Hinduism, defined as a family of religions

Many philosophers have taken the approach of understanding Hinduism as a family of religions rather than a single religious entity.


By using this definition Hinduism is actually a medley of religious traditions, it is not a monolithic entity but rather a conglomerate of religions that share certain traits in common. These religions go by the names Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism, and many others.


A religion may be considered part of the Hindu family of religions if it espouses some variation on the following principles:

1. Belief in the divinity of the Vedas, the world's most ancient scripture as well as faith in the "fifth Veda", or the Epics and the Puranas, which are the main holy books of the Hindu religion.
2. Belief in one, all-pervasive Supreme Reality, manifesting as both an impersonal force, which is called Brahman, and as a personal divinity (known variously, according to whichever particular tradition one adheres to)
3. Belief in the cyclical nature of the time - that there are world ages that repeat themselves like seasons.
4. Belief in Karma, the law of action and reaction, by which each person creates his or her own destiny.
5. Belief in reincarnation - that the soul evolves through many births until all past deeds have been resolved, leading to ultimate liberation from the material world.
6. Belief in alternate realities with higher beings - God and His manifold manifestations - who can be accessed through temple worship, rituals sacraments and prayer.
7. Belief in enlightened masters, or gurus - exemplary souls who are fully devoted in God and who as a conduit for others to reach Him.
8. Belief in non-agression and non injury (ahimsa) as a way of showing love to all creatures. This includes the idea of the sacredness for all life and its concomitant universal compassion.
9. Belief that all revealed religions are essentially correct, as aspects of one ultimate reality. and the religious tolerance is the hallmark of true wisdom.
10. Belief that the living being is first and foremost a spiritual entity, a soul within the body, and that the spiritual pursuit is consequently the essence and real purpose of life.
11. Belief that an organic social system, traditionally called Varnashrama, is essential in the proper and effective functioning of humankind and this system should be based on intrinsic quality and natural aptitude as opposed to birthright.
    

Reference

Essential Hinduism by Steven Rosen

Ten ways to convert a Hindu: Shocking insight in to a Christian missionary's agenda

Through friendship Evangelism is usually easy to initiate with Hindus. Most Hindus esteem religion in general and are free and open to speak about it. A sincere, nonjudgmental interest in all aspects of Indian life will provide a good basis for friendship. Personal interaction with Hindus will lead to a more certain grasp of the essence of Hinduism than reading many books. A consistently Christ-like life is the most important factor in sharing the Gospel with Hindus. The suggestions that follow should help to break down misunderstandings and help to build a positive witness for Christ. But learning and applying these points can never substitute for a transparent life of peace and joy in disciple-ship to Jesus Christ.

1. Do not criticize or condemn Hinduism. There is much that is good and much that is bad in the practice of both Christianity and Hinduism. Pointing out the worst aspects of Hinduism is hardly the way to win friends or show love. Criticizing Hinduism can make us feel we have won an argument; it will not win Hindus to Jesus Christ.

2. Avoid everything that hints of triumphalism and pride. We are not the greatest people with the greatest religion, but some Hindus are taught that we think of ourselves in this way. We do not have all knowledge of all truth; in fact we know very little to become “Christian.” (Think of what that means to a Hindu—India like America or Europe!) But we do desire all India to find peace and joy and true spirituality.

3. Never allow a suggestion that separation from family and/ or culture is necessary in becoming a disciple of Christ. To insist or even subtly encourage a Hindu to leave his home and way of life to join the “Christian” way of life in terms of diet and culture, etc., is a denial of Biblical teaching.

4. Do not speak quickly on hell, or on the fact that Jesus is the only way for salvation. Hindus hear these things as triumphalism and are offended unnecessarily. Speak of hell only with tears of compassion. Point to Jesus so that it is obvious He is the only way, but leave the Hindu to see for himself, rather than trying to force it on him.

