The Worldview of Hinduism: Beliefs, History, and Practice

Introduction

Of all the world's major religions, Hinduism stands out for a number of reasons. Not only is Hinduism truly ancient, it is not so much a single religion as it is a loose compilation of individual beliefs concerning the universe and humankind's role in it. The research shows that Hinduism has experienced some fundamental changes over the millennia that have influenced the overall practice of its religious aspects, but the basic worldview embraced by its adherents remains essentially the same. To determine what worldview is espoused by Hindus today, this paper provides a review of the peer-reviewed and scholarly literature to determine what Hinduism is, what worldview is held by its practitioners, and how these views have changed over the last 4,000 years. A summary of the research and salient findings are presented in the conclusion.

What Is Hinduism?

Hinduism is a religion that has historically been more concerned with human behavior than with specific types of beliefs. For example, Shattuck (1999) advises, "There is great diversity in beliefs, there are different deities, philosophies, and paths, but all of these require adherence to particular rules of behavior" (15). While Hinduism is a global religion, it is most widely practiced in South Asia, and is the dominant religion of India and Nepal. In addition, Hinduism is practiced in Sri Lanka, and has adherents in Pakistan and Bangladesh as well (Shattuck 16). According to Shattuck, "In Southeast Asia, there are a few Hindu enclaves, most notably on the Indonesian island of Bali, that are remnants of large populations who arrived in the medieval period. There are also new growing Hindu populations in urban centers like Singapore and Kuala Lumpur. Outside of Asia, well-established Hindu communities exist in eastern and southern Africa, in the Persian Gulf states, on the island of Fiji, on the northeast coast of South America, in the Caribbean, in North America, and in Europe" (16). Notwithstanding the global nature of Hinduism, the religion is inextricably related to the culture of South Asia, and any understanding of the Hindu tradition must first begin in India, where fully 80 percent of the population today practices some form of Hinduism (Knott 37).

The religious beliefs and individual practices covered by the umbrella term "Hinduism" represent some of the most diverse traditions in the history of mankind. As Shattuck points out, "This is a natural condition for a tradition that developed organically, over thousands of years, out of the interactions of the various peoples who have settled in South Asia. The wealth of human diversity is evident in the languages. . . . Most of these languages are associated with specific regions. This regionalism, which is one of the hallmarks of Hinduism, is a byproduct of South Asian geography" (16). According to Ramstedt (2003), "In Indian Hinduism, different local myths, habits, and cults have all become part of an organized worldview, capable of justifying the existing social organization on supernatural grounds. During the long process of Hinduization, for instance, of Southern India, local societies were integrated into Hindu kingdoms, i.e., political unities, with different roles and powers" (248). According to Findly (2002), the dogma of Hinduism is also extremely varied, drawing on textual materials including the Rg- and Atharvavedas, Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavadgita, Arthasastra, and Abhijnanasakuntalam, as well as the Ayurveda Samhitas, Brahmanas, Upanisads, Dharmasastras, and Puranas (925).

According to Basham (1987), "The traditional cosmology of the Indians differs very considerably from that of the Jews and ancient Greeks, on which the worldview of earlier Christianity was based. While in the Western religions, at least until comparatively recently, it was thought that the universe was geocentric, comparatively small in dimensions and brief in time, the Indians have for well over two millennia believed that such was not the case" (229). Indeed, until fairly recently, many Hindus regarded the universe as being shaped like an enormous egg, known as "The Egg of Brahma" (Basham 229). Yet another fundamental difference between the world's other major religions and Hinduism is the fact that Hindus do not consider themselves "Hindus" from the perspective of Westerners, and do not assign such a name to their faith (Basham 230).

The Hindu Worldview and Its Philosophical Foundations

While there are countless individual interpretations and beliefs within the general framework of what is termed "Hinduism" in the West, the worldview of modern Hinduism is considered a framework for interpreting humankind and the world in which it exists — one that has evolved within a modern nation-state that has experienced technological, economic, and socio-political modernization, as well as fundamental demographic changes that resulted in some reinterpretation of its underlying philosophical foundations during the mid-twentieth century (Ramstedt 251). As Hatcher (1999) notes, these changes were due in large part to the socio-political circumstances in which many Indians found themselves during this period. "In the simplest of terms," Hatcher writes, "the goal of these Hindu intellectuals and religious leaders was to assert the dignity and meaningfulness of the Hindu worldview during a period marked by colonial subjugation and Christian missionary polemics" (13).

According to Carmody and Carmody (1996), the overall philosophical context, or worldview, within which most Hindu mystics have historically lived and thought has been dominated by concepts such as dharma, karma, and yoga. Likewise, Knott (2000) reports that "No discussion of Hindu views of the self would be complete without a consideration of two familiar notions, karma and yoga. They are household words, not only in India but also in the West, where karma is often associated with fatalism and reincarnation, and yoga — usually hatha yoga — practised to improve health and well-being" (32). These Hindu terms and concepts are discussed further below.

Conclusion

The research showed that Hinduism is a religion that has been practiced in South Asia for more than 4,000 years, and despite having experienced some fundamental changes during these millennia, the religion has been adopted by people from all over the world. While the majority of Hindus are still in India — where four out of five people are Hindu — the research also showed that the billions of people who subscribe to Hinduism do not assign this term to their faith, and may not have ever encountered the word "Hindu" in their lives. The worldview held by these billions of faithful is therefore naturally varied, but largely relates to a conception of a perpetual universe in which unrequited desire is the source of human misery, and in which the cycle of life continues until those desires are understood and extinguished.