Hinduism

3 Pages 648 Words

Outline
Working Titles: Hinduism
Introduction: Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest major religions. It is referred to as Sanatan Ved Dharma, the eternal faith. It is a very complex religion with many controversies.
I. The religion does not have any one founder, or any one doctrine to which arguments can be solved by.
A. There is also no one point in time when the religion is believed to have begun.
II. Hinduism believes that there is only one supreme god called Brahman.
A. Hinduism is mostly associated with a multiplicity of Gods and it does not practice the worship of one particular deity.
B. There are thousands of Gods and Goddesses in the Hinduism faith, all representing the many aspects of the Brahman.
1. Brahman is the 'impersonal' God, or the Universal Soul.
III. There are a number of different rituals that are practiced in the Hindu faith.
A. Nomenclature, or the naming of a child, is usually done on the 10th day after a child is born.
1. The priest performs the ceremony, summoning the blessings of Gods and Goddesses.
IV. Marriage is a step towards spiritual perfection in the viewpoint of the Hindus.
A. The parents of the bride and the groom arrange the marriage.
B. The date and time of marriage is determined after consulting the almanac.
C. Divorce is rarely used as a solution to a damaged marriage.
D. Marriage is considered to be as much between families as between individuals; it is performed by having the bride and the groom walk around the sacrificial fire seven steps together.
1. Fire is seen as pure, and the light that it emits is symbolic of wisdom.
2. By holding the bride’s hands during the ceremony, the groom accepts his new wife’s responsibilities.
E. Kissing does not occur anywhere in the ceremony, it takes place in privacy, for a personal relationship.
V. There are different types of dietary restrictions, depending upon whether or not a Hindu is a vegetarian.
A. If a Hindu is a...