Hinduism

Hinduism and its Role in Time and Place

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Abstract

Hinduism is as free flowing and unfettered as the body of supreme yogi. It developed fluidly and has evolved continuously. It represents the people of India and the people of India are the ones who have presented it to the world and been shaped by it for thousands of years.

Hinduism and its Role in Time and Place

Hinduism is the worlds oldest organized religion, but it is one of the least well known (Ravi). At this time the main introduction to Hinduism, unfortunately, may have been the second Indiana Jones film, Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom or perhaps a Bollywood film. This kind of introduction, however, does not provide an accurate representation of Hinduism and its role in Indian life and history. To learn about Hinduism one has to learn about India.

Hinduism is the product of a people (Ravi). There is no one founder who gave birth to Hinduism (Ravi). Instead, Hinduism is the result of the development and relationships of people from India (Chinmoy). Through invasion or the passage of time these people developed beliefs that helped them make sense of the world, find their place in the world, and structure their society (Chinmoy). As one can expect, the religion they developed would necessarily be shaped by their daily lives and the structure of their community (Elango).

Hinduism is often said not to have a formal structure. But that is not accurate. Hinduism has core beliefs that, although fluid, do exist (Chinmoy). Hinduism emerged from the blending and unification of different practices and beliefs (Chinmoy). As a result, adaptation and flexibility are part of the religion’s key unifying principles, which can be seen in Karma and man’s transition through different lives and man’s unity with all beings and nature. Also part of the religion are the way it creates a principle regarding the station in life of humans and their station on the way to heaven (Elango). The Indian...