Hinduism is an age old religion centered around the quest for truth, enlightenment and the abolishment of one’s own ignorance. There is no definitive idea that summarizes Hindu beliefs due to the vast number of diverse traditions it consists of; but beliefs such as Karma (actions create effects), Samsara (reincarnation cycle), and the four aims of life (dharma, kama, artha, and moksha) help us to understand the principles of the Hindu faith. Ahimsa is a principle that goes hand and hand with one of Hinduism's four aims of life, dharma. While it is believed that Ahimsa is the prevention of violence, Hindu people go much deeper than this. They believe that Ahimsa is the avoidance of any negative act; this includes, negative thoughts, offensive …show more content…
The second action is extinguishing the fire. Aggressors should be treated like the child in the example, lovingly prevent the aggressor from causing harm. No action should be motivated by ill-will or anger. “
Hinduism holds respect for all life forms, this includes animals as well as humans. It is the duty of a Hindu to be respectful and kind to all living things. It is because of this respect that Ahimsa is so important. Hindu people believe that a life lived following Ahimsa will result in good karma and, in turn, will lead to being reincarnated into a more powerful, superior being. But it is only through living a life of Ahimsa can this be attained. .
The basic understanding of Ahimsa and it’s literal meaning is “non-violence”, but to Hindu, Ahimsa means much more. Ahimsa to a Hindu is understood to be a sacred vow that
“is broken even by showing contempt towards another man, by entertaining unreasonable dislike for or prejudice towards anybody, by frowning at another man, by hating another man, by abusing another man, by speaking ill of others, by backbiting or vilifying, by harboring thoughts of hatred, by uttering lies, or by ruining another man in any way whatsoever” (SRI SWAMI
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Ahimsa demands a Hindu demonstrate immense strength and bravery (quote).
While Ahimsa is one of the fundamental virtues that a Hindu must practice to attain enlightenment, it is recognized that complete and absolute Ahimsa is not possible.
“Absolute Ahimsa is impossible. It is not possible to the most conscientious Sannyasin or monk. To practice that, you must avoid killing countless creatures while walking, sitting, eating, breathing, sleeping and drinking. You cannot find a single non-injurer in the world. You have to destroy life in order to live. It is physically impossible for you to obey the law of non-destruction of life, because the phagocytes of your blood also are destroying millions of dangerous intrusive spirilla, bacteria and germs.” (SRI SWAMI WEBSITE).
It is physically not possible for any human being, even the most peaceful and gentle, to not harm or kill some form of life during their life. For a person to eat or drink, which is a necessity of life, something must be killed in the process. It is through this realization that we are able to understand the difficulties and challenges faced by Hindu following
Jain and Jain renouncers are very dedicated to the practice of ahimsa, or nonviolence. They are very aware of their world around them and what will happen to their karma if they harm any walks life. Jains try to eventually purge any negative karma they might have accumulated over their lifetime. Through this dedication to nonviolence, Jains work tirelessly to make sure that their intentional actions will not bring harm to anything or anyone. Many objects and traditions are connected to objects that can be found in their environment. Jains coexist with the world and wish to be a part of it and not leave a mark on it. Through their practice of ahimsa, Jains have formed a unique relationship and lifestyle practice with the world around them.
“‘Not to do violence [ahimsa] is the highest dharma’,” (Badrinath 114). According to the author ...
...onsibility in life which is decided by the caste they are born into. However, living amongst other people, one’s soul might become “forgetful of the Lord” which leads to “[attaching] itself to pleasure” which would make it “bound” to the wheel of the universe. For a soul to escape this cycle birth, death, and rebirth, it is necessary to connect with this god. The Hindu people believed that “by uniting oneself with him…one ceases to be ignorant” and this means “Birth, death, and rebirth will be no more.” This credence of rebirth and karma highly influenced the way the Hindu society developed.
Mohandas K. Gandhi, a great Indian philosopher, wrote the essay “My Faith in Nonviolence”. His essay focuses on the use of nonviolence means on overthrowing the British rule of India. Gandhi’s main claim on this essay is that love is the higher law of life and that “every problem lends itself to solution” (p. 203) , if we followed that law.
Hinduism is unlike many other religions in that it does not have a single founder or text, but is more like an umbrella in ways of life. In death and life for the Hindu, “The ultimate goal of the soul is liberation from the wheel of rebirth, through reabsorption into our identity with the Oversoul (Brahma)-- the essence of the universe, immaterial, uncreated, limitless, and timeless” (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 134). Susan Thrane MSN, RN, OCN discusses the beliefs of Hindu culture in the article “Hindu End of Life: Death, Dying, Suffering, and Karma” published in the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing. Thrane (2010) states that there are almost 2.3 million Hindus in India. Hindu’s believe in interconnectedness, karma, and reincarnation.
Our duty as humans was to collect karma to be able to move in the social scale which was very important to the people. Our reincarnation and our life is determined on how well we do in our current life. Ahism is a term which often meant not to injure and compassion for others which derives from the Sanskrit. Sanskrit is a peaceful religion that is leased by people called Gurus. Some people who are able to lead a life with good karma can escape the wheel samsara which was called moska.