5. Never hurry. Any pushing for a decision or conversion will do great harm. God must work, and the Holy Spirit should be given freedom to move at his own pace. Even after a profession of Christ is made, do not force quick changes regarding pictures of gods, charms, etc. Be patient and let a person come to fuller understanding and conviction in his own mind before taking action.

6. Work traditional Hindu (and Biblical) values into your life, like simplicity, renunciation, spirituality and humility, against which there is no law. A life reflecting the reality of “a still and quiet soul” (Psalm 131) will never be despised by Hindus.

7. Know Hinduism, and each individual Hindu. It will take some study to get a broad grasp of Hinduism and patient listening will be required to understand where in the spectrum each Hindu stands. Both philosophical and devotional Hinduism should be studied with the aim of understanding what appeals to the Hindu heart. Those who move seriously into work among Hindus need to become more knowledge-able in Hinduism than Hindus themselves are. Some study of the Sanskrit language will prove invaluable. Remember the Biblical pattern from Acts 17 of introducing truth to the Hindu from his own tradition, and only secondarily from the Bible. For example, the Biblical teaching on sin is repulsive to many modern Hindus, but their own scriptures give an abundance of similar testimony. Bridge from Hindu scripture to the Bible and Christ.

8. Be quick to acknowledge failure. Defending wrong practices in the church and Western Christianity only indicates we are more concerned for our religion than we are for truth.

9. Share your testimony, describing your personal experience of being lost and God’s gracious forgiveness and peace. Don’t claim to know God in His majesty and fullness, but share what you know in your life and experience. This is the supreme approach in presenting Christ to the Hindu, but care must be taken that our sharing is appropriate. To shout on a street corner, or share at every seeming opportunity is offensive. What God does in our lives is holy and private, only to be shared in intimacy to those who will respect the things of God and his work in our lives.

10.Center on Christ. He alone can win their hearts’ total loyalty to Himself. In your life and speech so center on him that all see in your life that God alone is worth living for. Hinduism is often called “God-intoxicated,” and the Hindu who lives at all in this frame of mind is put off by Christian emphases on so many details to the neglect of the “one thing that is needed” (Lk. 10:42). A Hindu who professes faith in Christ must be helped as far as possible to work out the meaning of that commitment in his own cultural context. Often a new follower of Christ is ready to adopt any and every practice of Western Christians, and needs to be taught what is essential and what is secondary in Christian life and worship. For example, it can be shown that the Eastern practice of removing shoes in a place of worship has strong Biblical precedence despite the fact that shoes are worn in Western churches. A new believer should be warned against making an abrupt announcement to his or her family, since that inflicts great pain and inevitably produces deep misunderstanding. Ideally, a Hindu will share each step of the pilgrimage to Christ with his or her family, so that there is no surprise at the end. An early stage of the communication, to be reaffirmed continually, would be the honest esteem for Indian/Hindu traditions in general that the disciple of Christ can and does maintain. Approaching Hindus on these lines does not result in quick conversions and impressive statistics. But a hearing will be gained from some who have refused to listen to traditional Christian approaches. And new Disciples of Christ can be taught to deal more sensitively with their contexts, allowing them to maintain an ongoing witness to their family and society. As the leaven of the Gospel is allowed to work in Hindu minds and society, a harvest is sure to follow in God’s own time.


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Historical timeline of Hinduism

Stages:

1) Pre-Aryan or Proto-Dravidian: In this stage religion was focussed mainly in the fertility gods and godesses. Phallic image of Shiva was worshipped along with fertility Godesses. There was the jati system of specialization of labour. The activities were primarily agrarian and the political system consisted mainly of various villages with no kingdoms.

