How Does Hinduism Exist

Hinduism: Universally viewed as a polytheistic religion and one of the oldest. Its 900 million followers’ spiritual goal is to merge as one with Brahma, its supreme God. This achievement is through reincarnation determined on karma, depending ones past deeds coinciding to one’s future.

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,

“This infinite center of every life, this hidden self or Atman, is no less than Brahman, the Godhead. Body, personality, and Atman-Brahman- a human self is not completely accounted for until all three are noted.” (Smith 21) Both Brahman and God have infinite power. Brahman is the human self but has a being that never dies and is unrestricted. The ultimate goal in Hinduism is to achieve this realization of one self to earn liberation (moksha). In Christianity, God is seen as an

The Hindus call their supreme reality “Brahman,” a God of infinite being, infinite awareness, and infinite bliss. “Utter reality, utter consciousness, and utterly beyond all possibility of frustration is the basic Hindu view of God” (Smith 1991). Hinduism sees their God as an archetype of supremacy with the noblest crown, a parent, loving, merciful, almighty, eternal salvation, and an understanding companion. There is also a distinction between personal (ramanuja) and transpersonal (shankara) notions of God in Hinduism; “God so conceived is called Saguna Brahman, or God-with-attributes or God-without-attributes, Nirguna Brahman” (Smith, 1991). Also, it is important to realize that God’s relation in Hinduism varies on symbolism and what is embraced: the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer who resolves all finite forms of life. They view the world as “God-dependent.” A personalist in Hinduism “will see little religious availability in the idea od a God who is so far removed from our predicaments as to be unaware of our very existence” (Smith, 1991). Were as a transpersonalist sees God serving as a master in their life to guide them through their struggles and becomes possessed by this

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.

Hindus worship everything around them. Hinduism is monotheistic, yet is thought to be polytheistic for the preceding reasons. The premise surrounding this belief is that the “Supreme Being” found in so many forms. Not placing limited parameters on the “Supreme Being”, as other religions are known to, is yet another modern appeal to Hinduism.

Hinduism is a part of worldview Pantheism. They would state that we all are a part of the universe and no God created us. We are all gods in our own kind. They would say we are a part of atman. Ataman is a part of brahma “an impersonal force of existence that is without separation” (Halverson, 2014). We all will be reincarnated, and the life we live now will determine our next life. In other words, they highly believe in karma. “The effects of our actions, moreover, follow us not only in the present lifetime but from lifetime to lifetime” (Halverson, 2014). Nonetheless, we are all to be born, live, die, and then have a rebirth. Known as the samsara, a wheel of life (Halverson, 2014). A cycle of life that continues over and over. According

     Some have viewed Hinduism as a monotheistic religion, because it recognizes only one supreme God: “the pantheistic principle of Brahman, that all reality is a unity. The entire universe is seen as one divine

Compare and Contrast various views of Hinduism, Buddhism, and Taoism. These all share the same concept, Karma, Samsara and Reincarnation. And that the purpose of our existence is to reach enlightenment. Hinduism and Buddhism share similar concepts, but they differ in that Buddhism does not worship a God, instead they make offerings to various Buddhas. Buddhism schools recognize that in some point in time, some of the human lived human lives as Gautama Siddhartha, and others lived in other realms and realities. The Hinduism belief, is a collection of faith, it is one of the oldest religions and they have four Gods, Brahma, Shiva, Vishnu, and Brahman(who is considered the supreme God force present within all living things). Taoism, believes that “simplicity” is the key to truth and freedom, meaning finding our own path, experiencing our own ideas and taking the time to figure things out in the natural way. Meaning not looking for outside forces to guide us through our life.

Both of the religions Hinduism and Judaism are similar but different in their own ways. Hinduism worships many gods and goddesses, whereas Judaism is a confirmedly monotheistic religion. In the Hinduism religion the bedrock is the belief that the Vedas is sacred and the caste system decribed in it. “Hinduism is a guide to life, and the goal of which is to reach union with Brahman, the unchanging ultimate reality”(75). The dharma or moral law that need to be followed. There are many gods that were worshiped and each person may worship a different god. Images of the gods in homes or temples were presented where each person can show devotion to their personal gods by singing hymns or offering flowers before the images. The Hindus believe in many things such as that the universe undergoes and endless cycle of creation, believe in karma, that the soul reincarnates, the belief that all life is sacred.

Dissimilar to Christianity, Hinduism is portrayed as a family of beliefs. “Hinduism unites the worship of many gods with a belief in a single divine reality” (Molloy, 75). Hinduism can be compared to that of the Ganga Ma, a significant river in the Indian culture. Comparing it with the river saying that it flows and gains momentum. The Hindus have four very important life goals; kama or pleasure, artha or economic security, dharma or social and religious duty, and moksha or complete freedom. While Hinduism consist of more than one god, individuals tend to focus on a particular god. Three gods are particularly central in the life of Hinduism. The three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, represent creation, preservation, and destruction. (Molloy, 75).

Hinduism is the oldest and most complex of all religious systems. The origins of Hinduism can be traced to the Indus Valley civilization sometime between 4000 and 2500 BCE. Though believed by many to be a polytheistic religion, the basis of Hinduism is the belief in the unity of everything. This totality is called Brahman. The purpose of life is to realize that we are part of God and by doing so we can leave this plane of existence and rejoin with God. This enlightenment can only be achieved by going through cycles of birth, life and death known as samsara. One's progress towards enlightenment is measured by his karma. This is the accumulation of all one's good and bad deeds and this determines the person's next reincarnation.

In contrast to majority of devout religions, Hinduism participates in the worship of many gods – thus making it a polytheistic religion consisting of a Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The Brahma is the The Creator, and a member of the Hindu Trinity. Brahma intimately creates everything in the universe. In addition, Vishnu maintains the balance and harmony of the universe. Last but not least, Shiva perpetually destroys the universe: “it’s the necessary step to make renewal possible” (Hindu Gods and

Hinduism also known as Brahman believes that there is one supreme, impersonal reality called Brahman. Brahman is the source of all things, but is not a personal creator. Brahman is, rather, the divine essence of all that exists. Brahman is the belief of impersonal, eternal, and beyond all human comprehension.

Although, Hinduism might be regarded by some as a polytheistic religion in its most basic form Hinduism is based around one deity. The Brahma is the god that all of the other gods are derived from and each god is a manifestation of the one being. There are four other main deities, aside from Brahma,