Purpose in different Religions and Belief Systems
One of the main misconception seculars and atheists alike have in common is that ALL religions are the same. In this thread, I will attempt show that different religions have different purposes for their followers.Comments are welcome as long as it is within the concept of the thread.
Hinduism
I will start with Hinduism - the religion which I studied the most.
The purpose of Hinduism is to obtain Moksha. What is Moksha? In layman's term, it is a condition of existence where the Soul have matured and have severed itself from the Cycle of Reincarnation and Rebirths.
In Hinduism, a person who are born is bound to die. We all have an expired date on our body somewhere as soon as we came out of the womb and draw our first breath. But unlike the physical body which we are born into, the metaphysical body and the Soul is two different thing altogether. The Metaphysical body (or the Mind, Manasu as South Indians calls it) is nurtured along the way. As we grow up, experience things in this World, our metaphysical body (the Mind) grows along with it and influence our actions. That is why in Hinduism a person is held accountable only after he had reach the age of 15 (or 16) years old.
When we live our lives, we will accumulate what known as Karma - seeds form by our actions. Pu-ni-yam (Tamil for Merit) and Pa-a-mum (Tamil for for Sin). Think it as Deposit (Merit) and Credit (Sin). When we commit good action, there is a deposit going into our "account" and when we commit sin, there is a reduction from this deposit in form of credit.
Long term goal of a Soul is to accumulate higher interest rate so he or she could be reborn into a higher position where he or she will be able to do more good deeds and accumulate more deposits. This cycle continues as a Soul move forward toward Moksha (or complete liberation). Problem here is that just as a person can move forward, the same person can move backward when he or she exhaust his or her merits by performing sinful activities.
Continue from above ...
The problem in Hinduism is that a person can become too blinded into chasing after good merits too much - by performing mantras, pujas and other religious ceremonies (including building temples) that they will overlook the notion that the true purpose of Spiritualism is to assist fellow human beings.
From the time of Sri Krishna, Buddha and the time when Muslim invaders have arrived, this was the problem plaguing Hinduism in India. Spiritualism is separated into a notion that building large temples, performing puja and religious ceremonies were enough for obtaining higher boons and merits. The so-called religious people separate themselves from the common men and refused to associate with them, pursuing their own "spiritual" path like a selfish person.
In Hinduism, Spiritualism supposed to be a affair between a Single person and God (of his choice). It does not matter whether he performs ceremonies, puja or read mantras; all that matters is how a person lives his life and how he answers to God regarding his life. Disadvantage of Hindu concepts
Actually I wanted to say "danger" but then again, many of these "dangers" are more toward oneself rather than the public (unlike other religions which we will examine later). These are a few disadvantages I have seen from Hinduism :-
1. Becoming too rigid.There are some people who have become so focus into following the words and examples set forward by religious figures that they failed to understand Hinduism as a belief system. These people attend to follow strictly what they have been thought without questioning what is being taught to them. And worse, they attend to judge others who do not follow their "disciplined" ways.
For them, I like to remind them that when Sage Vyasa asked Lord Ganesha to write down Mahabratha Epic, the Sage had just one condition for Lord Ganesha - that He could only write down (what being narrated) ONLY after Lord Ganesha had understood what He was listening too. In the same way, blindly following something without a clear understanding of what one follows (and why need to follow it in the first place) will not bring one closer to God.
2. Becoming too deattached to the World.
There are many Sages and Holymen who choose path of Sanyashi (or living without any attachment to the World). While there is never any obligation for one to deattach oneself from their family and the World, such steps have always been seen as personal sacrifice to the greater good. However, problem arises when these men and woman who have become Sanyashi decided that the whole World is corrupted and that they need to escape from it in order to pursue Spiritualism.
Lord Shiva is the Lord of Tapas and Yogi and yet, He did not deattach Himself from the World. He has a family and He has duties to the World and the realm. Lord Vishnu is same as well, and have incarnated many times in order to saveguard the World.
Deattaching oneself from the World is not Spiritualism. Attaching oneself to the World is not Spiritualism either. One must cultivate one's mind so it can exist and work for the benefit of the World while being deattached to the fruits of one's labors and actions.
3. Becoming self-learned Masters.
There are many in this World who claimed to be Masters of Hinduism simply by reading books, meditating and attending spiritual seminars and workshops. Some even does it by developing the higher (sixth) sense and proclaiming that such feats are the evidence of his or her own spiritual development.
