Karma

Hindus have confidence in rebirth. The essential conviction is that a man's destiny is resolved by his deeds. These deeds in Hinduism are called 'Karma'. A spirit who does great Karma in this life will be granted with a superior life in the following incarnation. Souls who do terrible Karma will be rebuffed for their wrongdoings, if not in this incarnation then in the following incarnation and will keep on being conceived in this world over and over. The great souls will be freed from the hover…

new things each time and working through its karma. This cycle of reincarnation is called samsara” (Kowalczyk). According to Robert Stapleton's class notes on World Religions, "Salvation is the release from the wheel of life, the cycle of rebirths, through which we must work to better ourselves, and realize our oneness with Brahman. It must be worked out through…

Part I: Krishna’s Worldviews This paper will examine, in two parts, the worldviews of Krishna and Hinduism. The first part of the paper will examine four of the worldviews covered in class in relation to how they align with the beliefs of Krishna and Hinduism. The second part of the paper will examine a flaw in the logic of the worldviews and a way to remedy the flaw in the logic. Excerpts from the Bhagavad Gita as well as from the Upanishads will support analysis of the worldviews. Condition…

Belief systems in Ancient India and Greece have affected each government in different ways. In India their religion was the basis for creating a strict social structure and determining who was in charge, while in Greece, philosophy and humanism were widely popular and this lead to a looser, more people driven government and social structure. India created their social structure and government around their religion. The caste system, their social structure, was completely based off of their…

Hindus believe in reincarnation, rebirth of the soul into another form. When you are reincarnated, you move up or down in the caste system. The ultimate goal in life (when reincarnation stops) is called moksha. To achieve moksha, you have to have good karma, or actions you do in this lifetime that will affect your next lifetime. Hinduism has had an enormous impact on India, and Southeast Asia. It influences simplicity, self-sufficiency and a desire to lead a less material life. Attraction to…

While both of these traditions have coexisted side by side and their influences on each other can be seen in certain aspects there are several distinct differences between the two traditions. For example both religions include a belief in Karma; however, there are differences in how each tradition treats or includes the concept in their tradition. Using the previous overview of Hinduism as a basis for comparison we can look further to the differences and similarities of these two…

Death and the afterlife are two important topics in religions with most having different ideas about what happens when someone dies as well as where they go or become. Hinduism and Buddhism are often grouped together when discussing religions, however, when it comes to these topics they have very different ideas. At the surface they may seem similar to an outsider but when really studied it is obvious that they are two totally separate concepts. They have fragments of their thoughts and rites…

The religions Hinduism and Buddhism share very few similarities. The things they share in common are very broad, but discuss a lot about the foundations to the religion. Hinduism and Buddhism were created in two very different time periods. The difference in age creates a lot of changes in the structure of the religions such as the gods believed in, or the absence of gods entirely. Buddhists and Hindus are both sprouted form India, but are not both mainly Indian religions. Buddhism and Hinduism…

What happens when we die, will anyone remember all of our good deeds? Buddhists believe that the good karma that you created in this life will help you through the realms of death. Some Buddhists believe that during the interval of death and rebirth, one will have conscious experiences and it is in this state that one’s mind is the oat vulnerable for the…

In Japanese culture, it is a common belief that everything in life thing has a spirit. The spirit world exists apart from the human world, however, the two coexisting realms have the ability to influence each other. In the natural world, humans often tend to disregard the conservation of the environment around them. Instead, they become fixated on desires stemmed from greed. Director, Hayao Miyazaki demonstrates many instances of the idea of environmentalism in our world, in his film Spirited…