Hinduism Kelsey Scofield And Sarah Cobb

Gods Of Hinduism ~ Brahma was considered creator of the universe and began alone until he split himself into two and created the universe. Most people don’t worship him because he is considered responsible for distracting the mind away from the soul and towards craving or lusting of flesh. Although he was thought unpopular, he still was the 1 st in the Trimurti or The Trinity. ~Vishnu was the savior and protector who preserves the universe and is the 2 nd, behind Brahma, in The Trimurti. ~Shiva was destroyer of evil and creator of new life, but unlike Brahma, she was heavily worshipped because of fear. ~Rama, the Hero in the epic Ramayana, and represents the roles of family and respect for the elders. ~Khrishna represented reincarnation and he is unborn and forever living, or has eternal life, which is confirmed in the famous literatures, The Vedics.

Practices Most Hindu practices consists of ceremonies focused on the four major parts of life which include: infancy, marriage, retirement, and death. There are often major cults formed that devote all their time to worshipping the gods. Their laws of Karma consisted of good deeds in order to be born into higher stations in their next life, which also explains their concept of reincarnation. Hindus also show their devotion by building shrines and statues of different gods, depending what a family focused on.

Major Texts and Literatures ~The Puranas is one of the richest, and most known collection of mythology in the world. It centers mainly around the Hindu trinity “Timurti”, which is extremely similar to the Christians “Holy Trinity”. In the literature, a sort of heaven and hell is described and it emphasizes to important parts, the Bhakti, or the devotion to god, and Dharma, or your personal and social duties. ~ The 4 Vedas is a collection of prayers and sacrifice rituals that is used to please the gods. Its divided into three parts, the Yajur (sacrifices to the gods), Sama (chants for worship), and Atharra (magic spells for healing). ~ The Upanishads reflects significant development in Hinduism’s concept of divine figures, and also contains the essence of The Vedas and vivid descriptions of the nature of Atman, the supreme soul. There are 1,180 Upanishads in all and it continues to play an important role in the everyday lives of the average Hindu. ~ Ramayana, also called the Romance of Rama, which is the greatest epics in Hindu history. It shows the morals of Hindu life, including faithfulness, perseverance. ~Laws of Manu is the Hindus version of the Christians' 10 Commandments. It Stresses the right way of living (Dharma) and is some times looked upon by other religions, such as Jews, Christians, and Muslims.

Diffusion of Hinduism There is no definite founder, but it is believed that it derived from within the Vedic civilization around the Indus River Valley, which is currently Pakistan. Hinduism spread mostly throughout modern day India and partly into the island of Bali in Indonesia. It diffused mostly from West to East.

Major contact with other religions Hinduism came in contact with many other religions such as Greek Mythology, Christianity, and Buddhism. Its shown that Hindu ascetics often visited Greece and in certain texts, you can see the similarities they both share in their religions. Also, Hinduism was majorly connected with Christianity. Its shown that they both influenced each other, though it’s not proven which one started first. Buddhism converted many Hindus, which started a tense feelings towards the two religions. People that converted to Buddhism liked their non-violence morals that Hinduism didn’t have as much as. After awhile, the two religions came to terms with each other and started having a peaceful relationship.

Citations ~Gods Brahma: Vishnu: Shiva: Rama: Krishna: ~How followers practice this religion practices: ~Major texts and books of faith ~Major contacts with other religions