These "Masters" (who are dime a dozen in ALL the religions) could then seek out those who hunger for guideness and make them their disciple, believing that they themselves are the "Masters" and they alone will be able to guide the disciples (and humanity in general) toward God. Eventually, their Egos will take over and they will label themselves in par with God or a mouth-piece of God.
Many today have forgotten a simple fact - that God does not require any mouth-piece to speak to you. He can speak through your own consciousness (guiding your actions), He can speak to you through the Wind, Trees, other people and even animals. The question here is not how He speaks but whether you are capable of listening.
4. Following the questionable Masters.
Continued from point no. 3 above.
While becoming a self-learned master seems to be individual choice, the choice of following such (questionable) masters is the choice of the disciple or the followers.
It is the duty of the disciples of a Master to evaluate him constantly, question his teaching actively and examine his actions thoroughly. Just as a Master looks carefully at the understanding and actions of his students, he is obligated to instruct his student to do just the same. Teaching and Learning process MUST go both ways in a Spiritualism process in order for the student to learn to become a Master and for the Master to obtain Enlightnment (Moksha) or higher understanding. Failure to do so will not bring neither (the Master of the Disciple) closer to the Truth or God or Moksha.
At the same time, a disciple who came to understand that his Master had committed adharmic actions and refuses to acknowledge it or perform any actions to retrify his actions (other than prayers, ritual cleansing or mantras which does nothing to the wrong he had done physically), such master should be avoided as a plaque. A disciple who continues to follow a Master that does adharmic actions will not progress Spiritually and could end-up sharing the Master's karmic deeds as well, even if he doesn't have a hand in such action himself.
5. Complex principles Hinduism become too hard to follow or understand.
This is most common problem among Hindus. Many of the laymen follows Hinduism simply by following the simplest method. They worship idols but have no understand of concept of Satyaguna or Nirguna. They perform pujas, speak mantras and follow ritual practice simply for the sake of doing it and have no real understanding of them.
Then again, this is largely due to the lack of interest of young men and women who are highly educated in modern education but look down on Spiritualism as "old ways" and something that they should be interested only when they are old and wrinkled. They do not understand about the Laws of Karma and how their actions bring forth karmic seeds which then influence their lives in the long run.
Some even reject Spiritualism altogether and run to an astrologer for Rasi-palam reading. They believe in the constellations of stars than to accept and understand that it is their actions today that is shaping their future tomorrow.
6. Influence of Atheism and Secularism.
This probably the most dangerous aspect plaguing Hinduism (and every other religions).
There are some people who are atheist and secular - meaning that they are unwilling to become complete followers of a religion due to some dislike to some or all its concept and those who choose to live material lifestyle while still wishing to be labelled religious for sake of image. Unfortunately for religions like Hinduism, if these people arrives at a powerful position within the society, it is the belief system which will suffer as these people will have monetary gains in mind rather than promoting Spiritualism. This situation occuring today in Hindu society.
In India for example, since 1960s and 1970s, Atheism and Secularism have been corrupting the way of Hinduism continously due to political factors. The Congress Party which control most of India were secular in nature, with its goal of becoming a clone of United States of America. For that reason, India have been pushing away Spiritual people from influencing the decision-making process as well as the People for decades. Not enough with that, atheist influence from Soviet Union (around 1970s) have seeped into Indian society and that is why they have Marxist problem today in various parts of India like Indra Pradesh (which being eyed by China as well).
In Malaysia, I have personal experience of many non-Hindus (namely Christians) who controls temples just because their parents and grandparents had been working there as temple administrators in the past. These Indian Christians refuse to give up the temple because the temple brings extra monetary gains for them and as the people continues to reject going to such temples, it is Spiritualism in Hindu belief which suffers.
In many other temples, I have seen how large temples have become "cash-cows" for some group of secular Hindus who continued to live in materialistic ways. These people will increase the rate which pujas are done regularly and even allow people to sell items within the compounds of their temples (when they should be outside the walls).
Edited by Truth.8 at 16-11-2016 03:40 PM
Sephiroth replied at 15-11-2016 03:27 PM
Hinduism
I will start with Hinduism - the religion which I studied the most.
In Hinduism, a person who are born is bound to die
wrong again....some hindus fatedto convert to other religion because of their birth star...if one look at their astrology...itwritten.....
if you do not believe can ask the astrology....
