Hindiusm

Hinduism is an extremely diversified religion. Different Hindu groups worship different gods, have different traditions, and different set of sacred texts. These various groups of Hindu do have a couple of things in common.

1. "The existence of Atman ("the real self")

2. That this atman is caught in a cycle of rebirth, called samsara.

3. That it is the goal of every Hindu to break the cycle of rebirth. This is called moksha.

4. That there are four stages of life, called ashramas. The rites or practices that guide Hindus through these stages are called samskaras.

5. That the ultimate reality of Brahman can be expressed through a variety of gods. " (Hindu Beliefs)

6. Karma - "What a person says and does in life affects his or her fate" (McCollum 2001)

7. Dharma - "Each person is bound to perform certain duties. These duties vary, depending upon the person's social standing and caste." (McCollum 2001)

8. Reincarnation - "After dying, each living thing is reborn into another life." (McCollum 2001)

Hindu's do believe in God or Brahman, he is the ultimate reality who is the reason for life itself. Hindu's do have three primary Gods after Brahman, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Brahman is the God that creates, Vishnu is the God that preserves and Shiva is the god who destroys. These three gods are known as the Trimurti. There is also two other gods that are very popular with the Hindu's Ganesh, the God of knowledge and good fortune and Hanuman the God of loyalty and bravery.

The Hindu religion started by a group of Aryan tribes that moved to India from Asia about three thousand years ago. This group of Aryan's or "the noble ones" brought with them religious teachings known as Vedas these teachings blended with the religious beliefs of early Indians, this is the foundation of the Hindu religion. The Hindu religion is a hodge-podge of different cultural backgrounds that once inhabited the area.

The Hindu religion puts great emphasis on liberation from one's self. According to Hinduwebsite.com there are three paths to liberation. The three paths are the path of knowledge, the path of devotion and the path of renunciation of action. The path of knowledge

"is said to be ideal for those who are intellectually curious and want to pursue God in an intellectual, intuitive and scholarly way, through the study scriptures, practice meditation and contemplation and discipline of the mind and the body. The people who follow this path are called Jnanayogis or jnanamargis." (Hinduwebsite.com)

The second path the path of renunciation of action is ideal for those who want to turn to god without ignoring their family. (Hinduwebsite.com)

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