2) Aryan: Aryan deities were similar to the Greek Gods and Godesses. Indra was the king of Gods, Agni the God of fire, Varuna the God of the wind and so forth. The sacrificial rituals and hymns were focussed on invoking the Gods to obtain favours from Gods such as the Yajna. Brahma and Vishnu had a relatively smaller roles to play. Caste System of the Varna or the skin color led to 4 distinct roles the Brahmins, the Kshatriyas, the Vaishyas and the Shudras. There were also out-castes, mainly the various tribes who were considered untouchables. The Dravidian Jati system was enforced on top of the caste system to further divide each caste into many Jatis or groups of occupation. Brahmins held a lot of power. The Vedas were the religious texts. Manusmriti offered the model of society and the role of various castes. The key focus was to preserve the natural order of work based on one's birth, following religious rituals and observing the superiority of Brahmins and preserving the community.

3) Hindu Renaissance: During this period several new philosophies and ideas were introduced. Also Hinduism had to compete with alternative religious philosophies introduced by Buddhism and Jainism which may have been the reason for changing the core Hindu beliefs.

The most popular among these is the concept of Brahman and Atman. The Gods were simplified to have 3 major deities being the most superior, Creator - Brahma, Preserver - Vishnu and the destroyer - Shiva. Of which Shiva and Vishnu had a major role. All other deities played a minor role and had limited lifetimes. Vedanta or the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita were the key books introduced in this period. The key focus in this period was the debate between Moksha and Dharma. Moksha or liberation through renunciation and Advaita Vedanta is the key philosophy supporting this. Dharma was primarily with maintaining an individual's role in society. The stages of life concept was introduced as a mechanism to obtain renunciation while still maintaining one's duties. This divided life into 4 stages. The first stage was primarily focussed on obtaining education on the occupation or trade based on one's birth. The second stage was to be a householder and also being specialized in the occupation. The third stage is partial renunciation where one leaves with his wife to a smaller dwelling. And the final stage being the one of renunciation.

The Bhagavad Gita offered an alternative form of achieving Moksha using the 4 yogas. The karma yoga, Nyaana yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Raja Yoga.

4) Bhakti or Devotional movement: This was introduced in several stages. After the Islamic conquest the sufi devotional movement led to a similar devotional movements in Hinduism. There were several Saints who brought about Bhajans and Kirtan movements focussing on a particular deity based on the region. e.g. in Maharashtra Namdeo, Tukaram focussed on Vitthal or Vishnu in Pandurang, in the south Ramanujam had a movement for Venkateswara. etc.

5) Neo Hindu movements: These came about by educated leaders who went abroad to study in the 19th and 20th century. The leaders here were influenced by western ideas and tried to introduce them with Hinduism. Common themes are the abandoning of idolatry and rituals, upliftment of women and so on. Also you can note a revival of Brahmanism introduced in the Vedanta and by Shankaracharya. Key movements are Ram Mohan Roy's Brahmo Samaj, Arya Samaj and so forth. None of these movements gathered many followers and none of them gathered momentum and mainstream Hindu followership remained the same

6) Hinduism today: For the most people religious education is primarily through parents and other elders. And this primarily includes following rituals, superstitions, visiting temples and maybe reading Amar Chitra Katha for various stories from the Puranas. For most people particularly in the west religion doesn't hold much. For second and third generation Indians religion is absolutely non-existent. Most ABCDs would define themselves as spiritual but not religious, whatever that is supposed to mean.

The reason for this decline is obvious. Although there was a huge development in Hindu philosophies and ideas, most people are either unaware or ignorant of these ideas. Very few people are familiar with the concepts of Brahman, Atman and Moksha. Every Hindu knows about the Bhagavad Gita but not many people read it.

There needs to be a Hindu revival to revive the good teachings of Hindu culture with respect to the Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita. All other practices and rituals needs to be changed or eliminated. For e.g. in marriages today the priests invoke chants to Indra, Vayu and all other Gods who have been rendered obsolete. These chants needs to be modified to reflect Brahmanism. Vishnu or Shiva needs to be the only God that is worshipped and the movement needs to be away from Idolatry. If this can be achieved Hinduism can bring about a better society and a better world for all of us to live in.

The origin of religions

Last updated 3/18/2010

According to Pascal Boyer's book Religion Explained: the evolutionary origins of religious thought, the following is a list of reasons why religion was created.

