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It is
difficult
to
assign a
dogmatic
orthodoxy
to
Hinduism.
Many
variations
have
developed
from
Hinduism
over the
years,
and many
non-Hindu
cults
and
religious
movements
gained
their
inspiration
from
Hinduism.
Even in
India
today,
the most
orthodox
divisions
of
Hinduism
have
changed
significantly
over the
last
three
thousand
years.
One of
the
oldest
aspects
of
Hinduism
is as
much
social
as
religious,
and that
is the
caste
system.
It is
important
to
understand
the
caste
system
before
delving
into
Hindu
religious
beliefs.
According
to Hindu
teaching,
there
are four
basic
castes,
or
social
classes.
Each
caste
has its
own
rules
and
obligation
for
living.
The
elite
caste is
the
Brahman,
or
priest
caste.
Second
are the
Kshatriyas,
or
warriors
and
rulers.
Third
are the
Vaisyas,
or
merchants
and
farmers.
Finally,
the
fourth
caste is
the
Shudras,
or
laborers.
Outside
the
caste
system
are the
untouchables.
The
untouchables
are the
outcasts
of Hindu
society.
Though
outlawed
in India
in the
1940s,
the
untouchables
are
still a
very
real
part of
Indian
society.
One does
not get
decide
his or
her
caste –
that
matter
is
decided
when one
is born
into a
particular
caste.
As
previously
stated,
there is
not a
strict
orthodoxy
in
Hinduism.
There
are
however,
several
principles
that
share a
commonality
among
the
various
sects.
Virtually
all
Hindus
believe
in:
-
The
three-in-one
god
known
as
“Brahman,”
which
is
composed
of:
Brahma
(the
creator),
Vishnu
(the
Preserver),
and
Shiva
(the
Destroyer).
-
The
Caste
System.
-
Karma.
The
law
that
good
begets
good,
and
bad
begets
bad.
Every
action,
thought,
or
decision
one
makes
has
consequences
–
good
or
bad
–
that
will
return
to
each
person
in
the
present
life,
or
in
one
yet
to
come.
-
Reincarnation.
Also
known
as
“transmigration
of
souls,”
or “samsara.”
This
is a
journey
on
the
“circle
of
life,”
where
each
person
experiences
as
series
of
physical
births,
deaths,
and
rebirths.
With
good
karma,
a
person
can
be
reborn
into
a
higher
caste,
or
even
to
godhood.
Bad
karma
can
relegate
one
to a
lower
caste,
or
even
to
life
as
an
animal
in
their
next
life.
-
Nirvana.
This
is
the
goal
of
the
Hindu.
Nirvana
is
the
release
of
the
soul
from
the
seemingly
endless
cycle
of
rebirths.
Hinduism
is both
polytheistic,
and
pantheistic.
There
are
three
gods
that
compose
Brahman
–
Brahma,
Vishnu,
and
Shiva.
Hindus
also
worship
the
“wives”
of
Shiva,
such as
Kali, or
one of
Vishnu’s
ten
incarnations
(avatars).
This is
only the
beginning.
There
are
literally
millions
of Hindu
gods and
goddesses
– by
some
counts,
as many
as 330
million!
At the
same
time,
Hinduism
teaches
that all
living
things
are
Brahman
in their
core.
In other
words,
all
living
things
are
Brahman,
or god.
Enlightenment
is
attained
by
becoming
tuned in
to the
Brahman
within.
Only
then can
one
reach
Nirvana.
The
release
from the
wheel of
life
that
allows
access
to
Nirvana
is known
as “moksha.”
Hindus
recognize
three
possible
paths to
moksha,
or
salvation.
The
first is
the way
of works
or
karma
yoga.
This is
a very
popular
way of
salvation
and lays
emphasis
on the
idea
that
liberation
may be
obtained
by
fulfilling
one’s
familial
and
social
duties
thereby
overcoming
the
weight
of bad
karma
one has
accrued.
The
second
way of
salvation
is the
way of
knowledge,
or
jnana
yoga.
The
basic
premise
of the
way of
knowledge
is that
the
cause of
our
bondage
to the
cycle of
rebirths
in this
world is
ignorance.
According
to the
predominant
view
among
those
committed
to this
way, our
ignorance
consists
of the
mistaken
belief
that we
are
individual
selves,
and not
one with
the
ultimate
divine
reality
–
Brahman.
It is
this
same
ignorance
that
gives
rise to
our bad
actions,
which
result
in bad
karma.
Salvation
is
achieved
through
attaining
a state
of
consciousness
in which
we
realize
our
identity
with
Brahman.
This is
achieved
through
deep
meditation,
often as
a part
of the
discipline
of yoga.
The
third
way of
salvation
is the
way of
devotion,
or
bhakti
yoga.
This is
the way
most
favored
by the
common
people
of
India.
It
satisfies
the
longing
for a
more
emotional
and
personal
approach
to
religion.
It
involves
the
self-surrender
to one
of the
many
personal
gods and
goddesses
of
Hinduism.
Such
devotion
is
expressed
through
acts of
worship,
temple
rituals,
and
pilgrimages.
Some
Hindus
conceive
of
ultimate
salvation
as
absorption
into the
one
divine
reality,
with all
loss of
individual
existence.
Others
conceive
of it as
heavenly
existence
in
adoration
of the
personal
God.
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