Hossam Mohamed

M.Hussam Tarek
Machan Bader
Juan Gonzales

HINDU

MYTHOLOGY

India is a country that houses one of the most widely practiced

religions in the world with 90% of its population practicing Hinduism.
Over 700 languages are spoken in India, even though none are its
national languages. Some of its widely spoken languages are Hindi,
Malayalam, Bengali, Tamil, and English. India has nine major faiths
which are currently practiced in India by only a handful of adherents.
Each year, many followers of the many different faiths of India come
from far and wide to descend upon the country and participate in
ceremonies, rituals, and festivals and worship their gods. For these
people, as for the vast majority of the native population, India is very
much a land of religions. But for this project, we’re going to fixate on
Hinduism and its beliefs.

Origins of Hinduism
Hossam Mohamed
M.Hussam Tarek
Machan Bader
Juan Gonzales
Hinduism doesn’t have one specific set of teachings, nor a
specific holy doctrine or founder. Though, it may have originated as
far back as 3000 BCE, with the Indus Valley Civilization, near the
current border of Pakistan and India. Although Hinduism is
commonly classified as a religion, it is also considered a philosophy
and a culture. That’s because the belief system has no standard
method of practice, it is considered to be one of the most tolerant
religions in the world. Hinduism is closely associated with other
eastern religions. In fact, Hinduism incorporated concepts like karma
and reincarnation, around the same time that similar concepts
emerged in Buddhism and Jainism.

These ideas deal with the cycle of life and rebirth, as well as the
consequences of a person’s actions. Another major distinguishing
feature of Hinduism, compared to most other active religions, is its
belief in multiple deities. The primary three are Shive, Vishnu,
Brahma but there are many others. However, some Hindus consider
these three deities to be the manifestations of a single cosmic spirit
called brahman, who is genderless and omnipotent. Many Hindus also
consider the ancient Vedic texts to be sacred. The scripture was
written in Sanskrit around 1000 BCE, as a hymn to the gods. Within
the Veda, multiple major and minor deities are described including
Indra (The King of Gods), and Vishnu (A Protector God).

Today, Hindus still recite verses from this text ritualistically,

during weddings and funerals. Currently, about 15% of the world’s
population subscribes to Hinduism, with roughly 99% of Hindus
residing in India and Nepal. Hinduism started in South Asia and
continues to thrive there. India’s relationship with Hinduism is deep,
with the Hindu-nationalist “Indian People’s Party” currently wielding
power.
Hossam Mohamed
M.Hussam Tarek
Machan Bader
Juan Gonzales

How The Universe Was Created According to Hinduism?

Hinduism is a collection of diverse doctrines and ways of life that

are followed by the majority of Indians. In every religion, there is a
belief in how the universe was created, and the same is true in this
religion. In Hinduism, there are many theories about how the universe
was formed in the early days. Hinduism believes that the universe is
not one single entity, but an infinite number of universes constantly
creating and destroying one another. In other words, we live in a
universe that belongs to a multiverse. Our universe will eventually
cease to exist, but the multiverse will continue to live on. Vishnu is the
embodiment of the multiverse. The Hindu god Vishnu is one of the
most prominent gods in Hinduism and is regarded as part of the holy
trinity (trimurti) along with Lord Brahma and Lord Shiva. As per
Hindu mythology, Lord Vishnu was asleep in the cosmic ocean before
the universe was created. His bed is a giant serpent with thousands of
cobra-like hoods.

The universe was created in a triad of roles: Creator,

Maintainer, and Destroyer. Lord Brahma is the creator of the
universe, and Lord Shiva is the destroyer, whereas Lord Vishnu is the
preserver and protector of the universe. Lord Vishnu's role is to return
the earth to its original state during troubled times and restore its
balance of good and evil. The universe was created through the
actions of Lord Vishnu, who slept and let a lotus bloom from his
Hossam Mohamed
M.Hussam Tarek
Machan Bader
Juan Gonzales
navel. The lotus stem represents the creation of the universe, while
Brahma is found at the flower's center and represents the creator. The
time it takes for one universe to be created and the next one to end is
also the duration of one breath of Lord Vishnu. When he exhales,
thousands of universes come into being and a new Brahma is born in
each one. But when he inhales, all universes get sucked in and
Brahma dies.

Lord Brahma represents the universe that we live in. He creates

all life forms and is responsible for the physical world that we live in.
Lord Vishnu is the personification of the eternal multiverse. He is
responsible for the continuation of life in all universes. Vishnu is the
representation of the eternal multiverse that exists without any
beginning or end while Brahma is the representation of our temporary
physical universe which means that the current universe represented
by Brahma is not permanent. In fact, it's quite temporary. Brahma
only lives for 100 years and then he dies and a new universe is born.

A Kalpa is made up of Brahma’s one-half day which is equal to

1000 Mahayugas which is 4.32 million years. 1000 Mahayugas is
equivalent to 1 kalpa. So, one full day of Brahma equals two Klapas.
Brahma lives for 100 years where a year is 360 days, so Brahma’s age
is 311.04 trillion years which shows that the age of the whole universe
is also 311.04 trillion years. We are currently on the first day of the
51st year of his reign.

There are day and night: during the day, Brahma creates life but
during the night, all life he created is absorbed back into him!!
According to ancient Hindi texts, the universe is created with Brahma
and dies with Brahma. The belief that the cosmos itself undergoes
numerous wide variations of death and rebirth makes this one of the
world's most exquisite faiths.

