FAQs: God, religion and soul
The nature of God, soul and evil in Hinduism and on how Hindus view other religions.
Hinduism is a pluralistic religion encompassing diverse views and accepting that all religions are valid paths to God.
What is the Hindu concept of God? Is God a spiritual being, a higher power, a force, is he impersonal?
The ancient sages through their meditation were able to have a communion with the divine, but were not able to describe that experience correctly and completely because words was not adequate. Because of the attempts of different sages to describe this experience there emerged apparently differing views. Hence the sages said, “the truth is one, but the wise state it differently”. Hence the Hindu concept of God embraces all the above aspects.
Does the Spirit of God exist in all creation -- people, animals, plants, the earth and the elements?
Yes, very much so. Hindus worship animals, plants, mountains and rivers. Hindus believe that the body is made of the five elements, sky, wind, water, earth and fire.
How does Hinduism explain the existence of Evil?
Hinduism believes in the pairs of opposites that necessarily co-exit such as joy- sorrow, life-death and pleasure-pain. Similarly good and evil co-exist. You cannot have one without the other. Whenever evil increases God appears on earth as an incarnation to vanquish evil and restore the balance.
How does Hinduism view other religions?
Hinduism is pluralistic believing there are many paths to God and reveres all religions as valid paths. Just as Hindus accept the diverse views and practices within Hinduism, they accept “other” religions as further examples of this diversity. One of the famous sayings from Hinduism is “the world is one family”. Most Hindus would not have any problem in praying to Jesus in a church and would not view this as an alien activity.
What does Hinduism teach about the soul and its relationship to God?
In Hindu philosophy there exists a universal soul known as 'param atma', which is another way of describing God. Each living being also has a soul known as 'jiv atma'. Essentially the param atma and jiv atma are the same, signifying the oneness of everything in and with the universe. Theologically this implies that God exists within each living being and we can reach Him by turning inwards.
Why do Hindus believe in reincarnation?
After the death of the person, the individual soul (jiv atma) is judged. In many other religions the soul is sent eternally to heaven or hell. In Hinduism the souls takes up another body. This is reincarnation. If the person who has died has a net accumulation of good deeds then the soul takes the body of a person having a better position in life, otherwise a worse position in life. This is known as the law of karma or actions.
How is salvation achieved?
The jiv atma keeps on moving up the hierarchy if the persons whose bodies it occupies have been consistently good. Finally it is freed from this cycle of birth and death and merges permanently with the param atma. This is salvation.
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