Greetings everyone. For this blog, we will be discussing the many religions of the world. Even though I have my own personal religious beliefs and values, it is fascinating to study the history and traditions of other cultures. Over the next few weeks, this blog will cover all of the world’s major religions, as well as the practices of indigenous cultures around the globe.
We will begin our spiritual journey with the world’s oldest living religion: Hinduism. First, we must understand that the word “Hindu” was originally a term used to describe the many peoples living East of the Indus River, but in modern times it has been used to describe those who adhere to any of the numerous Vedic traditions that are practiced today. This means that Hinduism is a religion that has various different beliefs and rituals.
A core principle of nearly all Hindu traditions is the notion of the Atman, also known as the true self, or soul. Each individual is said to really be, at their very core, Atman. The soul is bound to an endless cycle of death and rebirth, called Samsara.
The concept of God is not entirely clear in Hinduism, especially to western learners. There is a misconception that there are millions of deities in Hinduism, but in reality most Hindus believe that all of the different gods are just different aspects of one God, who is known by many names.
In order to escape attachment to cyclic existence, and become liberated from Samsara, a Hindu will practice any of numerous kinds of spiritual disciplines, such as praying, chanting mantras, meditating, and performing yoga.
The ultimate aim of these disciplines is to realize that the soul, Atman, is actually of the same nature as God, often called Brahman. Once a person has realized unity with Brahman, and therefore unity with all of existence, they have attained a state called Moksha, which means liberation.
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