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Hinduism: Life
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Hinduism is not a religion in the sense other religions are known, its one of the only religions which has no known founder. It is more of a way of life based on ancient teachings. This makes it a tolerant and peace loving religion. The root of the Hindu dharma lies in the Indian subcontinent near the Indus valley, which was then known as the Sindhu valley. The Indus valley was home to an advanced civilization as early as 5000 BC. At its peak this civilization stretched across the whole of Sindh, Baluchistan, Punjab, the northern Rajisthan and Gujrat.
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Another distinctive feature of Hinduism is belief in the transmigration of souls, or reincarnation. Associated with this belief is the conviction that all living things are part of the same essence. Individuals pass through cycles of birth and death. This means that an individual soul may return many times in human, animal, or even vegetable form. What a person does in the present life will affect the next life. This is the doctrine of karma, the law of cause and effect.
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Although Hinduism has no sacramental system, the term it uses for special purifications, Samskara, has been adapted by Christians as the standard word for "sacrament." Hindus disagree on the actual number of samskaras, some counting as many as forty, including the household ceremonies previously described. However, four at least are commonly recognized as primary, and coincide with the most important events of a person's life: birth, initiation, marriage and death.
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Hinduism emphasizes the necessity of escaping from material life and of extinguishing desire. Hinduism is very ritualistic and includes extreme self denial and self punishment. Cows are considered sacred as are rivers. Most Hindus believe in the transmigration of souls (reincarnation), where when a person dies, his soul enters the body of a newborn child or even the body of an animal. Over and over. Therefore, devout Hindus will not kill even a fly.
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A note of the element of ahimsa in Hinduism is vital to understanding the society that has arisen around some of its principles. While Jainism as it was practiced was certainly a major influence on Indian society, what with its exhortation of strict veganism and non-violence as ahimsa, the term first appeared in the Upanishads. Thus, an ingrained and externally motivated influence led to the development of a large section of Hindus who grew to embrace vegetarianism in a bid to respect higher forms of life, restricting their diet to plants and vegetables. About 30% of today's Hindu population, especially in orthodox communities in South India, in certain northerly states like Gujurat, and in many Brahmin enclaves around the subcontinent, is vegetarian. Thus, while vegetarianism is not dogma, it is recommended as a sattwic (purifying) lifestyle.
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Pilgrimage is not mandatory in Hinduism as it is in Islam. Nevertheless, many Hindus who can afford to do so undertake one or more pilgrimages during their lifetimes. There are many Hindu holy places (tīrtha-sthānas) in India. One of the most famous is the ancient city of Varanasi, otherwise known as Benaras or Kashi. Other holy places in India include Kedarnath and Badrinath in the Himalayas, the Jagannath temple at Puri, Rishikesh and Haridwar in the foothills of the Himalayas, Allahabad (... known by the ancient name Prayāg, located at the confluence of multiple holy rivers), Rameshwaram in the South and Gaya in the east. The largest single gathering of pilgrims is during the annual Kumbh Mela fair held in one of four different cities on a rotating basis.
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