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Hindu belief system
Hindu belief system
The origin of Hinduism essay
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Hinduism is a very old and traditional Indian religion that dates back to sacred texts written between 900 and 400 BCE. The book, Upanishads, which literally means to sit beneath, reflects the deeper meanings of Hinduisms and are reflections of early information found in Vedic writings. From the outside, Hinduism is not only very unique and different, but also can be very confusing and complex. Individuals not familiar with polytheism or who have practiced monotheism may have a hard time understand the relationships between each God and what it represents. It has been said there are three hundred thirty-three million Gods in in the Hindu faith, which by definition would certainly make it a polytheistic religion. Those same individuals may be even more confused if they were to visit with a practitioner who tells them there really is only one God and the other Gods are merely idols to help them focus their understanding of the religion. The religion can certainly be confusing to the outsider, but at the core of Hinduism, it is very similar to most other organized religions. To dig into the complexities and intricate details of Hinduism is not the goal of this discussion, but rather to point out the primary or popular Gods that are worshipped in Hinduism. (Introduction to World Religions Patridge)
As a new practitioner or in the early learning phases, one might be taught to worship an idol. This might be an idol that his parent’s worships or even a God of something that is important to the practitioner. These idols are known as Murti and can come in many different forms. A Murti is a manifestation of the supreme God and can be presented by a three dimensional statue, two-dimensional painting or even just the word “Om”. It...
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...ten represented with four or more arms. Showing the God with multiple arms emphasizes the deity’s immense power and ability to perform multiple acts at one time. To express a deity in human form and with multiple arms is to reflect super human power as well. (www.asia.si.edu/pujaonline/puja/why_multiple.html)
As you can see, Hinduism is not only a very complex and hard to follow religion, but is also very misunderstood. To a monotheist or atheist, it may seem silly or even fable like. Because of the polytheistic views, there are also similarities to Greek and Egyptian Mythology. Regardless of how you view Hinduism, the desire to be a good person, find your way into afterlife and be accepting of all other religions in my mind is a great way to practice. It is also very interesting to study the complexity of the different Gods and what each of them represent.
Ancient Hebrews believed in Monotheism, its acceptance in Mesopotamia was a gradual transition in that era. The god of the ancient Hebrews was Yahweh. There were two belief systems in India, Hinduism and Buddhism. The people who followed Hinduism worship one main god, Indra who was a war god. Indra guided the people through wars, and was responsible for the weather. There were also a number of gods that were responsible for one’s personal behaviors and the morals they believed to be important. Those were the gods who determined if the person was to go to heaven or to hell. In Buddhism there wasn’t a god they worship, rather people tried to reach holiness following the practices of Buddha. Buddha was a man named Siddhartha Gautama, who developed Buddhism through meditation, fasting and praying. Acrobatiq.
Hinduism and Buddhism, worship multiple deities and they follow the same path to achieve the Nirvana state which is a place where all the enlightened are. The Buddha’s teaching help is regularly summarized in the four respectable Truths, which type those premises of the 1st sermon he conveyed then afterward achieving enlightenment, and the eightfold Path, which gives a fundamental aide to how to live in the world. . Over
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 archangel is depicted with one wing upraised and his feet apart as if he were running. The posture of his body gives a sense of motion and captures the urgency and and great joy of his message. With his right arm he imparts a blessing while with his left he holds a staff that is the symbol of his authority as a messenger of God.
Unlike most religions, Hinduism has no specific founder, scripture or set of teachings. Hinduism has over nine hundred million followers today. The history of Hinduism is that it was found in the Indus Valley and it is an oral religion. Hindu’s believe in the three gods named Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Brahma is believed to be the creator of the world and creatures.
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).
