Hinduism

Hinduism


Introduction Hinduism is a religion that originated in India and is still

practiced by most of the Natives as well as the people who have migrated from

India to other parts of the world.  Statistically there are over seven hundred

million Hindus,  mainly in Bharat, India and  Nepal.  Eighty five percent of the

population in India is Hindu. The word Hindu comes from an ancient Sanskrit term

meaning "dwellers by the Indus River," referring to the location of India's

earliest know civilization, the Pakistan. There is not much organization and

hierarchy is nonexistent.  The religion suggests commitment to or respect for an

ideal way of life know as Dharma.  Hinduism absorbs foreign ideas and beliefs

making it have a wide variety of beliefs and practices.  This has given it a

character of social and doctrinal system that extends to every aspect of life.

The Hindus own definition of their community is "those who believe in Vedas."


History/Origin The practices and beliefs of Hinduism cannot be understood

without knowing the background.  Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion, it

dates back more than 3,000 years.  Hinduism is unique in the fact that it has no

founder.  Its origins are lost in a very distant past. In 1500 BC the Indo-Aryan

tribes invaded India and took over the Mahenjo-daro.  From the combination of

these two tribes came the worship of goddesses.  The Hindus started practices

such as bathing in temple tanks and the postures of yoga.  Soon gods of war

started being created and worshipped.  Sakas then began invading the Hindus and

made a large impact on the religion.  The sacred temples started to be built and

the sacred laws were codified and myths and legends were preserved in the

Puranas.  Soon great devotional movements began and ways of religion practice

evolved and are still used today. In the medieval times the Hindus evolved into

having philosophers, plays and music with their religion.  A man named Chaitanya

came into power and claimed to have a god reincarnated inside of him.  In the

19th century, movements to reconcile traditional Hinduism with the social

reforms and political ideas of the day took place.  Many people where sent out

to Europe and Asia preaching and spreading the religion. Throughout all these

periods of time, the religion mutated and changed to fit with the times and as

it did it just kept gathering more and more followers.


Hinduism Today Today there are numerous self proclaimed teachers who have

migrated to Europe and the United States, where they have inspired large

followings.  In India Hinduism thrives despite all the reforms and shortcuts

made in the practicing due to the gradual modernization and urbanization of

Hindu life.  Hinduism continues to serve vital function by giving passionate

meaning to the Hindus of today.


Beliefs and Practices


Caste System The ideal way of life is referred to as the "duties of one's class

and station". In the phrase the word class is changed to CASTE.  The ancient

texts tell of four great classes, or castes: the Brahmins, or priests; the

Ksatriyas, or warriors and rulers; the Vaisayas, or merchants and farmers; and

the Sudras, or peasants and laborers.  A fifth class, Panchamas, or untouchables,

are people whose jobs make them touch unclean or unholy objects. In the new

society the system is harder to work with but in the past the caste was very

strict and kept different people in different classes very distinctly.


Stages of Life


The sacred texts also outline four ideal stages, or stations of life, each with

its own duty. The first stage is studentship (brahmacarya).  This stage lasts

from initiation into the religion at 5 years of age to marriage at 13 years of

age.  The second stage, householdership (grihasthya) is during marriage, raising

a family, and taking part in the society.  The third stage, forest dwelling

(vanaprasthya), is after the kids have grow
This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Academic Library. Please register below now!









Subscribe to Academic Library
When you subscribe to the Academic Library, you get 24-hour access to the online database containing full-text articles written by thousands of scholarly students. For only $8.95 per month, you receive unlimited monthly access to view and download all of our 40,000 articles available online. That is less than the price of one textbook!
This price includes:

24-hours-a-day, 7 days a week unlimited access on any computer with Internet access
Complete access to all 40,000 articles, essays, and research papers
Ability to view and download virtually unlimited number of documents
Ability to browse through perfectly arranged catalog of articles
Superior search and relevancy ranking techniques using Google SiteSearch and our local search engine
Instant access to the online database after registration


You can pay by credit card, checking account. You get instant access after registration:


You will be billed $ 8.95 every 30 days (recurring billing) starting on the day you subscribe.

Your credit card will automatically be renewed for your convenience until you cancel.




If you are already registered, please click here to login.