FREE ESSAY ON HINDUISM BY JUSTIN PAGET

HINDUISM BY JUSTIN PAGET

Essay-Hinduism and Buddhism
The idea of "religare" or binding oneself back to one's religion is key to many
religions. In Christianity, we bind our selves back to the truth unveiled through
scripture, myths, tradition, and the church's teachings. Hinduism, however has a much
different interpretation of the idea of binding oneself back. There really is not a whom
or what that I can put my finger on. We all came from one God and we must get back to
God. But how can one go about doing that? A Hindu would say to free ourselves from the
desires and illusions present here on Earth. To free ourselves from the material
possessions and pleasures would be to obtain Moksha. Moksha, for Hindus, would be the
point of freedom and the attachment to Brahman. In a way this is extremely ironic, for in
the act of binding oneself back, a Hindu would obtain liberation. To me, these terms seem
directly contradictory, however, this is proof to the fact that our minds cannot
understand certain aspects of religion, and that we are limited. 
The goal of a Hindu is to release themselves, but also to gain a complete understanding
of life. By doing this, they are freed from the continuous cycle of reincarnation. There
are, as Huston Smith tells us, four paths to the goal. The yogas are the specific
direction taken to unleash the human potential of Moksha. The goal of the yogas is to
come in to and remain in touch with Brahman. The first way to God is through knowledge.
The three steps taken on this path is learning, thinking, and the third, a little more
complex, consists of separating one's material ego form one's Atman. The second way to
God is through love. The love we show to others can be translated into a love for God.
The third path to God is though work. Through a devotion to one's work, God can be seen
through the highest rewards if done so wisely. The final Hindu path to God is through
Psychophysical Exercises. In this way, a Hindu experiments with mental exercises and
observing their effects. Not all Hindus take the same path to God, but the goal is
identical. 
The Buddha made much reform to the path to God. Well, not so much a reform as perhaps an
alternate route. He called this the Middle Path. A way between sensuality and asceticism,
the Middle Path lay through intelligence. The main revolutionary idea behind the Buddha's
teachings was that he rejected asceticism, which at that time had been a popular belief
and a socially approved route to salvation. Not only did he reject self-denial, but the
worship of gods. In his renowned Eightfold Path, there is never any mention of worship.
Also, he refuted the idea that one had to pass through countless rebirths to reach the
Brahmin caste before being able to obtain salvation. For this very reason, Buddhism
ultimately failed in India, because of the widespread control by the Brahmins. 
The most challenging concept for the Hindus to except was that the Buddha taught that the
soul did not exist. Hindus thought that the Atman, or soul, was actually God. The Buddha
reasoned that if the soul is purely God, the it is not individual and therefore is an
An-Atman, or no soul. The achievement of liberation then for Buddhist takes form in
Nirvana. Nirvana occurs when people release their yearning for a false selfhood, which is
similar to Hinduism. Paradoxically, as with Hinduism, the act of extinguishing this
yearning occurs simultaneously with an enlightenment.
Studying Hinduism and Buddhism has been surely an enlightenment for me. To my amazement,
Hinduism actually addresses a few questions I have had before. I've wondered about the
way life is connected and how life is a flowing circle of life and death. Hinduism is
based primarily on the idea of Brahman and that everything is one. The idea that material
positions are basically meaningless is something that I dread to think about, because I
am most certaintly a victim of todays society based on wealth and power. It infuriates me
to think that my possessions are meaningless, but for some reason I am drawn to these
teachings of Hinduism. The majority of teachings of all the religions we have studied so
far has made sense to me, and this is the most puzzling conclusion I am faced with. What
does this mean? I have found something here and I am utterly confused. How the heck can
more than one religion make sense to me? It is almost as though I could draw parts form
different religions and form something new and rounded. This of course is a ludicrous
idea, for thousands of years of traditions stand in my way. I just wish there would be
some way to wipe the slate clean and rework the idea of God in a complete universal
sense. I sometimes have the tendency to view our ancestors and traditions to be
inhibiting us from reaching some far off realization that no Buddha or Brahmin or anyone
has ever obtained. In Conclusion, I do wish to continue studying religions beyond high
school maybe it will lead me to some discovery.