Man has always found pleasure in expressing himself by creating art. Through the centuries, man’s art has left behind clues and insight that enables the generations of today to understand their ancestors. In particular, historians and artist alike can see what certain Asian sculptures reflect of the culture and religious beliefs of Hinduism and Buddhism. Hinduism is the parent religion to Buddhism; much like Judaism is to Christianity. Despite Buddhism and Hinduism sharing similar philosophies and various idealisms, their respective sculptures also show their differences. There are two important characteristic of the sculptures of these religions. The first is motion versus rest, and second the subject matter. It is these two types of characteristics historians and artist can help use to decipher Hindu and Buddhist sculptures.
...to strengthen their faith but also one’s own. This could be seen in the temple with people discussing how their week has been, or the large tables in the dinning hall where fellow Hindus discussed an array of issues. Finally the passion with which Hindus and their priests praised and honored their deities is what I found most similar to my religion. Unwavering faith and love for [the] God/gods from the devotees, and the immense passion with which the Hindu priests performed all their duties. Visiting this temple has made me appreciate what I believe even more. Nevertheless, it has also opened my eyes to similarities that religions have and to the idea that maybe, as one of the Brahmins at the temple indicated, God’s love, tolerance, and understanding is not unique to my religion but is universal. The only thing that changes is how we show our love and faith to God.
Hinduism is a very unique religion; it is the oldest living religion and does not have a single founder unlike Buddhism. Hinduism
In addition, what makes Hinduism even more complex, is that fact that it is also “viewed as a monotheistic religion, because it recognizes only one supreme God: the panentheistic principle of Brahman that all reality is a unity. The entire universe is seen as one divine entity who is simultaneously at one with the universe and who transcends it as well. [Still others] view Hinduism as Trinitarian because Brahman is simultaneously visualized as a triad - - one God with three persons” (Robinson, 1995):
The book further talks about the multi-dimensional portrayal of gods in the Bhakti tradition where the gods appeared in male, female or even in neuter and animals forms , carrying tones of an homoer...
Hinduism is regarded as the world’s oldest organized religion, but it’s also a way of life for much of India and Nepal. Unlike other religions, Hinduism allows and encourages multiple paths to the divine. There is no single founder and no single scripture, but is rather a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions. They are often understood to be different means to reach a common end. But this acceptance of variety makes it difficult to identify religious tenets that are specifically Hindu. Still, there are some basic principles common to Hinduism that are essential to one's approach to life.
Hindu mythology has interesting theories on how the Earth was created and the reincarnation of people, Hinduism is very different to many other mythologies and has some unique key features that make it stand out from the rest. History tells that there are over 330 million gods in Hindu mythology. There are six main gods in Hinduism. Hindu’s have an interesting belief of what happens to them after death, the afterlife Hindus believe in must be met by accomplishing a goal. Hinduism is a unique belief in many gods, the life cycle and reincarnation of its people.
Shiva is known as the destroyer of the world, but he also has many other roles. According to The Hindu Traditions Shiva is the; creator and destroyer, movement and tranquility, light and dark, and man and woman. These roles tend to be contradicting but Shiva has these roles in order to show that these things are more closely related than they appear to be. There are four main images of Shiva and they include: Mahayogi, Nataraja, Ardhaharishvara, and lingam. The four images of Shiva represent his different roles. The image of Shiva as the Mahayogi presents him in meditation and in a serene state. In this state Shiva is wearing animal skins and his eyes are only half open. The animal skin is a representation of being in touch with nature and his eyes are symbolizing that he is only partially in the world according to The Hindu Tradition’s. In the Mahayogi image he also tends to have a three prong trident that represents dominance over intelligence, mind and body. The cobra wrapped around his neck is his power over ego and in his hair is where the goddess Ganga lives. The image of Nataraja is one of the more famous images of Shiva and it displays him dancing. He is famous for his dancing and is often referred to a...
In Hinduism some of the things I found most fascinating is that the idea of God in Hindu is compounded and how they worship. There is one Supreme God and his form is unlimited. The Supreme God’s qualities and forms are represented by the numerous deities that stem from him. The deities God can form can be either male or female, allowing Hindus to pray to a god or goddess.