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The importance of religion
Role of religion in indian society
Social importance of religion
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Dharma throughout our text is defined as law, duty, righteousness, or “religion”. With any of these terms the main goal is to live in a way that upholds and conforms to social order. Dharma is very important to Hindus because this implies the proper way they should act, worship, and behave within their social castes in order to successfully bring good fortunes in the future and ultimately reach moksha and be liberated from the cycle of samsara. I believe the ritual dimension and dharma are very closely linked. Rituals are the specific actions that people perform in order to experience religion which is exactly what the dharma helps explains and acts as guidance for. Dharma explains the laws that one must follow and by following these laws or
In the chapter on Hinduism in Philip Novak’s book The World’s Wisdom the section titled “The Transmigration of the Soul” describes the Hindu concept of reincarnation, the wheel of life, and ultimately becoming one with god. The lines in this passage very concisely describe the Hindu concepts of Brahman, Atman, Samsara, Karma, Maya and Moksha (Molloy). I believe that these concepts are at the core of all of the expressions of the Hindu religion; which makes understanding this paragraph the key to having a basic understanding of the Hindu religion.
Hinduism and Buddhism There are many religions that are practiced around the world, especially in Asia where there are eight different religions being practiced. In the country of India, Buddhism and Hinduism are the main religions that are practiced today. Buddhism and Hinduism were both founded in Asia, but they were founded by two different people and practiced in two different ways and languages. Buddhism is a living tradition that is passed down from teacher to student as a set of instruction and techniques for sanity and brilliance in the inner self and the world. Hinduism is more based on the thoughts and attitude about one’s everyday life, and reflects in his actions.
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
In the early text of the Hindu tradition, the Veda, everything evolved around sacrifice. As a means of acquiring something, the elite class would make sacrifices to their gods in order to obtain the things they so desperately needed. An example of this would be the slaughtering of an animal to the gods in exchange for a sufficient rainy season during harvest time. The essence of what it is to be a human being in the Hindu tradition comes from a later text known as the Upanishads. This text did not focus on sacrifice rituals, but instead focused on the quest for knowledge. In the Upanishads the life of the Hindu is a spiritual pursuit that prepares one for the cycle of rebirth known as samsara. Hindus consider the body to be only a place to keep the soul. After watching Professor Anne Monius lecture on Hinduism and reading the book Hinduism A Very Short Introduction by Kim Knott, in the Hindu tradition, to be a “human being” means living one’s life according to a moral tradition which is based on the persons social and religious duty, known as dharma (Knott, 1998).
The Question of Origin: Hinduism believes everything has been in existence and is a part of numerous gods. In (Foundation of Indian Psychology Vol.2 Pg.116) the text Hinduism is a treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different people in different times of life. Over the centuries the Hindus beliefs are not literally interpreted by the scriptures and there ethics are derived from them.
There are many different areas of Hinduism covered in the book The Hindu Religious Tradition. The first important area discussed is about Aryans and early Indian culture. The Indus civilizations, cities, art, and culture are explained. Also discussed is the coming of the Aryans, the Gods of the early Aryans, and Aryan fire sacrifice.
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.
Dharma is the social and spiritual duty. It stands for the basic moral balance of all things. It's played out in all areas of life: religious, social, and familial. At a social level, every individual has a particular Dharma according to their place in life.
The Sastras and traditions describe dharma as the natural universal law whose observance enables human beings to be content and happy. Dharma, the moral law, combined
Hinduism and Buddhism impacted daily life by dictating and controlling life.. Hinduism formed a caste system that basically controlled the people.. Indian society was divided by their caste system. Girls married within their caste. People worked with their caste. Everything they did was based on their caste. The ultimate goal of hinduism was to escape the cycle of rebirth and reach Moksha is the freeing of the soul. This was their goal. Hinduism controlled Hindus lives.
All that is free from doing harm to any created being is certainly Dharma, for indeed Dharma is created to keep all creation free from harm.” Therefore, Khan is saying that Dharma is created so that all beings have a correct path to follow in their lives. He implies that anyone who follows the Dharmic way of life will not cause harm to anyone and will lead a moral and rational way of life. Khan further expands on the purpose of Dharma by saying, “To order life in human society, we are always confronted with certain problems, and we have to settle these within the framework of society; otherwise, life becomes impossible.” Khan views Dharma as a means to create a framework within a society to deal with the chaos and conflict that humans arise due to different reasons.
Most people in the world derive their religious beliefs and traditions from their parents and peer influences. From a religious point of view, “There are many definitions for the term ‘religion’ in common usage. [Broadly defined], in order to include the greatest number of belief systems: ‘Religion is any specific system of belief about deity, often involving rituals, a code of ethics, and a philosophy of life’” (Robinson, 1996). However, in examining Hinduism, it is difficult to label the practices as a religion. This paper will expound upon the Hindu traditions, taking into account the characteristics of sacred elements, their meaning, and significance.
Hinduism is a very complicated religion from an outsiders prospective. When I think about it I never have really given any thought to what Hinduism is, so what is this religion, what do they believe in, what are the social and cultural influences and what is the desire for liberation from earthly existence?
Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion and was originated in the Indian subcontinent. Is rare that a big religion like Hinduism don’t have a single founder, religious organization, specific theological system and don’t even a system of morality, but it is a religion that has evolved over thousands of years. Hinduism has a diverse body of cultural and philosophical practices. Hinduism consists of belief and tradition. The most recognized belief and traditions of the Hinduism are Karma, Dharma, Samsara and Moshka. Hindu people don’t believe in violence, but they do believe in prayers, honesty, truth, austerity, celibacy and penance. The Hindu scriptures are collectively referred to as the Shashtras. The Hindu scriptures were initially passed on orally from generation to generation until finally ancient scholars wrote them down; mainly in the Sanskrit language that was the prevailing language of the time. Some of the Hindu scriptures are the Shruti and Smritis. The Shruti primarily refers to the Vedas which represent eternal truths revealed to ancient sages but some other Hindu individuals associated the Vedas with a God or a powerful person. The Smritis are all of the other text different than the Shruti. The most know of the Smritis are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana. Although the Hindus worship a large pantheon of Gods and Goddesses, they believe in the one Supreme Power that manifests itself in various forms.
Dharma, in concept deals with duty, religion and inseparable quality of a thing or orders i.e. virtuous conduct of righteous man and dharma in literal sense means ‘something which sustains or upholds’ and is a Sanskrit noun derived from root ‘dhr’. Dharma is semantic equivalent to the Greek word ‘ethos’ .