Hinduism's View Of God

Dualistic Hindus try and understand divine reality through their many different gods. With that there is a focus put onto the one god Brahman which Brood describes as, “supreme, unitary reality, the ground of all Being.” (Brood et al., 2016). The monistic viewpoint of Brahman can best be described as the belief that all reality is ultimately one. Brahman is, “treated as a basic cosmic principle.” (Hopkins, 1971). According to Hopkins in the, “Atharva Veda, brahman is said to have the lowest and highest forms and to be ‘the womb of both the existent and the nonexistent.’ In 10.2 it is said that ‘by brahman the earth was disposed, as brahman the sky was set above, as brahman this atmosphere, the wide expanse, was set aloft and crosswise.’” (Hopkins, 1971). Brahman can most easily relate to the Christian, Islam, and Judaism God.Both Brahman and the God of Christianity, Islam,

“This infinite center of every life, this hidden self or Atman, is no less than Brahman, the Godhead. Body, personality, and Atman-Brahman- a human self is not completely accounted for until all three are noted.” (Smith 21) Both Brahman and God have infinite power. Brahman is the human self but has a being that never dies and is unrestricted. The ultimate goal in Hinduism is to achieve this realization of one self to earn liberation (moksha). In Christianity, God is seen as an

The Hindus call their supreme reality “Brahman,” a God of infinite being, infinite awareness, and infinite bliss. “Utter reality, utter consciousness, and utterly beyond all possibility of frustration is the basic Hindu view of God” (Smith 1991). Hinduism sees their God as an archetype of supremacy with the noblest crown, a parent, loving, merciful, almighty, eternal salvation, and an understanding companion. There is also a distinction between personal (ramanuja) and transpersonal (shankara) notions of God in Hinduism; “God so conceived is called Saguna Brahman, or God-with-attributes or God-without-attributes, Nirguna Brahman” (Smith, 1991). Also, it is important to realize that God’s relation in Hinduism varies on symbolism and what is embraced: the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer who resolves all finite forms of life. They view the world as “God-dependent.” A personalist in Hinduism “will see little religious availability in the idea od a God who is so far removed from our predicaments as to be unaware of our very existence” (Smith, 1991). Were as a transpersonalist sees God serving as a master in their life to guide them through their struggles and becomes possessed by this

Hinduism is a major religion in India as well as Nepal and a few other Asian countries. It has more than 900 million followers throughout the world but interestingly, this religion has no single founder, no single scripture and no single set of teachings that are uniformly believed and followed by all Hindus. Hinduism is said to exist as a supreme being while both Buddhism and Confucianism are based on the teachings of a man while Taoism revolves around a concept.1 (Kokemuller, J.) All of them have similarities and differences to a great extent.

Hinduism is a polytheistic religion that is very much a part of the people in India and Nepal. It has over 900 million followers worldwide and it is considered one of the oldest religions in the world, dating back many thousands of years. This religion is split into many different branches because of their belief in many gods and goddesses. Each branch worships a different god that they view as “supreme above all others.” Granted that they had a great leader, Mahatma Gandhi, they were able to change the world, and more specifically the United States. His philosophical ideas inspired our country to fight for equality. But in order to understand this better, it is important to have a deeper understanding of the Hinduism beliefs.

Since the beginning of civilization many religions and cultures have come and gone. One of the few that has stood the test of time is Hinduism. Hinduisms base flourishes from the practical view of human life, belief in eternal truth and it’s ability to make small adaptations to it without compromising its core values. Hinduism is the oldest known religion in the world and also the third largest in the world. Most of its one billion followers live in India, Nepal and Sri Lanka. Even with its immense amount of followers and lengthy existence, many non followers are unaware of its history, beliefs, and practices.

Before I read Stephen Prothero’s God Is Not One, I did not know much about Hinduism. For me, Hinduism conjured the images of bright colors, richly adorned statues, and jovial worship and dance. When we visited the Ganesh Temple in Flushing, that is exactly what I saw. Yet, now I know the reason for all these things. Although Hinduism is a largely varying tradition, it is namely about love and celebration. Given the evidence from Prothero’s book and my observations at the Ganesh Temple, Hinduism is a tradition that aims to gives purpose to human’s wandering souls through devote worship to deities and rituals.

Hinduism is a religion that is difficult to define. No one can say who the founder is, or connect it to a certain place or time. So in order to understand Hinduism, we follow a coherent set of assumptions upon which people base their lives; otherwise defined as the Indian Worldview.

Hinduism - stands for the faith and the way of life most of the people who live

Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world; but it is generally thought to be the world?s oldest organized religion. The Hindu religion has a lot of different traditions so it has the reputation of featuring freedom of practice and beliefs. A good example of this would be that Hindus ?recognize a single deity, and view other Gods and Goddesses as manifestations or aspects of that supreme God;? but there are atheists in the Hindu religion. Some ex-Hindus explain that atheism is accepted but only to the point that you will not be socially shunned for professing non-belief in a god. It is important to know what Hinduism does not have. It does not have a single founder; a single holy text like the Bible or Koran; a single concept of deity (as mentioned above; a single system of morality; a central religious authority or a specific theological system; nor do they have any concept of a

Hinduism is an Indian phenomena, it is difficult to define, and difficult for the outsiders to understand some of the unusual religious, philosophical and cultural beliefs. It is according to Huston Smith, the…” least dogmatic and most diverse of all religions…” because of the belief that there is a ‘flowing though’ cycle where in samsara ones is born, lives, suffers, dies and is re-born over and over until the ‘moksha’ occurs. This spiritual liberation is achieved by yoking oneself to God then one may reach Atman: the real self that is separate from the physical body. It is unchanging, eternal and a sign of the soul and spread throughout all the parts of and in the earth. This is the God that cannot be understood or always known yet Hindus are encouraged to relate to the God they know best.

Imagine a religion so old that it is said to be timeless and has always been there, even before humans set foot on the Earth. It’s mindboggling to think that the knowledge of everything is floating in the space of the universe and the mind is just a way of reaching it. Hinduism is a very complex religion, yet it still sets one ultimate goal for the soul. To deeper understand Hinduism we must reveal its origin, doctrines, customs, and culture.

“If I were asked to define the Hindu creed, I should simply say: Search after truth through non-violent means. A man may not believe in God and still call himself a Hindu. Hinduism is a relentless pursuit after truth... Hinduism is the religion of truth. Truth is God.”

In contrast to majority of devout religions, Hinduism participates in the worship of many gods – thus making it a polytheistic religion consisting of a Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva. The Brahma is the The Creator, and a member of the Hindu Trinity. Brahma intimately creates everything in the universe. In addition, Vishnu maintains the balance and harmony of the universe. Last but not least, Shiva perpetually destroys the universe: “it’s the necessary step to make renewal possible” (Hindu Gods and

Muslims and Hindus have differing views on god. Muslims are monotheistic, they believe that one god, who they refer to as Allah, created the universe and all things within it. Furthermore Muslims believe that Allah is the only being worthy of worship and that he created mankind for the sole purpose of worshiping him (www.whyislam.org, 2015) Muslims also distain any representation of their gods and prophets. This is in stark contrast to Hindus who worship many gods and are wholly polytheistic. Hindus find release from life by committing their religious attention to one or