Key Beliefs in Hinduism and Mother Teresa's Sisters of Charity

Hinduism
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Hinduism
A similarity between Christianity, Judaism, Islam, and other Abrahamic religions is that their emergence can be placed within time and space by examining historical accounts. Time in the sense that we can estimate when they began and space to pinpoint where they started and the subsequent. However, this is different for Hinduism. According to Merryman (2018), there is no definitive starting point, no founder, and no single text in the history of Hinduism. Interestingly, even the term Hinduism, as it is known today, was an attempt by colonial Britain to group all the indigenous Indian religions into a single tradition, which would be easier to shape and control (Heath, 2012). While the current paper does not provide a definitive explanation on the origin of Hinduism, it investigates some of the critical elements that make it unique from other religions and strives to place it in time and history along with historical developments.
Hindu Deities
The best place to start in an attempt to understand Hinduism is to interrogate their central beliefs. The culture, traditions, customs, beliefs, values, worldviews, and attitudes are shaped from these central beliefs. Like the other mentioned three religions, Hindus recognize one God, the Brahman, the cause of and foundation of existence. India is a diverse society with over 461 tribal communities spread across India's vast expanse. Each of these tribes may have its divinities for worship. However, these are just different approaches to the ultimate power (Evans & Sahgal, 2021). Ultimately, there are three most important deities in the Indian religion in the Trimurti: Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva. To this end, it is clear that Hinduism deviates from Islam in terms of deities and appears to show similarities in which Christians have God (the father), the Son, and the Holy Spirit, also known as the Holy Trinity. In Hinduism, Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva form the Triumvirate (Trimurti) responsible for creation and knowledge.
Brahma
The depiction of Brahma is often a golden or red complexioned and bearded man. The man has four faces and hands holding a book, a bowl of alms, prayer beads, and a bow. Each of these items has a special meaning. For instance, the prayer beads (or rosary) symbolize times, the bowl of alms symbolizes the potential for creation, and the book (the Vedas) represents the idea that Brahma makes all knowledge possible (BBC, 2021). Additionally, the four faces and hands are symbolic of a complex four-square capacity described in the four Vedas, yugas, varnas, direction, and stages of life. Veda (knowledge in Sanskrit) is a collection of hymns or poems composed in the 2nd millennium by Indo-European-speaking people in Northwest India (Tatavarthy & Sastry, 2019). The Veda formed a liturgical structure that grew around rituals and sacrifices through chanting. The four Vedas include the Rigveda (knowledge of the verses), Yajurveda (sacred formulas), Samaveda (melodies and chants), and Atharvaveda (incantations). In his depiction, Brahma is seated on a lotus, and a goose is his mount. Some accounts of the Brahma suggest that the Goddess Saraswati is Brahma's wife, representing the creative energy and knowledge that Brahma possesses.
Albeit in varying versions, Brahma is a crucial figure in the Indian creation legends. In some Puranas, for instance, Brahma is self-created through a golden egg. The Vaishnava accounts of creation, on the other hand, narrate that Brahma was born in a lotus from the navel of the Vishnu. Shaktism, a goddess-centric sect of Hinduism, believes that Devi is the creator of the universe, including Brahma (Tatavarthy & Sastry, 2019). In Modern Hinduism, Brahma is less revered compared to ancient texts, and fewer temples are increasingly dedicated to the deity. The origin of the Brahma is essential because it provides spatial and time inferences that can be used to estimate the origin of Hinduism. From this perspective, it can be concluded that Hinduism began earlier than the 2nd millennium.
Vishnu
Vishnu is the second of the three essential deities in Hinduism. There are numerous depictions of Vishnu, both fearsome and benevolent. In the latter, Vishnu is depicted as an omniscient deity resting on the serpent Adishesha's coils. Vishnu is called upon whenever the world is threatened by destructive, evil, and chaos forces (Tatavarthy & Sastry, 2019). Unlike Brahma, who holds creation and knowledge powers, Vishnu is the God of restoration and preservation. He also oversees karma, reality, and Moksha. He is essential, the protector of good. When he is called upon, the Vishnu descends to earth in the form of an avatar (or incarnation) in a mission of restoring cosmic order. While there are ten primary avatars of Vishnu, the Krishna and Rama avatars are the most common in Indian folklore.
Shiva
Shaivism is one of the significant Hinduism traditions. Here, Shiva is considered the supreme being. Within the Trimurti, Shiva is called the destroyer and is often depicted in fierce from while slaying demons (Fleming, 2018). However, he also has a benevolent side. In the Shaivite tradition, for instance, Shiva is the supreme being who not only creates but transforms and protects the universe. Shiva is also the God of time, meditation, dance, and yoga, apart from being a destroyer.
Role of Three Deities in the Kalpic Cycle of Life
Each of the three deities represents a stage in the life cycle. Brahman is the creator indicating the beginning of life; Vishnu is the preserver whose work is to protect what was created. Shiva is the destroyer who embodies the end of life into incarnation. According to the Vedas, life and time are cyclical. In other words, following death, the soul leaves the body and is reborn (reincarnation) into a new being. The constant cycle of birth and rebirth is referred to as samsara, in which karma determines the qualit...