Hinduism embraces a wide diversity of religious beliefs and practices.
The majority of Hindus believe in God in some way however there are some that do not.
They worship Shiva, Vishnu or his incarnation avatars, most notably Krishna or Rama and those including goddesses.
Hindus believe that individual souls survive death and are reborn to live again in a different body, thus passing through a series of lives.
Stream of existence (Samsara) by rebirth linked closely with Karma. Every action has inevitable consequences, which mould the future.
Hindus paramount hope is to be released from the cycle of birth, death and rebirth through moksha, which is achieved, when virtue, knowledge and love of God cancel out the weight of Karma. The Karma residue causes next birth.
These paths of liberation are traditionally called jnana yoga (spiritual knowledge), karma yoga (good works or right action) and bhakti yoga (devotion and love directed towards a chosen deity).
The law of Karma governs the universe and all beings residing with in it.
Hindus believe that Karma helps them to understand the cause of suffering and good fortune resulting in a person’s life.
There are three aspects of Karma
Acts performed in your previous life will result in the choice of parents and physical conditions in the next life.
2. Characteristics and aptitudes are also the results of previous Karma.
3. Whatever deeds are performed in the present life, the future existence is determined accordingly.
Hindus believe that the basis for all reality and existence is an entity called Brahma or Brahman, an all-embracing infinite, uncreated principle.
It is unborn and uncreated and the source and ultimate destiny of everything. Brahman is one and it is all things. It is the true self – atman within all beings.
This is illustrated by a story in the Chandogya Upanisad which is one of the oldest and largest Upanisad (fourth and last part of the Vedas containing mystical teachings).“ A boy at the age of 12 years left his family to learn from a school.
On returning at the age of 24, the young man’s father realised that his son had learned the scriptures without understanding the nature of Brahman. He therefore asked his son to sprinkle some salt in a glass of water.
The next day the father asked his son to find the salt in the water. As the salt had dissolved, the search proved to be futile. The father asked his son to taste the water from the top, middle and bottom of the glass and asked him how it had tasted.
The son replied salty and the father asked where is the salt the son replied he could not see the salt. His father replied that just in the same way you cannot see the spirit, the Brahman, which encompasses the universe but it is there. That is the reality, that is the truth and you are that truth”.
The Brahman may be interpreted as God in an impersonal, absolute aspect. It is important not to confuse Brahman with the Hindu creator god Brahma or with Brahmin, a Hindu priest or caste.
The Brahman philosophy is a divine and the supreme spiritual principle, which has presence in everyone and everything and always.
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