The History of Hinduism - Essay Example

Hinduism Since the terminology “Hinduism” lacks roots among the self-conceptualization of people often labeled “Hindus”, there is lacking significance in the philosophical doctrine that is pertinent to Hinduism1. However, the term has continued to be used since it is quite on the stance separating Hindu thinkers from the sikh thinkers and the Buddhist. Non-systematic philosophy of Hindu is composed of the philosophical elements for the secondary and primary bodies of the Hindu texts2. The systematic Hindu philosophies, on the other hand, adopted the congenial disposition geared towards the Vedas. According to philosophers, both Buddhism and Hinduism go beyond religion and thus, they are more of a way of life or philosophy. The two are termed as a philosophy since philosophy has been accepted to imply love of wisdom. According to philosophers, the Buddhist path is interpreted as leading a moral life, being mindful, as well as being aware of actions and thoughts and being able to develop understanding and wisdom. On the other hand, Buddhism is a religion that is indigenous in the Indian subcontinent encompassing a variety of beliefs, practices and traditions largely based upon the teachings that are attributed to Siddhartha Gautama. Hinduism, on the other hand, is a representative of a diverse and broad philosophy imbedded within the Hindu religion. Hinduism rests upon the trantric and vedic traditions with the vedic traditions being represented within the veda’s. Hinduism or Vedanta has been a worldwide, age-old popular religion with an immense following making it be ranked third among the world religions. It is based on certain beliefs, and it is one of the most mingled religions in the world. Unlike other world, religions, it is preached by various religious organizations and believes in multi-doctrines. Hinduism is a religion, a tradition, a culture, a philosophy, and a way of leading life in the name of some spiritual being. The followers of Hinduism believe in both animals and humans’ spirits, as well as in life after death. They draw their energies from the Goddesses and Gods Idols, in which they believe, and symbolize the existence of God on earth. These followers keep their strong faith in the single Godly image seen as a supreme source of energy. This paper entails discussing the Vedanta or Hinduism and Buddhism, as philosophies, not as religious entities and how the two contrast each other. The History of Hinduism The history of Hinduism is shrouded in much controversy. A number of factors, three in number, are responsible for this state; the first being that before modern times Hinduism was basically none existent. This is irrespective of the fact that Hinduism has ancient sources. The second fact is that Hinduism is not a distinctive religion; rather it is a combination of traditions and cultures from other religions. Last but not least is that Hinduism has no pre-existing starting point. The traditions associated with Hinduism go back several thousand years. History of Hinduism is closely associated with social and political developments which can be exemplified by the rise and fall of empires. The dating of its early history is further strained by the fact that Hindus opt to concern themselves with the substance and meaning of a text rather than its date. Hinduism has adopted the notion that time follows a cyclical patter akin to the four seasons of the year. Thus, research shows successive ages, known as yuga, referred to as golden, silver, copper and iron. During the initial yuga, that is the golden age, people strictly adhered to dharma in addition to having a pious trait. Dharma denotes law, duty and truth. However, with successive yugas the power of dharma ultimately reduces. In the recent modern times, it has to be reinvigorated via divine intervention. With each subsequent transition of age, good qualities continued to diminish. This was the case until the Dark Age, which is the current Iron Age. This current yuga is characterised by cruelty, hypocrisy and materialism amongst other vices. Hinduism has passed through seven historical periods: the Indus valley civilisation, the Vedic period, the classical age, medieval period, pre-modern period, British period and independent India. Around the 1960s a considerable number of Hindus migrated to Britain and north America. The gurus who also migrated to these localities nurtured the Hinduism by sometimes starting missionaries that had the effect of attracting western interesti. The benefits of Hinduism as a religion are bountiful. Hinduism is one of the holistic religions present in the world. It does not restrict its followers to a set of code of conducts. Hinduism has the distinctive feature of allowing its followers to observe other religions or other modes of worship. One can choose to be a follower of Hinduism while at the same time be either an atheist or a follower of another separate religion. Unlike some religions that require their follower to follow it blindly, Hinduism gives its followers to criticise every inch of the religion. This is a feature that is almost nonexistent in the many of the religions present in the world. Apart from hinduism being a holistic religion, it is among the sect religions that give their followers pristine knowledge. It has been noted that even science is a part of Hinduism. It enables its followers to master different modes of thought. A key feature of Hinduism is the number of gods to which it pays homage. The reasoning behind this large number of gods is that, there is a god for each distinct part of the human mind and subsequently each kind of thought. Thus, the high number of gods aids in differentiating the life of Hindus from the life of an atheist. The practise of Hinduism imparts its followers with the capacity to deal with various