Religion provides explanations:

• People created religion to explain puzzling natural phenomena.
• Religion explains puzzling experiences: dreams, prescience, etc.
• Religion explains the origins of things.
• Religion explains why there is evil and suffering.

Religion provides comfort:

• Religious explanations make mortality less unbearable.
• Religion allays anxiety and makes for a comfortable world.

Religion provides social order:

• Religion holds society together.
• Religion perpetuates a particular social order
• Religion supports morality.

Religion is a cognitive illusion:

• People are superstitious, they will believe anything.
• Religious concepts are irrefutable.
• Refutation is more difficult than belief.
  
  

The following is my perspective on how religions originated.

Man is essentially a social being and distinct from other animals. The social nature resulted in creation of societies and culture and religion. Due to social nature of human beings they could hunt more effectively and in civilized cultures men could start agriculture, and raise livestock and so on.

I divide these as two groups Hunting and Gathering communities and Agrarian communities.

1) Hunting and Gathering culture which was predominantly in the most of Europe before Roman colonization. This was partly attributed to the cold climates and secondly due to the lack of a mature civilization. For these communities there is a strong need to stay together as a community and for everyone to follow the directions of a leader especially for activities such as hunting. These developed further into a code of conduct or a rule of law that everyone in the community abides by. These formed the basis of the western religion, and these rules became the rules from God that everyone has to follow to avoid eternal damnation. Thus we have in Judaism, Islam and Christianity the concept of just one path and the concept of commandments or rules that God has given. These rules were actually created by human beings but to state that these were given by God would imply submission is a must and the total acceptance of these words. The religious leaders were the absolute monarchs who would dictate what the community should do. New ideas were not tolerated and blasphemy was even punishable by death. Even today Islam does not tolerate anything against Prophet Mohammad (although he was only a human being).

These attitudes became the underlying principles of western religions. Thus in western religions for e.g. there is a tendency to prove that their religion is the best and the final. In Christianity, Islam and Judaism for e.g. they use the concept of "direct word from God", that is that their religious books were directly given to the prophets from God and hence it could not be wrong and cannot be denied.


2) Agrarian:
For the communities that became agrarian such as the communities in Central Asia, Egypt and Greece and in India, they were dependent on natural factors especially rain. Also since our understanding of these natural things were limited, and partly due to wishful thinking, the communities created the concept of a divine act that caused rain.
Also it is very possible that there were probably some of the original human beings who created the concept of a divine being that is responsible for everything important e.g. the sun, the rain, fire, wind, etc. All of these became Gods. Since life became so dependent on these random acts such as rain, they created elaborate rituals to appease the God of Rain. e.g. in Aryan literature Indra was the king of Gods and He controlled the rain and thunder. Also since Fire was an important element for life, it was a God as well. In Vedic religion it also became the medium to speak to other Gods. Hence in Hindu religion fire is an important source for rituals even today.

As life became more and more dependable and our knowledge of agriculture became better, it created specializations such as tailors, shoe makers etc. Also it could feed a community of people who didn't participate in the economy and would focus solely on writing books on religious philosophy and forming laws and the rules of conduct. Some of these philosophies contradicted.

In the east they tended to co exist, however in the west contradictions were not well respected.
e.g. in India Hinduism especially in the renaissance period comprises of several contradicting philosophies such as Advaita Vedanta that focusses on renunciation, Bhagavad Gita focusses on Karma Yoga, Carvaka that doesn't believe in a God and focusses on hedonism. In China Daoism, Confucianism and Buddhism coexisted at the same time.

Hinduism started out by defining creationist theories such as the universe being created from the cosmic egg by Brahma the creator, that the first man Purusha was divided into four parts which formed the four castes and so forth. Later on as the understanding of the universe increased, the Hindu philosophers started questioning the different creation theories.

Thus the Nasadiya hymn from the Rig Veda starts with a question indicating doubt on creation.

