The Impact Of Religious Beliefs In Hinduism

Death, as some may say is a must. Every human being on this planet is going to experience death and afterlife once their soul leaves their body. But this concept of death differs from one religion to the next. Some believe it is the permanent ending of soul while others believe it gives us a new beginning. As per to our class discussion, many different cultures hold different beliefs regarding life after death, burial, rebirth and incarnation of soul. In this paper, I will first describe what Hinduism and Islamic rhetoric say about death and after life, and secondly, compare and contrast how their practices differ from one another.

Although religions today take on many shapes and forms, and may seem so dramatically different from each other, in order to study and understand these religions, their similarities must be identified. This paper will first present a definition of religion that will connect to all religions at the simplest base. Then this paper will examine the common practices and experiences that are present in both the primary religions of the world, as well as the indigenous religions. Finally, this paper will discuss the issues that are critical to the academic study of religions.

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.

Before I read Stephen Prothero’s God Is Not One, I did not know much about Hinduism. For me, Hinduism conjured the images of bright colors, richly adorned statues, and jovial worship and dance. When we visited the Ganesh Temple in Flushing, that is exactly what I saw. Yet, now I know the reason for all these things. Although Hinduism is a largely varying tradition, it is namely about love and celebration. Given the evidence from Prothero’s book and my observations at the Ganesh Temple, Hinduism is a tradition that aims to gives purpose to human’s wandering souls through devote worship to deities and rituals.

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.

Hinduism’s samsaric view of life and Judaism’s contrasting belief in one life on Earth before resurrection of the body with the coming of the Messiah, leads to many differences in their funeral and mourning customs and practices. For example the dissimilarity in the way in which the corpse is to be treated and the funeral ceremony itself due to opposing ideas of mortality. However despite the vast difference between traditions, there are still parallels to be noted such as directions for the location and direction of the ceremony and the restrictive nature of the mourning

Some of the spiritual influences that helped shaped the Indian native religion was the intersection of trade, learning and culture. India was one of the greatest civilization of all times and their goal of a civilized life was defined different from the West. India had the largest gathering of people when it came to the Komala festival. The Komala Indian festival was a spiritual gathering where fifteen to twenty million people will come together to renounce the material world for meditation and hostility. In other words, India’s great tradition focused mainly on renunciation, nonviolence, and the inner life.

Imagine a place entirely made of Turkish Limestone and Italian marble, a place of worship and serenity. BAPS Shri Swaminarayan Mandir is the full name of the Hindu Mandir I visited, it is located in Stafford also known as Houston, Texas. I visited BAPS because of the beautiful land mark it created. BAPS is a place of worship for people who practice and believe in Hinduism. Hinduism is approximately 5,000 to 10,000 years old. It is a religion that grows by enfolding new traditions. There are several field of Hinduism, but everyone picks only one. In Hinduism, the fallowers believe in the four gods and five goddesses, each one has an individual meaning and story. Causing each human individual to have a different connection with each of the gods.

In this paper, I have decided to write about the origin, beliefs and everything about Hinduism. Most importantly, I have tried to answer the reason of being so many gods in the Hindu religion. There are 33 million gods and goddesses in the Hindu religion. But in only one god in a lots of religion such as Buddhism, Islam, Christianity, etc. Hinduism, considered the world's oldest religion, is still commonly practiced. Because of its large following, it's also regarded as the world's third largest religion. Hinduism combines the beliefs, philosophy, and cultural practices of India. Central to the faith is a belief in reincarnation and one supreme god called Brahman who has multiple manifestations as either a god or goddess. Gods and goddesses can be spirits, trees, animals, and even planets. Hindu practitioners are guided by Vedic scriptures and believe in righteousness, the laws of cause and effect, and the cycle of birth and death. By reading this paper, reader will be able to know a lot more about the Hinduism.

Many religions offer an exact path to the afterlife; illuminated by various rules and regulations that one must follow to reach enlightenment. Hinduism, on the other hand, is much more complex, offering multiple ways to achieve moksha and providing many answers to the ancient question of “what happens after we die?” Many people think that Hindus believe in many deities, but the Hindu concept of God is much broader than that. In fact, Hinduism itself encompasses much more than just one specific set of religious beliefs. While some Hindus believe that God is a divine being with certain identifiable attributes, others believe that God cannot be defined and is an all-pervading being that extends beyond everything. Although some beliefs differ, the majority of Hindus see the concept of God in multiple ways. Among these are the concepts of God as one and many, God and the soul, God as sound, God as image, God in nature, cows, and avatara.

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).

Hinduism is one of the major world religions. It has left a profound influence on many other religions because of its long, unbroken history that began 1500BC. (“Hinduism”). The devoted and committed followers of this religion also have many different outlooks and viewpoints of life because of the different gods they worship. Each of these gods stand for something different and have different principles and lessons for their followers to learn. (Doniger). Along with their many gods and beliefs, the Hindus also partake in many traditions that stretch back thousands of years. Hinduism is an ancient religion that encompasses a variety of practices and beliefs and has a rich plethora of history that is

Of the five major world religions, the two birthed from the loins of Southern Asia thousands of years ago couldn’t be of a greater dissimilarity. Many believe a religion must focus on a deity and committed worship of that figure, like Hinduism. However, some consider it as more of a spiritual path to self-realization than simply focusing on a certain ethereal being, like Buddhism. Through such practices we are able to gain a greater understanding of each religion.

Hinduism is described as a major religious and cultural tradition of South Asia, developed from Vedic religion. One of the oldest religions in the world, Hinduism is most diverse, originating from multiple religions. The religion is polytheistic, meaning the people of Hinduism believe in millions of gods who control different aspects of their life. Prior to visiting the BAPS Shri Swaminarayan mandir, I had minimal information on Hindu’s and their way of life, despite having countless Hindu friends. Going in as an anthropologist, I objectively observed the customs and traditions they followed in an attempt to learn more about their community.

Imagine a religion so old that it is said to be timeless and has always been there, even before humans set foot on the Earth. It’s mindboggling to think that the knowledge of everything is floating in the space of the universe and the mind is just a way of reaching it. Hinduism is a very complex religion, yet it still sets one ultimate goal for the soul. To deeper understand Hinduism we must reveal its origin, doctrines, customs, and culture.