situations. Thus, its followers are better placed to deal with disasters. Another advantage of Hinduism is that it has managed to withstand the test of time and emerged as one of the oldest religions in the world. Many religions have strived to discredit the validity and truth worth of Hinduism; however it has managed to withstand this onslaught. Most world religions can source their origin from origin from single individuals, but Hinduism is strikingly different when considered under this concept. It was not started by an individual; rather it evolved by free will and corrected itself with time. Thus, it cannot be destroyed since its existence is on a virtual sense. The fact that it is a religion that constantly evolves with time, in no one time will it be stale since its freshness is guaranteed. With these many benefits of practicing Hinduism, there have to be drawbacks. One major drawback of Hinduism is the time it takes for one to fully comprehends all the important concepts. The concepts are rooted deep in the Hindu culture. However, the main drawback of Hinduism is the amount of critic leveled against it as a religion of idol worship. It is one of the most mocked religions of the world. This arises from the fact that many people have a notion that Hinduism is polytheistic. However, those who practice Hinduism defend the religion by claiming that they have numerous ways of looking at one God and not looking at many gods. Thus, it is common to hear other religions referring to those practicing Hinduism as idolaters and infidels. There are fifteen prime beliefs of the Hindu religion. These beliefs aid in nurturing Hinduism from one generation to another. They believe that the meaning of life can be found by attaining a balance between both human and spiritual needs. Hinduism believes in karma. Everything an individual does have an effect. Third is that it values life. Hindus believe in the sacredness of life. One should not speak ill or even think badly of others. Fourthly, Hinduism believes in reincarnation, meaning that once the one dies, the soul is reincarnated. The reincarnation is however subject to ones good or bad karma. Additionally, Hinduism has its belief in gurus, yoga, ayurveda, cremation and holy rivers, bathing and purification. Lastly, one cannot become Hindu unless he or she is born into a family with Hindu origin. . Buddhism is somewhat conservative and closest to earlier Buddhism. Research has it that those schools of Buddhism developed devotional practices, as well as other rituals influenced by the existing cultures of India, Japan, Nepal and Tibet. However, as recorded in Pali Canon materials for the Theravada School of Buddhism, the historical forms of Hinduism, as well as the Buddha teachings have differences that are quite pronounced. Buddhism and Hinduism have, for years, had parallel practices existing side by side and the earliest Hindus philosophical test “the influence of Upanishads has been the key subjects of debate. While Neumann, Radhakrishnan, and Oldenberg were quite convinced about Upanishadic influence upon the Buddhist Canon, Thomas and Eliot were of the different opinion where they felt that Buddhism might have been under the influence of Upanishadic ideas. In the texts of the Buddhist, Thomas is presented to be rejecting salvation on claims that it was "pernicious views”. Indian philosophy, on the other hand, are said to have been influenced by Thomas’s interpretation, as well as the ideas of the novel concerning the Buddhist traditional culture. Philosophically, Buddhism and Hinduism differ in terms of principles and practices. It has been widely cited that while Hinduism heavily believe in the supremacy and efficacy of the Vedas, the Buddhism fail to believe in the Hindu scripture or Vedas for that matter. Arguably, Buddha as a prophet is highly recognized in Buddhism and is said to be the founder of Buddha. Contrary to this, in Hinduism, there is lacking particular prophet thought to be its founder. According to both Buddhism and Hinduism philosophy, there is no existence of the first cause, as well as souls in Buddhism. Hinduism, on the other hand, there is theexistence of souls as well in the first cause. According to Hinduism philosophy, there exists Atman, who is the individual soul with Brahman, being the Supreme Creator. Most of the Hindu intellectual traditions were grouped during Brahmanic-Sanskritic scholasticism period into the standard list of six orthodox schools referred to as darshanas or the "Six Philosophies". All of the six philosophies agree to the Vedas testimony. These include. Nyaya (the school of logic), Vaisheshika (the school of atomist), Samkhya (the school of enumeration), Vedanta or Uttara mimamsa (Upanishadic tradition), that emphasizes on Vedic philosophy, and Yoga, (the school of the Patanjalam), which puts emphasis on the metaphysics of the Samkhya. For conceptual and historical reasons, these are coupled into three. They include Mimamsa-Vedanta, Vaishesika, and Samkhya. Vedanta school is subdivided into about six sub-schools. These among others include Advaita (nondualism), Visishtadvaita (the monism for the qualified whole), Suddhadvaita, Dvaita or dualism, Dvaitadvaita, and the Achintya Bheda Abheda schools. Besides, the schools, Madhava Vidyaranya, as well encompasses Saiva known to be the school of theistic Sankhya, Rasesvara (the school of the mercurial), pasupata the Shaivism school), the Pratyabhijna (recognitive school), and Panini Darsana, (grammarian school). There are other orthodox systems, however; the above mentioned schools are the key ones. It is worth noting that these systems agree to the Vedas authority, and for this reason, they are often regarded as orthodox schools of the Hindu philosophy. On the contrary, there are schools classified as unorthodox system by Brahmins because they do