REL212 Week 2 Discussion for World Religions Hindu Way of Life

Week 2 Discussion for World Religions – REL212

“Hindu Way of Life” Please respond to the following:

Explain the key ways in which the teachings of the Vedas influence the daily lives of Hindus

According to theories advanced by eighteenth- and nineteenth-century European scholars, the highly organized cultures of the Indus Valley and other parts of the subcontinent were overrun by lighter-skinned nomadic invaders from some homeland to the north, whose peoples also spread westward and developed European civilizations. The theory argued that the Vedas, the religious texts often referred to as the foundations of Hinduism, were the product of the invaders and not of indigenous Indians, or perhaps a combination of both cultures.

The key ways in which the teachings of the Vedas influence the daily lives of Hindus is that for many Hindus, religion is a matter of practice rather than of beliefs. It’s more what you do, than what you believe. Hindus believe in a universal soul or God called Brahman. Brahman takes on many forms that some Hindus worship as gods or goddesses in their own right. Hindus believe that there is a part of Brahman in everyone and this is called the Atman.

Hindus believe in reincarnation, a belief that the soul is eternal and lives many lifetimes, in one body after another. The soul is sometimes born in a human body, sometimes in an animal body and sometimes in a plant body. Hindus believe that all forms of life contain a soul, and all souls have the chance to experience life in different forms. Samsara means going through the cycle of repeated births and deaths (reincarnation). Hindus believe that existence of this cycle is governed by Karma.

Fisher, M. P. (2014). Living religions (9th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.

http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Hindu_Scriptures.htm