“Hindu Philosophy,” by Philip Pecorino
In this article, it is stated that Hindus believe that the universe is an enclosed, spherical shape, and time is cyclic. After each cycle, it is destroyed and reborn. This belief of how the universe works is similar to how they see life. Hindus believe in reincarnation, and after death, a soul is reborn as another living thing, such as a human, animal, plant, or mineral. This leads to a separation in views on how to live life, and separates the two groups of Hinduism into the worldly Hindus and the Upanishad Hindus, whose goals in life differ. The goal of worldly Hindus is to seek the rewards of this world, such as children, wealth, and health, as well as a good life when they are reborn. They do this through following the rules of the three Vedas; the three Vedas are the three classes of society, the three
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A Daoist would follow the Dao in order to live a good life. The article states that “The Dao is the universal necessity underlying all things and controlling their existence, and the Dao is the very beginning of all things (Xie 2000, 470).” This means that the universe and everything in it, as well as how the universe is controlled, is the Dao. To paraphrase the words of Dao De Jing, “I don’t know exactly what it is, but it’s an infinite mystery that created the universe. It does not have a name, so I call it “the way.”” This force that runs the universe is described as impersonal, unlike the Christian idea of God, with no greater plan outside of being the force for life, acting in a natural way, as nature does. This way of acting in a natural way is how the Dao wants one to act. This way of acting is called “wu-wei.” Through these principles beliefs, Daoists combine cosmology and ethics to create a right way to live and interact with the