Reflection

          I learned many new things about Hinduism from doing this project. Previously, I had not actually known very much about eastern religious traditions and I thought of Hinduism as very closely related to Buddhism, though of course after completely this project and the last, I know that the religions are worlds apart. One aspect of Hinduism that I previously had not known anything about was the caste system. I had no idea that people could be separated into classes by religion, and had never heard of anything similar. I do wish I could have researched more about that specific aspect of the Hindu culture because I find it very interesting and was not able to research in as in depth of a way as I would have liked. I'm interested in discovering why specifically this part of the ancient culture of Hinduism has outlasted many other traditions, and how it affects the lives of the people who currently practice the Varna tradition in modern day India. I found many differences between the Eastern religion I had been rated as most like, Taoism, and Hinduism. The most obvious difference was the way knowledge and understanding was transferred.  Taoism passes on knowledge by word while Hinduism requires studying doctrine and constant physical involvement in the religion. Hinduism could never appeal to me as a religion because I find it difficult to imagine learning the religion and how to be in a constant search for the liberation from the Vedas and the interpretations of other people that are the Upanishads.

The All Important Atman

The Atman in the Hindu society is the purist form of self. Atman translates into 'eternal self' directly. The Atman can be defined most similarly as the 'soul' recognized in Hindu belief. The pure essence underlying the falseness of other explanations of a person is the Atman. People describe themselves using material characteristics, from what I have researched, the Atman is the true soul an descriptor of a being. The idea of Atman aligns with the belief in reincarnation that is prominent in Buddhism as well. 

"Concealed in the heart of all beings is the Atman, the Spirit, the Self; smaller than the smallest atom,
greater than the vast spaces…"-The Upanishad scripture