Ever since I was young, I've always had this fascination with religion. Or maybe it wasn't "religion" but it was the question about what is beyond our thoughts and world, who created us and made us who we are. I grew up with agnostic parents but my dad would still observe some aspects of Buddhism. I remember a time I was on a school bus going home, I think first grade, and the girl who sat beside me asked, "So, what church do you go to?" I didn't know how to answer her because I didn't know what church is. And she was just as confused when I finally gave her a response that didn't quite match her expectations. Honestly, I don't know what I said, but I just remember she had a very complexed look on her face. I didn't have a formal introduction to religion until I got to Middle School, when we started to learn about the different histories and cultures of the world. But even then, it was very basic information. I later went to church and came to believe in God and practiced Christianity for over 20 years. But something deep inside me has this curiosity of what other religions say about different theologies.
A week ago, I started diving into Hinduism. It's very complex, being a religion that is thousands of years old, with many gods, writings, teachings, prayers, and fancy yoga. My research really stems from the question I had regarding the origins of good and evil, and it's a continuing thought/question I had about the origins of sin in the Bible (link to a previous entry I wrote almost a year ago). I know a few things from Hinduism and thought I would start with this religion to see what they say about good and evil. I think instead of me explaining Hinduism, there are a lot of resources and videos out there that probably can explain it better. Here's one that I find the most informative and humorous but not too overly complicated. This video just gives a very broad overview of the religion but just touches on karma and duhka. This article explains things a lot better with regards to suffering.
Hindu's don't necessarily believe there is a god that is responsible for evil in the world. Rather, as long as people are in this physical world, they are subjected to suffering (duhka) that can be a result from bad karma, or bad actions. And these bad actions are a manifestations of people's lower consciousness from a disconnection from gods and selfish thoughts. As long as people act according to their darma (personal moral obligations or proper behavior according to how they are born into their current life), then they will experience less suffering later or in the next life. And to get out of this cycle of suffering, birth and rebirth, they have to continually act according to their darma by prayer, meditation and study their religions text to achieve moshka, or the final escape from their physical reality into brahman, the ultimate reality and connection to the universe.
But one thing that Hinduism doesn't explain very well is natural disasters that can also result into sufferings. Like say, a landslide that wipes out a village or earthquakes. I think Hindus will also explained that these are results from our own bad actions that cause the gods to act this way.
The problem with suffering is the shame that one has to endure during this time of suffering. It's the question some people may asked themselves, "What did I do wrong to deserved this?" whether it's their fault or not. It's always that feeling of bad karma because of bad darma. It's not questioning if you have a unique soul and that you are not really reincarnated from a previous life of a person who did a lot of bad things. And as much as people will pray, meditate, and try to do good, it's always work to achieve the approval from gods so you won't be reincarnated into a worst life than before. It's the guilty feeling one may have even if they already right what they did wrong. Don't get me wrong. If you truly feel guilt and shame of a wrong-doing and you truly did something wrong, confessing your actions and making things right is a show of your character. But carrying guilt and shame for an extended period of time is not healthy.
I'm still learning about the Hindu religion, so I will probably dive a little bit deeper to see if they have a philosophy on love and mercy. But all in all, the Hindu religion didn't answer my question on the origins of good and evil. It's not really in their vocabulary, per se, but they do acknowledge that evil exist. In a much later blog, I may do some comparisons on these theologies and philosophies to pick on the similarities and differences between the religions.
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