what is the meaning of the word hindu & when does it originate?
399481
sindhu=hindu=indu=indian\n\ni read persian or some middle east country did not had sound/letter equivalent to s and changed it into h . then greeks turned it ind+ian indian.\n\nthe word hindu was regularly used by arabs and neighbouring countries to refer to the civilization and culture established along the river sindhu. you will find this word refering to indian muslims too in history books written by middle eastern writers during muslim rules in india .
1088180
its a surname in india.\n\noh and it also means mustard in hindi.\n\nin some parts it also means opinion.
1022280
sunamwal hinduism was not started by manusmriti !! this is entirely wrong.\n\nAs per hindu philosophy, any one who believe in god, and himself and who is ever searching for Truth is a Hindu.\n\nSo any one searching for Truth is a hindu in broader terms.\n\nAs far as ritual part of hinduism is concerned, there are 100s of different cults going on in India, and it is not necessary that they represent true hinduism.\n\nThe only authentic scriptures of hinduism are vedas, upanishadas and Gita (which is a gist of all upanishadas).\n\n   Hinduism can not be bound into narrow definitions.  So anyone on the path of Truth, anyone who is not a blind follower, anyone who is humane,  is a Hindu
907982
Hinduism.  Try www.wikipedia.com for more info.
667983
May be some buddhists followed traditional Brahma statues.\n\nIt is Buddha and four faces just symbolise that he was extraordinary.\n\nThe reason why the Hindu deities are represented in this way is simple: it is to show that they are gods, that they differ from human beings and have more and greater powers that they. A symbol such as a multi-armed image, graphically portraying God's astounding versatility and superhuman might. The use of symbolism extends to every detail of the image of a deity.\n\nIt is obtuse to confuse Hinduism's images with idolatry, and their multiplicity with polytheism. They are runaways from which the sense-laden human spirit can rise for its "flight of the alone to the Alone." \n\nBehind the lush tangle of religious imagery, is a clear structure of thought. Hinduism, in its plethora of symbols and images, is endlessly complex and therefore endlessly misunderstood, but its true mission is both simple and universal: soul-enlightenment. Hinduism is goal-oriented, not way-oriented. In other words, its focus is the ultimate attainment, Self-realization, in God. Symbolism helps the seeker to concentrate his mind on the worship and meditation of god.\n\nGod's innumerable forms, and the acknowledgement of His Presence in everything, are an expression of the extraordinary vitality of India's collective imagination down through the ages.
859201
It seems to be a toss up between ancient Hindu scripture or some of the earliest Egyptian writings like the book of the dead.\n\nThe Hindu stuff is fascinating. It sounds like the same things that the quantum physics guys are saying. Makes you wonder how the Hindus knew this stuff 4000 years ago.\n\nLove and blessings Don
539447
That isnt true, hinduism originated in india but now hinduism is all over the world.
444462
Well I am a Hindu, but I don't even know how to really define what a Hindu is.  Hindus can believe in a wide variety of things and can practice many different things, and can still be considered Hindus.  So how would I even go about determining what percentage I follow?\n\nI believe in the Hindu Scriptures.  I worship all the Gods and Goddesses as manifestations of the One Supreme.  I only go to a temple occasionally but this is because of the distance from my home.  I have murtis at home that I use for worship, but I do not regularly do the normal puja.  I am limited in what I am able to do because I live with my parents and they do not approve of (or know about) my Hindu faith.  I would practice more if I were able.\n\nBut in my heart, I'm very "Hindu" I believe, even though I am Western.  My soul just wants to follow God, and it doesn't "care" so much about the method or the particular religion, just so long as it is the one that leads it most closely to it's Love, which is the Lord.
269120
The only thing I know for a fact about Hinduism is they were the 1st advanced mathemeticians, they invented the integer of zero(0) as a way of seperating positive numbers from negative numbers, something the muslims claim they invented(yet another islamic lie)
859842
I believe that Hinduism is a very ancient religion, that has some very philosophical thoughts put into its religion. I am speaking from the perspective as a Hindu myself. Some of the traditions that we have, are just so interesting, that i always want to know more abotu it. all of the religious occasions that we have, has so much ancient background into it, that it really amazes me. I am really proud of who i am, and for what i represent, cause honestly, the religion of Hinduism is really interesting to learn or know more about...i was born in America, but i taught myself alot about Hinduism and was quite amazed.
