Hinduism: The Fundamental Concepts

Though Hinduism lacks a uniting belief system, the things that make up the religion are: fundamental concepts - the ultimate reality called Brahman, and its identification with Atman, reincarnation - determined by karma that can be broken by self-realization and attaining liberation, the caste system and the practice of yoga. Once you found your atman (your inner self) and its source - the Brahman, your atman would merge with its transcendent source and you would reach an unspeakable amount of bliss and peace!

The process for attaining spiritual realization (otherwise known as liberation) is said to take at least a lifetime or sometimes several. If you did not obtain liberation in your first, second, third lifetime (and so on) you went through the process of reincarnation. After you die, as your soul leaves your body it finds another body to inhabit, whether it is a human body, animal, or otherwise, you were given another chance to find your self realization. To determine what type of body you would next inhabit, the process of "karma" was used. All of your actions had consequences, if you lived a bad life, in your next life you would become a lesser being.

The main goal in the Hindu culture was not good lives by good deeds, but rather if the person could make an escape from karma. To escape these things and achieve moksha (the liberation from the limits of time, space, and matter though the realization of the immortal absolute) sometimes took many lifetimes of striving and higher reincarnations to reach the transcendence of earthly misery. The desire from the earthly existence meant that as a Hindu you would no longer be subjected to the caste system, you'd reach a heavenly existence beyond the realms of the real world. You no longer had to suffer misery or suffering; it would be like the Christian's heaven and meant you finally escaped karma.

The caste system still affects the inhabitants of India today. The caste system goes back to the Vedic age. There was a clear division of labor with four mar occupational groups, which later became known as the castes. The Brahmins were priests and philosophers that were specialists in the life of spirit. The next group consisted of the kshatriyas; they were the nobility including the kings, warriors and vassals. Their function was to preserve and guard society. The Vaishyas specialists in the economic field, they were the farmers and merchants. Next were the shudra caste, which consisted of the manual laborers and artisans. Lastly, were the lowest of the caste system, the untouchables? They had such tasks as removing human waste, corpses, sweeping streets, and working the leather from dead cows - these were the jobs that made their bodies and clothing disgusting and unappealing to others. In 1948 the untouchability of the lowest caste was legally abolished. Today, marriage across the caste lines is still discouraged.

Since ancient times, people have practiced spiritual disciplines that were designed to clear their minds, support a state of serenity, and detached awareness. In order to increase these things, the practice of yoga was used. Yoga meant "union", referring to a union with your true self. There were several types of yoga used for different purposes: for meditation there was raja yoga - for mental concentration, for rational people there was jnana yoga - for rational inquiry, for the naturally active there was karma yoga - to assist you in finding the right action, and the emotional types there was bhakti yoga - to find a path of devotion. Yoga is still largely practiced today, not only in India, but in the United States as well.

Thought Hinduism lacks a uniting belief system, it is still commonly practiced throughout India as well as other countries. Hindus are living their lives in order to escape karma and finally get to the Absolute Reality. They will be reincarnated over and over until they can finally achieve this feat. Though the caste system does not technically still exist and is not as apparent and present as it once was it is still being practiced today. Still Hindus as well as Americans practice yoga in order to achieve certain desired states of mind. It is a common practice and is taught in American.