Hinduism is a broad and encompassing religion. Due to such, the study and answer of any specific question in this religion is difficult. In order to adjust for this, I am going to look at the gunas, the various life goals, life stages, and social castes and see the specific impact that each of these have on morality and ethics in Hinduism.
Before I look at each of the specific aspects though, the question arises: “How can one be moral?” By definition, to be moral is to be concerned with the principles or rules of right conduct or the distinction between right and wrong. Expanding on this is the principle of ethics. This is simply a system of moral principles. At first glance this information may seem trivial, however, it is to the contrary.
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This brings me to the first topic that I am going to evaluate and that is the gunas. The gunas may be interpreted generally as the qualities, tendencies, or states of active consciousness (Widget, 232). In other words, the gunas are concerned with the inner and psychological measures of conduct. There are three different gunas and these are: tamasik-tendency to cause disorganization and confusion; rajasik- egotism or anything that is individualizing; and sattwik- tendencies to order and harmony (Widgery, 233-234). These three conditions are rarely all one or the other, but instead can be seen as a combination of the three. Conduct that is tamasik or tamsik-rajasik is seen as bad, while conduct that is seen as sattwik or sattwik-rajasik is seen as good (Widgery, 234). This leaves a goal of striving for sattwik conduct, demonstrating how a religion can influence the morals of its …show more content…
There are four categories and these are: dharma-loosely defined as religious duty; artha-career and prosperity; kama-pleasure; and moksha-freedom from cycle of samsara (Crawford, 14-15). Dharma in this case in seen as the most important towards achieving moksha, however, without a life of wealth (artha) or pleasure (kama) one will not be able to lead a life of renunciation that leads to Moksha. This highlights the differences between Hinduism and other religions. Several religions, such as Catholicism, preach against aspects such as kama. For example, one of the seven deadly sins in Catholicism is gluttony (Sanders, Web). In contrast, Hinduism preaches that life should be enjoyed and pleasurable experiences, even ones which are sexual in nature, should be sought out. This further demonstrates how the beliefs of a religions, can shape its followers views of
From the beginning of humankind, people have constantly had to deal with inner battles. Many of these issues cease to exist as time goes on, while new ones arise to take their place. There is one issue, however, that has remained consistent throughout time – morality. For centuries, humans have fought against the outside world and themselves to keep their morals properly aligned. The issue of morality is so dominant that it is still plays a vital role in today’s society. This can be seen in wars, law systems, codes of conduct, and religious texts. An example of a religious text where this can be seen is in pages 185 - 188 of the Bhagavad Gita, where Krishna, also referred to as “The Blessed One”, guides Arjuna through his inner struggles between
As we studied in class, early Indian culture and society in 300 C.E., the Hindu society was dominated by the caste system, which influenced almost every aspect of life. Each caste had its own particular dharma, carrying with rights, obligations and restrictions. Beyond this was a generalized dharma applicable to all: deference to the Brahmins, devotion to the gods, and reverence for the Ganges and for sacred cattle (Connections, Pg. 58). Procreation too, was considered a sacred duty: large families were seen as blessings from the gods, and any attempt to limit family size was frowned upon (Connections, Pg. 58). Since reproduction was essential to reincarnation, for most people marriage and parenthood were moral obligations.
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
One of the major Hindu beliefs that Buddhism rejects is the Caste System, or “jati” in Sanskrit (Esposito, Fasching, and Lewis 317). The caste system is the social structure of Hinduism. It starts with the Brahmins, who are the priests and scholars, followed by the Kshatriya or warrior class. Next is the Vaishya, merchant class, and lastly the Shudras, the lowest caste designated to perform the impure and foul jobs the upper castes would never do. (Esposito, Fasching, and Lewis 317) The rules of the caste system are specific. Inter-marriages between castes are heavily discouraged and one can never change their caste during their current lifetime. Each caste has its own cosmic duties to fulfill, and not doing so could be detrimental to the world or an individuals karma. These distinct duties are referred to as one’s Dharma. (Esposito, Fasching, and Lewis 317) The Laws of Manu state “Better to do one’s own dharma badly than another caste’s dharma well” (Esposito, Fasching, and Lewis 317). Through saṃsāra, the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, hopefully every soul will eventua...
In our generation, there is so much ability and freedom to do what appeals to each person as an individual. With all this freedom, we often forget to stop before acting, and question if our choices are ethical. What exactly are ethics? Ethics are according to Oxford Dictionary "Moral principles that govern a person's behavior or the conducting of an activity." Taken down to its essence, to be an ethical person, one must have morals. What are morals? Again, pulling from Oxford Dictionary "Principles concerning the distinction between right and wrong or good and bad behavior." With these definitions given, morality becomes subjective. But really
In this term paper I will be comparing and contrasting Buddhism and Hinduism. Comparing both Hinduism belief, sacred text and overall view of how the world SHOULD be. Hinduism and Buddhism are two of the most influential and complex religions around the world. Both religions have similar philosophies and originated in India before 500 B.C. Both are among the top five major religions being practiced in today’s world. Hinduism ranks as the third most popular organized religion and is much older than Buddhism. Buddhism is based on the teachings of Siddhartha Gautama, or Lord Buddha, who considered himself a Hindu before being called to his path and attaining enlightenment, and therefore given this fact, it follows that Buddhism share many similarities and some very distinct differences in certain doctrinal sacred texts, ideals, practices, and beliefs of Hinduism.
