Hinduism is one of the many religions in the Indian subcontinent, other common religions are Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. Hinduism is not one religion alone, it is made up of many religions, cultures, beliefs, and traditions from areas spread throughout India. The name Hinduism was given in the nineteenth century by foreigners, it was given to the people that lived in the region of the Indus River no matter what their religious beliefs were at the time. Most of the separate religions included within Hinduism have been around for ages, more often than not the traditions of the separate cultures have survived the test of time. A name preferred nowadays, in place of Hinduism is Sanatana Dharma, Sanatana means eternal or ageless and Dharma means religion, this name has been given because of the length that the many Hinduism cultures have been around.
Within the many religions of Sanatana Dharma many cultural and spiritual beliefs and traditions are practiced: sensuality, asceticism, single deities, numerous deities, and various other traditions opposite each other. In India there are 330 million deities worshiped, the divine has countless faces. There is a diversity of beliefs and ways of celebrating these beliefs and the deities that go along with them. Although the variety of Sanatana Dharma religions have many different qualities, they also have similarities. All use the Vedas(the religious texts often referred to as the foundation of Sanatana Dharma) and other scriptures, all use meditation in their daily and religious habits, all use the law of Karma within their daily lives, and they all believe that the cause of suffering is ignorance of one’s self(knowledge that is learned through meditation and education).
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