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Religious rituals around the world
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In a Christian household it is not uncommon for people to wake up and read their bible and pray as an act of worship to God, but in Hindu households they have a different way of worshiping. Some Hindus will have an image in their house which they will wake up in the morning and honor as a form of worship to a specific God. This act of worship is detested by Christians as well as other monotheistic religions. They call it idolatry. Although it is looked down upon by monotheistic religions idolatry is one of the main forms of worship for Hindus. When someone in a monotheistic religion sees an image that is worshiped they see it as if that person was worshipping a statue of Jesus or Allah which is considered a sin, or wrong, to them because that object is not what is holy, the person it is created to look like is holy. The statue, although it may be seen as important or even sacred, is manmade and therefore not holy. These people views religious objects as important but not necessary for their religion because to them they are material objects and what they stand for is what matters more so than they do. An example of this is that someone might have an attachment to their specific bible, but if it were to be destroyed it …show more content…
Idolatry is no longer the worship of some statue that a person decided was holy, but rather the worship of a God through a vessel which the God once or is still inhabiting. The Hindu Gods and Goddesses choose to come down and possess these images so that Hindus can better worship them with all their senses and love them more through their understanding of seeing and touching a representation of their God. The idea of being on such a personal level with a God might still seem absurd to someone who is monotheistic, but to a Hindu it is absurd to have anything
In our study of the Hinduism, the class visited The Hindu Temple of Greater Chicago (HTGC). This active temple is a house of worship that serves thousands of devotees as they pay hamage to a diverse variuety of Idol and spiritual gods. Taughted as one of the oldest religions in the world, it accepts all religious belief systems and God. In fact, the Temple is designed to accommodate any and many gods to include the practices and rites of the devotees. Our volunteer tour guide explained the Hindu theology in lthis way. There is one god identified as Para-Brahman. This god expressed his engery or power through three vessels called Trinity. This Trinity is represented by the deities of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. Each deity has a purpose and function in the ordering of all things. Brahma is the creator, Vishnu is the preserver, and Shiva is the destroyer, purger, or redeemer. Vishnu manifest through various incarnated avataras to preserve good. The incarnation Rama is the ruling deity of the temple. Additionally, our host explained good or bad karma ended at the death of a person but the soul or atman continued to the next existence. This cycle would continue until the alman dharma produced enough good karma to elevated the atman to salvation or Mosksha. Moreover, as the guide prayed to the sun god on our behalf, he verbally honored each member of the team as a god. When asked about the type of text or holy book the religion uses to support its rituals and practices, the host mentioned four. He commented a...
“Iconoclasm” is defined as the action of attacking or assertively rejecting cherished beliefs and institutions of established values and practices through the destruction of religious images or icons, which are considered heretical (9). Icons (“images” in Greek) are small paintings of Christ, the Virgin Mary, the saints, or any combination of these Christian figures (5).
Many people believe Hinduism to be a polytheistic religion. This is due to the fact that there is so many gods that they can worship in. But in all actuality it is really a monotheistic religion that spawns off of one god to form many different gods or ideas to worship. The entire religion of Hinduism is based off of Brahman. Brahman is the idea that all reality is a unity. I will explain the concept of Brahman and four others and hopefully make Hinduism easier to comprehend.
Hinduism and Buddhism have different similarities and are in some ways connected to each other. Some of the practices of the two religions are similar in various ways and there are several examples to show this.
Icons throughout history has hold many different meanings whether sacred or for everyday lifestyle. Each culture practice different ideologies that come with an array of different interpretations. Paintings, sculptures and craftworks are examples of different medium used to portray icons but yet could hold the same significance as the other. In Christ the Savior of Souls, early 14 century of the Saint clement church, the artist use a highly spiritual figure as the subject, placed in the center fold, using contrasting colors to convey its importance to the people who come in its presence and to show the divinity of the figure itself. Portraying a similar trend, the Buddha seated on lion throne from 2nd century C.E. India, poses a same significance of a highly spiritual human being, proceeding over its followers but through an entirely different form of art.