Why many indians hindus converted because they lookhindusim stupid and do not make sense but if one study and get gurus, I am sure they will not jump to other faith...
spiruality teachings is very lacking in thiscounty....what i see the hindus, they pray thats it....
but the teachings of vedas and other holy book they are not sure or unaware...this made them jump to islam or christian....
it need combination of spirituality-faith (bakti) and studying holy books from gurus or priest....
by Snake.8
wrong again....some hindus fatedto convert to other religion because of their birth star...if one look at their astrology...itwritten.....
I'm going to borrow your own quote on this :
if nothing much to contribute in my thread , please get lost ....thank u {:1_550:} Sephiroth replied at 16-11-2016 05:06 PM
by Snake.8
well, I have said in very positive manner so nothing wrong it....just like taugh, hindulike are very revengful...i hve seen many like but they not t rue hindu
So what happened when Hindus reincarnated as Muslims? They go berserk? :funk: God_Eater_5 replied at 18-11-2016 04:43 AM
So what happened when Hindus reincarnated as Muslims? They go berserk?
The Soul has NO religion.
The Soul reincarnate according to the actions done by the person (which the Soul occupies the physical body and operate it like a machine) and this actions (or inaction) results in Karma (or in some translation - karmic seeds).
If a hindu lives like a Muslim - eating habits, lying through the teeth, irrational, unable to reach a decision without using threat or violence and close-minded (ALL the traits of Muslims), then in the next lifetime, he or she WILL become a Muslim. This is because his actions are more toward Muslim-way of life than a Hindu way of life.
Remember, a Soul has no religion but the actions potrayed by individual who follows a certain religion WILL have influence in his next rebirth.
This can work in vice-versa as well. A muslim who lives in peace, willing to tolerate other religious people, speak truthfully even he has a reason to lie, patience and unwilling to commit violence against others especialy when he is attacked but at the same time willing to fight if necessary for others. Such people can reincarnate into a Hindu (or other religious or non-religious people).
Edited by Truth.8 at 18-11-2016 12:17 PM
Sephiroth replied at 18-11-2016 08:03 AM
The Soul has NO religion.
The Soul reincarnate according to the actions done by the person (whi ...
This can work in vice-versa as well. A muslim who lives in peace, willing to tolerate other religious people, speak truthfully even he has a reason to lie, patience and unwilling to commit violence against others especialy when he is attacked but at the same time willing to fight if necessary for others. Such people can reincarnate into a Hindu (or other religious or non-religious people)
.
this what I dont trust hindus...because they lie to promote their faith...when u speak to hindus (corrupted) they will addview on their own to misleads...
if one born as muslim, not necessary to convert same goes to other religion....one need study their faith thru scriputres not words/view from peoples without knowlege in scriptures....such peoples consider corrputed
One need to search the scriptures : Bhagave gita-purana -vedas and many holy book ....
. Gateway to Sin:
The e Bhagavad Gita, Bhagavan Sri Krishna warns (to paraphrase): “The egoistic people say- ‘I have done this action today. I will do this tomorrow. I practice charity, perform religious rites for attaining Heaven’. Indeed, overcome with ego, such people bring about their ruin.”
The warning of our Lord is so very true and it clearly depicts the dangerous mentality that naturally results from the doctrines preached by the Semitic faiths. These religions teach that we should perform good actions to go to Heaven, while Hinduism says that we should perform good actions, not because they lead us to salvation, but because they ought to be performed as an offering to God. In fact, Hindus hold that good actions performed with a sense of ego can only lead to further rebirths. It is clear as daylight that the Christian/Islamic concept is not conducive to the development of such virtues as humility, gentleness of character and so on, while the Hindu theory naturally leads to humility and gentleness of character( we have rudely behaviour here using unpleasant words in this forum, forummer can juged who this person).
Like I said, u dont have be hindu /chrisitan/buddhism as long u have faith with God and practised as per the holy book...If one have faith with GOD, you can go to temple, chruch-mosque...same DIVINE,,
In Bible we taught to be kind -polite
Proverbs 16:24
Pleasant words are a honeycomb, Sweet to the soul and healing to the bones.
2 Chronicles 10:7
They spoke to him, saying, "If you will be kind to this people and please them and speak good words to them, then they will be your servants forever."
Job 4:4
"Your words have helped the tottering to stand, And you have strengthened feeble knees.
Proverbs 15:1
A gentle answer turns away wrath, But a harsh word stirs up anger.
