Hinduism and Christianity: An Experience and a Comparison - Research Paper Example

? Hinduism and Christianity: An Experience and a Comparison Hinduism and Christianity: An Experience and a Comparison Introduction Religion is important. Humans have an innate desire to connect with the spiritual. We have a need to feel connected to something greater than ourselves. We desperately want to know that there is a purpose and meaning to our life. Religion helps to fulfill all of these needs. This is the reason why so few people in the world refuse to at least consider the existence of a spiritual being. While there are countless of belief systems existent in the world today, it is commonly considered that there are five major religions present in society today. Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, and Islam form the basis of the spiritual lives of a majority of the earth’s inhabitants. This paper will focus on Hinduism and Christianity, examine the similarities and differences, and seek to explain the importance of spiritual matters to the average layperson. An Experience and Description of Hinduism People may commonly believe that Judaism is the world’s oldest religion, but it is quite interesting to discover that Hinduism actually owns this distinction. In terms of followers, there are over a billion of them. That makes it the third largest religion in the world, behind Christianity and Islam. It is difficult to pin down exactly what constitutes the Hindu religion, which is why there is so much misunderstanding about the belief system of a follower. The fundamental belief of a Hindu actually becomes a combination of religious, philosophical, and cultural ideas. Each of these ideas originated in India and revolves around the belief in reincarnation. In addition, Hindus believe that they are one absolute being, manifested in multiple ways. They also believe strongly in the law cause and effect, in following the path of righteousness as prescribed in their Dharma, and they wish for eternal freedom from the cycle of births and deaths. There, of course, is more to the religion than this, but this particular knowledge will enable the average person to be able to attend and comprehend the basics of what is happening when visit a Hindu temple of worship. Hinduism is actually quite different than the other major religions of the world. More than a spiritual belief system, Hinduism is meant to be a way of life. This way of life is considered the Dharma, and it truly forms the basis for all actions that a Hindu focuses on during their life. The Dharma is, if you will, the government of Hinduism. It forms the foundation for daily life. This way of life has its own beliefs, traditions, system of morals and ethics, rituals that carry a deep meaning, philosophy, and theology. As one can see, Hinduism appears to be much deeper than the monotheistic religions of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam. Consider the spiritual arts that have all arisen out of Hinduism: Yoga, Ayurveda, Vastu, Jyotish, Yajna, Puja, Tantra, Vadanta, and Karma just to name a few. Ask anyone about the true origins of Hinduism, and you will likely get multiple responses. The religion itself is so old that it dates back before written records were kept. As such, it is difficult to attribute the religion to any one person or time period. Some scholars date the foundation of the religion all the way back to 10,000 B.C. Hindu scriptures appear to have been recorded as far back as 6500 B.C. Of course, from its foundation, the word Hindu was not used to name the religion. Foreigners who lived near the River Indus introduced this name later (Sundarajan, 2010, p. 83). Regardless of where it came from, or who formed the belief system, it is evident that it has a long a storied history. A visit to a Hindu temple will certainly be a mind opening experience that will be rich in not only spiritual value, but cultural as well. Before making a visit to a Hindu place of worship, it is important to understand some basic tenants of the religion. Because there are so many branches of the religion, it is important to understand there will be varying ideas from one believer to the next as to what constitutes religious observance. The Dhama, for example, speaks to the ethics and duties or the Hindu. Samsara is a term used to refer to the concept of rebirth, while Karma refers to right action on earth. Finally, the fourth common element to Hinduism is Moksha, which is freedom from the cycle of birth and death (Samsara). While these four areas are important to most Hindus, they also believe strongly in truth, honesty, non-violence, celibacy, cleanliness, contentment’s, prayers, austerity, perseverance, penance, and pious company. As one visits a place of worship, these concepts should be kept in mind (Carpenter, 2008, p. 607). To become a Hindu, one basically just has to accept and live by the religious guidance found in the Vedic scriptures (Drees, 2011, p. 515). A person is not required to be a Hindu to be taught it beliefs and practices. Doing so, of course, does help, as people tend to comprehend more when they are gathered with a group of like-minded individuals. It is now time to describe a recent worship experience at a Hindu Temple. The Durga Temple is located at 8400 Dugra Place in Fairfax, Va. A quick phone call to 703-690-9355 determined that was a weekly service for Venkateshwara Pooja each Saturday 9:00AM. With directions in hand, and a beautiful Saturday morning in tow, this student attended such a service. Considering the amount of Christian churches and Islamic mosques in the area, it was amazing to see how many people turned up for this weekly prayer service. The atmosphere was actually quite electric. A pooja ritual service is actually a type of prayer service. As my friend Debjani explained to me, it follows an ancient tradition. The temple itself, just like the one we visited in Alexandria, is designed as a place where god manifests himself in a form that is incarnated at the temple. As I watched the people, I observed people reciting various prayers. Everyone seemed extremely fervent and sincere in his or her meditation. Having visited numerous Christian places of worship over the years, I was struck by how individualistic