What Are The Four Things People Want By Hinduism

Yoga is a practice for union. When yoga is being practiced the participant becomes relaxed and tries to achieve a higher state of mind.(Fisher 80) There are different types of yoga that help achieve different states of mind. Raja yoga is the path to mental concentration and is used by meditative people. Jnana yoga is the path to rational inquiry which is done by rational people, and for naturally active people there is karma yoga which is the path of right action. “Yoga is known as the disconnection of the connection with suffering.” –The Bhagavad Gita (hinduwisdom.info) Hinduism also has a series of gods and goddess who Hindu’s pray to and worship. Durga whom is called the Ideal Warrior, Sita, who is the

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

Smith writes that “The yoga of knowledge is said to be the shortest path to divine realization.” First of all, since healthy love is outgoing the bhakta will reject that the God you love is yourself. He mentions that a Hindu classic makes this point simpler by stating “I want to taste sugar; I don’t want to be sugar.”(Page 33) Secondly, if the bhakta is persuaded of God’s otherness, their goal will differ from the jnani’s. The bhakta will strive to adore God with every element of his/her being. Finally, God’s personality is indispensable. All that must me done in this yoga is love God dearly, not just claim to love God, but factually love

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 follows concepts of the Upanishads, which includes the Brahman, Atman, Maya, Karma, Samsara, and Moksha. The concepts provide guidance throughout life and are key to a final death. The Brahman is something one believes in and is experience in the world that surround him. The Atman is who we are the identity of our soul, an understanding we are not just a body we are more. “The term Brahman refers to the experience of the sacred within nature and the external universe, while Atman refers to the experience of the sacred within oneself” (Molloy, 2013, p. 83). Along with understanding the spiritual aspect of nature and one’s soul is understanding how this effects every living thing. The Maya which can be referred to as magic or illusion is an important factor in life and death. “Hinduism, form

Most Hindus revere one Being of extreme unity (Brahman) through boundless representations of divine beings and goddesses. These different signs of divine beings and goddesses get to be incarnate inside of symbols, sanctuaries, masters, streams, creatures, and so on.

After reading the chapter on Hinduismand what the four goals meant to the Hindus it made me want to acheive that level of of all four. Each goal in itself gives meaning to life and the balance one needs to achieve them all. We live in a society that sometimes cant feel the pleasure life offers, the morality to think of others as a collective whole, to seek a worldly path that can lead to a better world and not for greed, and lastly to be free "from the bondage of suffering and rebirth" (pg. 185). What Hinduism is trying to teach us i believe is that it's fine to seek or even want to pursue these four goals.

As a religion, Hinduism varies greatly from Christianity in its essential beliefs about God. While Hinduism acknowledges that there must be a Creator, as there must be a cause to changes in the universe, the belief that God serves as a lawgiver is rejected. The God of Hinduism is described in the frame of mysticism, as “...a matter of intellect, intuition, consciousness which fits the Eastern picture of God as consciousness” (90). This picture is closely linked to the belief that humans are parts of God, as God is within everybody; in Hinduism, God is not a being which one must strive to be, but the individual must recognize God within themselves in order to “recognize our intrinsic value and accept ourselves as we are” (90). Hinduism, therefore,

Hindus believe in an everlasting soul (atman) that is reincarnated almost intact from birth to birth, and through spiritual practice Hindus seek release (moksha, also known as liberation) so that the soul can join with the Divine God, known as Brahmin.

Dissimilar to Christianity, Hinduism is portrayed as a family of beliefs. “Hinduism unites the worship of many gods with a belief in a single divine reality” (Molloy, 75). Hinduism can be compared to that of the Ganga Ma, a significant river in the Indian culture. Comparing it with the river saying that it flows and gains momentum. The Hindus have four very important life goals; kama or pleasure, artha or economic security, dharma or social and religious duty, and moksha or complete freedom. While Hinduism consist of more than one god, individuals tend to focus on a particular god. Three gods are particularly central in the life of Hinduism. The three gods, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, represent creation, preservation, and destruction. (Molloy, 75).

In Buddhism, the ultimate goal of any practicing individual is to full extinction (Nirvana) and end the endless current of rebirth after death. From his encounter with Mara, Buddha concluded that to escape rebirth, man must rid himself of desires. After coming to this conclusion, Buddha spent over forty years practicing and preaching. By the age of eighty, he had successfully converted thousands of people in ancient India and beyond. His mission on earth was complete; Buddha prepared for Nirvana. His final words were; “Work out your own salvation with diligence!” By this he means to not let your faith waver, and keep walking the path to salvation of the soul, until your goal is met. In this case, the goal is happiness, and eventually, to reach Nirvana. Buddha’s values were intriguing and interesting. They provided a way for people to find an end to suffering and reach Nirvana. Nirvana was complete extinction and the end of rebirth after death. This was the ultimate goal for any Buddhist follower; To fulfill their mission on earth and graduate into Nirvana, escaping the troubles of life. To reach Nirvana, Buddha declared, one must rid themselves of all desires. Wanting something was quite alright, but obsessions and absolute need of unnecessary things was unhealthy. Buddha’s ultimate goal was to end suffering. He proposed that one must avoid sexual misconduct such as

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

In 1893, a man by the name of Vivekananda came to speak at the Parliament of Religions in Chicago. He captivated his audience with the exotic Indian practice of Yoga. His message permeated throughout the United States while capturing the minds of brilliant Americans such as Gertrude Stein. Vivekananda as well as the Doctrine of Yoga were a sensation, but what has become of the mystical practice known as yoga. In this paper I will discuss the origins of yoga in the West, various schools of thought associated with yoga and with a focus on two in particular: the first being Raja yoga (royal yoga) and the second school being Hatha yoga. Dr. John Renard illustrates the relation between these to schools concisely and effectively in The Handy

“It thus means the yoking of all the powers of the body, mind and soul to God; it means the disciplining of the intellect, the mind, the emotions, the will, which that Yoga presupposes; it means a poise of the soul which enables one to look at life in all its aspects.”