GODS & GODDESSES

Hossam Mohamed
M.Hussam Tarek
Machan Bader
Juan Gonzales
The Hindu religion has thousands of Gods, though many of them are
reincarnations of others, unlike other major religions such as
Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. There are different abilities and
legends associated with each Goddess and God.

But even though everything comes from Brahman who is the one real
thing in Hinduism, Hindus do after all have thousands of Gods. First
there is Brahma, the creator. He created everything in the universe but
he is not the universe itself. He has four heads. The heads face each of
the four directions, to represent the four Vedas which he created and
the four yugas. He also holds a book which represents knowledge. His
consort is Saraswati, the goddess of learning.

Vishnu, the Preserver is the second member of Hindu trinity. He

preserves the world created by Brahma until it is destroyed by Shiva.
He holds a discus, which he uses to cut down anyone who messes with
his dharma. Along with a conch, which symbolizes victory and the five
elements. Vishnu has many avatars, such as Krishna or Rama, who he
uses to defend dharma on Earth. Vishnu has two consorts: the
goddesses Lakshmi and Bhu Devi. Bhu Devi is the earth goddess and
Lakshmi is the goddess of good fortune and wealth.

Shiva, the destroyer, is the third member of the Hindu Trinity.

It’s his job to destroy the universe in order to prepare for its renewal at
the end of each cycle of time. The most identifiable of his feature is his
third eye, which he almost always keeps closed. If he does open and
you are in front of it then you will get your face melted off (just like
how caramel melts in the microwave). At the end of Khali Yuga (age
of darkness), the fourth age of the world, Shiva performs a dance that
destroys the universe. These are the main Gods who maintain the
universe.

There are other deities who are important to establish balance in

the universe like Lord Indra who is the king of the gods. He is the god
Hossam Mohamed
M.Hussam Tarek
Machan Bader
Juan Gonzales
of sky who has control over rainbows, lightning, thunder, storms, rain,
rivers and waters. He appears as having a golden-reddish skin with
occasionally four arms and on an elephant. Almost similar to Zeus
(Greek God).

Next is Hanuman who is the God of Wisdom, strength, Courage,

Devotion and Self-discipline. He has the body of the man but has the
face of a monkey with a long tail on his rear. After that is Rama who
is the Hindu god of Truth and Virtue. As a person, he is shown to be
mentally, spiritually, and physically ideal.

Finally, is the Hindu Goddess of War who is Durga Puja. She is

a frightening and fierce goddess who has 10 arms! This impressive
number of arms are used to restore dharma (moral order).

CORE BELIEFS OF HINDUS

As I have already mentioned, Hinduism is one of the oldest religions
in the world. It is a very vast religion and has large number of beliefs
compared to other religions. Here are some of the key beliefs shared
among Hindus:
 
 Belief in one universal soul.
Hossam Mohamed
M.Hussam Tarek
Machan Bader
Juan Gonzales
Hindus believe in a universal soul known as Brahma. A
formless genderless soul of all reality. Brahma is the universe
and the material which makes up the universe.

 Belief in immortal individual soul.

In Hinduism, souls are known as Atma and atma is eternal.

When the physical body dies, the soul is reborn in another body.
This continuous cycle of life, death and rebirth is called
samsara. Rebirth is governed by karma.

 Belief in Karma.

“According to one act, so does he become, Virtuous by virtuous

action, bad by bad action”, (Yajurveda, Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad 4.4.5). Karma literally means deed or act and more
broadly names the universal principle of chaos and effect,
action and reaction which goes on all life. Karma is a natural
law of the mind, just as gravity is law of matter.

 Belief in Moksha

The goal in Hindu life is to somehow get back to brahma. If you

are capable of completing that action then you will be freed
from the cycle of life and death, this is called Moksha. Hindu
scripture outlines four primary parts to experience god’s
presence and ultimately obtain moksha. These paths are not
mutually exclusive and can be pursued simultaneously
depending on an individual’s inclination. These parts are
Karma yog, Janan yog, Bhakti yog, and Raja yog. You can
achieve moksha by realizing your oneness with Brahma.
Hossam Mohamed
M.Hussam Tarek
Machan Bader
Juan Gonzales
 
 Belief in the Vedas

Hinduism does not have a single holy book that guide religious
practice, instead Hinduism has a large body of spiritual attacks
that guide devotees. The Vedas are the ultimate authority. They
are the sacred books of knowledge. There are four Vedas: The
Rigveda, Samaveda, Yajurveda, Atharveda.

 Belief in Cyclical Time

For Hindus, there are no beginnings or ends. Time is a series of

cycle with each cycle containing four yugas. They are Satyug,
Tretayug, Dwaparayug, Kaliyug. When added together, these
four yugas add up a total of 4.32 million years. At the end of
each cycle, declining in human morality leads to the destruction
of reality.

 Belief in Dharma.

Dharma maintains balance in the universe as long as every

living thing in the universe abide by their dharma then
everything will be balanced. If they break from their dharma,
things will ‘Ragnarök’.

Words cannot describe this beautiful way of life. The concept of

total freedom of religion in Hinduism is one of the most influential
aspects of it, despite its vast differences from other religions in terms
of the characteristics common to all faiths. It embraces all religious
Hossam Mohamed
M.Hussam Tarek
Machan Bader
Juan Gonzales
forms that encourage unity in divinity and rejects beliefs that seek to
divide the cause of deities in order to embrace all other religious forms
that promote unity in divinity.

I am just adding these extra words because I want to reach 2000 words