the ceremony was. There was not really a head of the congregation that directed people what to do. Instead, individuals and families had their practices and they worshipped together, independently of others around them. Debjani explained that each family had its own practices and custom. Because the religion is so old, it largely depends on the origins of ones ancestors as to how an individual practices Hinduism. As such, each Pooja service is likely to carry a slightly different meaning for each participant. I found this fascinating as I watched, for just a moment on this Saturday morning, entire families come together in religious unity. It was a pleasure to see actually. Most of the people in attendance did follow a set of rituals and prayers that Debajani explained to me follow the teachings of Nirguna Brahman. I researched this on my own to discover that he actually started a school for prayers (Siddhartha, 2008, p. 36). These recitations form the basis for the prayers offered to god during the service. Other rituals at the service included lighting of incense, ringing of bells, and offering prayers at various idols situated in various places throughout the temple. On this day, there were probably no fewer than 1,000 people in attendance and we remained there for about one hour in total. An Experience and Description of Christianity Christianity cannot be put into a box where one definition fits all, as many people seem to think. While over 2 billion people in the world regard themselves as Christian, which amounts 1/3 of the population on earth, it must be mentioned that are over 1,500 different groups in North America alone that define themselves as Christian. Each of these groups carries a slightly different understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ. There are, however, some general themes that seem to flow through all denominations. Christianity is most definitely a monotheistic religion and its followers descend from the Abrahamic era. Christians believe in one god, but that god reveals himself in three persons: The father, son, and Holy Spirit. This can serve to confuse some followers into thinking that the religion is no longer truly monotheistic, but it must be noted that the three representations of God are the same person. In addition, Christians believe that God came to earth as a man to reveal himself to all humans. That person was Jesus Christ, who lived, preached, died, and rose again to prove his deity. His parting remarks to the world was that he was going back to be with his Father (God), but the he would one day return to take all of his followers back to Heaven with him (Spinner-Havel, 2005, pp. 30-32). Christians, unlike some other belief systems, believe strongly in a heaven and hell. You go to one place or the other eternally when you die. Roman Catholics also believe in Purgatory, which is a temporary hell, after which you can gain admittance into heaven. It must be noted that, similar to Hinduism, there are many different rituals and traditions associated with different branches of Christianity. So, while the basic doctrine presented to this point remains the same, the meat of the religion now changes depending upon which group one affiliates him or her self with. In North America, the prominent divisions would be Protestants, Catholics, and Episcopalians. Moving into Europe and Russia, there are Orthodox belief systems that further compound the issue. To better understand the Christian belief system, this student recently visited an Episcopalian house of worship. The weekend after my visit to the Hindu temple, I visited an Episcopalian church in the area in order to better visualize exactly what the difference between the two religions was. After a quick search of churches in the area, it was decided to visit the 9:00 a.m. service on Sunday at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. St. Paul’s is located at 228 South Piit Street in Alexandria. The 9:00 a.m. service was decided on because it was dubbed as a family service, which would give me an opportunity to see how families in an Episcopal worship different than those in a Hindu setting. Upon entering the church building itself, it was immediately clear that this would be an experience unlike the other Protestant churches I have been to in the past. In those churches, people usually milled around, talking, and there was music softly playing in the background. At St. Paul’s, however, the atmosphere was much different. I noticed that every person was seated reverently and appears to either be praying or were just quietly waiting for the service to begin. A person, whom I discovered later to be called an usher, gave me a program and directed to go ahead and be seated. I did just that and proceeded to wait for the service to begin, all the while taking in my surroundings. St. Paul’s itself is a beautiful church to behold. The church is over 200 years old and sits right in the middle of the historic area of downtown Alexandria, Virginia. While the church has obviously been restored at various times during its history, it is clear that the original essence and design remains. The surroundings itself seem to captivate the parishioners and draw them into a worship experience even before the service begins. I found myself using this time to reflect on the history of the church and the thousands of years of history for Christianity as well. It is amazing to consider all of the people who have fought to keep the belief system and to maintain its place as the dominant religion in the world. Before long, the service began, At St. Paul’s this involved a hymn that was actually printed in the program I was handed at the door. As everyone rose to sing, there was a group of children who processed in unison, and a Choir who helped to lead the singing. The song itself was quite old and I did not know the words at all, so I just listened. The way the words range out in the old church was quite mesmerizing. It was truly a worship experience for those who were believers. After this, the service took on a bit of a ritualistic feel. The pries of the church recited something and the congregation repeated something back to him in unison. I quickly discovered that the text for this recitation was located in the