The purpose of dharma is not only to attain the union of the soul with the supreme reality. Rather, dharma is first among the four purusharthas (dharma, artha, kama, and moks̩a), goals of life that every being longs for. It also suggests a code of conduct that is intended to secure both worldly joys and supreme happiness to all beings. The Vaisesika thought affirms that dharma confers worldly joys to every being and leads all to supreme happiness. Kanada, the great Philosopher, defines dharma as “that from which results the prosperity in this world (abhyudayah) and final liberation (nihsreyasah)” (Vaisesika Sutra 1.1.2; Chattopadhyaya, 1992, 550). Furthermore, Indian thought suggests methods for the attainment of the highest ideal and eternal bliss here and now on earth and not simply as somewhere in heaven. Thus, the practice of dharma gives an experience of peace, delight, vigour and serenity within one's self and makes life disciplined as a this-worldly realization.
The teachings on ethical issues from a religious perspective vary greatly in their approach for each faith tradition. The nature of the teachings on ethical issues within the Buddhist faith enables them to be open to discussion and interpretation. In this essay, I will discuss what the teachings that govern the Buddhist position on abortion are, what the Buddhist teachings on when human life begins are, what the prescriptions and prohibitions in relation to abortion in Buddhism are and how these compare and contrast to the position within denominations in the Christian tradition and finally, what is the relevance of this topic to the Religious Education senior cycle syllabus.
The concept of Dharma emphasizes sacrifice, obligations, and self-denial, providing the right values for resolving social disputes such as the one mentioned above in the case study. The Hindu society is one based on a caste structure and Dharma constitutes the religious and moral doctrine of rights and duties of each individual in their individual caste. What an individual should or should not do is based on the context of the situation and virtues and transgressions are dependent on contextual issues. One of these contexts is that truth is relative and one must be tolerant of the truth of others. (Glenn, Ch
Why be moral? This is a question that I’ve asked myself for many weeks since the beginning of this class. I wanted to know why is being moral so important to some people myself included. This also lead me to another question, which is why is it easier for some people and harder for others to be moral? First, let 's understand what it is to be moral. One definition of moral is concerned with the principles of right and wrong behavior and the goodness or badness of human character. Another definition is a person 's standards of behavior or beliefs concerning what is and is not acceptable for them to do. From both of these definitions, we get that being moral concerns right and wrong and being able to differentiation from both of those and having your actions reflect what you believe is right and wrong.
Hinduism has been a religion for a long time, the Buddha was a Hindu before seeing how terrible the world was, he then found the religion Buddhism. Since the creator of Buddhism was Hinduism as a child, it is only expected for the two religions to be similar. While the two religions are similar they are also quite different as seen by their creation stories. The creation stories are these religions way of explaining how the world started. With most religions the creation story gives the most basic beliefs of the religion as this is where their religion supposedly starts its life. The two stories this paper focuses on is no different, and since they technically have the same origin, it can be obvious as to how they would be similar. However, in the case of the idea of social order and moral decline, they can be different too.
1Sivananda s.s, (1999). All about hinduism. 7th ed. P.O. Shivanandanagar—249 192 Distt. Tehri-Garhwal, Uttar Pradesh, Himalayas, India.: A divine life society publication.
Moral ethics is the belief that all human beings are born to know right from wrong. We come into this world as good people, but the temptations and challenges in life influence our mind set to as it will. Every person on Earth chooses if they’re to follow through with their life of good or go down the path of bad. “A person’s moral ethics” (unknown.)
...the concept of what should we do or what we ought to do. Ethics is design to help one receive the life they want and live it with purpose. In certain situations it’s unclear as to consider it moral or immoral as ethics comes to play alongside morality. Some would argue the concept of what can be define as moral as immoral in conjunction with ethics by means of feelings, religion, law, culture, and science. Although they prove good standings they cannot be accounted for as those rationales are more so that of opinion that are altered daily depending of that of the individual. For this reason any act can be considered moral as we can use descriptive education depicting that of ethics, in which we live a life seeking how things should be and that it depends on the individual. So who is to say what’s right and what’s wrong. If it exists in the universe it can be moral.
When asked what is the definition of ethics, many responded that being moral meant doing the right thing. But how can we justify what is a good action and what is a bad action? All humans were created equal, but our principles, and ways of thinking can be extremely different. Some may say doing the right thing means following your heart, your inner feelings and intuition. But emotions can be misleading. Others say in order to do what is the morally right thing means to follow the law and do what is right by society, to be accepted. But today’s society is judgmental and can be corrupted with numerous opinions due to the diversity of cultures. So what does it mean to be ethical? Being ethical means doing what is right in terms of virtues, fairness, duties, responsibilities, obligations, and moral believes all which derived from cultures and family backgrounds.