Proverbs 25:15
By forbearance a ruler may be persuaded, And a soft tongue breaks the bone.
Proverbs 31:26
She opens her mouth in wisdom, And the teaching of kindness is on her tongue.
Isaiah 50:4
The Lord GOD has given Me the tongue of disciples, That I may know how to sustain the weary one with a word He awakens Me morning by morning, He awakens My ear to listen as a disciple.
Jeremiah 52:32
Then he spoke kindly to him and set his throne above the thrones of the kings who were with him in Babylon.
Edited by Sephiroth at 20-11-2016 12:19 PM
I have decided to use the same yardstick that I have used to examine Hinduism to measure the effectiveness of all other (major) religions we have - namely Buddhism, Christianity and Islam (in that respective order). There was Six aspects which I have used and before I could start with Buddhism (next week), I will add ONE more very important aspect (probably the most important one) which is :-
How relevant is Hinduism in Modern times?
Now matter how great and marvelously presented a religion could be, the most important (and probably the ONLY important question) one should ask is How relevant is a belief system in today's time.
Hinduism is called Santana Dharma - Eternal Truth before the Persians have coined the term "Hinduism" about a thousand years ago. Today more people knows Hinduism by that name and not Santana Dharma. Hinduism have no founder, no origin, no single authority nor a single starting point in time where we could say "this" is the time Hinduism started. Most Westerners had taken the time the Vedas were written (some 3100 BC) as the beginning time for Hinduism, even so many of the Hindu Epics like the Vedas spoke of events which could be trace back to the end of the last Ice Age (10,000 years ago) through the position of stars in certain constellations or by stating events which is impossible to be known without modern archeological information like the disappearance of the Sarawati river which follows through what today's Pakistan.
So, if something that "old", it is logical to assume that Hinduism is not relevant anymore. After all, many things we had 50 years ago have become irrelevant today due to advancement and changes in time.
But upon a closer examination of core principles and teaching of Hinduism, it seems that this Ancient belief system is more relevant today than even its latest belief systems available. Among many things which stated in Hinduism which still holds true includes :-
1. Medicine (Ayurveda) and Meditation.
2. Science and Technology mentioned in the Scriptures.
3. Lifestyle (Vegetarianms, Ahimsa and such).
4. Its laws (like Manu's laws).
5. Core belief which didn't change (Satyam, Dharma and Karma).
6. Relationship between human beings on daily bases.
7. Relationship between Humans and the Divinity.
And many more. It is possible to say that the reason why Atheism increase among Hindus in the past was not due to the outdated belief system of Hinduism but because Hinduism was (and still is) so advanced forward in time that many of the Hindus in the past had labelled it as mythogical and believed in foreigners who brought "newer" belief system.
Furthermore, Hinduism have ONE ability which other religions do not have - ability to discard part of itself to perserve itself. If any practice in Hinduism is shown to be superstitious and harmful to practitioners, Hindus can adjust their own belief system to discard those practice and improve on themselves. This brought tolerance toward non-Hindus which allowed non-hindus to live with hindus in peace. This is because the most important aspect in Hinduism is NOT the Gods and Goddess but the core principles - Satyam (Truth), Dharma (Righteousness) and Karma.
Sephiroth replied at 20-11-2016 12:16 PM
I have decided to use the same yardstick that I have used to examine Hinduism to measure the effecti ...
How relevant is Hinduism in Modern times?not relevant ....but hindusim and buddhism will survived....only handful survived...
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Waiting for your view on Christianity....:C
by mariappaned
Waiting for your view on Christianity....
Then you have to wait a bit longer. Doing the four major religions by chronological order (from the oldest (Hinduism) to the youngest (Islam)) and adding any relevant information regarding sub-religious which influenced this four main ones.
Furthermore, it is not my VIEW of these religion, it is more like stating the facts as it presented itself. The fact itself can be represented in different way as the narrator stated it so the facts are open for discussion.
While I'm at this, I will list down SEVEN main criteria which I will use (and already used above) to examine these religions. They are :-
1. Flexibility of the Religion (Rigid or too loose).
2. Attached or Deattachment (to the World).
3. Ability of the followers to Master the Teaching.
4. Existence (or non-existence) of "Experts" of the Religions and their role in spreading the Teaching to others.
5. Complexity (or Simplicity) of the Teaching.
6. Influence of Secularism and Atheism onto the Teaching.
7. The Teaching's relevance to Modern World.
Next to be examined will be Buddhism. Buddhism
Buddhism have a founder (unlike Hinduism) and was founded 2,500 years ago (around 500 BCE) by Siddartha Gautama who later have become known as the Buddha or the Enlightened One.