"There was neither non-existence nor existence then.
There was neither the realm of space nor the sky which is beyond.
What stirred?
Where?
In whose protection?
Was there water, bottomlessly deep?

There was neither death nor immortality then.
There was no distinguishing sign of night nor of day.
That One breathed, windless, by its own impulse.
Other than that there was nothing beyond.

Darkness was hidden by darkness in the beginning,
with no distinguishing sign, all this was water.
The life force that was covered with emptiness,
that One arose through the power of heat.

Desire came upon that One in the beginning,
that was the first seed of mind.
Poets seeking in their heart with wisdom
found the bond of existence and non-existence.

Their cord was extended across.
Was there below?
Was there above?
There were seed-placers, there were powers.
There was impulse beneath, there was giving forth above.

Who really knows?
Who will here proclaim it?
Whence was it produced?
Whence is this creation?
The gods came afterwards, with the creation of this universe.
Who then knows whence it has arisen?

Whence this creation has arisen
- perhaps it formed itself, or perhaps it did not -
the One who looks down on it,
in the highest heaven, only He knows
or perhaps even He does not know."

Even Buddhism has a similar attitude. In one of the stories of the Buddha it is told that one of the monks questioned Buddha on the origin of different things, what happens after death and the cosmic nature.

Buddha replied stating that the nature of human beings is like a person who has been struck by a poisoned arrow. The person can either question why someone struck him or the nature of the poison, etc. or he could seek relief from the suffering by removing the arrow and seeking medication. Buddhism attempts to relieve humankind of suffering and not questioning.


Hinduism is the only religion that has doubt on creation, Buddhism doesn't explain creation at all. This is consistent with science, as science starts with a null hypothesis that we don't know something and experiments are performed to find out, the observations are recorded and a conclusion is reached finally to summarize the observations and postulate a theory.

Western religions however fall into the trap on trying to define everything within their religion and not allowing scientific reason. Christianity, Judaism and Islam have a concept of an eternal God who created the world in 7 days and so forth.


As our knowledge of science became better, we could better explain what was unknown in the past with reasoning and logic and there were better explanations on creation or I should say evolution that resulted in how we are today.

This is one of the issues where the western religions face the most issues. Since the books do tend to give a little too much detail, for e.g. the world being created 6000 years ago, and it was created by God in 7 days and that this was told by God Himself. The Catholic Church up until as recently as the 15th century believed that the earth was flat and to state that the Earth was round was blasphemous.

As our knowledge of science increased and as we could produce better scientific explanations to creation, natural occurrences and so forth. For e.g. today we can use science can explain that the world was created much earlier. As a result the religion loses its credibility and people tend to become atheists since they don't want to believe in anything their religion says. This is a problem especially for western religions which does not accept any change to their scriptures since they are the direct word of God.

Hinduism especially during the renaissance period changed significantly to reject rituals and use abstract philosophies and tries not to delve into the region of science. Also the philosophies are not final and they can continue to evolve as our knowledge increases and we can provide explanations for things that were otherwise unknown in the past. Hinduism also started out as every other religion by trying to explain everything as an act of God. However the key difference was that nothing in Hinduism is assumed to be a final word of God. The philosophies and texts can continue to evolve. Even today there are several Gurus who tend to have their own philosophy and they have a huge following.

East versus West, a religious comparison

In this blog I would like to compare some of the high level principles that distinguish Hinduism and to a certain extent Buddhism from other western religions i.e. Christianity, Islam and Judaism.

1) Purpose of life:

Some of you may have watched Frank Capra's, "It's a wonderful life". In the middle of the movie the hero of the movie is tired of the life and wishes that he was never born. His guardian angel walks him through his life and the many relations and bonds he had established in his life and why life is a wonderful gift from God. This is one of the key messages promoted by all western religions (Christianity, Islam and Judaism), that life is a gift from God who has created everything including human beings, who were created in His own image. Thus life is a gift from God and is only temporary. After one dies one either goes to heaven or hell and stays there permanently.

