Hinduism

The religion called Hinduism is one of the oldest and most prominent religions in today’s world. It is a religion that has foundations from different groups with ideals in a sense of just living right and working for a better life. In this paper I will discuss what makes up the Hindu religion, its cultural and social influences on the societies that it affects, and give an understanding on the meaning of liberation from earthly existence.

There are different beliefs on what really makes up the religion of Hinduism. Some believe they are polytheistic and believe in many gods, where as some believe they are monotheistic (believing in only one god). For the most part they are henotheistic. They recognize a single deity or god but see other Gods or Goddesses as expressions of an absolute God.  The basis for there belief system is the idea that they are born, they live out there life, eventually die, and are reborn into a new body. Their souls transfer with them into there new body. This process of life is called Samsara. The foundation of Samsara is karma, which determines what and how you will live in your next life. By living the way one is supposed to and showing devotion to this belief, a person can be reborn in a higher place or class. With that being said, bad deeds can have obviously the opposite effects causing one to be reborn in at a lower level. Along with this when something bad happens to an individual in their life, it is seen as the natural occurrence for the deeds one has done immorally. Therefore, they do not have a setup of step by step write and wrong principles but they use the consequences of bad behavior to do what is done by the Ten Commandments in Christianity.  The only thing even similar is the four aims of Hinduism as they call it. Basically, these are to: show virtue in their religious life, have success in one’s field of economic life, and to satisfy the senses, such as sexual pleasure or mental enjoyment. Moksa, or liberation from Samsara, is considered to be the ultimate goal of all mankind. For all intents in purposed their religion is solidly setup with one’s self having ultimate control over there state in life and a person can not ask for more than that.

            The Hindu religion has no single creator. It has evolved from thousand of religious groups in India from about 1500 BC. In the world today, Hinduism has developed into the world’s third largest religion. Christianity and the religion of Islam are the most highly populated. It is estimated that supporters number about 837 million. This is roughly thirteen percent of the world’s entire population. In the countries of Nepal, India, and parts of Sri Lanka, it is the dominant religion.   Thousands of years of invasion in the Indus Valley region led to the mixing of light-skinned Indo-European tribes with the locals of India. These invaders brought their beliefs, called Vedism, which was intermingled with the advanced indigenous peoples of India. This religious boiling pot is significant when looked at in the context of church and state. Until very recently, a Hindu nationalistic political party