Hindus believe god is in everything and therefore all life is sacred no one should hurt and take away something so sacred. It is one of the reasons why most Hindus are vegetarian. Ahimsa is also one of the eternal laws and one must through achieving ahimsa to reach moksha - the ultimate goal. Also arguably one of the greatest man modern history and a significant figure one Hinduism Mahatma Gandhi believed that the most important way of dealing with things is non-violence. Ahimsa was his principle for he believed that: " The principle of ahimsa does not include any evil thought, any
A Jain monk Bharata Pramod Sudhaji have stated: “ Truth and non-violence are as
Hinduism is a religion found throughout India with a mysterious origin that has been around for over three thousand years. It is arguable whether Hinduism is definitively monotheistic or polytheistic but the ultimate goal is to break the birth-death-rebirth cycle of samsara to achieve moksha and become the ultimate self- Brahman. Recently, Hindu ideology has made its way into American culture through the concept of karma and having a karmic self- one of the most important aspects in Hinduism, meaning all of your actions have rewards or consequences. Pushes from the Millennial generation have integrated more Hindu culture, like the use of Bindis, and a large “spiritual but not religious” feeling towards the transcendent. Hinduism has been prominent
Most people in the world derive their religious beliefs and traditions from their parents and peer influences. From a religious point of view, “There are many definitions for the term ‘religion’ in common usage. [Broadly defined], in order to include the greatest number of belief systems: ‘Religion is any specific system of belief about deity, often involving rituals, a code of ethics, and a philosophy of life’” (Robinson, 1996). However, in examining Hinduism, it is difficult to label the practices as a religion. This paper will expound upon the Hindu traditions, taking into account the characteristics of sacred elements, their meaning, and significance.
Conflict and violence is around us throughout the world and the mass media has made a huge impact of what we think of violence and the relation to religion, especially in the last couple of years. In addition violence has been considered as being part of human nature and comes from our biological structure of aggression. It is an out let for us to relieve stress levels and some believe that it can be a device of vengeance and a positive mechanism to human survival. For example it is a system for the survival of the fittest and reproduction. Another way that we can look at it on a different spectrum is the way religious beliefs utilise non violent mechanisms that try to diminish the impacts of aggressive behaviour. When we think of religion and violence we do not think to situate them together. This is because “theologically, it can certainly be concluded that all religions have the goal of peace” . People who are outsider of a religious tradition can make many generalisations. In this essay it will discuss why some religious traditions in South East Asia oppose violence. In addition the rejections of violence have shaped and changed religious practices within Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism. There have also been many generalisations about the above traditions. Moreover I will try and answer why non violence has become a generalisation and how it has impacted India as a whole.
Starting at the core of India, its heart can be correlated with Hinduism. Hinduism started in Indian approximately the third millennium BC and is still practiced in the present day. Also, as it is of Indian origin, its rightful place can be considered the heart of India. It can be said that Hinduism is substantially “outdated” by today’s standards as formidable religion of Indian majority. During the period of the caste social structure within India it was en excellent fit. But this ensures its position of the heart of India by being fundamental to the development of ancient India and forming modern India.
For Hinduism, the ultimate liberation is returning to Braham. According to Bhagavad Gita, there are three ways of practice that lead to liberation.¬¬¬¬. These are janna-yoga (the way of knowledge), bhakti- yoga (the practice of devotion) and karma-yoga (the course of action). In other words, one can practice any of these methods to achieve union with God. This paper I will analyze some important aspects of bhakti-yoga and how it can lead one to attain ultimate liberation—return to Atman. In doing this investigation, I hope to help the reader broaden their knowledge on liberation in Hinduism. As Radhakrishnan says we may climb the mountain from different paths, but the view from the summit is identical for all.
Today, Hinduism stands as India’s primary religion. In fact, India houses 90% of the world’s Hindi population and 79.8% of India’s population follows the Hindu religion, according to the 2011 census. It is thought by some to be the oldest religion in the world and the “eternal law” (Fowler). This culture is truly one as defined by Edward Taylor: “A complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capability and habit acquired by man as a member of society.” In order to have somewhat of an understanding about what the Hindu religion entails, one must study the Hindu conception of God, its basic concepts and key beliefs, as well as symbolism.
Violence. Just mentioning the word conjures up many images of assault, abuse, and even murder. Violence is a broad subject with many categories. Some types of violence are terrorist violence and domestic violence. Violence can arise from many different sources; these sources whether biological, cultural, and social all can evoke violent behavior. All cultures experience some sort of violence, and this paper considers violence as a cultural phenomenon across a range of various settings. Violence plays a part in both Islamic and Indian cultures according to the articles “Understanding Islam” and “Rising Dowry Deaths” by Kenneth Jost and Amanda Hitchcock, respectively. From an anthropological perspective, violence emphasizes concerns of meaning, representation and symbolism.