If I could describe myself in one word, it would be lucky. Having the honor of being born into a Hindu family, full of values and traditions, has left a mark on me. Religion is a crucial element of life that has brought together our societies and races in times of need. We, as human beings, look to God for hope, so that he can guide us in the correct direction towards enlightenment. It has given meaning to lives that may seem otherwise hopeless and has provided for a universal language and culture among those who believe in a higher power. Those who practice a certain religion do so because it gives direction, insight, courage, and a divine connection. For me, specifically, Hinduism has given me the qualities that I value the most in life: purpose, knowledge, and most importantly, an identity. …show more content…
For instance, we pray to Ganpati; one of the gods that have taken the form of an elephant and is remembered before special milestones in one’s life for luck. We also believe in reincarnation and strive to leave the cycle of reincarnation with these by contributing to our Lord’s rajipo (happiness) through our actions. The Hindu religion is full of festivals such as Diwali, Navratri, Holi and many more. These festivals have continuously taught me about the culture and traditions that my parents have brought with them to America. Diwali is the festival of lights, which is held throughout the month October. It is associated with Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperities celebrates the new beginning of good over evil. Holi is the festival of colors celebrated in March in honor of Lord Krishna. These festivals and beliefs have been instilled upon me from the very beginning. The uprising that my parents so gracefully gave to me have helped me differentiate from right and
There are two holy days in the Hindu religion named Diwali and Holi. Diwali is a festival of lights, and is India’s biggest and most important festival of the year. It is mainly celebrated in the months of October and November. This festival is a great time for family to get together and be together. Holi is another festival that family gets together. Holi is a festival of colors. Holi is a holiday where they get together and dance, play, and bring joy onto their home. Depending on the region, some cover their body is many different colors to celebrate the day.
Hinduism conceives the whole world as a single family that deifies the one truth, and therefore it accepts all forms of beliefs and dismisses labels of distinct religions which would imply a division of identity. It is the belief that animals and human castes were created
What is religion? Each person’s definition of religion is different. Each person’s faith is different. This is a question that has been asked for centuries, and regardless of the answer given there is no right or wrong answer. Religion can be defined as a group of people who have shared beliefs who feel their life has purpose or meaning. This feeling or belief that their life has meaning can come from outside of themselves, as well as within. Taking this one step further, these shared beliefs put into action in the form of worship, can be easily identified because they happen regularly. It can be said the Primal religions were in fact not religions. Some may argue Confucianism is not a religion. Others may say Taoism is not a religion. However, one argument can be made. All three of these “religions” share “features.” Huston Smith, author of World’s Religions, says “six features of religion appear so regularly as to suggest that their seeds are in the human makeup.” These six features discussed in World’s Religions are as follows: authority, ritual, explanation, tradition, grace, and mystery (World’s, Page 67). First is authority, Smith argues religion is so complex that people will need assistance or guidance from those held in a higher light, or of a higher authority. Next is ritual, which can be happy (a wedding) or sad (a funeral), rituals are shared between people of the same religion in many forms as a sign of common beliefs. Following rituals, some explanation is required. Many of a religion’s followers ask for explanations, some ask, “What is my purpose in life?” Others may ask, “Who is God?” Depending on one’s religion, the questions or
Religion is “the belief in and worship of a god or gods, or any such system of belief and worship.” (Cambridge Dictionary) Many people believe in something else out of the evidential or scientific view, thinking that good things happen because God says so, or that the universe was not made by the Big Bang. Even though is something that was more present in history years ago, a lot of people still believe and practise a religion. According to Stephen Juan there are about 4,300 religions in the world. About a 75 per cent of the population of the world practises a religion and the two religions most widely spread are the Christianity and the Islam. (2006) They can be divided in believers, adherents or not adherents, agnostics and atheists. People who are believers are the ones who have faith in something great beyond and
Religion; a complex idea that originated many centuries ago by various groups of individuals and has continued to shape and change the world ever since. Early history of many of the different religions, such as Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, etc., seem to start off with a society stuck in this state of un-happiness, and a world that needs to be changed for the better. Ultimately there is one goal… to be happy and live by morals/codes to be able to reach this happiness. While there may be several differences in the various religions in the world such as how they practice or interpret ideas, they all have the same purpose just shown at a different angle. Religion has provided liberation and purpose to individuals, especially in the earlier centuries where chaos and disorder were more common. A leader or prophet was needed to speak what they believed was the
Different religions, different ways, and one aim of maintaining religious identity. Hinduism and Judaism, two of the world’s biggest religions, are seemingly completely unalike. With differences such as their views of afterlife, death and birth Hindus believing in rebirth and “oneness” with Brahman, and Jews believing in a world to come, focusing more on God’s image, never really mentioning what happens after death. Yet when you take a closer look into both religions you find some similarities. Both religions’ rituals focus on the same things, they may be celebrated differently but the meaning behind the celebrations and the meaning behind some of their symbols are the same, and their purposes help people maintain their identity and keep the traditions of their cultures strong.
