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Death in different religion
Hinduism effect on Indian society
Significance of religion in the life of indian society
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Intro
Death is a mystery to the living. It is an inevitable truth, but it is viewed differently depending on your location and religious beliefs. The answer to what happens after we die is one that has been debated since the beginning of time. This debate has brought to attention how this perception of death, especially in religions, has influenced cultures worldwide. However, to focus on all the religions and their perspectives in the world is absurd. The world’s largest religion is currently Christianity, with an estimated 2.2 billion followers. The world’s oldest religion is Hinduism, which dates back to approximately 5500 BCE. This sparks a question between the oldest religion and the largest - How does the perception of death in Christianity
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There is an afterlife, albeit different versions of it. The basis of these religions are related to creation and destruction - life and death - and the fact that there is a greater power that oversees all of this. However, these religions are both forefronts of two subcategories of religion - the Dharmic and Abrahamic religions.
The Dharmic religions were formed mostly in the Indian subcontinent region. The main four are Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Each believe in some form of reincarnation or rebirth. Dharmic is derived from the term “dharma,” which can be translated to religion, law, duty, order, or ethics. It is the social order of the Hindu world. Hindus and followers of these other Dharmic religions believe in the concept of reincarnation. They perceive death not as an end, but as the next step of a cycle that will not end until Nirvana is reached and they become one with the Supreme Soul. In addition to an endless cycle of rebirth, they also believe in the importance of good and bad karma - that the actions in this life will affect the life after this. Bad karma can build up and result in consequences in the next life, but good karma can take you one step closer to Moksha, the end of the cycle. This constant striving towards this overarching goal motivates Hindus and those with similar religious beliefs to live their life for this ultimate destiny. Because India is 79.8% Hindu, according to religious census data from 2011, Hinduism has a substantial influence over India and its
According to document A, “Hinduism was (and is) polytheistic - Hindus believe in many gods…..In this kind of Hinduism, people believed in reincarnation - that people could be reborn into other bodies after they died.” The excerpt shows that the daily life would be affected since Hindus will worship more gods and believe in reincarnation. Moreover, Hindus believed in Karma as well as Dharma. Karma was the good or bad actions that had an effect on the soul in later reincarnations. Dharma was the spiritual duties that one must follow. Now it is evident that beliefs were influenced by religion.
As a natural phenomena that occurs frequently yet is still not completely understood, death has confounded and, to a certain degree, fascinated all of humanity. Since the dawn of our species, people have tried rationalize death by means of creating various religions and even attempted to conquer death, leading to great works of literature such as the Epic of Gilgamesh and the Cannibal Spell For King Unis.
Many religions and philosophies attempt to answer the question, what happens after a person dies? Some religions such as Christianity and Islam believe there is an afterlife. They believe that good and moral people enter Heaven or paradise and that bad and immoral people go to Hell. Other religions and cultures believe that death is final, and that nothing happens after a person dies. Buddhism and Hinduism have a different idea about death. Both of these religions originated in India. Buddhists and Hindus believe that death is not final. They believe that a person comes back after he or she dies. This process is known as reincarnation, and it provides opportunities for people to enter the world multiple times in different forms. Buddhists and Hindus want to reenter the world as humans, and they want to improve their status through reincarnation. In ancient India, many members of lower casts wanted to come back as members of higher casts. While this is an important goal of reincarnation, the main goal is to reach either moksha (Hinduism) or nirvana (Buddhism). In other words, the goal is to reach a point of spiritual enlightenment that removes the person from the reincarnation process. Geoff Childs, an anthropologist examines the views of the Buddhist religion by studying the lives of the people in Tibetan villages. He looks at issues that adversely affect these people such as infant mortality. He carefully looks at the lives of people who have been left behind by deceased loved ones, and he pays careful attention to customs and traditions surrounding death. Tibetan Buddhists view death as a means of reaching spiritual perfection, and they seek to reach this level of spiritual perfection through living spiritually meaningful lives....
The five Eastern religions of Hinduism, Buddhism, Confucianism, Daoism, and Shinto have some similarities when it comes to the their beliefs on death. Hinduism and Buddhism both believe in karma and reincarnation, while Daoism and Shintoism revolve their beliefs around nature. Confucianism chooses not to focus on things we do not know, so their beliefs on death are limited. In deciphering the different beliefs on death associated with each religion, it is important to understand the different belief systems and their origins. While some religions merged the views of the other religions, some came from the views of an originating founder. Each religion has their own view on life after death and whether or not their followers should be concerned
There are numerous cultures in this planet today; however the Jewish view of death makes this culture unique from the rest. Jewish death and mourning rites have two basic principles: kevod ha-met, respectful treatment of the dead, and kevod he-chai, consideration for the feelings of the living. These two principles are highly regarded by the Jewish community (Kolatch 7-8).