Eastern religions viz. Hinduism and Buddhism take a very different approach to defining life. Eastern traditions believe in constant rebirth and life as a soul that has been reborn. Eventually the individual (soul) gets tired of life and constant rebirth and would like to escape from life itself. This is probably the starkest contrasts between western and eastern religions.

Western religions define not being born as a curse; eastern religions believe in pursuing the same as the ultimate salvation (Moksha or Nirvana).

2) Worshipping God: Western religions especially Islam and Judaism prohibit worshipping of idols. There have to be no images of God. The reason can be found in the Ten Commandments which were received from God.

Here are the first 2 commandments

1) “I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage. You shall have no other gods before Me.
2) “You shall not make for yourself a carved image, or any likeness of anything that is in heaven above, or that is in the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth; you shall not bow down to them nor serve them. For I, the Lord your God, am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children to the third and fourth generations of those who hate Me, but showing mercy to thousands, to those who love Me and keep My Commandments.


It explicitly states in the first 2 commandments that God is jealous, He condemns idol worship and He would punish those who worship idols or place any other Gods before Him and the Jewish community should always remember the deeds that God did for them. (However Christianity especially Catholicism, accepts the concept of idols especially of Christ, Mary with the infant and other saints that can be worshiped. )



The Hindu worldview is different. There is no concept of a jealous God. The supreme God is benevolent, omnipresent and very forgiving. Idol worship is justified, and many idols can be worshiped. Note that Hinduism is not polytheistic, the Rig Veda states this clearly, "Truth (God) is one, but the wise refer to it by many names."


The Bhagavad Gita, which is again a direct word from Lord Krishna, states that it is acceptable to worship idols as it allows one to focus and concentrate (dhyana) while worshipping and thus an individual can achieve salvation.

Compare the following verses from the Bhagavad Gita to the first 2 commandments.

9.23 Those who worship other gods with faith and devotion also worship me, even if they do not observe the usual forms. I am the object of all worship, its enjoyer and Lord.

Thus the Bhagavad Gita accepts all forms and it doesn't prohibit a devotee from worhipping other Gods because ultimately the devotee is worshiping Him.

Jealousy is an emotion and typically refers to the negative thoughts and feelings of insecurity, fear, and anxiety over an anticipated loss of something that the person values.

The God of the Bible and the Torah is defined as a jealous God and it refers to a God who is insecure. If God is truly infinite, He cannot be jealous, thus the jealous nature attributed to Him in the Bible and the Torah cannot be true, thus the ten commandments are not a word of God but the words of the jealous Jewish priests who were afraid of losing their income if the people would wander off and worship other Gods.

The nature of God described in the Bhagavad Gita truly represents the nature of God who is infinite and hence not afraid and hence cannot be jealous and is willing to allow devotees to worship idols as they are just worshiping one of his infinite forms.

The Bhagavad Gita doesn't force idol worship and in fact worship of God without image is accepted. Refer to the following verses

12.3 -4 As for those who seek the transcendental Reality, without name, without form, contemplating the Unmanifested, beyond the reach of thought and of feeling, with their senses subdued and mind serene and striving for the good of all beings, they too will verily come unto me.


However it also states that such a worship is extremely difficult and it is very difficult for an individual to concentrate and meditate without an image.

The concept of Ishta devata, is that one chooses an image that one likes, and uses this image as the image of the supreme self. Even the prayers offered to these idols indicate this. Followers of Lord Ganesha typically recite the Atharva Sheersha Ganapathy Upanishad. The following verses clearly state that the devotee is worshipping the idol not as an image of Ganesha but as the supreme God or Brahman.

Thwameva sarvam khalvidam brahmasi,
Thwam sakshath athmasi nithyam.


You are the supreme God who conquers,
And you are the real imperishable soul.

Thus idols are worshipped not as separate Gods, but as many images of the infinite manifest and a point of concentration (dhyana) so one may perform bhakti (devotion).

3) Who are we ?

