Hinduism: history, beliefs, and practices

¶ … Hindu Religion?

Hinduism is a faith that embraces love, it unites the laws of karma and dharma, and Hindus believe in reincarnation. Hindus embrace vegetarianism and they say a specific prayer prior to eating (asking to be forgiven for eating a vegetable or plant which may have its own soul). Although there is not one, single, dramatic uniting system of beliefs in Hinduism, there are nine basic Hindu beliefs that make up the religion, according to Hinduism Today. Those nine are as follows:

Hindus have a "reverence for…revealed scriptures"; people following this faith believe in the "divinity of the Vedas, the world's most ancient scripture" and the Agamas are ancient hymns which brings God's word through the Sanatana Dharma which is the eternal religion, having no beginning and having no end, going on eternally (Hinduism Today).

Two: Hindus believe in "one, all-pervasive Supreme Being, who is both immanent and transcendent"; that Supreme Being is the Creator of the Universe and the "Unmanifest Realty" (Hinduism Today). Three: There are three existing world, according to Hinduism; there is the physical world, the casual world, and the astral world. The universe is constantly going through new periods of creation, preservation and dissolution, according to believers in Hinduism (Hinduism Today). Four: There are laws that have an effect on every person, and one of them is karma (each individual creates "…his own destiny by his thoughts, words and deeds"; dharma, on the other hand, relates to a person's need to live righteously (Hinduism Today). Five: The soul evolves through many births and comes back again and again; this is called reincarnation; moksha is "spiritual knowledge and liberation from the cycle of rebirth," which occurs once the cycle of karmas have been "resolved" (Hinduism Today).

Six: The Gods and devas can be communicated with through the act of worshiping rituals; Seven: having a spiritual master (satguru) is "essential" in terms of knowing the "Transcendent Absolute" (Hinduism Today). Eight: the practice of "ahimsa" (no injuries) is important in Hinduism, as is compassion; and Nine: Hindus have a powerful respect for other faiths and they do not assert that there is any one specific way to salvation (Hinduism Today).

Cultural and societal influences have made Hinduism important to India

Hinduism is a significant part of the Indian culture. Social mores and values in many instances are in fact based on Hinduism in India. Women rule the home, keep track of the finances and raise the children while men typically are the bread-winners. Hindu marriages are often planned by parents, and this is true to a lesser extent than it used to be but still in India the woman's future husband is often chosen by parents. Parents, meanwhile, are helped in the raising of children by the grandparents, both in Hinduism and in the larger Indian culture (Baylor University).

Hindus (as mentioned earlier) are vegetarians, and hence, the Indian culture as a general rule does not eat meat (although that is not universal at all in India and Muslim culture, a significant portion of the Indian population, has its own values regarding diet). For millions of people in India (because of Hinduism) the system of medicine is called "Ayruveda" ("knowledge of life"); more than "eighty percent of people in India rely on herbal remedies" as opposed to traditional medicine practiced in Western societies (Baylor University).