According to the story, he had spend the first twenty years (or so) of his life living a normal life inside his Palace, surrounded by people who adored and loved him. Some said it was twenty, some say it was less. What is known is that he did live pass his fifteen years since he had a family of his own (a child who was not born yet) when he left the Palace later.
The shock of discovering the fragility of Life, Sickness, Old Age and Death have brought him to discard everything he had and choose Spiritual life. He had spend number of years trying to find Truth (not sure how many, some say ten years) and once he had become the Buddha, he spend the rest of his life (45 years) travelling and teaching these Truth to the regular people to his final days. He lived for 80 years.
Fundamental Belief of Buddhism (Summary only).
The Buddha did not teach that a God created the Universe. He pointed to a great Law or Dharma running through everything that exists. It is by living in accordance with this Law that true Wisdom and Compassion and hence freedom from suffering may be achieved. Suffering may only be overcome, however, by being confronted and lived through. In the Buddha's words: 'Suffering I teach and the way out of suffering.'
Three Signs of Being :-
(1) Change
(2) Suffering
(3) no 'I'
Change is Permanent and nothing last forever.
Suffering occurs due to these changes.
There is no Soul or Self within a person since the person too changes continuously.
Four Noble Truths :-
(1) The Noble Truth of Suffering
(2) The Noble Truth of the Origin of Suffering
(3) The Noble Truth of Cessation of Suffering
(4) The Noble Truth of the Way leading to the Cessation of Suffering: The Noble Eightfold Path.
Noble Eightfold Path :-
(1) Right View.
(2) Right Thought.
(3) Right Speech.
(4) Right Action.
(5) Right Livelihood.
(6) Right Effort
(7) Right Mindfulness.
(8) Right Concentration.
Five Fires :-
'Your house is on fire, burns with the Three Fires; there is no dwelling in it' - thus spoke the Buddha in his great Fire Sermon.
(1) Desire/Thirst,
(2) Anger
(3) Delusion
For more information, read the websites below - from which I have taken the above information. In my next post, I will start examining Buddhism with the seven criteria mentioned earlier.
Source :-
http://www.religionfacts.com/buddhism
http://www.thebuddhistsociety.org/page/fundamental-teachings
Buddhism examined
It is time to put Buddhism under the microscope and examine it closely. After all, Gautama Buddha himself had stated that One should never follow a teaching (including his own) without properly examine it first. I'm sure he couldn't mind. :loveliness:
Many thinks the Buddha had brought a new teaching which did not exist before to the World when he started to travel and teach about Buddhism. The fact was, he did not. During his travel before becoming the Buddha (by achieving Enlightenment), he had approached many gurus and masters and learned from them about Spiritualism. He had understood, questioned what he was taught and examine what he have understood through examinations and by doing so, he had scraped away Superstitions, folk beliefs, narrow-mindness, false teaching and many other "peudo-belief" that came with the "Truth" that he had understood.
I cannot say for certain I could understand what he had understood. To be fair, I don't think any of us could able to. Each of us have a "Truth" in our own hearts, mixed and jumbled up with our own "peudo-belief" within ourselves as well. Perhaps "Truth" which we able to comprehend is not Absolute Truth but a Relative Truth. After all, it was the Buddha who stated that everything in the Universe changes, so why not the understand and the wisdom one had achieved throughout the Era? In that context, Buddhists reading these posts should not think that I'm undermining their belief system or the Buddha's teaching.
Accept it as an educational overview if you agree with it, discard it (from your minds) if you do not agree. :loveliness:
1. Flexibility of the Religion (Rigid or too loose).
My Opinion :- Rigid.
Buddhism was not designed as a religion or a belief-system for the general population. Originally, Buddha's teaching was to teach to those who come to him, seeking wisdom and understanding. But for a person to do so, he must first renounce the World and worldly living and become solely focused in seeking Spirituality. Buddhism did not accept people who still attached to their families nor did it accept womenfolks as monks. Buddhism originally were very rigid system, suitable only for a selected few.
It was in later decades as Buddhism gain popularity in India that Buddhism began to be organized into the Sangha which recorded the words of the Buddha and begin to teach them to the public in India. The audience expanded from Spiritualists to laymen who wants some comfort from the Suffering of the World, middle-class and upper-class men and women who wanted to find a way to improve their "karmic" outcome and Kings and Nobles who seeks to do the same on the grandeur scale.