Western religions refer to human beings as creatures created in the image of God. Also Western religions typically tend to glorify themselves or members of their religious denomination as special. e.g. Judaism refers to all the Jews as special since they were the only ones who have received the word from God and hence they are superior to all other races and religions. Islam refers to all Moslems as special and that the world was created for man in order for him to enjoy and rejoice. Thus in a way western religion promotes a lifestyle that is wasteful since the world has been created for them and promotes an attitude that can be considered as arrogant and vain, probably because their origins have been glorified maybe to an extreme extent.

Also you would have to ignore the theory of evolution and other scientific discoveries since they conflict with many religious beliefs. Especially educated intellectuals will find the Bible and other western texts to be nothing more than an elaborate set of fairy tales.

Hinduism defines all creatures including man have a soul Atman that is essentially part of the universal soul Brahman. A person can be born as any living organism including human depending on one's actions in his/her past life. Buddhism also defines the world in this way. Eastern religions promote humility and forgiveness and preservation. Thus even if one believes in evolution and the big bang theory it doesn't conflict with the overall religious beliefs.


4) Worldview: Western religion believes in three worlds earth, heaven and hell. Our current life is only temporary and based on the choice we make in the world we can end up in heaven or hell. Heaven and hell is a permanent place where you will spend your time till eternity. Hence it is more important to choose the right path such as believing in Jesus as the son of God or Muhammad as the messiah to end up in heaven. Also there are huge incentives. For Moslems men are promised 72 virgins in heaven. Although it doesn't state what women would get for being Moslem.

Although eastern religions also specify heaven and hell in texts they are only relative contexts. The accepted norm is that heaven and hell are part of this planet itself. The concept of constant birth and rebirth, and the law of Karma applies to simply put all actions result in a reaction. Good actions result in good results and negative actions result in negative reactions.
If you lead a good life you may be rewarded with heaven like amenities in your next life, for e.g. if you desire 72 virgins you may be born as the son of Saudi Sheikh in your next life and you can have hundreds of virgins to your account. However it will only be temporary since you will eventually die and you will be reborn. The only thing that is permanent is to achieve liberation or Moksha. The ultimate salvation lies in escaping birth and death. For Hindus it is becoming one with Brahman the universal soul. For Buddhists it is becoming totally non existent.

5) The path to salvation:

Western religions promote the path as following rituals and their respective messiahs to achieve salvation i.e. heaven.

There is a strong enforcement of what needs to be done and the rituals that need to be followed.
Islam believes in the five pillars i.e. prayer 5 times a day, Hajj at least once in the lifetime, etc. There is a strict code to follow e.g. men need to be circumcised, women need to wear burkha and should not work, men should have a beard, meat needs to be butchered in a certain way, etc.

Judaism does have something similar with the 10 commandments which everyone has to follow.
As in Islam it is a fixed list and it doesn't adapt well to changing technologies and situations. Thus western religion adheres to a fixed set of rules and doesn't mention about meditation or peace of mind.



Eastern religions on the other hand focus on spirituality, meditation and peace of mind. That makes following Hinduism and Buddhism a very rewarding experience especially to hard working intelligent people who are troubled with constant pressure at work.
A Hindu following Bhakti Yoga or the devotional path typically meditates in front of the deity of his/her choice to obtain peace of mind. Here the idol serves as a means to focus or concentrate.



Also the religious texts promote humility, helping others, and doing one's duty for benefiting society and not just for one's personal selfish reasons. Such thinking promotes peace of mind, makes one feel good about him/herself and energizes the spirit.

For achieving salvation Hinduism suggests 3 paths, i.e. bhakti yoga, nyaana yoga and karma yoga. Buddhists suggest monkhood or relieving yourself totally of all your attachments. Some Hindu philosophies also believe in monkhood for relieving one from the constant cycle of birth and rebirth.

