Custom «Hinduism» Essay Paper Sample

The religion of Hinduism has been dominated by the Indian phenomenon though it is found allover the world due to immigration. The religion has its uniqueness as there is no known founder and no particular time by which this religion can be presumed to have started; this is due to the fact that there are no doctrines which are associated with its founder. It is a religion of uniformity unlike other religions as it is characterized by diversity that is immense. The multiplicity of human aspiration shades reflects Hinduism as religious and spiritual dimensions of existence. Hinduism is the main name that is used in description of faith and culture of many followers in the world. It is presumed to have started about 5000 years, but the most preferred name is sanatan dharma which translates to the eternal laws of nature, and thus it is more a way of life than just being a religion based on timeless universal principles which are varied at all times and places.

The religion has no single founder or a single scripture that is used, and even the sets of teaching are not unified. There are many wrings which consists of beliefs and practices that tricked down the centuries. The religion acknowledges there being many paths that lead to the truth as they do not believe in converting people to their religion. The religion believes in one God understood in different ways. There are two philosophies that are concerned with the nature of God. Advaita teaches God being an impersonal energy equated to soul and matter, and Dvaita is a belief in personal God who is distinguishable from the soul and matter (Fowler). Hindus worship a variety of gods and goddesses which represent the aspects and forms of the Supreme God. The belief of Hindu has embraced the term Dharma to be central referring to the natural law that describes the codes of conduct and the religion practice. Every stage of life and section of the society has its own specific duties (Lovelace and White).

There are two categories by which Hindus scriptures falls. The Shrutis usually refers to what has been heard as they are believed to contain the eternal truths. They include the Vedas, the oldest scripture that was written by Sanskrit containing the rituals and prayers used in worship. The Upanishads forms the part of the Shrutis that consists of the philosophical discussions between the gurus and the pupils. The other scripture is Smritis referring to what is remembered. It encompasses the impressive of Mahabharata and the Ramayana and the Purana stories. The songs of the Lord are contained in the Mahabharata, which is the most important and popular Hindu scripture containing many spiritual teachings. Worshiping of Hinduism is done at home shrines and t5he temple referred to as Mandir, and puja is the term used for worship with offering of food and the reciting of Mantaras to the image of focus. The welcoming ceremony is known as the arti performed at home and the temple accompanied by the hitting of a gong by the devotional hymns (Lovelace and White).

The religion’s mainstream evolved by the innovation and assimilation of cults to Hindu fold. The religion grant an absolute and complete freedom of belief and worship as it conceive the entire world of being a family defining one truth dismissing the distinction of religion which implies identity divisions. There are prominent beliefs that are not restricted to ethics, the cycle of birth, death and rebirth, action and subsequent reaction, revelation and the path of practices. The Hindus believe in the divinity of the Vedas. This is the most ancient, and venerate and agamas are revealed equally (Lipner). These are the word of God primordial hymns and Santana Dharma bedrock of the eternal religion that does not have a beginning or an end. The acceptance of Veda is the most basic criterion of every person as revealed by the scripture in his decoration of Hinduism. The sacred scripture of one person is by no means necessary for someone else. The individual must assign a role to a god to whom another person worships with devotion as the lord of the world. The doctrine of reincarnation is not a universally accepted part of the Hindu teachings and faith. Hinduism is not a religion but a collection of religions which have the elements of shared traditions.

The social organization of Hindu is formed by the caste as every man in Hindu religion has a caste forming the world theory of permanent essentials of God is real and the world is worthless; one God who is unknowable and the additional gods are not to be despised. The Brahmas with their Vedas are the sole authority with the divine institution being the caste that serves the instruments of punishment and death. A man is doomed to repeated births and deaths because the action leads to rebirth and the only cause for an awakened man is world flight and the hope of escaping entanglements of sense and transmigration (Lipner).

There is a believe that no religion which teaches the only way of salvation more than others but the religious paths are the facets of God’s pure love and light which deserve tolerance and understanding. Hinduism is described as many religions which pervade the life lived in the world. Even though there are features that connect it to religion, salvation is not the observance object and worship by Hindus.

Hinduism is not dependent of any religion and never rest upon food and drinks considerations, but the basis is its essence and the duties of the caste and the stages of life and centeredness which directs them. The centeredness thinking, perception of thing hood on things, and the ultimate non-difference to agents and effect and the deceptiveness of the multiplicity are the constituencies of Hinduism as they are found at the beginning of Veda and the end of Vedanta (Lipner).

A vast of rituals is engaged on daily basis, but the observations vary from individuals ands regions. The most notable ritual is the division between the pure and pollution as some degree of impurity for the practitioner must be purified before the ritual procedures. The purification is usually done using water which is a typical feature of religious action. The belief of efficacy and sacrifices are concepts of merit which are gained through the performance of charity accumulating over time and reducing the suffering of the next generation. Vedic rites of yajna are the occasional practices (Lovelace and White). The yajna and chanting are still the Vedic mantra norms.

There are aspects associated with symbols in this religion. Lakshmi is connected to bringing good fortune represented by a lotus flower resting on water it symbolizes how good can rise out of evil. Swastika has its arms extended to four comers depicting the changing world around the unchanging center of God. The symbol plays an important role during worship as shankha is usually blown in arti ceremony its spiral shape depicts that creation comes form one God its sound is a representation of the sacred Aum which is considered to be the first sound of creation uttered at the beginning and end of mantras representing God Himself. Yantras is geometric figure that is used like mandalas to aid in meditation (Lovelace and White).

Reincarnation in this religion is belief that a soul will continue to reincarnate over and over, until such a time when it becomes perfect to reunite with its source. They believe that a being has to undergo many cycles for it to become Devine. The soul continues as an evolution of life and transformation of matter (prakriti). Once the creative process starts the soul is said to hide to false personality jiva which is the subtle body and the personality of mind or ego (V). At the end of each life, the physical body returns to earth but the soul survives. The natures of the past deeds are dependent of the number of subtle body will be developed or Jiva ascends to heaven or descends to hell.