Hinduism

Title	Hinduism
# of Words	1229
# of Pages (250 words per page double spaced)	4.92

Hinduism

Hinduism

Introduction Hinduism is a religion that originated in India and is still
practiced by most of the Natives as well as the people who have migrated from
India to other parts of the world.  Statistically there are over seven hundred
million Hindus,  mainly in Bharat, India and  Nepal.  Eighty five percent of the
population in India is Hindu. The word Hindu comes from an ancient Sanskrit term
meaning "dwellers by the Indus River," referring to the location of India's
earliest know civilization, the Pakistan. There is not much organization and
hierarchy is nonexistent.  The religion 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.  This has given it a
character of social and doctrinal system that extends to every aspect of life.
The Hindus own definition of their community is "those who believe in Vedas."

History/Origin The practices and beliefs of Hinduism cannot be understood
without knowing the background.  Hinduism is the worlds oldest religion, it
dates back more than 3,000 years.  Hinduism is unique in the fact that it has no
founder.  Its origins are lost in a very distant past. In 1500 BC the Indo-Aryan
tribes invaded India and took over the Mahenjo-daro.  From the combination of
these two tribes came the worship of goddesses.  The Hindus started practices
such as bathing in temple tanks and the postures of yoga.  Soon gods of war
started being created and worshipped.  Sakas then began invading the Hindus and
made a large impact on the religion.  The sacred temples started to be built and
the sacred laws were codified and myths and legends were preserved in the
Puranas.  Soon great devotional movements began and ways of religion practice
evolved and are still used today. In the medieval times the Hindus evolved into
having philosophers, plays and music with their religion.  A man named Chaitanya
came into power and claimed to have a god reincarnated inside of him.  In the
19th century, movements to reconcile traditional Hinduism with the social
reforms and political ideas of the day took place.  Many people where sent out
to Europe and Asia preaching and spreading the religion. Throughout all these
periods of time, the religion mutated and changed to fit with the times and as
it did it just kept gathering more and more followers.

Hinduism Today Today there are numerous self proclaimed teachers who have
migrated to Europe and the United States, where they have inspired large
followings.  In India Hinduism thrives despite all the reforms and shortcuts
made in the practicing due to the gradual modernization and urbanization of
Hindu life.  Hinduism continues to serve vital function by giving passionate
meaning to the Hindus of today.

Beliefs and Practices

Caste System The ideal way of life is referred to as the "duties of one's class
and station". In the phrase the word class is changed to CASTE.  The ancient
texts tell of four great classes, or castes: the 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 new
society the system is harder to work with but in the past the caste was very
strict and kept different people in different classes very distinctly.

Stages of Life

The sacred texts also outline four ideal stages, or stations of life, each with
its own duty. The first stage is studentship (brahmacarya).  This stage lasts
from initiation into the religion at 5 years of age to marriage at 13 years of
age.  The second stage, householdership (grihasthya) is during marriage, raising
a family, and taking part in the society.  The third stage, forest dwelling
(vanaprasthya), is after the kids have grown and gone.  The fourth an...This is ONLY a preview of the article. If you would like to view the entire document, you must subscribe to Electronic References. Please register below now!

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