Jenica Simon

RELS 2300
Summer 2015
August 6, 2015
ePortfolio Essay

Can We Call Hinduism A Religion or Should It Be Called Eternal Dharma?

If we look at the Hinduism religion it is hard to put it into a category. Can we call
Hinduism a religion or should it be called Dharma? We need to look at what exactly religion and
Hindu Dharma are in order to make this decision. Lets first look at what religion is.

What is Religion?
If we took a look in our book it defines religion as a human response to a dimension in
our life that we would consider sacred, which could be shaped by traditions.1 Many other
scholars have also suggested other definitions. J. Miltion Yinger says that religion is a group of
people who follow a system of beliefs and practices to solve the problems of human life.3
Another scholar, Alfred North Whitehead, defined religion as what a person does in their
solitariness.3 So how do we know which definition of religion is true?
Religion is hard to define because there are so many different religions and they all
behave differently. Definitions could vary from the transformational potential within the
religions to even its political dimensions.2 In order for us to individually find a definition of
religion that we can agree with, we need to look at a couple of different viewpoints. First we
should take into consideration three different perspectives of religions (materialistic, functional,

and belief), and second, we need to look at our own religion and beliefs that we have and find a
definition based off of it.
There are three perspectives that we should consider when agreeing with a definition of
religion they are the materialist perspective, the functional perspective, and the belief
perspective. The materialist perspective is the idea that religion was only created by people and
there is no deity and that the religion is used to manipulate people.1 The functional perspective is
the ideas that religion is helpful in many ways; physically, mentally, and spiritually.1 The belief
perspective is what it sounds like, people honestly and truly believe that there is a higher power
or deity that cannot be perceived by humans.1 As you can see, these are very different perspective
and should be kept in mind when deciding which definition of religion you want to agree with.
The second thing we need to take into consideration when deciding which definition of
religion we agree with is our own religion and beliefs. If we believe that there is no higher power
or deity, you would not look at many definitions that follow the belief perspective. Looking at
your religion and beliefs helps narrow down the list of definitions you can find for religion. For
me personally I can mostly agree with the functional perspective, as well as the belief
perspective. I looked at some scholar definitions and have found that I agree with a mixture of E.
B. Tylor and J. Miltion Yinger. They defined religion as system of beliefs in spiritual things,
where people who struggle with problems of human life come together.3
I believe that if we are able to find which perspective we agree with (materialistic,
functional, and belief), and we look to our own religion and beliefs we will be able to find
amongst all the various definitions of religion one that we as an individual can agree with.
Now lets look at what Hindu Dharma means.

Components of Hindu Dharma

There are many different components to Hindu dharma. Dharma includes moral order,
righteousness, and religion.1 In each of these categories are also many components, such as;
Hindu social divisions, stages and goals of life, rituals, sensual pleasure. I would like to discuss
more about the stages and goals of life.
First lets talk about stages of life. Just like in many historical cultures they mainly talk
about a male figure and base a life stage on their life. A males life span was typically divided
into four sections, lasting around twenty-five years each.1 During the first twenty-five years this
male was a student in learning ways to live, survive, how to behave, etc. For the second twentyfive years (or the householder stage).1 During this stage the male was expected to find a wife and
start a family. He also was supposed to contribute to society, with a job. For the third twenty-five
years the male would start to turn towards spiritual things, such as; scripture study and
meditations.1 He would start to get rid of worldly possession and pursuits. And the last twentyfive years the man should be able to withdraw from the world and society.1 He would become a
sannyasin or a renunciate spiritual seeker.2 Now that we have a better understanding of the life
stages of a man in Hindu, lets talk about the life goals one would have.
A mans mail life goal is to attain spiritual realization or liberation. This however is a
continual goal that may take many many many lifetimes to achieve.1 During ones life however
the Hindus have set four major goals, that will also help define a good (or well lived) life, these
will help in future lives to be reincarnated as something better than worse. The first major goal is
to do their responsibilities and duties outlined in the dharma text. The second major goal is to be
successful in worldly activities (or artha).1 Third major goal is karma. To make actions that will
give good consequences and lead to a better second (or third or fourth) life. Last major goal is to

be liberated from the cycle of death and rebirth (or moksha).1 This means that you have achieved
all other goals and you are basically considered to be God like.
So would we categorize the Hinduism as a religion or Dharma? I believe that it is a
mixture of both, but to make it easy on society we all call it religion. It is something that is
practiced and believed by the Hindu people. I myself would call it a religion.

Bibliography
1. Fisher, M. P. (2010). Living Religions (eigth ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson
Education Inc.
2. Fisher, M. P. (2013). Living Religion (pdf) (ninth ed.). Pearson Eduction Inc.
3. Various Definitions of Religion. (n.d.). Retrieved May 29, 2015, from Canvas:
https://slcc.instructure.com/courses/335341/files/47510655?
module_item_id=3006970