A little on Hinduism

Once again we are at a time where the transport operators want to raise their prices. This time however, it is weird that only one operator wishes to do this. Personally, I think that there are 2 possible reasons for this. A first possibility is that the gahment wishes to allow the transport operators to raise their prices, but are afraid that raising them all at once would be very unpopular, especially after the IR fiasco, so they decided to do it one at a time.

Another possibility is that the gahment wishes to win back the hearts of people by rejecting the transport operator's application, indicating that they DO listen to the people, which is why only one operator is requesting, no point getting both to ask if they're going to be rejected anyway...

Well I digress again, but I really do hope that if there is a raise in transport prices, the least the operator could do is raise their service standards. I don't mind paying more, as long as I get something better.

Ok, back to the main topic - Hinduism. This is the third religion in a continuation of my weekly quest to understand the major religions of the world. Again, I will start with a disclaimer: I do not claim to be an expert on Hinduism, and whatever I present in this post is based on what little I found out on this facinating religion. Should I make any mistakes, please feel free to correct me. Thank you.

Now surprisingly, Hinduism isn't really a religion by the western definition of the word. Although Hinduism is mostly based upon the same religious texts, the vedas, it is actually more correctly a group of religions, just like Christianity and Judaism are both based on the Old Testament but are considered different religions. It can also be thought of as a philosophy or a society based upon certain beliefs.

Generally, Hindus believe in one Supreme God, but there are also many other devas. In a sense, the many gods of Hinduism all belong to the same supreme being, only the supreme being is known by different names and forms. Hence, despite the worship of different idols, hindus basically are worshiping the one supreme being, the same single, all encompassing God. In a wider sense, Hinduism is also very tolerant of other religions as they deem that all religions worship the same God, just in different forms and known by different names. No single way of worship is better than another and all ways to worship God are accepted by God if performed with faith and devotion. Due to this, Hinduism does not seek to actively convert people to its faith as it deems all religions as equally worthy.

Food wise, Hindus are not restricted in most ways, although they are encouraged to be vegetarian as a sign of respect and consideration to the sacred animals that share our world. Cows and bulls are also considered sacred in Hinduism as they are considered the "providers of food", and not food itself. This probably stems from the ancient times where cows and bulls were essential to the production in farms, in addition to providing milk and leather.

Most hindus also have a dot marked on their forehead, the meaning of which I haven't learnt, even till now. The origins of this dot is unknown as Hinduism is a very ancient religion. However, some people say that this dot signifies the third eye, which ancient humans had. Another explaination is that there is a powerful virtual lotus of power locus on the forehead, and the dot is there to protect that point as well as an indication of their respect for their God. So basically, there is no definite reason, but it is definitely a mark of a hindu.

Reading more about Hinduism has definitely made me respect this ancient religion more. It seems that this religion is one of the most encompassing and yet one of the most tolerant. It is definitely a very complicated religion (or group of religions) which I doubt anyone could hope to understand in a single reading, so take your time to read the articles I've linked to.

Click here and here for more on Hinduism.