Lory Ice Religions of the WorldJournal 4 DATE @ & Essays - Religion

Lory Ice Religions of the WorldJournal 4 DATE \@ MMMM d, y February 5, 2017 The Hindu religion is the oldest religion of the five major religions, which are Islam, Christianity, Judaism, and Buddhism. Dating back more than 3,000 years . It originated in India and is still practiced by most of the Natives as well as the people who have left India and moved on to other parts of the world . Eighty five percent of the population in India today is Hindu . The word Hindu comes from an ancient Sanskrit term meaning dwellers by the Indus River . " Hinduism is unique because it has no founder . There is not much organization in the religion . Hinduism suggests commitment to or respect for an ideal way of life know as Dharma. Hinduism absorbs foreign ideas and beliefs making it have a wide variety of beliefs and practices.The Hindus own definition of their community is T hose who belie ve in Vedas . " The beliefs of Hinduism are not specific, but there are a few beliefs such as the Caste System , the Caste System is t he ideal way of life . It is referred to as the duties of one's class and station. C lass is changed to the word CASTE. The re are four great classes. T he Brahmins, or priests , the Ksatriyas, or warriors and rulers , the Vaisayas, or merchants and farmers; and the Sudras, or peasants and laborers. A fifth class, Panchamas, or untouchables, are people whose jobs make them touch unclean or unholy objects. In the past the caste was very strict and kept different people in different classes very distinctly. The re are also four stations of life, each with its own duty. The first stage is studentship , or brahmacarya. This stage lasts from initiation into the religion at the age of five until marriage at the age thirteen . The second stage is householdership, or grihasthya . This is the time during a marriage, raising a family, and taking part in the society. The third stage is forest dwelling , vanaprasthya . It is after the kids have grown and moved on with their lives. The fourth and final stage is renunciation , or samnyasa. This is when one gives up attachment to all worldly things and seeks spiritual liberation. T here are also general duties , sanatanadharma. Th is include s honesty, courage, service, faith, self-control, purity, and nonviolence. The se classes and stations only apply to the male Hindus. An important belief of the Hindus is the theory of karma, which says that all beings, human or animal , karma determines which soul is for which body and the birth attribute of each soul. Th is religion is for the soul to move upward to the most sacred level through the reincarnation. In other word s if a person l ived a good life, done good deeds, and had good faith they will achieve a good karma . Their soul will move up maybe to a king or a schola r , meaning the soul will have a much better position in the next life. however if they did bad things in their lives the soul will move down to worse position in life , for example, maybe a filthy animal or instinct. The Jains see karma as very fine matter that interacts with the soul and causes great changes. Karma is material to them. Philosophy Hinduism has six philosophical systems. The systems called Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Samkhya, and Yoga emphasize the understanding of basic principles of metaphysics and epistemology. Nyaya i s also included as an analysis of logic. The systems called Mimamsa is identif ied as the performance of ritual. The many Vedanta systems emphasize understanding of the relati on ship between the self a nd the ultimate reality. The Hindus believe the universe has many G ods. These G ods where a lot like humans , and are related like humans. It is very similar to Greek Mythology and theories. The supreme G ods where, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva . They where often related to female deities. The f e males are called Shakti.