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Hinduism Is the Largest Religion

Last reviewed: October 25, 2009 ~4 min read

Hinduism is the largest religion in India, with approximately ninety percent of all Indians being devoted to it. Unlike most religions, it does not have a founder, as it is formed out of a great number of traditions. Its foundation is not just the only thing different about Hinduism, with people faithful to this religion having an unusual conception of God. While people in most religions believe that God is a universal all powerful being that they have to fear, Hindus believe that their God is more personal, and that it has to be loved instead of being feared.

Hindus do not consider their God to have a specific shape or form, as he is an attributeless being. Even with that, the Hindu God occasionally takes forms that people are able to recognize and becomes a God with good attributes. Generally, the Hindus consider their God to be just one, in spite of the fact that it can materialize under innumerable forms.

While most people around the world that believe in a supreme divine power also believe that there is an evil power constantly working against it, the Hindus are certain that there is only a single power having control over the world. Hinduism considers that people can undergo good or bad experiences depending on their living styles. The elements that influence life in a good way are called the devas, and, the ones that influence it in a bad way are the asuras. In spite of their apparent character, the devas are not perfect, nor are the asuras completely evil.

The Hindus do not consider God as being a divine power living in a far-off heaven that people meet after their death. God is present everywhere in Hinduism, in every particle, and at every moment, with all that people have to do is to struggle to meet the Supreme Being during their lives. The Hindu God does not have a gender, nor does it have a specific race, as it can be anything.

It is not enough for the Hindus to be aware of the existence of God, as they have to discover it through intense efforts that involve philosophical thinking and the learning of Hindu history. The Puranas provide important information relating to divine beings talking about God's magnificence while the Upanishads attempt to give solid proof concerning the existence of God. Both the Puranas and the Upanishads are important sources of information for the Hindus, with a large number of them having become better acquainted with God as a result of heavy learning.

It is not enough for one to have solid information in Hinduism for the respective person to successfully cross the path to afterlife. Hindus believe that only he that has experience both in knowledge and in ignorance is able to obtain immortality, with the particular person succeeding by crossing death through lack of knowledge and acquiring life after death through understanding. For the Hindus death is not a disaster, at it is only part of a much greater process named Jiva. Reincarnation is not something impossible in Hinduism, as it also is a part of Jiva. The soul is considered to leave the body after death and spend some time recharging its energy in a mysterious place of which people know little. However, Hinduism attempt to shed light on the problem, with the help of the Bhagavad Gita. It explains that there are two paths for the soul to travel after death: the path of the sun and that of the moon. The path of the sun is considered to be the bright path, while that of the moon is considered to be the dark path. If the soul succeeds in reaching the path of the sun, it does not return on earth. In contrast, the path of the moon leads to souls returning on earth.

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PaperDue. (2009). Hinduism Is the Largest Religion. PaperDue. https://www.paperdue.com/essay/hinduism-is-the-largest-religion-18282

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