Hinduism

From the Indian Sub-Continent, there is a series of religions that developed since the dawn of civilization. Known as Dharmic religions, they focus on self-improvement with the general aim of attaining personal, spiritual experiences. The religions are Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism and Hinduism. This paper will focus on Hinduism, and attempt to answer several questions. These questions will concern the composition of Hinduism; the cultural and societal influence of Hinduism; and the Hinduism desire for liberation from earthly existence. Hinduism has no known founder, and is a conglomerate of diverse beliefs and traditions, originating from the ancient Vedic tradition and other indigenous beliefs. It is considered the world's "oldest extant religion," and has approximately a billion adherents, placing it as the world's third largest religion after Christianity and Islam. Hinduism is considered to be a polytheistic religion; however, aspects of the religion also include monotheism, panentheism, monism and atheism (Wikipedia, 2007).

Hinduism provides a vast body of scriptures, developed since its origination, which also expound an equally vast range of theology, philosophy, and myth. These scriptures provide spiritual insights along with guidance on the practice of dharma, the ethics and duties of religious living. Other prominent themes include Karma (right action), Samsara (rebirth), and Moksha (liberation from the cycle of Samsara) (Sri Swami Sivananda, 1999).

Karma translates literally as action, work or deed and is often described as the "moral law of cause and effect". According to the religion, an individual develops impressions from actions, whether physical or mental. Each individual has a body more subtle than the physical one, but less subtle than the soul. This body retains impressions, carrying them over into the next life through reincarnation and establishing a unique trajectory for the individual. An individual's Samsara is directly influenced by Karma. It is this concept of a universal, neutral and never-failing karma that intrinsically relates to reincarnation as well as one's personality, characteristics and family. Karma also threads together the notions of free will and destiny (Wikipedia, 2007).

Samsara is a continuum cycle of birth, action, reaction, death, and rebirth. In western culture, this is popularly known as reincarnation. Samsara provides fleeting pleasures, which lead people to desire rebirth to enjoy the pleasures of a perishable body. However, only escaping the world of Samsara through Moksha is believed to ensure lasting happiness or peace. It is thought that after several reincarnations, an individual eventually seeks unity with the cosmic spirit. The notion of reincarnation and karma is a strong premise in much of Hindu thought (Wikipedia, 2007).

Moksha is described as the realization of one's union with God; realization of one's eternal relationship with God; realization of the unity of all existence; perfect unselfishness and knowledge of the Self; liberation from ignorance; attainment of perfect mental peace; or detachment from worldly desires. In Hinduism, this is considered the ultimate goal of life. In whatever way a Hindu defines the goal of life, there are several methods, or yogas, that sages have taught for reaching that goal. An individual may prefer one yoga over others according to his or her inclination and understanding. Practice of one yoga does not exclude the others. In fact, many schools believe that the different yogas naturally imply, blend into and aid other yogas. The aforementioned realization liberates one from Samsara and ends the cycle of rebirth. The desire for Moksha is to end all of the suffering and limitation entailed in embodied worldly existence. The exact conceptualization of Moksha differs among the various Hindu schools of thought (Hindu Wisdom, 2006).

The Indian society is comprised of a caste system, a traditional system of social division in which social classes is defined by a number of endogamous groups. These castes, referred to as varnas consist of many sub-castes or Jatis. Hinduism often mention four Varnas: The Brahmins (teachers, scholars and priests), the Kshatriyas (kings and warriors), the Vaishyas (traders, landowners and some artisan groups), and Shudras (agriculturists, service providers, and some artisan groups). Mixed in with the Varna caste system was the Jati sub-caste system. The Jati was effectively a system similar to guilds, and was associated with occupation. Unlike the varnas, jati could originally be changed with occupation within a Varna (Sri Swami Sivananda, 1999).

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