By: Sarah Wagner
Produced & edited by: Lindsey Curnutte
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| Two Hindi girls lighting candles for the Diwali Festival of Lights. Photo by Khokarahman, via Wikimedia Commons |
Hinduism is the world’s third largest
religion, with approximately 15 percent of the global population as its followers. The religion has influenced the citizens of
the United States since the 1970s – starting with the growing practice of
yoga. From there, religious symbols such
as the Ohm and the Hamsa hand have permeated U.S. pop culture. However, this
draw toward Hindu symbols and practices did not lead to a thorough look at the
religion itself, and how it affects the daily lives of its followers.
What is Hinduism?
The Indian
sub-continent is the main hub for Hindu practices. Here, the religion remains strong, even
though Islam is predicted to surpass Hinduism as the largest religious group in
the India-Pacific region. With Islam
closing in on India’s borders, the religions can run into contestations. However, Hinduism has more in common with the
Abrahamic religions than one might think.
Just as
Christians and Muslims believe in God and strive to be one with Him, Hindus
strive for a similar goal.
Robin Marwaha,
who lives in Gurgaon and identifies as Hindu
says, “Hinduism is a set of core values, beliefs, [and] actions that
guides to reach the lord.”
The biggest difference between the
religions is that the God of Christianity is an all-powerful being, whereas the
Hindu “God” is concept regarding the entirety of the universe.
A Hindu Priest by the name of Dandapani says,
“God is all pervasive. God is in you, in me, in the trees, in the stones. God
is everywhere.”
“Hindu majorly believes that whole universe, galaxy, solar
system, Sun, Moon, planets, Earth, humans, animals, plants, insects are a part
of a powerful system which constitutes God” says Pradeep Mahaur, an avid Hinduism blogger.
Brahman
This concept of all aspects of the universe being
interconnected and holding power is known as Brahman, and it is the underlying
basis of Hinduism.
Mahaur compares understanding the system of Brahman to
understanding the ocean. While one can scoop part of the ocean into a bowl, the
ocean cannot truly be seen and understood by humans at one time, making it a
concept so vast one cannot truly comprehend it. It is for this reason that
Hinduism uses multiple Gods and Goddesses to split-up and explain differing
aspects of the universe.
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| A Hindi woman celebrating Holi, the spring color festival. Photo by murtaza_ali, via pixabay. |
The three main Gods of the universe in Hinduism are Brahma,
the creator, Vishnu, the preserver, and Shiva, the destroyer. From these three branch millions of Gods and
Goddesses, making up a comprehensive idea of the universe. The stories of these deities are located in the
religions important texts such as the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita,
although there is no one sacred text of the religion as there is in
Christianity.
“Hindus respect them all but have their favorites,” says Manoranjan
Singh, a retired psychotherapist of New Delhi, about the different Hindu deities.
“Almost every home has a small temple/worship place in the home/shop/store.”
Hinduism as a Lifestyle
Hinduism is more than just a religion in India, it is a
lifestyle. Hindus strive to achieve
moksha, or salvation, by becoming a part of the absolute soul of the
universe. Unlike Christianity, there is
no heaven in Hinduism. Instead, they
believe one’s Karma (fate dictated by how one’s leads their life) will lead
them to either achieve Moksha or be reincarnated into another form of
life.
The main goal of the religion is to break away from Maya,
the intrinsic attraction one has to this world and its illusion of reality, in
order to achieve Mokosha. Marwaha says,
“Life’s a majestically woven web of various elements such as wealth, family,
sad, [and] happy feelings and we must tear through this veil of Maya to reach
[the lord]. The ultimate bliss is reached only when one thinks about the Lord.
Anything without the Lord... would ultimately reach to disillusionment.”
There is no intense discrimination toward those with other
religious beliefs in Hinduism. Singh
himself is Sikh, while his wife follows Hinduism. He says, “Hinduism does not equate
non-believers (or believers of other religions) with the devil, thus authorizing
them to 'kill the devil before it spreads evil in the world' or save them from
going to hell by converting them.”
Kabir Oberoi, another local Sikh of New Delhi, says, “both
religions coexist and complement each other... it does not matter you are a
Hindu or Muslim or Sikh, we are preached to be good humans.”
**Global Spotlight is a nonprofit educational production, constituting a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Law.
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