Indian Sub-continent
Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism
Hinduism
Hinduism is an Indian religion, widely practiced in South Asia. It has been called the oldest religion in the world. Some scholars refer to it as Santana Dharma, the “eternal tradition”, or the “eternal way”. Scholars regard Hinduism as fusion or synthesis of various Indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots.
Hinduism unlike Christianity or Islam does not have a founder or “the Scripture” like the Bible or the Quran. The major Hindu Scriptures includes; the Vedas and Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Agamas. In Tantric tradition, the Agamas refer to the teachings of Shiva to Shakti.
Hinduism includes a diversity of ideas on spirituality and traditions. Hindus can choose to be polytheistic (believer of many gods), monotheistic (believer of one god), atheist (believe in no god) or humanist. Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include the four goals of human life, namely Dharma (ethics/duty), Artha (prosperity), Kama (action, intent and consequences) and Moksha (liberation/ salvation). Hinduism prescribes the eternal duties, such as honesty, non-injury to living beings (ahimsa), patience, forbearance, self-restraints and compassion among others.
The four largest denominations of Hinduism are the Vaishnavism (worship of Vishnu), Shaivism (worship of Shiva), Shaktism (worship of Shakti or Devi) and Smartism (worship of all major deities).
Atheism in Hinduism
Atheism (disbelief in gods or God) has been a major view point in Hindu philosophy. In Indian philosophy, three schools of thoughts are commonly referred to as” nastika”for rejecting the doctrine of Vedas: Jainism, Buddhism and Charvaka. Among the various schools of Hindu philosophy, Samkhya, Yoga and Mimamsa while not rejecting the Vedas or the Brahman, typically reject a personal God, creator God, or a God with attributes.
Charvaka, a materialistic and atheistic school of Indian philosophy goes back to 6th century BCE. It rejected metaphysical concepts like extracorporeal soul, reincarnation, the afterlife, the efficiency of religious rites, the concept of heaven and hell, accumulation of merit and demerit through performance of certain action. Charvakas also refused to ascribe supernatural causes to natural phenomena. Charvaka philosophy appears to have died out sometime after 1200 CE.
Ajivikas was a movement (extinct from 13th century CE), whose founder was, Makkhali Gosala. Gosala was a contemporary of Mahavira and Gautama Buddha. Gosala and his followers denied the existence of a creator God.
“There is no heaven, no final liberation, nor any soul in another world. Nor do the actions of the four castes, orders etc., produce any real effect’.
- The Sarvadarsanasanghra, attributed to Brihaspati
In the sixth century BCE, two new religions arose in India; Jainism and Buddhism. Both the religions did not accept the authority of the Vedas and Upanishads and both rejected the Hindu rigid caste system. Both protested the priestly rituals and sacrifices of the time.
