Hinduism

Hinduism is the third largest religion in the world, behind Christianity and Islam. Sanatana means ageless and believes in the ways that have always existed. Hinduism has no single founder of the religion. Hinduism does not have a bible and does not require practicing one main idea. Hinduism is considered more of a culture than a religion. And, unlike Islam or Christianity, it does not have a single belief system, a central religious organization, did not have a single Prophet/Messianic founder, or a single system of law/morality. Despite this, about 14% of the world’s population consider themselves Hindu, most located on or near the Indian subcontinent. (Religious Tolerance.org, n.d.). It is often quite difficult for westerners to understand Hinduism, not just because of the number of sects that exist within its areas of predominance, but because it does not need the formulization and intellectual overlord that many western religions seem to require. This is why, according to some, Hinduism is seen as a philosophical belief system rather than a religion – but this is likely picking nits since it adheres to most of the formal definitions of “religion.” Because there is no central text, it is sometimes difficult to construct an overview of the context of Hinduism. There is controversy, for instance, as to whether Hinduism is monotheistic or polytheistic – Hindus recognize only one supreme God (Brahman) and that all things constitute an overall unified reality, but there are then many sub-deities that reflect belief in nature (perhaps they can be compared to saints). It does appear that most Hindus believe in one of two major contexts: Vaishavaism – Vishnu as the ultimate deity; or Shivaism – Shiva as the ultimate deity (C., Gruenwald and P., Marchand, n. d.). The ideas presented in Hinduism seem appropriate for a culture in which there