program. After this, one more song was sung, followed by a prayer, and then everyone was seated. It was easy to follow along with each step of the service to this point, but it was probably painfully obvious to those around me that I had no idea what was going on. Nonetheless, I was able to comprehend the words that were said and the songs that were sung, in contrast to my visit to the temple. I did, however, sense exactly how true believers of each religion could get into a state of worship. Both in the temple and in the church, the atmosphere certainly reflected the spiritual world and it bought families and individuals together to a place of collective worship. It was quite interesting to witness the transformation that took place. Upon sitting down, everyone read from the Bible in unison. It was a passage from the New Testament. Following this, another passage from the Old Testament was read, following by a Psalm. Interestingly enough, at least to me, was the fact that there was no commentary given about the passage that was read. Everyone simply read each passage, like a chorus, and then moved onto the next. Following the Bible reading, everyone stood and sung a hymn. At this point, a passage from the gospels was read why different people proceeded down the center of church in a ritualistic fashion. After this, we all sat down and a sermon was given about the passage that was just read. Everything followed a set pattern and was laid out in the program to follow along with, except for the sermon. The sermon lasted for about 20 minutes and everyone seemed captivated by the words of the priest. When he was finished, everyone stood and recited what is called the Nicene Creed. This is the state of faith for Episcopalians and the sound was simply majestic. The words themselves communicated a people that were unified in the faith. After the Creed, various prayers were said that appear to reflect intercession on behalf of Alexandria, Virginia, the country, the world, those is need, and for various other issues facing the congregation and the world as a whole. After this, the service quickly began to come to an end, with an offering being taken, along with communion. I chose not to take part in communion, but I did use the time to closely observe each adult and child in the congregation. Even the children seemed to take this moment seriously and each person was introspective and alone. It was a time for the individual that much was obvious. This part of the service did have the feel of the Hindu service in that people tended to look inward for just a moment. The rest of the service, however, was an entirely group affair, which differed drastically from the Hindu Pooja service. After the service is when people tended to socialize. I did not have anyone to visit with, so I thought I was going to have to leave without being able to ask any questions, but I noticed one of the ‘ushers’ that seemed to be available. Not being shy, I introduced myself and said I would love to know more about the church. James quickly obliged. He explained the history, which was described earlier in this section, and went on to tell me that many families in the church had been a part of it for decades, and in some cases, centuries. While there are many converts to the faith, he said that many Episcopalians around North America tend to be raised in the faith. They believe strongly in family, and the church becomes an extension of that family. He said that St. Paul’s is an important part of each parishioner’s daily life and that faith is the bond that holds him or her all together. This was much different Debajni’s reflection of the Hindu faith, where individual families tend to take control of their own worship experience. I gained a lot of knowledge from those brief moments with James and was grateful for the opportunity. Comparing and Contrasting the Two Religions As we have seen, Hinduism and Christianity are two entirely different belief systems. While Christians worship one God, the Hindu religion has multiple deities and expressions of worship. While the center of Hinduism in is in India and Bangladesh, Christianity is truly global, with believers in nearly every part of the world today. The central part of both religions, however, is a belief in the afterlife. This adds meaning and gives purpose to our life here on earth. Both Hindus and Christians express their faith through religious services and the entire family gets involved and worships corporately, and in private. While the Christian service is a largely formal affair, with everyone in attendance doing roughly the same thing at the same time, the Hindu religious service is much different. People attending the temple walk through a series of stations and they pray and do incantations at their own pace and in their own way. Hinduism seems much deeper than Christianity and has many more possible avenues of worship to arrive at the same end results of braking the cycle of life and death. For Christians, there is only one main way to arrive at heaven upon death and all believers typically follow the path. This exercise was beneficial as it highlighted the differences between two religions that have impacted the world so greatly. Conclusion Religion has played an integral part in human civilization from the outset of our creation. People yearn to believe in something bigger than themselves. They want to have faith in something they cannot quite understand, yet seek to learn. Hinduism and Christianity have provided billions of people with just these ideals for centuries. The two faiths bring families together, help people in times of need, and provide people with hope in the afterlife. In this respect, they are so similar, while being so different at the same time. References Carpenter, D. (2008). Short notices: Hinduism and Christianity. Theological Studies, 54(3), 607- 608. Drees, W. (2011). History, Hinduism, and Christian humanism. Journal of Religion & Science, 46(3), 515-516. Siddhartha. (2008). Open-source Hinduism. Religion & the Arts, 12(1), 34-41. Spinner-Halev, J. (2005). Hinduism, Christianity, and liberal religious toleration. Political Theory, 33(1), 28-57. Sundararajan, K. (2010). Hinduism and the global village. Religious Studies and Theology, 29(1), 81-91. Read More