Hinduism Paper Hum free essay sample

The Hindu religion is a massive collaboration of teachings, beliefs, ceremonies, rituals, and deities. Sanatana Dharma is another way to describe Hinduism because Sanatana describes the eternal, and Dharma describes ageless. This reflects the belief that the truths of Hinduism have always existed. It includes such a variety of expressions that it is difficult to define Hinduism proper. It encompasses the extremes of abstinence and sensuality, deity devotion and philosophical abstraction, and also major differences in the material and metaphysical world.The commonality of many of the systems that Hinduism is based, are the Vedas. They are the ancient metaphysical teachings that are said not to have been written by humans. The three parts are the Brahmanas, the Aranyakas and the Upanishads. The most practiced systems of Hinduism that relate to the Vedas are Samkhya, Advaita, Vedanta, and yoga. Many cultural and societal influences have become the foundation of Indian society because of the Vedic age. We will write a custom essay sample on Hinduism Paper Hum or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page During the Vedic age, Brahmins were priests and philosophers that had to maintain spiritual purity so the orderly workings of society divided the people into castes. The Brahmins were at the top because of their spiritual and holy place. Next there was the nobility class which included kings, warriors and vassals. They protected society as a whole and functioned as the government. Vaishayas were basically the business class. Mostly white collar workers, economists, businessmen, farmers and merchants all filled this class. The next class, the shudra, was artisans and manual laborers.A fifth class had developed over time which would be considered the poorest class. The untouchables, as they were known, held mainly the worst jobs of waste management and street sweeping which made them literally untouchable. The Vedic tradition over time had been evolving into a controlling entity instead of a religion. It was becoming increasingly controlled by the Brahmins and the caste system became hereditary. The castes system itself had become just as important as the original teachings of the Vedas for several centuries.Not until Ghandi had anyone truly challenged the system and renamed the untouchables to, â€Å"the children of God. † The deep rooted programming of the caste system still resides today and dictates whether or not people will get married even though it has been abolished since the 1940’s. Hinduism influences their society in a few other ways as well. For example, some families choose a Caesarean section in order to select the best time for their child to be born due to the fact that the ancient practice of astrology is so highly regarded.The desire to be released from the earthly experience has to do with escaping the ever-present presence of karma. Karma is circular and simply put, universal justice. Being born, dying and being reborn in order to learn the lessons presented before us can be an infinite trip. The ultimate goal, that is to separate from the infinite karma into the upper levels of the self and higher consciousness, just seems to make sense. References: Mary Pat Fisher, (2005), Living Religions, (6th ed. ), Prentice-Hall, Pearson Education