bible or the Koran, Hinduism became one of the most tolerant religions due to its lack of binding documentation. A life committed to Hinduism was spent constantly maintaining the socio-economic order in an attempt to achieve universal stability, which was something highly valued in this tolerant religion. “Thus Indian society has always been concerned with stability rather than with progress...” (Early India).Hinduism’s central requirement was to fulfill the duties of a person’s caste, or class, which largely affected the daily life of anyone living in ancient India. At the top of the social pyramid

The origins of Hinduism date as far back as 4000 to 10,000 B.C.E. somewhere in Nepal and India. Unlike Christianity, Islam, and Judaism, it cannot be traced to a single individual or group of individuals, but rather cultural and religious developments. Modern Hinduism shares some practices in common with the Ancient Neolithic people of India,

According to our text, “The religion of the overwhelming majority of Indians is Hinduism, the fourth largest in the world with about one billion adherents. Hinduism is both more and less than a religion as the West understands that term: It is a way of life, a philosophical system, an inspiration of art, and the basis of all Indian political theories in the past. But it is not a rigid set of theological doctrines.” (Adler & Pouwels, 2011, p. 51).

First of all, Hinduism grew out of the ancient belief of Aryans. Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest religion. The Aryans believed in many deities. They know that deities controlled forces of nature. All the deities are part of a universal spirit called Brahman. Because of the beliefs of Aryans, Hinduism became a major religion.

Hinduism is a vast religion with various beliefs spread throughout the religion. In this religion there are many important sacred texts. These texts allow practitioners of this religion to connect with the traditions Hinduism, read about the beliefs of Hinduism, and also read about the path they should follow in order to achieve moksha. Some of the sacred texts are; the Vedas, Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita.

November 19, 1997 By Jordan Bruins Buddhism/Hinduism Comparison Report Hinduism is the oldest known religion and is very rich with literally hundreds of gods, symbolistic rituals and beliefs. It is believed to have been established around 1500 B.C. but no one person founded Hinduism as it evolved over a long period of time. Buddhism on the other hand has a definite founder, Siddhartha Gautama who is otherwise known as the Buddha or Enlightened One who lived from 565 to 483 B.C. Both these religions originated in India. Siddhartha Gautama was a Hindu who found Hindu theology lacking and after years of searching for truth created a religion now known as

Hinduism is large and complex religious institute that reflects the religious belief of a rich society, the Indian people. It origins, just as the religion are intermingled in the Aryans system of belief and early Indian system of belief which merged to give what is now Hinduism. The Aryan system of belief came to exist in India when the Aryans from eastern Europe invaded India around 1500 B.C. It is believed that many of the rituals and gods of now, Hindu are derivative of their faiths. They came to India which what would later be adopted by hindus as the cast system, but theirs was composed of hierarchically of three entity; the warriors whom were the most important, the priest which direct any rituals and retain knowledge of the vedas and the servants which looked at the cattles. The accentuation of nature is also a product of the Aryan faith system which is reconstructed to or at least reused in the idea of oneness with nature and Brahman which is the hindu supreme God. The Rig Veda which contains thousands of hymns in the sanskrit are also Aryans (Phil.108, notes).

A thorough and often-assigned work, Klostermaier 2007, understands four different elements of Hinduism: indigenous, Indus Valley, North Indian “Aryan,” and South Indian “Dravidian” perspectives. Klostermaier 2007 also focuses on the change, development, and conflict within Hinduism, arguing that, in addition to sectarian debates, the colonial and postcolonial worlds gave rise to various attempts to extract certain “essences” out of Hindu ideas and discard the rest as either “corrupt” or not “original.”

These forms of communications include hymns, rituals treatises, and philosophical texts. Despite the Veda’s diverse form of communication many people do not have access to sacred texts. This restrictive access to sacred texts begs the question, “to what extent does religious exclusivity help or hinder religious development?” While it is important to maintain the original message of the Vedas, it is also important to distribute true teaching so that students can act and think in a cohesive manner. The Veda’s source of revelation was not a deity. Instead three schools were formed to communicate the teachings of the Veda. The reading states, “ In every generation, specialists in Vedic hermeneutics have worked to make texts’ messages relevant to the particular time and place”(p.35). It is interesting how Vedic hermeneutics have effectively altered the way Hinduism is received. They have effectively altered the way Hinduism is received by tailoring the religion to societies needs.

The practice Hinduism poses some interesting questions for anthropologists, its is fairly unique in comparison to the other worlds religions, and interestingly there is no founding fire. Furthermore, there is no single religious text or scripture and its dogma is not centered around one singular omnipotent deity. Hinduism does not subscribe to a singular moral code and there is no internal structure or centralized institutions. Because of this, anthropologists,and the general public alike, have a hard time imagining Hinduism as a religious system. In order to gain a better understanding of Hinduism, scholars have relied on a wide variety of texts and historical events from the South Asian cultures. It has become necessary to engage in

Hinduism has neither a typical precept nor a solitary sacred text as the wellspring of its different teachings. It puts a greater number of accentuation on orthopraxy than universality, empowering relative opportunity of thought inside firmly characterized sets of accepted rules and ethical quality.

Hinduism is the world religion that comprising both continuity and change. Hinduism has always combined and adapted to a variety of social and cultural contexts. It encompasses several and varied systems of philosophy, belief, and ritual. Hinduism is a Basic Religion with an animistic cosmology, out of which developed monistic and monotheistic. Hinduism is characterized by the belief in reincarnation, one absolute being of multiple manifestations, the law of cause and effect, and the desire for liberation from the cycle of births and deaths. In the following, there will be discussion of some characteristics of Basic Religion that are found in the Hindu tradition, philosophical monism of Hinduism and how it relates to the Basic Religion of Hinduism and also the beliefs and expressions of monotheism in the Basic Religion as well as scriptures.

Of all the religions in the world such as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam, Hinduism is the world's oldest religion which is still practiced, has no beginning and it precedes recorded history. Although, it is the third largest religion in the world and has no identifiable human founder or date of origin. Even so, Hinduism originated in India located between the Himalayan Mountains, Ski Lanka, the Arabian Sea, and the Bay of Bengal. However, when looking at a map of India it is shown that this subcontinent is isolated. As a result to this kind of isolation, India has created a culture that is both rare and fascinating (Experiencing the World's Religions).

Religion is a powerful yet sensitive subject in many parts of the world. It is powerful in the sense that it gives a person comfort in their beliefs and practices. A particular religion that reflects the acceptance of a person’s own beliefs and practices would be Hinduism. Hinduism is one of the oldest religions that exist in our world today. It is widely practiced all over the world, especially in the west. Sometimes Hinduism can be misunderstood, as some people don’t really know how to interpret Hinduism. What exactly is Hinduism? Exploring the many themes of this particular religion helps answer the many questions that are raised by others.