Mary Reynolds
November 17, 2000
History 3840
Arthur K. Scott
Hinduism
Hinduism was founded between 1500 and 500 CE during the period of time referred to as the Indus Valley civilization. There is no individual founder given credit for the development of Hindu beliefs. There are many gods in the religion of Hinduism. Many Hindu followers believe that one of the gods is the true god, which creates a division within the religion itself. Some followers believe that Vishnu is the one true god, whereas others believe that Shiva is the one true god. Yet there are many sects that worship both gods. One out of six people in the world are a Hindu. Hinduism can be described as a monotheistic or polytheistic religion depending on the point of view one takes. Yet Hindus describe themselves as being henotheistic, which is the belief in one god without denying the existence of others.
Hindus believe that the soul is immortal and re-enters a body of flesh and blood to resolve experiences and learn all the lessons that the material life has to offer. Hindus also believe in karma. They believe that karma is one of the natural laws of the universe. If one does well, then good will take place towards that person in return. If one does negative things, negative things will happen to that person. Hindus also believe that the cow is sacred. The cow is representative of their life and all other animals. They also regard the cow as sacred because it gives and gives, but only takes grain.
Most Hindus live in India, Sri Lanka, and Nepal, which translate to roughly fourteen percent of the world's population. The Hindu purpose is to learn all that they can from this life in order to pass their knowledge to the spiritual world.
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