Hinduism Research Paper

Dualistic Hindus try and understand divine reality through their many different gods. With that there is a focus put onto the one god Brahman which Brood describes as, “supreme, unitary reality, the ground of all Being.” (Brood et al., 2016). The monistic viewpoint of Brahman can best be described as the belief that all reality is ultimately one. Brahman is, “treated as a basic cosmic principle.” (Hopkins, 1971). According to Hopkins in the, “Atharva Veda, brahman is said to have the lowest and highest forms and to be ‘the womb of both the existent and the nonexistent.’ In 10.2 it is said that ‘by brahman the earth was disposed, as brahman the sky was set above, as brahman this atmosphere, the wide expanse, was set aloft and crosswise.’” (Hopkins, 1971). Brahman can most easily relate to the Christian, Islam, and Judaism God.Both Brahman and the God of Christianity, Islam,

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 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.

Hinduism is a polytheistic religion that is very much a part of the people in India and Nepal. It has over 900 million followers worldwide and it is considered one of the oldest religions in the world, dating back many thousands of years. This religion is split into many different branches because of their belief in many gods and goddesses. Each branch worships a different god that they view as “supreme above all others.” Granted that they had a great leader, Mahatma Gandhi, they were able to change the world, and more specifically the United States. His philosophical ideas inspired our country to fight for equality. But in order to understand this better, it is important to have a deeper understanding of the Hinduism beliefs.

Humans are accountable for actions and our lives are a result of our past actions. Humans are no more important than animals. Many Hindu believe in reincarnation or the rebirth of the soul in a new body. They may see an animal as someone reincarnated from a different life. When comparing Hinduism and Christianity, they both believe in love for everyone. They both also control behavior through either the ten commandments or through the eightfold path. When contrasting the two, Hindu’s worship multiple deities and Christians worship one God. Christians live one life on earth and when they die they either go to heaven or to hell. Hindus believe that their soul is born as an animal and by living the right way, they climb the ladder to a higher class throughout many

Hinduism has been in India forever. Nobody knows exactly how this religion started. P.N. Chopra notes in his Religions and Communities of India that India is a hallowed and sacred land for Hindus (17). It has been in India for thousands of years. It started somewhere between 4000 and 2200 BCE, in the civilization of the Indus Valley. In one of the places where the civilization of the world started, the Mahenjo-Daro and Harappa, which was laid along the Indus valley gave so many evidences about the existence of this religion. The archeologists have found the three-faced god on the Indus seal is similar to the god Siva that is very foremost in Hinduism until today (Finegan 49). They also found some metal sculptures from the pre-Harappa era that show their worship to gods and goddess. Hinduism is an old religion and nobody is sure about when it exactly started, and it does not hold one specific person to be its founder. The long history of Hinduism in India makes it really rooted in India. Even Sharma states that if Hinduism is look like natural and very old, it is because of the age that may be older than civilization (36). The long history of Hinduism in India has been effecting its strength. Although there were

While it may be argued that all religions, at their core, are tolerant, I have personally never felt so welcomed in a community where I expected to be an outsider. With my mind at ease and my defenses lowered, I could finally completely open myself up to the beliefs of these gentle people. One of the main truths of Hinduism is that there is one "supreme being", a God, if you will, that is made up of everything and in turn makes up everything. This truth is the basis for many, if not all, of the other truths found in Hinduism. For example, another Hindu belief is that all life is to be preserved, cherished, and valued equally. With that being said, Hindus are expected to practice ahimsa or nonviolence; that is by action or by word. In a Hindu's mind to be violent or disrespectful towards anything and anyone would be the equivalent of being violent or disrespectful to God; considering whoever or whatever you are disrespecting is made from the essence of the "supreme being". Hinduism is known for its many gods and goddesses or deities that devotees worship on a daily basis. In fact, it is not uncommon to find that a wife holds preference to a deity and her husband another. However, there are different sects, such as Shaivism and Vaishnavism, where one deity is primarily worshiped. The South Florida Hindu Temple falls under a different sect; Smartism. In the Smartism sect, devotees are allowed to show preference to whichever deity they

