Religion

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Recommended: Comparing Confucianism and Buddhism

Religion is the basic belief in a set of rules on how to live, generally accompanied by a belief and worship of a superhuman being with supernatural powers. There are many religions that have been picked up throughout the world. Most of these religions rise from some basic religions that have relationships with the belief. Some of the most known religions are Christianity, Buddhism, Hinduism, and Confucianism among many others. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion and is India's main religion. Unlike many religions Confucianism does not have a higher power they worship, instead, it is an ethical system of philosophical teachings founded by Confucius, a Chinese philosopher and then developed by Mencius (Doniger, 2009).
Hinduism is one of the world’s major religions that evolved from the Vedic religion of ancient India. Hinduism has branches that contain several sects. The major branches are Vaishnavism and Shaivism. These sects rely on their own set of scriptures but their focal point is the ancient Vedas. The philosophical Vedic texts, from the Aryans, involved the Upanishads in searching for knowledge on how the human beings would escape reincarnation. Hinduism has a cosmic principle Brahman, whereby they believe in rebirth after death. Hinduism emerged around the beginning of Common Era then coexisted within Buddhism for several centuries (Clearly, 2013). It spread to Southern India and parts of Southeast Asia from the Northern India. The basic teaching of Vedanta is the belief that the human being is neither confined in the body nor mind but the spark of God within the soul. Most Hindu’s practice bhakti as a way to worship and follow their deity. Rather than live of fear of their deity, bhakti focuses on being connected with the...

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In conclusion, currently Confucianism has been greatly reduced and its revival in the scholarly community upheld. On the other hand, Hinduism is practiced throughout the world whereby worship is done at home and temple. Religious festivals are also observed according to an ancient solar-lunar calendar. The religion instills unique and strong sense of identity in each Hindu.

References
Doniger, W. (2009). The Hindus: An alternative history. New York, NY: Penguin Press.
OMF. (n.d.). Hinduism. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.omf.org/omf/uk/asia/religions/hinduism
Richey, J. (n.d.). Confucianism. Retrieved May 2, 2014, from http://www.patheos.com/Library/Confucianism/Ritual-Worship-Devotion-Symbolism/Worship-and-Devotion-in-Daily-Life?offset=1&max=1
Zi, K., & Cleary, T. F. (1998). The essential Confucius. Edison, NY: Castle books.

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