Hinduism is a religion filled with many philosophical thoughts about the soul, following your duties, achieving liberation and understanding the consequences of karma. Many of the beliefs in Hinduism makes a person think of life and their own actions they do everyday since it can affect your next life. Hinduism sometimes also makes one wonder if all of these various beliefs and philosophical thoughts are true or not and if you don’t follow your duties (dharma), if consequences really do occur or not in the present life and the next life.
Atman, which is the soul, is constantly craving for things and always wants something even after we obtain our desires; it is a non-stop process (Embree 33). The Self (atman) is taken over by pleasure and pain, which is true in life because there are always desires that give us pleasure and make us happy (Embree 36). But one also needs to remember that life has its ups and downs meaning, there always will be a time of pain in life. No one is ever satisfied in life, we are always wanting more and more each day. According to the Upanishadic thinker the material world is not very important, only you, your soul, and the actions you do are important (Embree 36). Nothing else is more important in the world than your personality, which is the self (atman). I don’t completely agree with the Upanishadic thinker that the material world does not matter. It does matter because our actions and the way our soul feels at certain situations, it all comes from the material world. Yes, our actions are just as important but the material world drives us to our actions that the soul does.
Every act we make, every thought and every desire, shapes this and our future lives. Karma, action and the consequences of action...
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...rma at a young age. A person has to be able to follow their dharma no matter, because it may not always be the right action but it has to be fulfilled because it is your dharma. Arjuna in Mahabharata did not want to kill his own people, because he knew it was a sin. Krishna convinced him that he would commit a sin if he failed to perform his own duty (dharma) as a warrior, because a warrior’s duty is to fight (Embree 281).
Hinduism can relate everything to each other and that is why for many it is easier to understand the whole concept of Hinduism, the atman, following your duties, achieving liberation and understanding the consequences of karma. You must perform your dharma in your life and do good karma in order to either have a better soul in the next life or to escape the cycle of samsara. If one does not obtain or fulfilled, one may not achieve liberation.
Karma. The big working force in our universe that has captured the attention of billions of people on this planet. Karma has become something to blame our transgressions on. We constantly hear: “Watch out, karma will get you!” in our society, but do we really know where this idea of karma comes from? Or how this idea relates to our lives? We have to trace the idea of karma back to its roots in the ancient Asian religious traditions. Karma is thrown around as a term of superstitious belief in popular American culture today, but it still plays an immense role in shaping the destiny of millions of people today.
According to document A, “Hinduism was (and is) polytheistic - Hindus believe in many gods…..In this kind of Hinduism, people believed in reincarnation - that people could be reborn into other bodies after they died.” The excerpt shows that the daily life would be affected since Hindus will worship more gods and believe in reincarnation. Moreover, Hindus believed in Karma as well as Dharma. Karma was the good or bad actions that had an effect on the soul in later reincarnations. Dharma was the spiritual duties that one must follow. Now it is evident that beliefs were influenced by religion.
