NON-CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW ASSIGNMENT 2
Table of Contents
Non-Christian Worldview Assignment...........................................................................................3
References........................................................................................................................................9
NON-CHRISTIAN WORLDVIEW ASSIGNMENT 3
Non-Christian Worldview Assignment
Introduction
The term "Hindu" is from Persian. Persian terms were used in the fourth century BCE to
identify or name the traditions that were practiced east of the Indus River. So, when
archaeologists look at the beginnings of Hinduism, they often start with cults that practiced the
most ancient of religions parts of the Indian subcontinent (Sugandhi, 2023). These are leading
candidates for the practices that might have come together as Hinduism. This elusive thing called
Hinduism seems to have moldered into our existence over thousands of years (Sugandhi, 2023).
Although the pot that first held something that came to be labeled as "sacred" 3,000 years ago
seems no more than an offshoot of a marvelous Indus civilization, both the pot and the
civilization remain so elusive that archaeologists dream up all kinds of scenarios to get from a
prehistoric to a historical timeline (Sugandhi, 2023).
The next 2,000 years brought even more diversification and complexity to Vedic traditions,
which merged with popular practices and gave rise to heterodox schools that threw into question
the social and spiritual authority of Brahmanical Hinduism (Sugandhi, 2023). This period,
spanning from the time of the Vedas and Upanishads to around the Common Era, yielded authors
whose names are mostly forgotten but whose formative ideas endure because they were largely
captured for posterity and accommodated into the Brahmanical authority structure(Sugandhi,
2023). Some of the authors produced quite useful forms of literature for arguments to be made
about what Hinduism began to look like in the first millennium. What we know of these largely
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forgot authors and their largely forgot ideas has been blessedly privileged—our knowledge was
largely derived from the work of those within relatively privileged learning institutions.
Modernity has, in many ways, affected our comprehension of Hinduism. We now live in an era
of unprecedented inquiry into the civilizations of antiquity, owing largely to technologies like
DNA analysis. The results of these cutting-edge studies have illuminated the large-scale, long-
distance migrations of various groups of people in humanity's prehistoric and historic
past(Sugandhi, 2023). When taken together, these population studies have painted a fairly
comprehensive picture of the ancient tableau across many parts of the world, especially in the
Indian subcontinent. Yet our picture of the ancient world—be it prehistoric or historic—may
well be overly comprehensive and, in some areas, inaccurate (Sugandhi, 2023). Hinduism's
"archaeology" is the material study of a rich mix of influential beliefs and practices that go back
to the prehistoric period; it has nothing to do with genetics.
The Question of Origin
The Bhagavad Gita has always held utmost importance and is arguably one of the most
honored religious texts of the Hindus. It has 700 verses, divided among 18 chapters(Srivastava et
al., 2013) . It is believed to contain the very essence and spirit of Hindu philosophy and is a
literary jewel because of its gorgeous poetry. The great Hindu reformer Ram Mohan Roy
considered the Bhagavad Gita to be the essence of all Hindu scriptures (Srivastava et al., 2013).
To grasp the meaning of the Bhagavad Gita, it is necessary to understand the context in which it
is set. It forms part of the great epic Mahabharata, which is traditionally credited to the sage
Vyasa. The epic revolves around the futile struggle for the throne of the kingdom of Hastinapur.
While the Pandavas rightfully inherit the throne, the Kauravas wrest it from them in a rigged
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game of chance (Srivastava et al., 2013). They then attempt to usurp the kingdom entirely, with
the aid of their uncle, the Kaurava king Dhritarashtra. The Kauravas claim that the Pandavas
have no legal due to the throne, even though the throne was once held by their father, King
Pandu. Yet, the untimely death of King Pandu transforms the life of Dhritarashtra into a
nightmare, for his children—especially Duryodhana, his eldest—come to him with a plan that
transforms their lives into a picture of legal rights gone awry (Srivastava et al., 2013).
The battle is on the verge of starting. Yet Arjuna is conflicted about what he is about to do: slay
his own kin in a conflict over a kingdom! He is the rightful ruler of this domain and yet he is
stricken with doubt about the righteousness of the course of action which this hallowed ground
of dharma supposedly mandates: kill your cousins (the Kauravas) in order to achieve the
kingdom ... you deserve it, and yet ... can you justify this ghastly war? At this high-stakes
moment, with Arjuna's internal conflict in the foreground, Krishna teaches him, and us, the key
strategies we need to make and justified to morally achieve the ends we seek, especially when
things seem to be at, or close to, a nadir (Srivastava et al., 2013).Karma Yoga is a key principle
of the Bhagavad Gita. It is the "path of union through action". Karma Yoga teaches us to perform
selfless actions while maintaining an attitude of equipoise that is undisturbed by preference or
aversion (Srivastava et al., 2013).
The Question of Identity
Hinduism teaches that humans can only achieve greatness in this world through their
direct ties to it. April Holloway expresses this succinctly: "Hinduism is not merely a religion; it
is a way of life, founded on experiences that promote and assure the achievement of the highest
order of existence—moksha, or liberation." The pathway that this ancient way offers humanity is
much maligned, often misunderstood too (Caruana SJ, 2020), by those who would justify
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heinous acts of cruelty toward animals. And yet, ascribing divine status to the cow is an act
relevant to the Earth and all its creatures. Reverence for our bovine companions is an Earth-
honoring activity.