There are multiple views on death and the afterlife and each view is different depending on the religion or belief that someone practices. Some religions believe in a heaven but not a hell, some believe in both and others do not believe in either. The religions that are practiced today were created by our ancient ancestors who had the ability to think beyond themselves. Practicing a religion and having an idea of death and an afterlife back in ancient times laid a foundation on how religion is seen and practiced today. Mesopotamians, Egyptians and Hindu’s created the concept of death and life after death through what they believed and practiced in ancient times.
...ld note that all three religions, Buddhism, Hinduism and Jainism, have been the dominant, prevailing religious trends in India for many centuries, and they clearly reflect the culture, history, and spirituality of the country. All three of these religions effectively reflect the views of believers on life, death and honorable conduct. Nonetheless, despite the fact that they are very much related with each other, each has some distinct features distinguishing it from all others, and contributes to the understanding of the religious background in India both at the beginning of the new era of humanity, and in the contemporary period of time.
Death in Different Religions Death has a great impact on people's lives in such a way that they learn to value life, or even live it to the fullest. But what happens to us after we die? Many religions have answered this question for us, according to their faiths. Buddhism is a religion where Buddhists believe in the concept of death and reincarnation or rebirth.
The concept of human mortality and how it is dealt with is dependent upon one’s society or culture. For it is the society that has great impact on the individual’s beliefs. Hence, it is also possible for other cultures to influence the people of a different culture on such comprehensions. The primary and traditional way men and women have made dying a less depressing and disturbing idea is though religion. Various religions offer the comforting conception of death as a begining for another life or perhaps a continuation for the former.
Hinduism is unlike many other religions in that it does not have a single founder or text, but is more like an umbrella in ways of life. In death and life for the Hindu, “The ultimate goal of the soul is liberation from the wheel of rebirth, through reabsorption into our identity with the Oversoul (Brahma)-- the essence of the universe, immaterial, uncreated, limitless, and timeless” (Leming & Dickinson, 2011, p. 134). Susan Thrane MSN, RN, OCN discusses the beliefs of Hindu culture in the article “Hindu End of Life: Death, Dying, Suffering, and Karma” published in the Journal of Hospice and Palliative Nursing. Thrane (2010) states that there are almost 2.3 million Hindus in India. Hindu’s believe in interconnectedness, karma, and reincarnation.
The Hinduism belief is that every thing is god so anything you do is to yourself. However Hindus also believe in Karma, they believe anything you do good or bad will eventually come back or effect you. Hindus believe that it is completely on them to make their decisions of morality. v. The Question of Destiny – The question of Destiny asks, is there life after death? For Hindus they believe that reincarnation is what follows death, determined by good or bad karma you will constantly be reincarnated.
Jesus Christ’s life and mission, which is now present worldwide, is the origin of the Roman Catholicism. Catholics believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God who became man, died and rose from the dead to redeem humanity from sin (Catholic Truth Society, 3). He passed his mission of salvation to the Catholic Church through his apostles and then their successors (Catholic Truth Society, 4).
Now that we have covered the social classes what are the main point of the belief system, well they have several principals that almost all Hindus believe in The three-in-one god known as "Brahman," which is composed of: Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the Preserver), and Shiva (the Destroyer). The Caste System. Karma. The law that good begets good, and bad begets bad. Every action, thought, or decision one makes has consequences good or bad that will return to each person in the present life, or in one yet to come. Reincarnation. ls also known as "transmigration of souls," or "samsara." This is a journey on the "circle of life," where each person experiences as series of physical births, deaths, and rebirths. With good karma, a person can be reborn into a higher caste, or even to godhood. Bad karma can relegate one to a lower caste, or even to life as an animal in their next life. Nirvana. This is the goal of the Hindu. Nirvana is the release of the soul from the seemingly endless cycle of rebirths (Beliefs). These five central beliefs are what makes up the Hindu religion.
One of the greatest questions that humans seek the answer to is “What happens to a person when they die?”. There are many different ideas about what happens to a person’s body and soul and many religions have a place of continued existence for both bodies and souls. Christians believe in the concept of heaven and Hindus believe in nirvana. In the Hindu religion, nirvana is the final place where a soul goes after its journey through different lifetimes.
What is going to happen to us when we will die? Some people never considered what it could happen to them after life. For many people, death is a redoubtable event because they do not know what to expect after their death. However, other persons, such as religious people are conscious of what to expect after their death because of their beliefs. Each religion has different ideas and different ways of looking life. Death, therefore, is viewed by different religions in many ways. Although, different religions have a distinct conception of death, they all have something in common: they all give hope to people. Among all different religions in the world, four of the most common ones - Catholic, Jewish, Islamic, and Hindu- view death in different ways.