Hinduism

The next few posts are some old material from my Asian civilization course. I've been keeping them on my computer for future reference if ever a situation should arise where I could use these articles, here we go! Since I like posting actual stuff people can learn from and not " Oh my day went so horribly, blah blah blah, I ate a sandwich, blah blah blah" in short, trivial stupidities. Personally, I found it to be a break from the usual Muslim/Christian crap we always hear about and it also made me read up a little more on the topics. The first one on my list is Hinduism. Keep in mind these are not research projects just short summaries of 400-500ish words each.

Hinduism is the oldest of the world’s main religions, and is still quite healthy today with more than 800 million followers. Hinduism has no single founder or single doctoral text, like the New Testament for example. It developed over time mostly in part from the Indus civilization. The gods of Hinduism come from many different cultures which include the cult of Shiva who worshiped none other than the god Shiva, creator and destroyer. Other adopted gods include the war god Indra and the fire god Agni who were worshiped by the Aryans.

Vedas, the world’s oldest religious texts, were the first texts composed by the Hindus. They were first orally spoken out then were written down between 1500 and 600 B.C.E and were used for spells and rituals used at sacrifices. Hinduism’s main ethical text came later; the Bhagavad Gita was composed around the second century C.E. In it, are the concepts of dharma, the selfless execution of one’s earthly duties and karma, the consequences of one’s actions. Both of these concepts work together in such a manner that keeps moral behaviour the attainable goal for Hindus. Faithfulness to one’s dharma (earthly duties) produces good karma (consequences). This is also what keeps the caste system alive today, because it encourages the status quo, so it has been heavily criticized

The karma produces in one’s mortal life determines the rebirth the soul. Hindus believe in reincarnation after death and believe that karma is the deciding factor. It decides whether the soul will be reborn into a being of higher status or an animal. This is the concept of samsra, the endless cycle of life. Since, one’s family member or loved one may have been reincarnated in an animal or insect Hindus encourage the appreciation for all life. This is why most Hindus are vegetarians.

Shiva is the most celebrated god of the Hindu religion. He is the creator and destroyer, hence is celebrated at the beginning of life and at death. He is comparable to Christianity’s Christ, who represents death and eternal life. Hindus accept the fact that humans are a mixture of good and evil and that they must come to terms with their own nature and the nature of the cosmos. This is why Hinduism, unlike western religions (Christianity, Judaism) does not encourage guilt for negative actions done in one’s mortal life. Another difference from western faiths is that there is no set holy day of the week or set formal service. Hindus just perform a simple prayer in front of altars found in nearly every home once daily.