not accept the Vedas authority. Chief among them is the Buddhism. Buddhist philosophy encompasses a system of beliefs that are based upon Siddhartha Gautama teachings. Since the inception of Buddhism, there have been strong philosophical components that have come up. The foundation of Buddhism was based upon the rejection of the concepts of the orthodox Hindu philosophy. Buddha is of the different opinion concerning the being of the concepts of metaphysics, as well as the no-being3. According to Buddha the idea of the metaphysical being or no-being is a misleading and such like view is caused by reification. Philosophically, Buddhism tent to share some philosophical views along with the other Indian systems, and such views include the believe in a cause and effect relationship existing between all that would be accomplished and all that has already been done, karma, and believe that those events occurring are due to previous events. However, Buddhism departures from the Jain and Hindu philosophy, where Buddhist reject the idea of the permanent, and self-existent soul or atman favoring impermanence (anicca). According to the Hindu and Jain thinkers, if there was no continuing soul that could be accepted, then most certainly the efforts for attaining worldly objectives will not be useful since individuals acting and the other individual receiving the consequences will most likely differ. This, thus, implies that the conviction among individuals that whoever is termed as the doer becomes the reaper of the consequences and is the one that establishes the general existence of the continuing soul4. The Hindu Philosophy (Buddhsm and Hinduism), have commonalities, and as well differences relative to the ancient Greek philosophy. Hindu philosophy, in this respect, cuts across all the philosophical doctrines that are found in Hindu text of both religious secondary and primary importance, as well as the systematic Hindu schools philosophies: Vedanta, Yoga, Nyaya, Sankhya and Vaisesika. It is worth noting that philosophically, Hindu held the view that there is always a cause and effect relationship existing between all that would be accomplished and all that has already been done. It also believes in a common thesis that karma is the sole determinant of a person’s life, believing that the occurring of events is due to previous events. This is not the case with the Greek philosophy, in which case, the occurrence of events has no connection between the events to occur or have already occurred. The Hinduism is identified with some core values in common terms referred to as in Hindu literature as purusarthas which constitutes a set of values such as artha, moksa, dharma, and kama. Dharma throughout Hindu literature represents moral, or ethical, with artha standing for economic pleasure, moksa for the soteriological liberation from imperfection, as well as rebirth5. The purusarthas is vital for any of the study of any Indian thought and constitute the backdrop against which the Indian philosophers tent to articulate their views. Virtually, all the Hinduism philosophers recognized validities of all the four values with some, for instance the materialists hold that sensual pleasure is one and the only dharma. Thus, whereas the Hindu philosophers considers all the Upanishads true, with the atman or spirit the starting point, the Greek philosophy standpoints are both cosmological and humanistic6. According to the Greek philosophy, man but not the spirit was thought to be a starting point. This view was rational, scientific, national, and society conscious that held strong in Greek philosophy. Additionally, to the Greek, there is the Jewish tradition, which certainly has both tribal and nationalistic outlook. There was the doctrine of salvation for the case of Hindu philosophy. This theory was not possessed by Mimamsa, however, due to its strong influence, the theory was adopted7. As an action, the Mimamsa of the Dharma, as suggested by the Vedas was the doctrine of the Yoga of action that leads to salvation, which was elaborated by the popular Holy Gita. The Greek philosophy has the rationalism and the humanism with strong faith only in human reason8. The Greek philosophy pushed nature and man into the background explain everything that happens in terms of faith, God while making all reason subservient to faith. The Greek’ development in science strengthened their strong faith in reason. In the Hindu philosophy, there is the insistence on existential and experiential nature of religion, and this is why it was referred to as mysticism. Hence thought was not beyond experience. Contrarily, according to Greek philosophy God was seen as being beyond speech. Greeks are of the view that philosophy starts in wonder and that the challenges of life are not linked with wonder. The Upanishad thinkers, on the other hand, were quite sensitive to the life imperfections and defects. Most significant is the fact that in the Hindu philosophical schools, moral theory is shared across the Jainism, Mahyana, and the Buddhist thought, and there are also sufficient variations in schools of the Hindu philosophy pertaining moral matters. Thus, the ethical theory is a particularly necessary criterion for Hinduism, though insufficient. In the Greek philosophy the moral theory, though not similar to the Hinduism case, apply across the society, and it is the main reason for existence in the society9. References Bertrant . R A History of Western Philosophy. London: Touchstone.1967. Richard King. I. Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu and Budhist Thought. London: Edinburgh University Press. 1999. Michaels, P, 2004, Hinduism: Past and Present (5th ed.), Princeton University Press, ISBN 0-691-08953-1 Monier-C. 1994, Brahmanism and Hinduism: Or, Religious Thought and Life in India, as Based on the Veda and Other Read More