Hindu belief is that every being is exactly what he should be, given his life experiences and actions in his former life. "It commits the Hindu who understands it to complete personal responsibility" (Smith, 64)
C. (Brockington 7) and 1,000 BC (Doniger & Smith 227) by virtue of its language and its clear association with the reformed Iranian religion prior to 1,000 B
The written history of Hinduism, though, only began in India about 1500 BC.; while the religion's literature has been traced to just before 1000 BC, evidence of Hinduism's earlier antecedents has been extrapolated from archaeology, comparative philology, and comparative religion (Doniger & Smith 217)
¶ … Hinduism Is and What it Is Difficult to Reconstruct a Historical Chronology of Its Development It is a fairly simple matter to identify the precise point of origin of many of the world's major religions; for example, the origins of Buddhism, Christianity and Islam can be historically placed with some degree of accuracy because of the known historical personages associated with their creation (Zaehner 1307). By sharp contrast, the origins of the world's most ancient religions such as Hinduism and Judaism have largely been lost in the mists of time, but this has not impacted the popularity of this religion today or the efforts of researchers to shed more light on their origins (Kelkar & Vaishnav 24)
The Indians themselves, however, never refer to their religion as the 'Indian' religion, rather they call it the Sanatana Dharma, the 'eternal dharma,' distinguishing it thereby from all other religions, which have known founders and are therefore rooted in history" (1307). The reference to "eternal dharma" is an allusion to the concept that the religion's origins lie beyond human history, and its truths have been divinely revealed (shruti) and handed down through the ages to the present day in the most ancient of the world's scriptures, the Veda (Knott 5)
¶ … Hinduism Is and What it Is Difficult to Reconstruct a Historical Chronology of Its Development It is a fairly simple matter to identify the precise point of origin of many of the world's major religions; for example, the origins of Buddhism, Christianity and Islam can be historically placed with some degree of accuracy because of the known historical personages associated with their creation (Zaehner 1307)
In Hindu, each person is supposed to study and pray and develop the wisdom to choose his or her actions wisely (Subramuniyaswami, 2000). One of the core beliefs is that of reincarnation, or transmigration of the soul (Atkinson, 2003)
The Hindu religion teaches that there is one God who is closely tied to all beings and everything that exists in the world. In the Hindu belief, God is present in every person and in every living thing, waiting to be found (Subramuniyaswami, 2000)
In fact, it is largely this worldview that served as the foundation for the Hindu belief that ultimate bliss lies in union with the Divine Reality, which is only possible through moksha or liberation from the endless dance of life and death. Although Hinduism's philosophy of dance is grounded in the theology of the religion, it began to be known as a way of expressing devotion and even experiencing the ecstasy of union with the Divine reality only post the rise of the bhakti movement in the seventh century (Brockington, p
Indeed, the purpose of Siva's dance is twofold. Either he dances the ananda tandndava (Younger, p
Either he dances the ananda tandndava (Younger, p. 3) in the joy of overflowing power, dancing creation into existence, or he dances the Tandava dance of destruction (Zaehner, p
Christianity For one to understand the wonder and awe of the Christian faith, one should have a basic understanding of the doctrine surrounding the faith itself. The Christian beliefs include knowing that any person, who believes that Jesus Christ is the Lord and Savior of all mankind and accepts Jesus as his or her personal savior, will be accepted into the kingdom of God (Ghasarian, 1997)
In America there are many different faiths represented. The constitution allows individuals to choose the faith they wish to follow (Lambert, 2003)
Paul and Christian Origins. (New York: Farrar, Straus and Cudahy,1957), 99-105] [3: ] Introduction Christianity and Hinduism are among the religions found in the world, with Hinduism being the oldest (Davies 99-105)
The social, cultural and spiritual as well as linguistics influences have widely spread across the world. Hinduism has great to other religions such as Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism (O'Flaherty 20-59)
Through Christianity, many people have gained high levels of spiritual realization, faith as well as beatitudes. They are differences between Christianity and Hinduism when it comes to their traditions, and they are similarities that exist between the two religions (Wolfe 150-167)
"The Sanskrit term bhakti is most often translated in English as 'devotion,' and the bhaktimarga, the 'path of devotion,' is understood to be one major type of Hindu spiritual practice. The bhaktimarga is a path leading toward liberation (moksa) from material embodiment in our present imperfect world and the attainment of a state of abiding communion with a personally conceived ultimate reality" (Carman 1987, p
"According to Ramanuja, brahman is as a 'person' (purusa) the sole cause of his own modifications (emanation, existence and absorption of the universe), immaterial, perfect, omnipotent, the soul of all being, the ultimate goal of all religious effort, to which God induces the devotee who wishes to please him. The purificatory significance of the ritual, meritorious works, disinterested discharge of duties, and bhakti are emphasized" (Gonda 1987, p
Moreover, in some regions where Hinduism is a minority religion, it has had a significant influence on the development of religion and culture in the area. "Over different periods in the last four or five millennia, Hinduism and its antecedents have predominated in the adjacent [to India] areas of Pakistan and Bangladesh and have been influential in such other regions as Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Southeast Asia, and Indonesia" (Hiltebeitel 1987, p
Secularism became even more prolific in the 19th century after the colonization of India by Great Britain. During that period, the Hindu population was influenced by the culture of a new, politically-dominating governance and consequently were more likely to accept alterations in their religion as well (D'Costa 53)