from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- n. A diverse body of religion, philosophy, and cultural practice native to and predominant in India, characterized by a belief in reincarnation and a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- n. A religion, philosophy and culture native to India, characterized by the belief in reincarnation and a supreme oneness personified in many forms and natures.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- n. the dominant religion of India; characterized by a caste system anud belief in reincarnation.
- n. a complex of beliefs and values and customs including worship of many gods, especially the Trimurti composed of Brahma the Creator; Vishnu the preserver; and Shiva the destroyer.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- n. The religion professed by a large part of the inhabitants of India.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- n. the religion of most people in India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and Nepal
- n. a body of religious and philosophical beliefs and cultural practices native to India and based on a caste system; it is characterized by a belief in reincarnation, by a belief in a supreme being of many forms and natures, by the view that opposing theories are aspects of one eternal truth, and by a desire for liberation from earthly evils
Sorry, no etymologies found.
Parallel to that idea in Hinduism is there is also this idea that a person is supposed to perform different things in one or perhaps several lifetimes.
I look forward to the day when people like me can use the term Hinduism without fear of being misconstrued.
As a result, many people prefer not to use the term Hinduism, favoring instead Sanatana Dharma (the original term, commonly translated as "Eternal Path"), or phrases such as "Vedic tradition" or "Indian philosophy."
India's civilisation, intimately bound up from its birth with the great social and religious system which we call Hinduism, is as unique as it is ancient.
I arrived in Hinduism's holiest city on Judaism's holiest day.
Hinduism is tolerant of all religions and beliefs.
In fact, Hinduism is a religion with many gods, is that pagan worship?
Gandhi's pluralistic and creative approach to Hinduism is evident in his reading of the Bhagavad Gita, a pan-Hindu theological text that he wrote more about than any other subject in his lifetime.
I do not “attack” the Hindus for their beliefs on beef and caste but, in return, they accept that Hinduism is just one belief among many — one they are entitled to hold and teach but not to put in a position of privilege over any other belief.
What we call Hinduism is actually so multifaceted that it makes the sects of Christianity look uniform by comparison.