Hinduism

Hindusim is a set of religious traditions that originated mainly in the Indian subcontinent.
Hinduism encompasses many religious beliefs, practices, and denominations.

Hindus believe in a supreme cosmic spirit called Brahman,
who is worshipped in many forms,
represented by individual deities such as Vishnu, Shiva or Shakti.

Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world,
with approximately 1 billion adherents (2005 figure), of whom approximately 890 million live in India.


Other countries with large Hindu populations include
Nepal, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, Fiji, Guyana, and Indonesia.
Fifteen million Hindus live in Bangladesh, 2 million in Pakistan,
1 million in the United Arab Emirates, and 1.4 million in the United States.

Hinduism is perhaps the oldest living religion in the world.
Unlike many other religions, Hinduism has no single founder,
and there is no clerical hierarchy of the type found in the Roman Catholic Church.

Hinduism looks to a large number of religious texts developed over many centuries
that contain spiritual insights and provide practical guidance for religious life.
Among such texts, the ancient Vedas are usually considered the most authoritative.
Other scriptures include the eighteen Puranas,
and the epics Mahabharata and Ramayana.
The Bhagavad Gita, which is contained within the Mahabharata,
is a widely studied teaching that is said to contain, in distilled form, the highest truths of the Vedas.

The Hindu faiths, practices and philosophies have evolved from the ancient Vedic tradition
Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism all share some common philosophical and spiritual traits with Hinduism,
as all these religions originated in India, and they all focus on self-improvement
for the ultimate purpose of attaining personal spiritual experience.

Themes common to the value system of Hinduism are the beliefs in Dharma (individual ethics, duties and obligations),
Samskara ("rebirth"), Karma ("right action"), and Moksha ("salvation") for every soul.

For the translations of the Vedas, Upanishads, Puranas, Mahabharta, Ramayana, and Bhagavad Gita.
Please visit:
The Sacred Texts Archive





Multiple Ways to Reach the Goal
(yogas)

In whatever way a Hindu might define the goal of life
--and multiple definitions are allowed--
there are several methods (yogas) that have been developed0
over the centuries for people of different tastes and temperaments.

Paths one can follow to achieve the spiritual goal of life include:

1. Bhakti Yoga (the path of love and devotion),
2. Karma Yoga (the path of right action),
3. Raja Yoga (the path of meditation) and
4. Jñana Yoga (the path of rational inquiry).

Bhakti yoga is prescribed for people of emotional temperaments.

Karma yoga is prescribed for people who like to always be engaged in action.

Raja yoga is recommended for meditative people.

And Jnana yoga is meant for the rational person.

It is typical for Hindus to combine two or more of these paths into their spiritual life
to create a path that suits their personal temperaments.

A few schools hold only one or two of these paths leads to salvation.
For example, some followers of the Dvaita school hold that Bhakti ("devotion") is the only path.
A large number of Hindus, however, believe that although one particular path may be best for them,
another path may be better for another person, and any path--if followed sincerely--can lead to God.

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