The focus now shifts to nonhuman animals and their condition. The condition of nonhuman
animals is not something humans have caused (Caruana SJ, 2020). While we certainly manage,
dominate, and eat many of these animals, such practices modify a condition of nonhumans that
existed before the phenomenon of humans and that persists after humans are gone. To speak of
"animal production" in this context is really to speak of humans in their various practices just
mentioned—practices unworthy of humans. Animals, in contrast, have a condition that is distinct
from the servile condition of things like tables and chairs, which we might also call up in
language regarding the "production of goods."(Caruana SJ, 2020).
At times, nostalgia washes over us as we recall the whimsical moments that have punctuated our
existence in this space. We may even let out sighs that might tempt someone to think we wished
we could return to those freewheeling conditions of life in which we tooled around like animals
in the wild. Of course, we do share an animality; some scholars even insist that it's our "animal
condition." But the difference is that, in the space of social existence, we are not really the
masters of this existence (Caruana SJ, 2020). Thought and morality are the two conditions that
use us as their vehicles.
Cost-cutting and profit-maximizing are the orders of the day in contemporary agriculture, and
that is what factory farming is all about. It is not so much the individual animals that count—they
are of too little consequence for that to be even a defensible position—but the animals in the
mass, all too easily seen as mere numbers, and the return on them from the perspective of those
running the factory farm and using its "products." It is an inhumane system of raising animals.
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And if it seems to some as if saying so is a pretty trivial observation to be making, then I can see
why (Caruana SJ, 2020). But I don't see how one can very seriously defend the system without
reaching for what I think are rather strange justifications.
The Question of Meaning/Purpose
Life's purpose, as understood from the perspective of Hinduism, is simple and clear-cut.
It involves performing the right kind of sacrifices, with an emphasis on the existence of a
householder as the most commendable and worthy life for human beings to lead. According to
the Sanatana Dharma (the eternal law), the purpose of life is four-fold: to realize Dharma
(righteousness), Artha (prosperity), and Kama (pleasures of life). The last and ultimate goal is to
achieve Moksha (liberation). Moksha is by far the most intellectually and spiritually demanding
of all four goals to comprehend and to be able to implement in one’s life. To understand one’s
path toward Moksha is to understand the illusionary nature of everything one perceives around
oneself (Weider & Gutierrez, 2006).
The Question of Morality
All that Hindus do, in every aspect of their lives, is directed toward the ideal of Dharma.
They believe that it is their obligation, as individuals, to act in a way that upholds "cosmic law
and order." That is what Dharma means. This essential principle is not unique to Hindus but is
shared, in diverse formulations, by all the groups that comprise the Hindu fold. "Dharma," in the
context of all these communities, means variously, and sometimes simultaneously, "law," "duty,"
"obligation," "righteousness," "virtue," and "goodness." To achieve Dharma seems to be the very
essence of what it is to live like a Hindu, in the individual life, in community life, at the level of
the parts and the whole, and across time and space. A divine order exists among Hindus that is
experienced in the forms of divine law (dharma). Beyond being a collection of ancient texts, the
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Vedas, the oldest scriptures of Hinduism, are also the foundation for the divine order of law and
life among the followers of this ancient religion. They are also the authority from which the
order of law flows.
The Question of Destiny
Hinduism teaches that at death, the essential elements of the body disperse. The physical
body is composed of subtle forms of five basic elements that created the body and these elements
continue to exist after death. A human being enters this world with a mind full of thoughts and
exits with the same (some old, some new) collection of thoughts (Sivakumar et al., 2014). The
causal body characterized only by a sense of ego is the finer body than the two gross and subtle
forms. All three bodies (gross, subtle, and causal) exist for the fulfillment of desires (both gross
and subtle), but the soul is different from these three bodies (Sivakumar et al., 2014). To
summarize both understandings, Hinduism and Christianity teach that at death the physical body
no longer exists.
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References
Caruana SJ, L. (2020). Different religions, different animal ethics? Animal Frontiers, 10(1), 8–
14. https://doi.org/10.1093/af/vfz047
Gutierrez, B., & Weider, L. (2014). Finding your worldview: thinking christianly about the
world. B & H.
Sivakumar, A. (2014, October 12). The meaning of life according to hinduism.
https://u.osu.edu/group5/2014/10/12/the-meaning-of-life-according-to-hinduism/.
https://u.osu.edu/group5/2014/10/12/the-meaning-of-life-according-to-hinduism/
Srivastava, C., Dhingra, V., Bhardwaj, A., & Srivastava, A. (2013). Morality and moral
development: Traditional hindu concepts. Indian Journal of Psychiatry, 55(6), 283.
https://doi.org/10.4103/0019-5545.105552
Sugandhi, N. S. (2023, February 22). The archaeology of hinduism. Oxford Research
Encyclopedia of Anthropology. Retrieved September 21, 2024, from
https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190854584.013.321
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