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).
You cannot believe in God until you believe in yourself. -- Swami Vivekananda "I would rather live my life as if there is a God and die to find out there isn't, than live as if there isn't and to die to find out that there is." -- Albert Camus In this essay, I will explore the religious experience in general and some of its variations around the world. The focus will be on the types of religious beliefs and religious leaders, especially in small-scale societies. An exploration of Christianity, Judaism, Islam, or any other major religion is beyond the scope of this essay.
I am fortunate to have realized my faith in god in early years of my life and experiences in life have only strengthened my faith; I was born and raised in a small town in India and my elementary to undergraduate education has been from a Christian, catholic school, Convent of Jesus & Mary, a congregation established by Mother Claudine Thevnet who wanted to undertake the education of girls in India. It was in school, I first experienced the introduction to Christianity and my family being Hindu resonated a lot of common values being taught at school. Since there was no conflict in my values learnt at school and those at home, these were only deepened and have become an important part of my personality. As a result of my upbringing and my education, memories of my faith are amongst my earliest. I believe in the presence of god and I believe that god has bigger plans for me. My education and my family has integrated values in me for respecting, accepting, understanding other members of the society. Hinduism taught me how to be respectful and tolerant to others, it taught me that I need to understand that I am a human and I am here to serve and help others in need. There have been times when faced with difficult challenges in life and I have followed the path laid by god, ignorance went away and I found solutions and answers to the problems and challenges that I faced.
Religion is the one element of life that has connected the races and societies of the world for hundreds of years. It has given meaning to lives that may seem otherwise hopeless. Religion has provided for a universal language and culture among those who believe in a higher power. The spirit or being receiving the worship and praise may not be the same, but the practices are usually similar and serve the same purpose--to give direction, insight, courage, and a divine connection.
It’s no secret that sometimes great discoveries come as a result of really big mistakes. But are they always worth the problems they cause? Sometimes the mistakes lead to greatness, and sometimes they lead to disaster, but it is clear that mistakes are key to discovery. The three reasons I know that mistakes are key to discovery is that you learn from mistakes, there have been discoveries from accidents, and without accidents and mistakes, no one would ever learn from their mishap. When you make a mistake, you learn not to do the accident again.
Ideologies creates a sense of community, purpose and order. Similarly, I find that my religion provides me with the conceptual frameworks in which to ground my life. My life revolves around my Islamic commitments, even school and work is set around my Islamic timetable. So to me, Islam is not just about praying, fasting and so on. Yet, it’s also about my moral conduct, the education that I seek and my worldly actions. Growing up in a community that practices an Islamic lifestyle and culture has convinced me that Islam is one of the exceptional religions which stress the development of the positive moral and ethical. I was taught to live peacefully, help each other and also tolerate with other religions. Not only that, Islam also governs all facets of my life such as moral, spiritual, physical, intellectual, social and economic via the Quran and the Hadith. I also learnt the true values of my faith which is Islam is not only for the Muslim world, it is to be practiced wherever I am.
The definition of religion is the belief in and worship of a superhuman controlling power, especially a personal God or gods(Merriam-Webster). After this semester I have come to realize that religion is a much more advanced, complicated, and personal definition. Religion can’t be defined in one word or one term because there is a lot that religion entails. There really is no concrete answer of what religion is and the definition varies among different groups of people and individuals.
Today, Hinduism stands as India’s primary religion. In fact, India houses 90% of the world’s Hindi population and 79.8% of India’s population follows the Hindu religion, according to the 2011 census. It is thought by some to be the oldest religion in the world and the “eternal law” (Fowler). This culture is truly one as defined by Edward Taylor: “A complex whole which includes knowledge, belief, art, law, morals, customs, and any other capability and habit acquired by man as a member of society.” In order to have somewhat of an understanding about what the Hindu religion entails, one must study the Hindu conception of God, its basic concepts and key beliefs, as well as symbolism.
I am a Christian and I believe in the Holy trinity: God, the Son, the Holy Spirit.