Buddhists also believe that Nirvana is not for everyone in their current birth. It depends on the maturity of your soul. If your soul is mature enough or tired enough you would automatically choose to be more spiritual since your soul wants to escape being born again since it is tired of being born several times. And the more energetic people are the new souls who are excited to be alive. Once they get weary they will choose to be more spiritual.




Notes:

a) As a Hindu I subscribe to the concept of rebirth and also that as mankind has conquered the planet and driven many species of organisms to extinction, they are being reborn as human beings since there is no other alternative for them. Thus we have some people who are very aggressive by nature maybe because they were carnivores in a previous birth, and some who are very modest and choose to run away from threats, who might be deer in a previous birth.




b) There is some striking similarity to the older Hindu rituals and idol worship in the temples and the Jewish worship. In Hinduism many different images of God are worshiped after "Prana-Pratishtha" which literally means infusing the life of God or Brahman in the stone. The priests are the only ones allowed to touch the idols and purifying it. This ensures that the God or Goddess stays in the idol and available for devotees to worship.

In Judaism the holy of hollies in the synagogue, is supposed to be the place where God is always present. Judaism doesn't believe in idol worship hence although the holy of the holies doesn't have any idols or images of God, this place in the synagogue is only accessible by the rabbis who are like the temple priests. They ensure that the place is clean and is ritually purified, similar to how the Hindu priests ritually purify the temples, to make sure that God always stays in the holy of the holies.

Also Judaism states that Jews need to follow a lot of rituals in order to achieve God. A lot of them are followed without questioning. This is similar to the earlier Vedic Hindu beliefs which involved a lot of rituals. Thus in a few ways Judaism seems to be in an earlier stage of development from the Brahmanic Hindusim.

6) Abstract versus Concrete:

Western religions strictly follow the stories that are spoken of in the Bible, Torah or the Quran and believe it is true. The focus of study is literal interpretation on the spoken or the written word and offers very little flexibility. Also all people follow the same text regardless of their intellectual or spiritual maturity.

Hinduism on the other hand use stories as guidelines. The underlying philosophy is given more importance. Hindus are typically open to other ideas and changing their practices to adopt any new ideas.

For e.g. The Puranas one of the Hindu texts state that the universe to be a vast cosmic ocean in which all the planets and the stars are floating. This isn't terribly different from some of the earlier scientists who believed in luminiferous ether as the substance that the universe is composed of instead of plain vacuum.

Also the Puranas state that on top of the cosmic ocean there is Lord Vishnu sleeping over Shesha. And Brahma originates from His navel to create all the worlds and so forth.

There are many different creationist theories and there are many stories some of whom conflict. Basically the stories are just guidelines meant to assist one in following the path and also they were a form of entertainment for the followers to make the religious path more interesting rather than some abstract philosophies such as Advaita Vedanta.

7) Many different paths: Hinduism offers not just one path and one set of strong beliefs but several different choices based on one's personal preference.

For e.g. if one believes in Brahmanism i.e. the concept of the universal soul and of all creatures being connected to the universal soul there are several philosophical texts such as the Advaita Vedanta that one can follow. Also Arya Samaj, Brahmo samaj are various organizations that one can become a member of to learn more about some of the philosophies.

For atheists and for people looking to live their life and not do anything else, one can follow the Carvaka philosophy which believes in living one's life to the fullest and doesn't believe in liberation of the soul.

8) (Borrowed from Shashi Tharoor's book, India from midnight to millennium) Above all, as a Hindu I belong to the only major religion in the world that does not claim to be the only true religion. I find it immensely congenial to be able to face my fellow human beings of other faiths without being burdened by the conviction that I am embarked upon a "true path" that they have missed. This dogma lies at the core of Christianity, Islam and Judaism - "I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no man cometh unto the Father[God] but by me" (John 14:6), says the Bible; "There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his Prophet", declares the Koran - denying unbelievers all possibility of redemption, let alone of salvation or paradise. Hinduism however asserts that all ways of belief are equally valid, and Hindus readily venerate the saints, and the sacred objects, of other faiths.