Some of the most prominent aspects of Hinduism are the atman and samsara which is one the clearest distinctions between Hinduism and other religions. When Krishna states, “I have never not existed; nor have you, nor have these lords of men. Nor will we cease to exist, all of us, from now onwards” (Bhagavad Gita, 185), he is referring to the atman or the human soul which is believed to have always existed and will continue to exist. And when he says, “Just as one throws out old clothes and then takes on other, new ones; so the embodied self casts out old bodies as it gets other, new ones” (Bhagavad Gita, 187), he is talking about samsara and reincarnation. It is from this text, where Hinduism gets its defining characteristics. As long as the Gita continues to be relevant in India so will these philosophies. It reinforces the idea of reincarnation, the soul, and duty which shapes the way the Hindus live their lives. The goal for a Hindu is to break out of samsara and achieve Brahman, and according to the Gita, fulfilling one’s dharma is the way to accomplish this. The Bhagavad Gita is significant to Hinduism, because it has helped Hindus identify an ultimate goal and teaches them how to achieve
Hinduism is a religion with no known founder, with its understandings and actions developing over thousands of years. This religion has roots from the Aryan people’s religion, when they invaded India at 1500 BCE. The Aryans created a caste system when they invaded India so their kin would remain in power. Hinduism has absorbed and accepted this caste system as a large part of their religion. They believe in reincarnation, which is being reborn after you die, and Samsara, the endless cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. If the person completes their dharma, the rules of their caste, and live a good moral life then they advance to the next caste, but if they do bad in their life then they remain at their caste level or they are downgraded. The most respected caste group is the Brahmins, they are high priests, making them very religious, and they are the closest in the caste system to reaching moksha, release from samsara or entering paradise. Another way of viewing moksha is that their Atman, the soul, gets reunited with the Brahman, the universal spirit. They then infer that everything that does not exist forever, unlike their Atman, are not real, which they call a veil, also known as Maya, because it is not permanent. Along with reincarnation there exists karma, similar to the idea what comes around goes around, so if you live an immoral life, your future lives will be a punishment. Guidance for priests and rituals are written in the most ancient Hindu scriptures called Vedas. The Rig Veda is the most important scripture out of the Vedas. The Upanishads, however, explain the Vedas through a teacher student dialogue, this helps anyone learn the Vedas much easier. Finally, the rituals described in these scriptures incl...
The Question of Origin: Hinduism believes everything has been in existence and is a part of numerous gods. In (Foundation of Indian Psychology Vol.2 Pg.116) the text Hinduism is a treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different people in different times of life. Over the centuries the Hindus beliefs are not literally interpreted by the scriptures and there ethics are derived from them.
Karma is ancient belief whose history can be traced back to when Buddhism had just been established by the Buddha and it was still in its early stages.Early Buddhism taught that karma was non-linear,meaning that your past actions would not affect you in the present, and your present actions would not affect your future. The quote, “Karma isn’t fate.Nor is it a punishment imposed on us by some external agent.We create our own karma. Karma is the result of choices that we make every moment of every day.” means that the actions we commit every day will create karma, and whether the outcome of that karma is good or bad is determined by your actions. On the contrary, some Indian schools taught that karma was linear, meaning your past and present actions would affect you later in life. The doctrine of the belief states that one person’s karma cannot affect another person’s future.For example, the transfer of merit states that one person can transfer good karma to another, and this is found in both Buddhism and Hinduism. However, a wide spectrum of various aspects of Indian religions believe that karma can be shared. The outcome of your karma is determined by whether your actions were helpful and kind, or if your actions were cruel and decadent.The quote, “Ka...
Other than a religion, Hinduism is a way of life through philosophy that is mostly concerned with spirituality and enlightenment. The impracticality of the Hindu religion comes from the Vedas. Vedas are the oldest scriptures in the Hindu religion that are considered to be a straight ...
The teachings of Hinduism derive directly from the Vedic religion of India, which explains why Hinduism focuses so much on sacrifice and pleasing the many gods (Bulliet 186-187). Hinduism gives four different goals a person should accomplish to achieve spiritual fulfillment and Moksha. These paths, known as the four yogas, include Karma-yoga, Jhana-yoga, Raja-yoga, and Bhakti-yoga (Smith). Karma-yoga is the way of action that a person can attain by following the discipline of action that comes from the Brahman (Bhagavad- Gita 1292-1293). The second path known as Jnana-yoga is the way of knowledge, which a person attains through the discipline of knowledge (Bhagavad-Gita 1292). The third path of Raja-yoga is the way of asceticism, which a person attains when they do not have desires or possessions (Bhagavad-Gita 1295-1296). The final path of Bhakti-yoga is the way of devotion that a person can achieve by having undisturbed devotion to Krishna (Bhagavad-Gita 1300-1301). Overall, Hinduism teaches people to rely heavily on each other, the scriptures, and on the
Though Hinduism is labeled as a religion, it’s actually much more than that. It’s a culture, a lifestyle, and a society that has influenced it’s people for more than four thousand years. The Indian culture is made up of several languages and dialects causing much racial diversity amongst the civilization. Although modern Hinduism often conflicts with that of the earlier forms of this religion, it’s most basic foundation is practically the same. Even though it’s teachings are not commonly agreed upon.
Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion and was originated in the Indian subcontinent. Is rare that a big religion like Hinduism don’t have a single founder, religious organization, specific theological system and don’t even a system of morality, but it is a religion that has evolved over thousands of years. Hinduism has a diverse body of cultural and philosophical practices. Hinduism consists of belief and tradition. The most recognized belief and traditions of the Hinduism are Karma, Dharma, Samsara and Moshka. Hindu people don’t believe in violence, but they do believe in prayers, honesty, truth, austerity, celibacy and penance. The Hindu scriptures are collectively referred to as the Shashtras. The Hindu scriptures were initially passed on orally from generation to generation until finally ancient scholars wrote them down; mainly in the Sanskrit language that was the prevailing language of the time. Some of the Hindu scriptures are the Shruti and Smritis. The Shruti primarily refers to the Vedas which represent eternal truths revealed to ancient sages but some other Hindu individuals associated the Vedas with a God or a powerful person. The Smritis are all of the other text different than the Shruti. The most know of the Smritis are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Although the Hindus worship a large pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, they believe in the one Supreme Power that manifests itself in various forms.
The followers of the Buddha believe life goes on and on in many reincarnations or rebirths. The eternal hope for all followers of Buddha is that through reincarnation one comes back into successively better lives - until one achieves the goal of being free from pain and suffering and not having to come back again. This wheel of rebirth, known as samsara, goes on forever or until one achieves Nirvana. The Buddhist definition of Nirvana is "the highest state of spiritual bliss, as absolute immortality through absorption of the soul into itself, but preserving individuality" (Head1 57). Birth is not the beginning and death is not the end. This cycle of life has no beginning and can go on forever without an end. The ultimate goal for every Buddhist, Nirvana, represents total enlightenment and liberation. Only through achieving this goal is one liberated from the never ending round of birth, death, and rebirth (Head3 73). Transmigration, the Buddhist cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, involves not the reincarnation of a spirit but the rebirth of a consciousness containing the seeds of good and evil deeds. Buddhism's world of transmigration encompasses three stages. The first stage in concerned with desire, which goes against the teachings of Buddha, is the lowest form and involves a rebirth into any number of hells. The second stage is one in which animals dominate. But after many reincarnations in this stage the spirit becomes more and mo...
In south Asia, it is well accepted that a person’s action determines his or her own personal destiny. This idea that actions have repercussions in life is known as karma. Karma is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary as, “the total effect of a person's actions and conduct during the successive phases of the person's existence, regarded as determining the person's destiny.” Karma is called las rgyu-bras in Tibetan, where las can be translated to “work” or “actions” and rgyu-bras translates to “fruits.” Combined, las rgyu-bras can be translated as the fruits of one’s actions (Keyes 232). If a person performs a good action in life, Tibetan Buddhists believe that good things will occur later on in life as a result, and they expect the reverse for bad actions. By understanding this concept and trying to live a l...
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.
Now that we have covered the social classes what are the main point of the belief system, well they have several principals that almost all Hindus believe in The three-in-one god known as "Brahman," which is composed of: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the Preserver), and Shiva (the Destroyer). The Caste System. Karma. The law that good begets good, and bad begets bad. Every action, thought, or decision one makes has consequences good or bad that will return to each person in the present life, or in one yet to come. Reincarnation. ls also known as "transmigration of souls," or "samsara." This is a journey on the "circle of life," where each person experiences as series of physical births, deaths, and rebirths. With good karma, a person can be reborn into a higher caste, or even to godhood. Bad karma can relegate one to a lower caste, or even to life as an animal in their next life. Nirvana. This is the goal of the Hindu. Nirvana is the release of the soul from the seemingly endless cycle of rebirths (Beliefs). These five central beliefs are what makes up the Hindu religion.