The Hindu Faith is an indigenous theology and philosophy of India spanning thousands of years.

“Hinduism is a collection of religious beliefs that developed slowly over a long period of time.” (World History Patterns of Interaction, 2005) Hinduism has been made up of so many different cultures and beliefs that unlike Christianity and Islam it is unable to be traced back. Hindus believe in karma and reincarnation. Karma is good and

The Nyaya and Vaishesika schools are primarily analytic and are therefore more concerned with logic and epistemology than ethics. The word nyaya means that by which the

Hinduism is faced with a revolving wheel of life, death and rebirth called Samsara better known as reincarnation. They believe this life cycle is a direct relation to a person’s karma of deeds done. Karma “determines the kind of body, whether human, animal, or insect, into which he or she will be reincarnated in the next

In Hinduism karma and reincarnation are two meaningful major elements. Karma is a concept that the universe will return your good or bad actions back to you. You will find with certain actions you make, you feel good and others around you feel good. When remembering karma think about mental and physical actions that you would make. In the Hindu religion the soul reincarnates itself over and over until it becomes perfect.

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.

Reincarnation is a common belief in the eastern part of the world, with Buddhism as well as Hinduism, supporting the idea of rebirth. In Hinduism each person has an essential self which is called the Atman, and is

Vajrayana school of thought was developed in medieval India and spread to Tibet. It includes practices that make use of mantras, and the visualisation of deities and

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 origins of yoga date back to India over 5,000 years ago. The Vedas, holy writings that are the foundation for Hinduism, possess ancient yoga teachings known as Vedic Yoga. Individuals became reliant on Vedic yoga to live their life in divine harmony.

In addition, the priest at the temple presents offerings in form of coconut, flowers, or fruit to the deity then he gives back some of the blessed objects to the devotees in the temple. These blessed gifts from the deity are known as prasada (divine favour) (P18). Within the Hindu tradition, six schools of philosophy are recognized and they include: Vedanta, Yoga, Mimansa, Veisheshika, Nyaya, and Samkhya. Among these six schools of philosophy, Yoga has attracted a wide popular following more so among the followers of Hindu, however, by far Vedanta is by far the most important school of philosophy (P 330). Shankara was who was one the earliest interpreters of Vedanta sees reality as non-dual (advaita). To the followers of Hinduism, both Atman (human soul and Brahman) are identical thus, the phrase “you are that” upholds unity of what many people perceive as two distinct entities in their lives. Followers of Hinduism believes that, under the influence of maya (illusion) human beings do believe that they are different from Brahman, however, when illusion is dispelled then the soul is automatically liberated by realization of its true

In Hinduism, unlike the other religions we have read about, there is not as much of a rivalry between sects. Instead, each sect preaches tolerance and acceptance towards one another. As situations changed and different responses were expressed, the four major sects were created: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and Smartism. Vaishnavism and Shivaism share the similarity of being monotheistic in nature with each believing in one “supreme G-d” Vishnu or Shiva respectively. In addition to these four sects, there are six other schools of Vedantic [Astika related] philosophy: Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva Mimamsa [Mimamsa], and Uttara Mimamsa [Vedanta]. The latter three are the most popular. Vaishnavism, the most popular sect, believes

The traditionalists, now referred to as Sthaviravada or "way of the elders" developed a complex set of philosophical ideas beyond those taught by Buddha. These were collected into the Abhidharma or "higher teachings." But they, too, encouraged disagreements, so that one group after another left the fold. Ultimately, 18 schools developed, each with their own interpretations of various issues, and spread all over India and Southeast Asia.

Since the country is 95 percent Buddhist, there is a big population of Theravada Buddhist monks. Theravada literally means "the Teaching of the Elders" or "the Ancient Teaching". Theravada is the oldest surviving Buddhist school and was founded in India around 250 BCE. It is closest to early Buddhism and historically has been the predominant religion. There are over 100 million Theravada Buddhists worldwide. [ (Theravada) ]

Although their belief in a supreme god aligns in both Islam and Hinduism, the traditions differ on the texts used centrally in each practice. The Veda, written between 1750 BCE and 600 BCE are ancient scriptures, which are the sacred texts of Hinduism. One of the forms the Veda is the Shruti, which is “that which was heard” and the other form is the Vedir seers or Rishis which means “saw”. The Veda is split into four

Hinduism is one of the oldest religion and there is no history of how it started. It is one of the dominant religion and culture in India (Unit 3). Due to its history, Hinduism is a religion that comprises of traditions and has evolved due to social and political events overtime. The early Hindu civilization started after the Aryans gained territory of the Indus valley area and it is believed they laid the basis of Hinduism (Unit 3). While the beliefs of Hinduism are not well known, the culture and traditions of Hinduism is influenced by sacred architecture and objects.