4 Major Facets of HINDUISM

**this article is a major oversimplification of the Hindu religion meant to be a

1. Reincarnation

• All religions have a way of addressing death and the afterlife
• For Hinduism, it isn’t so much death as birth, and it isn’t so much the afterlife as another life
• Hinduism preaches a cycle of eternal life where people are re-assigned a new life to live once they die, based on a bunch of factors such as their…

2. Karma

• Karma literally means ‘deed’ or ‘action’ and is about how cause and effect
• Basically what this means is our fate or destiny is determined by our karma, or our deeds
• If you do good, you’ll be repaid for your good (ex: be reborn in a higher caste), and if you do

3. Dharma

• The closest translation for dharma is “duty” or “obligation”
• This means that you are one with the universe and your place in the universe
• Dharma = obey what your caste dictates and conform yourself to the great spirit
• This is part of what makes India have such a rigid and stably structured society despite so many diverse ethnic groups

4. Polytheism and Pervasive Divinity

• When I say polytheism, I mean POLYtheism
• Whereas Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are monotheistic and only believe in 1 God, Hinduism supports around 33 Million Gods that are all part of one transcendent, pervasive deity that is present everywhere