Hinduism is both a monotheistic and a polytheistic religion, on some accounts, even atheistic. This all depends on how the practice is interpreted and exercised. Because it is the oldest religion, its specifics often get confused due to the followings of its old scripture.Hinduism is similar to Christianity with them each having around a billion followers. Also, they both seek a sort of salvation, and though Hindus do not have a set clergy, they both have priests. In contrast, worshipping for Hindus include meditation, unlike that of Christians, who engage in prayer. Christians worship but one God, yet with Hindus that is blurry margins. Salvation for Hindus is known as constantly worshipping until enlightenment, and reincarnation continues until
“If I were asked to define the Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth... Hinduism is the religion of truth. Truth is God.”
In the Buddhist religion, they praise several gods that represent different things and increase their chances fortunate opportunities such as increased chances of wealth, good luck, and fertility. To praise these gods, they can worship and pray to them in their homes and at their places of worship called temples. These temples have a statue of the god and, in respect to these gods, their worshipers burn incense and pray to the god- often placing money below the statue for the monks. These temples are designed to symbolize the five elements; fire, air, earth, water, and wisdom. When praying to the gods there are mantras that are repeated a certain amount of times. To remember how many times to repeat these mantras there is a physical aid that
The sense of a physical object is very important to people, as their religion is extremely imagistic they believe that through physical imagery they may access their god, and it becomes easier to be seen. Hinduism unlike other religions does not possess a main book or any one specific founder (137) “there are as many Hinduisms as there are Hindus” this simple quote although perhaps a bit of an overstatement speaks volumes about the diversity of Hinduism. All Hindus however do agree on one main thing that is called atman, atman is a small piece, that a Hindu may inherit of their main god; formerly know as Brahman. Atman is Brahman, and vice versa. Atman is the “undying soul of ones self”. Atman is ever evolving via reincarnation. Hindus believe Brahman possesses characteristics of “supreme unitary reality, and that Brahman is the ground of all reality” Brahman is revered as their “supreme god” (141). Brahman is that accordingly everywhere and in everything most Hindus believe and hold to this idea of Brahman. Brahman is also considered to have infinite
Ganesha is depicted as possessing the body of a human and the head of an Asian Elephant3. Ganesha is the most worshipped god within the Hindu pantheon4. All forms of worship within the Hindu religion begin with a prayer to Ganesha. Ganesha is also heavily featured in literature and artwork found in Southeastern Asia4. Asian Elephants are heavily featured in the culture and religion of Southeastern Asia and are beings of supreme cultural and religious significance.
The concept of God, gods, and goddesses in Hinduism is such a complex kaleidoscope of philosophies and origins it would be futile to admit of any simple explanation. In the same nature, we see the vast numbers of idols that have come to represent it. Throughout the ages God has been transformed into countless forms in the Hindu pantheon. He/She has been sculpted, painted, aniconicized into symbols and has been represented in nature. However, in doing so, many believe that Hindus have unknowingly transformed the religion into polytheistic form, as one Indian theist states,
The culture of Hinduism is one of the most followed religions throughout the world and has over 1 billion followers worldwide. Hinduism is a polytheistic religion, which is the belief in or worship of more than one god or deity. Although it is predominantly situated in the eastern hemisphere around India it still has a vast number of followers around the world. The Hindu religion is not based off a single founder, book or point in time. Most historians date the Hindu religion beginnings back to around 1500 BCE. The people of the Hindu religion are one as a culture but individually they are very diverse.
Hindu mythology has been around for ages; it is the world’s oldest surviving religion. Hinduism was formed through diverse traditions in the year 2,000 B.C.E. There is no single person that gets the credit of developing Hindu Mythology because one person did not create it. Hinduism was originated in India, where it is the most practiced now. Hinduism has over a billion followers and about two-thirds of those people are in India. There are many temples open to worship gods and goddesses. “The needs of the gods would be met by the worshipers who have to prepare themselves through purification rites to draw near to their god” (Organ,193) Hinduism is not only the oldest religion but one of the biggest, with Islam then Christianity being above it.
Hinduism has expectations for worship, as well, with non-communal worship, Nitya, often occurring at home, using a shrine to a god, and placing small offerings to the god. Hindus also practice worship in temples where a “priest” may recite hymns from the vedas.
One thing that I have learned is that Hindus do not worship cows. Hinduism has no founder or date of origin. Hindus believe in one supreme God who created the universe. He created many Gods, highly advanced spiritual beings, to be his helpers. Many Hindus are devoted followers of Shiva or Vishnu, whom they regard as the only true God, while others look inward to the divine Self, meaning meditation. Whomever they decide to worship, it all points to the same deity.