Hinduism2

Hinduism: Discussion

Truth is one, sages call it by different names.  Hinduism is the 3rd most popular religion with around a billion followers. Approximately 81% of Nepalese are practicing Hindus. Colonial British rule and how it affected India; in 1858 through 1947, the British Raj (rule/reign) was in affect. During that time, the Brits called it the Indian Empire (as seems to be a commonality with Brits while in ruler-ship) During this reign, the Brits commonly changed the names of cities, counties and towns to more easily pronounced or just for loyal pride. In 1947 the Partition of India began, being parted by religious rule and demographics. On August 15th the partition began, as the Brit rule slowly dissipated, the country was then divided into particulars such as Pakistan, specifically for Muslims in the area,  (actually formed one day earlier, on August 14th), displacing 12.5 million people, leading to the loss of much life, with numbers varying from several hundred thousands to a million. There is approximately 1100 miles of Indian land between East/West Pakistan. East Pakistan seceded from the nation at this time, India took the side of West Pakistan, East Pakistan became Bangladesh, a country one fifth the size of Pakistan with a larger population. There is so much more about the partition that I am going to pay attention to and study more on, I found this very interesting and very under-rated in my short History studies.  (Cite: Dowling, Mike, "Pakistan and Bangladesh at mrdowling.com," available from http://www.mrdowling.com/612-pakistan.html; Internet; updated Monday, July 11, 2005 . ©2009, Mike Dowling. All rights reserved. 
80.5% of Indian peoples regard themselves as Hindus, Hinduism is a complete approach to life, finding nature and her Gods/Goddesses as very sacred, including Mother Ganges (river), Mother India (the land). It is a common belief that you are born  Hindu, not converted into one. Some people believe you can convert, but this goes against the  evangelization, proselytization and conversion thoughts of the old school Hindu belief. 
Hinduism does not have any one founder or doctrine it follows, which leaves it open to perception of how to solve any possible controversies which arise.There are four Vedas, the Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda and Atharva Veda. The Vedas are the primary texts of Hinduism. They also had a vast influence on Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhismere and are four very sacred texts. Other the books they do follow, The Mahabharata, which is one of the original Sanskrit epics, consisting of four different epic stories, stories that are a part of the Mahabharata are the Bhagavad Gita, the story of Damayanti, an abbreviated version of the Ramayana, and the Rishyasringa, often considered as works in their own right. The Bhagavad Gita is mentioned in another page of mine, as a separate study. The Ramayana is about Rama, another one of Vishnu's avatars, in which Rama's wife Sita is abducted by the kind of Sri Lanka and Rama's epic journey to retrieve her. This book, as many of the epics, are written in verse after verse of lines backing up the belief in human nature, human values and dharma. A brief explanation of Dharma - Moksha and the Trinity are as follows:

• Dharma, moral order of the universe
• Atman The individual human soul
• Samsara The cycle of lives
• Karma The law of action and reaction-connnects hinduism, jainism, buddhism
• Moksha Liberation from Samsara 
• The TRIMTURI (the trinity)
• Brahma- The Creator\Vishnu- The Preserver and Shiva- The Destroyer

Sometimes the key goal of reincarnation is to escape the over and over life and death, finally figuring out the answer, finally reaching Moksha The ultimate aim of Hinduism is to escape from the cycle of Samsara and to attain release or Moksha

There are considered 330 million Gods and Goddesses in Hinduism, all avatars of the Trinity. 

Hindu Time Scale http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu_units_of_time

(retrieved from Dan's notes) :)