Hinduism

Hinduism

Chelsea

HUM/130

November 23, 2014

Elizabeth Jarnagin 

Hinduism is an umbrella term that is applied to many spiritual and religious paths that are native to India. These traditions are timeless, and for as long as some can remember, have always been the same. Due to the fact that Hinduism lacks a single unifying belief system, there are many uniting spiritual aspects that bring the followers of this religion together rather than a universal way to worship.

The Hindu people believe in a higher power called Brahman but have the ability to view many different Gods and Goddesses as manifestations of that one higher power. Because of this, in practice, Hindus worship more than one God. It is important to remember that just because Hindus may worship different Gods that they still believe that all Gods are actually manifestations of one. Most Hindus, like followers of many other old religions, worship a higher power in the form of a spiritual figure.

Although Hindus worship many different versions of the higher power, there are four sacred beings that make up every part of life. They are Indra, Agni, Soma, and Ushas. These four beings are called devas.

A few of the most popular and well known Hindu beliefs are karma, reincarnation, samsara, and moksha. Karma is a significant part of Hinduism. It is the belief that a person’s actions, both good and bad, result in an equal positive or negative reaction. Reincarnation is the belief that once a person’s earthly body has died that their soul will be reborn into a new body depending on what type of karma they had during that particular incarnation. This new incarnation could be in any form including, but not limited to, humans and animals. This is possible because every living thing has a soul even insects. Karma and reincarnation have a strong relationship where one depends on the other. For example, if a soul goes through an incarnation continuously making bad decisions then the next life...