01. HINDUISM : The Eternal Religion

Writing by Moderator on Sunday, 27 of May , 2007 at 7:24 am

Hinduism is one of the major religions of the world. Its followers, numbering nearly nine hundred millions, dwell mainly in India and they are known as the Hindus. Significant numbers of Hindus reside in Bali, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Fiji, Guyana, Nepal, Mauritius, Suriname, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Singapore and Trinidad and Tobago. In Nepal, Bali and India Hinduism is the major religion, and is still reflected in the traditional culture and architecture. There are also sizeable Hindu populations in Sri Lanka, Pakistan, Philippines, United States, the Middle East and the United Kingdom . India has been the motherland of Hinduism for a long, long time. How long no one can say with precision. However, there is no doubt about the fact that Hinduism is several thousand years old, and that it is older than any other major religion of the world. In Very ancient days Hinduism was known as the Aryan dharma and its followers the Aryas. Their earliest home in India was in the Punjub. Nobody has yet been able to say finally where the Aryas of the Punjub had come from. Different scholars have made different guesses about the original home of the aryas, such as the arctic region, the great table-land of Central Asia, the Mediterranean coast, ect. Swami Vivekananda was firm in his belief that the Aryas had not come from any place outside India.

Most Hindus believe that the spirit or soul, the true "self" of every person, called the ātman, is eternal. According to the Advaita (non-dualist) schools of philosophy, the atman and Brahman are not fundamentally distinct. They argue that the core spirit, or "Self", of every individual person is identical with the greater Spirit. According to the Upanishads, whoever gains insight into the depths of their own nature and becomes fully aware of the ātman as the innermost core of one's own self, realises their identity with Brahman and thereby reaches Moksha. According to the Dvaita (dualist) school, (often associated with Vaishnavism), the ātman is not identical with Brahman, which is seen as being God with personality (though not limited); instead, the ātman is dependent on God. Moksha depends on love towards God and on God's grace.
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The ultimate goal of life, referred to as moksha, nirvana or samadhi, is described as the realization of one's union with God; realization of one's eternal relationship with God; realization of the unity of all existence; perfect unselfishness and knowledge of the Self; liberation from ignorance; attainment of perfect mental peace; or detachment from worldly desires. Such a realization liberates one from samsara and ends the cycle of rebirth.The exact conceptualization of moksha differs among the various Hindu schools of thought. For example, Advaita Vedanta holds that after attaining moksha an atman no longer identifies itself with an individual but as part of Brahman. The followers of Dvaita (dualistic) schools expect to spend eternity in a loka (heaven),in the company of their chosen form of Ishvara.

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