Therefore, these rigidness still remains the core of the Belief System, preventing regular people and those who still lives with Worldly desires to link themselves to the belief system without the Sangha in the middle being the middlemen.
2. Attached or Deattachment (to the World).
My Opinion :- Deattached (to the World).
Original teaching of the Buddha is that the World is full of Suffering (Dukka) and how to avoid these Suffering. That is the basic of Buddhism. Just as Hinduism's basic is the Laws of Karma (Action and Reaction), the core of Buddhism is Suffering and how to avoid Suffering.
Therefore, Buddhism paints a grim picture of the physical World - showcasing that the World is just slightly better than Heaven and Hell (place of indulgence and pure suffering respectively). The World is pictured as a place where Humanity can achieve Enlightenment (permanent escape) easier here than they could in Hell or in Heaven. And since the Buddha painted such grim view of the World, it is not surprising that Buddhists in general are quite deattached to the World, caring enough to ensure that they could achieve Enlightenment but does not care enough to improve upon the Physical World.
3. Ability of the followers to Master the Teaching.
My opinion : Very difficult to master the Teaching.
The Buddha spend some twenty years searching for Truth and he did by renouncing the World and worldly living. He had renounced his family, wealth, power, his kingdom and his own son. And even then, he could not find Enlightenment without a "divine intervention" in form of a musician who was passing downstream on his boat with his pupils, explaining that important of having strings which are not too tight or too lose. If someone who had sacrificed so much and still struggles to find Enlightenment, how much so are we - regular humans with so much attachments and desires in Life?
Furthermore, how many people willing to make such sacrifice nowadays?
4. Existence (or non-existence) of "Experts" of the Religions and their role in spreading the Teaching to others.
My opinion : Plenty of experts.
The basic of Buddhism is easy enough to understand (but it's core is difficult to master as stated before). There are many who have become monks and devoted themselves toward trying to obtain an understanding of the Teaching, and in doing so, achieve Enlightenment. These "Experts" could educate the public and serve as a role model to the public as well.
I think that every religion system is unique! check up http://bigpaperwriter.com/blog/thematic-essay-on-belief-systems and find out some thematic essay on belief system, you should know!
Continue from above ...
5. Complexity (or Simplicity) of the Teaching.
My opinion :- Uncertain.
While the core belief of Buddhism maybe simple, the Teaching itself is a complex maze that requires years of dedication, studies and spiritual discipline to master. And even if one were to master the Teaching, he can only do so by renouncing the World and worldly living and become strict monk to do so, which create complexity to the Teaching in deeper level.
If one were to compare Buddhism to Hinduism, both have similarities in the beginning (simple core belief) but the advantage Hinduism has is that Hindus do not need to become a Monks, Asthetic or a person renouncing the World in order to follow Hinduism. There are atheists, secular and religious hindus within Hindu community who follows each lifestyle without questioning or condemining one another. In Buddhism, there is a clear line between a layperson and a true follower of Buddhism.
6. Influence of Secularism and Atheism onto the Teaching.
Opinion :- Strong influence of Atheism present in Buddhism.
It is uncertain what was Gautama Buddha's opinion about God(s) in his original sermon. Some say he was silent about it, since no one can prove existence of God. Some say he had an atheist opinion and some says that God was not required in human life and that the Universe worked in a mechanical way (without the need for an Administrator to take a direct control) - very much like what most scientists in the West (like Stephen Hawkings) saying nowadays. Whatever the case is, it is irrelevant.
What is relevant is the fact that Atheism did take root in Buddhism after Gautama Buddha left this world. This was because India already have schools of Atheism at that time (I believe they are called Nastika) like the Samkhya Principles which take similar ideas (to Hawkings) that a God is not required in the World and the World able to function like a wind-up clock.
As Atheism begins to take root in Buddhism, many of Gautama Buddha's teachings begins to take a different approach. The monks continued to downfall Hinduism's role in India, causing major religious upheavel between Hindus and Buddhist which revolved around social discourse, debates and confusion in India. We can say that the first thousand years, the social mayhem due to different opinions between Hinduism and Buddhism had created more roots for Atheism to flourish in India, which allows Christianity and Islam to take root later.
In the next post, we will take a look at the most important aspect of any religion - The Teaching's relevance to Modern World.
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