Question

The mainstream Western religions certainly have nothing even remotely resembling the Hindu notion of long cycles of births, lives, deaths, and rebirths. Why is that, do you think? What is the function of that idea of Samsara in Hinduism? Do the Western Religions, with which you are familiar, have another way to satisfy this function? 400 words please

Answer 1

The western philosophy or connotation of religion is majority guided by the religion of Christianity. Any religion which is practiced widely in western countries is Christianity. The messages of Jesus and the Bible go along the stories of various prophets like Adam, Abraham, Moses, etc. These prophets came, spread the message of God and died in the end. There is no sign of re-births or any mystical activity regarding the births, deaths, and rebirth. There are instances where Jesus has made rebirths of some people and he himself will come back. Apart from a few facts, on a larger scale, western religious understanding does not go along with the main ideologies of Hinduism as a religion. In contemporary times young people are getting away from religion. Being an atheist is very common in western culture. The ideology of being atheist critics the notion of rebirths, people die and come back, the existence of god, etc.

The ideas of samsara in Hinduism focuses on the rebirth. It is derived from the Sanskrit language which means wandering in the world in a cycle. Human life and his existence go around a circular pattern. It is often described in various other ways such as transmigration, karmic cycle, reincarnation, and "cycle of aimless drifting, wandering or mundane existence. Its root and origin come from the sacred Hindu literature-Vedas. This explains life as a spiritual journey where the individual goes phases of incarnation, Moksha, nirvana, and karma. It highlights the liberation of the soul with the periods of deaths and Birth. Our souls keep revolving around life. One human die and this soul move on to another body and there is a rebirth. There is importance place on the afterlife that means what we do in our present life will affect or have consequence in the next life.

The Western philosophies or religion do reflect some concepts which are built around samsara. Western ideologies do believe in reincarnation. Reincarnation is defined as a philosophical concept which talks about the living being at the end die but they start to relive in another body. This idea is similar to the idea of re-birth. Here the difference is that Hindu culture focuses on the afterlife while preparation is just about re-birth. Western religion now days started focusing on spirituality which acts as a function reunite with god and heavenly powers.Spriyuality have given a sense of wellbeing and positivity.