713893
Hinduism (real name Sanatan Dharma- Eternal Relgion), is basically a way of life.\n\nAnybody worshipping the God by any name or by any ritual is a Hindu in broad terms.\n\nAll the religions in the world are sub-sets of Santan Dharma for example christians follow the Bhakti Yoga path of hinduism and muslims follow the Karma Yoga path..with some deviations.\n\nThe main soul of hinduism is its deep philosophy which mainly deals with the mysteries of the Universe, creation, evolution, life, Death and God.\n\nThe philosophy of hinduism is found in Upanishadas and Gita with no fairy tales but concrete logics to show the truth
1104227
The beliefs of others are always viewed critically and found to be mythology, while one's own mythology is viewed as fact.\n\nWhat I like about the Hindu god is that you can't corner it, you can't trap it, you can't blaspheme against it because, well, because it's god. The Hindus have one of the highest concepts of god on the planet, and if people think it's stupid because there are cows involved then they simply lack the ability to understand what "infinite" means. That's why such people are limited to worshiping a finite anthropomorphic god made in their own image.
622299
it arises from sanskrit - it means a "form" especially of a God.
433702
We have India as country/ nation, Indian Sub-Continent, Indian Ocean.\n\nThe name India is derived from the river Indus.\n\nThe original name of the river came from the fact that in the north-west of the subcontinent, there are seven main tributaries of the one river. The local inhabitants therefore called it Sapta-Sindhu, meaning the land of seven rivers. As the seven tributaries are part of the one river, the entire river system came to be known in time as Sindhu.\n\nPersian explorers visited the area even in ancient times, and their practise when converting Sanskrit words was to aspirate the 'S'. Thus Sindhu became Hindu.\n\nThe Greeks, dropping the 'H', derived Indos. The Latin form of Indos is Indus, the name by which the river system is still known in the West. Its name was given to the entire subcontinent by the Romans, who adapted it to the current India.\n\nThe word India is the form used by Europeans over the ages.\n\nInterestingly the Vedas did not assign any particular name for India, although some scholars assert that references to Indu in the Rig Veda relate to India's present name. Many traditional literary/cultural works from around the globe lack definite terminology for their home culture as a political unit; China, Greece, and many other civilizations lacked fixed names for themelves in traditional literature during many early periods.
29479
- Hindus are Indians. I mean the people who lived in India was called as Hindus/Hindustani's and British by Indians according to geographic location.\n- If you are pointing about the religion which widely practiced in India then Coversion to Hinduism is very rare.\n- Because it refuses the rights to various sections of people.\n- Like Dowries, Suicide with fire on the death of husbands and more and more forced to women and the females were treated as slaves.\n- Hinduism has thousands of castes where upper castes only can offer prayer in temples.\n- Lower casts peoples denied any rights on education and not allowed to get good jobs.\n- The topic on the SIN of Hinduism is greater to explain and its outof contest now.\n- So, the conversion to Hinduism is very very rare case where a interreligion girl who did love marriage with a Hindu boy may be forced to convert to Hinduism.\n- There is history where tens of thousands of hindus are converting to Christianity and Islam.\n-------------------------
432897
av·a·tar [ávvə tr]\n(plural av·a·tars) \nnoun \n1.  incarnation of Hindu deity: an incarnation of a Hindu deity in human or animal form, especially one of the incarnations of Vishnu such as Rama and Krishna  \n2.  embodiment of something: somebody who embodies an idea or concept  \n3.  online image of somebody in virtual reality: a movable three-dimensional image used to represent somebody in cyberspace  \n4.  computer games computer game persona: in computer games, a character or persona of a player with a graphical representation  \n\n\n[Late 18th century. < Sanskrit avatāra "descent" (of a god to earth)]\nMicrosoft® Encarta® 2006. © 1993-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
1055855
Sanatan Dharma means Eternal Dharma. Hinduism is collectively all religious philosophies born in India. They are inter related even if highly diverse. Buddhism, Jaininsm, Sikhism , all are branches or sects of Hinduism. \n\n Hinduism never rejects any older theory about God , only modifies it and incorporate newer ideas. So you ger mother goddess worship, Annimism to Upanishads , Buddhism to Krishna worshippers. You will find even Hindu Atheist.\n\nThats why it was called Sanatan Dharma.\n\n"Hindu " word literally meant Indian. The name was given by persians. and original word was Sindhu but they had no "s" sound or something. Then it reached Greece and Greeks turned the word in "Ind" and added customeary "ia" to it and the word India came into existence.\n\nSo Indian and Hindu were synonums till Semetic religions like Islam entered India.\nregarding flameslivewire post: \n\nWell you should not learn Hinduism from Islamic sites. We know there is no mohammad in Vedas and Hinduism does not forbid Iconworship. It says it is first step towards meditation. \n\nYes, we believe in one god that is formless , yet we also believe god is in ever one and everywhere. Only non Hindus confuse it with polythiesm. even uneducated Hindu villager will tell you there is only one god. \n\nMuslims use symbols too moon, kaba , black stone situated there and Kuran and number 786, so does christians. Cross is very much a symbol.\n\nWe are just honest enough to accept we need symbols to worship god.