Did you know that Hinduism is the #3rd most popular religions around the world? The religion Hinduism was created in what is now Northern India. The Hinduism way of spreading the culture was by trading. The religion Hinduism has so many beliefs. Some basic beliefs that the hindus believe in one honest god who as they call Brahman described as limitless, everlasting, and complete. They also believed all life is cherished, to always be loved and admired. The county is being practiced today at many place like India, Nepal, Bangladesh, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Malaysia, United States, Myanmar, United Kingdom, South Africa, Mauritius, Fiji and Canada. Hinduism has changed over the past 7-8 thousand years in circumstances of what the hindus call Purva

As I interviewed a person from the Hindu religion they cleared up to me that they do not worship cows. They are a sacred animal and its very important but they do not praise a cow. They see the cow as holy because of their gentle nature which basically represents what Hinduism is about. Everyone believes they are all vegetarians, but they are not. However many of them are vegetarians because they believe cows are above everything and should not be killed. They are allowed to eat meat as a scripture says “There is no sin in eating meat... but abstention brings great rewards” (The Cow in Hinduism). Most of Indians especially in America do eat meat because laws on them are not as strict. In some parts of India the cow is considered very sacred and if you kill or harm it you may go to jail. (Holy Cow). Cows are allowed to roam anywhere they are actually the biggest traffic hazard. Hindu's believe in the divinity of the four Vedas. The four Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism. These are basically like a bible, but different. It contains hymns and other ritual texts (Violatti.) Hindus are also huge believers in Karma, what goes around comes around. They believed in being the best and doing good in order for them to received good back. If something bad ever happened it was

In order to regain strength and popularity the Brahmans restructured and transformed their religion. This lead to the creation of Hinduism. Hinduism did not perform ritual animal sacrifices which was practiced by the Brahmans. Instead, Hindus pledged personal devotion to the gods called bhakti. This attracted Hindus of all social classes. Hinduism also adopted Buddhist and Jainist practices, identifying themselves with agricultural societies. Many Hindus acknowledged Buddha as a God.

The central problem for human existence according to Hinduism is Karma. Karma refers to your actions, which will determine which caste you are re-born into. Caste is the name given to the system or levels of the Hinduism society. At the bottom of society or the lowest class are the servants (Sudras). These people serve the upper classes. These people can only hope that their karma will cause a promotion in their next life to a higher caste. The next level up is the common people (Vaisyas). These people form the bulk of the Indian society. Next is the Warrior-Kings (Ksatriya). These people are believed to be the descendants of the original commanders of the ancient Vedic state. At the top of society are the Priests (Brahmans). These people are

Hindus don’t just have a harmony with the nature, they also have an astonishing respect for animals, specifically cow. To say that the cow is holy within the Hinduism, is just an understatement. The scripture says that, “One should never show disrespect for cow in any way

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

I chose to go to a Hindu temple because this is something I did not know anything about, and because of the movie “Slumdog Millionaire” I was interested to know more about the culture and especially religion of people from India. Hinduism is the main religion in India, so that was my first choice. Before I went to the temple, I made sure that I would not look like a retard when I’m there. I informed myself online to see if there are special rules for clothing or rituals that I should have known about before. As I informed myself I learned that Hinduism is the third biggest religion on earth, only Islam and Christianity are bigger. Most Hindus believe that being dead or alive is something that repeats like a circle. From what I know, the Hindus believe that there is one “Ishvara” which in translation means that he is the highest god. They believe that he has other gods serving him. The most important god is the Brahman because in their belief he is the “pneuma” and he is known as the creator and handler. What they believe in Brahman is close to what we believe about our god.

Among the biggest religions that exist in our society Hinduism is known as one of the oldest. This makes it a very interesting case to study and learn about it as its origin dates as far back as 1400 to 1500 B.C. Also, Hinduism is known as one of the most complex religions having millions of goods. To explain Hinduism we must first understand and be able to talk about Vedas which is considered as the most important text of this religion (Upanishads, Mahabharata and Ramayana are also important texts in this religion). This is one of the differences of this religion with the most dominate ones (Christianity or Islam) as there is a single holy book and a single God they pray to. Considering Hinduism texts, there are found different writings that