Buddhism And Ancient Buddhism in India

Buddhism in India began with the life of Siddhartha Gautama (ca. 563-483 B.C.), a prince from the small Shakya Kingdom located in the foothills of the Himalayas in Nepal. Brought up in luxury, the prince abandoned his home and wandered forth as a religious beggar, searching for the meaning of existence. The stories of his search presuppose the Jain tradition, as Gautama was for a time a practitioner of intense austerity, at one point almost starving himself to death. He decided, however, that self-torture weakened his mind while failing to advance him to enlightenment and therefore turned to a milder style of renunciation and concentrated on advanced meditation techniques. Eventually, under a tree in the forests of Gaya (in modern Bihar), he resolved to stir no farther until he had solved the mystery of existence. Breaking through the final barriers, he achieved the knowledge that he later expressed as the Four Noble Truths: all of life is suffering; the cause of suffering is desire; the end of desire leads to the end of suffering; and the means to end desire is a path of discipline and meditation. Gautama was now the Buddha, or the awakened one, and he spent the remainder of his life traveling about northeast India converting large numbers of disciples. At the age of eighty, the Buddha achieved his final passing away (parinirvana ) and died, leaving a thriving

India Religion

IT IS IMPOSSIBLE TO KNOW THE RELIGIONS IN INDIA without understanding its religious beliefs and practices, which have a large impact on the personal lives of most Indians and influence public life on a daily basis. Indian religions have deep historical roots that are recollected by contemporary Indians. The ancient culture of South Asia, going back at least 4,500 years, has come down to India primarily in the form of religious texts. The artistic heritage, as well as intellectual and philosophical contributions, has always owed much to religious thought and symbolism. Contacts between India and other cultures have led to the spread of Indian religions throughout the world, resulting in the extensive influence of Indian thought and practice on Southeast and East Asia in ancient times and, more recently, in the diffusion of Indian religions to Europe and North America. Within India, on a day-to-day basis, the vast majority of people engage in ritual actions that are motivated by religious systems that owe much to the past but are continuously evolving. Religion, then, is one of the most important facets of Indian history and contemporary life.

RELIGION AND MYTHOLOGY

India as a country has been bestowed with several nomenclatures. Right from unity in diversity to birthplace of Hinduism and Sanskrit, the land has always been admired and revered for its rich cultural legacy and variety that it offers. India is a story, a legend, folklore and an anecdote in itself. It needs no introduction, no specific mention. It has continued to thrive for centuries and there are bright chances of it being the next super power. The country has always nourished numerous cultures, traditions and religions. All the major religions thrive in India and none of them have ever felt insecure or unprotected. That’s the beauty of the land.

Go to any part of rich India and you will find numerous temple and shrines and all of them contain their own unique stories. We have always believed in beautiful and fascinating description of Indian Gods and Goddesses. Many stories have been told and retold in different fashions about how particular God originated in a particular place. All the descriptions of deities are believable and they convey just one message of Good winning over the evil. Gods in Indian religion have always fought monsters and even

The Delhi Sultanate - Religion

The Sultanate time was a period of great transformation in religious ideas. Not only was the new religion of Islam making significant inroads into the country, Hinduism was also going through a period of re-thinking with the Bhakti movement. To complete the picture even Islam was going through such a movement, with the Sufi saints.

Hinduism ll had the two main sects of Vaishnavas (worshippers of Lord Vishnu) and Shaivas (worshippers of Lord Shiv). A Bengal school teacher, Chaitanya was an active personality in the Vaishnavas ect and travelled across the country teaching as many people as he could about its teachings. Islam meanwhile was also divided into two main sects, Sunni and Shia . There was conflict between the two as the Sultans were Sunnis and were keen on rooting out the Shia power in India, which had survived in some areas.

The Bhakti movement began with the aim to reform Hinduism and make it a religion to which the common people could relate to. It sought to end the undue influence the priests had over the religion and stressed on the idea of Bhakti (personal devotion to God). Bhakti saints travelled far and wide and spread their

Aryans, The Vedic Age - Religion

The Aryans evolved a diverse set of religious beliefs, blending Aryan and non-Aryan ideas. The Indus Valley Civilization worshipped the Mother Goddess, the Bull, The Horned Deity and sacred trees. Such ideas continued with the Aryans, and have continued within present day Hinduism. Some of the more abstract ideas of the Vedas appealed to few, most preferred more earthy forms of worship. The religion of the Rig Veda, although sharing many similarities with Hinduism was nevertheless distinct from it.

The earliest religious ideas of the Aryans were as with most ancient civilizations, nature and animal worship. Whatever they feared or they could not explain they attributed to divine forces, and personified them into male and female gods. For instance Indra, was the Aryan 'superman', a powerful God, who could overcome the most powerful enemies. He was the god of thunder, the rainmaker and could defeat forces which the Aryans had not been able to overcome. Another important God of the Aryans was Agni , the God of Fire. Agni was an important God, who the people paid great tributes to. Marriages and other important religious activities were solemnized in the presence of fire, a practice that still continues in Hinduism today. Fire was considered the purest of all the five elements, and was held in high esteem.