How Does Hinduism Affect The World

Religion, has been a sensitive topic for ages. Rituals, practices and the ideology behind many religions, have both positive and negative perceptions in today’s society. Hinduism is no exception. “Hinduism, is the oldest and third largest religion in the world; Social changes and increased diversity are making it harder than ever to uphold their beliefs and values”. The following article will outline Hinduism, it effects on humankind and the universe, its difficulties and issues and how it as helped.
Hinduism, is the third largest religion in the world; it accounts for about 15% of the world’s population. It is predominantly practiced in India, Nepal, and Mauritius. Hinduism originated in the prehistoric times, about 500 BCE and 300 CE. As
Hinduism unlike other religions, has no set beliefs, doctrine, leadership, messiah, school of philosophy or a God. The common principles followed are dharma and karma. Many communities are divided into castes, linguistic communities, economic classes, and regional groups the caste system is most dominant way of order. Through hierarchical view Brahmins are at the top of the Caste system followed by Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Shudras. The Brahmins perform sacrifices to keep Gods satisfied and in turn maintains dharma on earth. The Kshatriyas keep social order and the Vaishyas who are usually merchants and cultivators provide material needs for the society. The shudras are the manual laborers, they create conditions for purity necessary to do the rituals. The goal is that humans perform sacrifices for the gods. Hindu’s believe the universe is originated in a dream of Brahma, the creator God. Karma is viewed by instances where good deeds, words, thoughts, and commands are an aid for a person. The bad ones lead to detrimental effects for oneself. To liberate oneself, he or she must renounce all opinions to cross over to the other side and become the true to themselves. To be liberated, people are continuously reborn after death until they can break free from this cycle and reach
“One of the most widely known of the Dharmashastras, the Manu Smirti, or Laws of Manu, depicts women as being entirely subservient to men: a girl is governed by her father, a married woman by her husband, a widow by her sons” (patheos.com). Another issue is that the caste system, which is widely used, is a sign oppression. It normally only works in a perfect world that is structurally organized by only those individuals. Hinduism is a polytheistic and due to the sacrifices, they make, it is believed any action that harms another being, whether it be a hierarchical person or an insect, it is said to affect every other being. Some customs however require that people sacrifice themselves. While restrictions from eating meat were introduced early on the rules for eating meat have changed. The four Castes now specify which type of meat is allowed for human consumption and under what scenario. Because of the diverse amount of people who follow the tradition, conflict can easily arise from different viewpoints. This can lead to differences of viewpoints and even