The Rig Veda is a story about the creation of the world. This religious writing uses the story of
Purusha to explain how the world was created by him. It is also used to explain the beginning of
the caste system by saying the leaders got born out of his mouth, and the
peasants got created from his feet. (His
mouth became the Brahman; his two arms were made into the rajanya; his two
thighs the vaishas; from his two feet the shudra was born. Worlds
of History p.92)
The Upanishads are a collection of allegories
about the soul of the universe, Bramhan.
To show its point the story tells of how a tree can be grown from a seed
that can not be seen, and of how when salt is dissolved in water it can be
tasted, but not seen (Worlds of History p.95,96). This shows that what is not seen can be there
and that what is not seen can grow into something that can affect your life.
The Bhagavad Gita is an interesting poem
about how life never dies, how it just keeps going, death into life. It exemplifies this by using the story of
Arjuna, a king who is forced to fight against his fellow family. When on the battlefield, Arjuna starts to
have doubts about killing his own family.
All of a sudden, his chariot driver says I am not your chariot driver,
but the Lord Krishna, who then proceeded to tell Arjuna about his beliefs (Worlds of History p. 97-101).
One of the
main ways that I see the early Hindu religion differing from the Egyptians and
Mesopotamians is that in the Egyptians and Mesopotamians religions the souls went
to an afterlife, where in the Hindu religion you were just born again, and
again, and again, and the only way to get out of this cycle is to find peace
with Brahman.
I find the ancient Egyptians beliefs more appealing because
the one death lines up more closely with my belief in Christ.
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