Verified Document

Religion, Hinduism Is Somewhat Unique In That Research Paper

¶ … religion, Hinduism is somewhat unique in that it does not revolve around a specific, singular point of origin, belief system, or scripture. Indeed, it appears to have spontaneously evolved along with the cultures in India. The people of India are united by means of their food, customs, work, language, and beliefs. All these aspects are known as the "life of the people," and is fundamentally integrated with the Hindu belief system. According to Fisher (2005, p. 69), the term "Hinduism" was in fact propagated not by the Indians themselves, but by British colonialists, who used the term as a category for the purpose of census-taking. Informally, foreigners used the term to refer to people living in the Indus River region. Today, adherents to Hinduism prefer the term "Sanatana Dharma." Sanatana, according to Fisher, means eternal or ageless, and Dharma to the various elements under the term "religion." These include elements such as duty, natural law, social welfare, ethics, health, and transcendental realization.

What unifies Hinduism is therefore not so much a central deity, scripture, or history, but rather the needs and fundamental way of life of the people among which it arose. It is as much integrated with the Indian culture as their concrete way of living. Location is also an important element in unifying Hinduism. While the religion has spread throughout the world, India is its unifying region of origin. Hinduism and India are inextricably...

Indeed, according to the BBC (2004), the earliest evidence of Hinduism in India can be traced back as far as 3000 BCE.
Considering the above, it can therefore be said that there are three main unifying elements in the Hindu religion: the life of the people, location, and time. The very way of life of the Indian people unifies the religion, its origin in India and its age, all serve as factors that make Hinduism not only unique, but also relevant to the culture of its origin.

2. As seen above, one of the unifying factors of Hinduism is its country of origin, India. It did not however develop in isolation, and many cultural and social elements influenced it over its years of evolution. At the beginning of the eighth century for example, Muslims entered and took over several areas of the country, and sixteenth and seventeenth centuries brought Buddhism and Jainism (Fisher, 2005, p.106). Islam, Buddhism and Jainism existed together relatively peacefully in the country. Concomitantly, trading also resulted in the export of Sanatana Dharma to countries such as Java and Bali. These locations have modified the religion according to their lives and needs, and it survives in this form today.

The Mogul Empire in India collapsed during the 19th century, after which the Europeans entered, with the British ultimately taking over in 1857 (Fisher, 2005, p. 106). This in turn brought Christian missionaries,…

Sources used in this document:
Sources

BBC (2004). Religion & Ethics - Hinduism. http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hinduism/history/history_1.shtml

Fisher, M.P. (2005). Living Religions (6th ed.). New Jersey: Prentice-Hall Inc.
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Hinduism As a Whole, Including Its Extensive
Words: 2179 Length: 8 Document Type: Term Paper

Hinduism as a whole, including its extensive literature, complex rituals, and rich culture, allows its followers to have whatever they want. Of course, this is not as simple as it seems, as many people do not actually understand what they really want. Thus, India has examined this question for centuries, finally listing the four main things that people want. For starters, people want pleasure. Human beings have a natural tendency to

Religion the Impossible Dilemma What
Words: 1838 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

In both cases, He "is an impersonal force; an indefinable, all-pervading deity. Hinduism recognizes hundreds, even thousands, of lesser gods." (Evangelical.us) the same is true in Buddhism, "God is an abstract. In essence, Buddhism is an atheistic philosophy." (Evangelical.us) in both Hinduism and Buddhism, there are stories of how the divine interacts with humans, but there is no historical proof. Only Christianity has historical proof. Since I am not

Abib -- Islam and Hinduism
Words: 908 Length: 2 Document Type: Annotated Bibliography

Of course, Americanized women are more apt to push the edge of human rights, whether internally or for their bretheran abroad. The book is very personal in orientation, not footnoted, and scholarly only on the point of interest level and tone. ADD CITATION, this is for scans 103-109 in book. Postcolonialism has been accentuated by globalism, and is a particular change factor in the Hindu world. For much of this world,

Restorative Justice and Religion: A
Words: 3175 Length: 10 Document Type: Research Proposal

Instead, Hadley (2001) argues that an understanding of the role of spirituality in restorative justice today can encourage peaceful communities both domestically and internationally. In fact, the spiritual component of restorative justice left lingering from its formation impacts today's attempts to practice restorative justice at the individual, communal, and international levels. In each scenario, components of spirituality remaining from the spiritual roots of restorative justice can help bring healing

Jesus' Teachings, Prayer, & Christian Life He
Words: 35411 Length: 109 Document Type: Dissertation

Jesus' Teachings, Prayer, & Christian Life "He (Jesus) Took the Bread. Giving Thanks Broke it. And gave it to his Disciples, saying, 'This is my Body, which is given to you.'" At Elevation time, during Catholic Mass, the priest establishes a mandate for Christian Living. Historically, at the Last Supper, Christ used bread and wine as a supreme metaphor for the rest of our lives. Jesus was in turmoil. He was

Allah and Brahman Perhaps the
Words: 1894 Length: 4 Document Type: Term Paper

Modern Protestantism tends more to suggest that salvation is purely the work of God, and that the human need only accept salvation and all past and present sins will be forgiven, requiring them to do nothing more to be saved. In this schema, good works are merely acts of devotion. In either case, the death of Christ provides forgiveness for sins, and the soul which has been forgiven is

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now