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.
