lil bitchiness
Your message was a little short sighted. No pun intended. Please read.
The origins of Hinduism can be traced back to around 1500 B.C. in what is now India. It began as a polytheistic and ritualistic religion. The rituals were at first simple enough to be performed by the head of the household. As the centuries passed, however, they became increasingly complex. As a result, it became neccessary to create a priestly class and to train those priests to perform the rituals corrrectly. During this time, the Vedas were written to give the priests instructions as to how to perform the rituals.
As a result of the emphasis on the rituals, the priests became the sole means by which the people could approach and appease the gods. Because of their position as mediators with hte gods, the priests gained an increasing amount of power and control over the lives of the people. Finally, around 600 B.C., the people revolted. The form of Hinduism that emerged after the revolt emphasized the importance of internal mediation as opposed to the external rituals.
Between 800 to 300 B.C. the Upanishads were written. The Upanishads, also called Vedanta (the end of conclusion of the Vedas) are the Hindu equivalent of hte New Testament, The Upanishads expound the idea that behind the many gods stands one Reality, which is called Brahman. Brahman is an impersonal, monistic (all in one) force. The highest form of Brahman is called nirguna, which means "without attributes or qualities."
Even after the Upanishads were written, the Hindu concept of god continued to develop. It developed in the direction of God being personal. Nirguna Brahman became saguna Brahman, which is Brahman "with attributes." This personified form of Brahman is also called Ishvara.
According to Hindu tradition, Ishvara became known to humanity through the Trimurti (literally, "three manifestations"😉 of Brahman. Those manifestations include Brahman (the Creator), Vishnu (the Preserver), and Siva (the Destroyer). Each of the three deities has at least one devi, or divine spouse.
Ishvara became personified even further through the ten mythical incarnations of Vihnu, called avators. The forms of these incarnations include that of animals (for example, a fish, tourtoise, and boar) and of persons (for example, Rama, Krishna, Buddha). Epics such as the Ramayana and the Mahabharata, which includes the popular Bhagavad-Gita, tell the stories of these myths. Beyond the principal deities of hte Trimurti and the avators, it is estimated that there are 330 million other gods in Hinduism.
Besides the religion's various concepts of God, Hindusim can also be divided along the lines of whether the physical universe is considered to be real or illusionary (maya). The nondualistic (advaita) see Brahman alone as being real and the world illusionary. The qualified nondualists (vishishtadvaita) affirm the reality of both Brahman and the universe in that the universe is extended from the Being of Brahman. And the dualists (dvaita) see Brahman and the universe as being two distinct realities.
In the course of its history, Hinduism has spawned three religious movements that have since become world religions: Jainism, Buddhism, and Skihism. Although Hindusim is tremendously divers, most Hindus hold to the following beliefs: the impersonal Nature of Brahman, the Brahman/Atman Unity, the Law of Karma, Samsara (Reincarnation), and Moksha (Liberation).
Hinduism and Christianity are completely different! Buy a book on world religions and compare the two, and learn more about the birth of them. This is just a brief summary. Give me a break please (ha ha ha)!
Regarding Christmas, neither the New Testament nor any historical record marks the exact date of Jesus's birth. As a result, the Church initially considered many different dates including, Januray 2, March 21, March 25, April 18, April 19, May 20, May 28, November 17, and November 20. The Western Church first observed December 25 in the fourth century, and eventually Eastern Churches followed suit.
Some people criticize that Christmas has its origins as a pagan holiday. Some truth lies in the notion, considering that the timing of December 25 was selected to line up with several pagan Roman holidays that celebrated the winter solstice and worship of the sun. However, Church leaders didn't see matching the date as comprimising Christian teaching with the culture. Responding to any criticism, a fourth-century bishop remarked, "We hold this day holy, not like the pagans because of the birth of the sun, but because of Him who made it."
Most of the traditional customs of Christmas, such as gift giving, tree decorations, light hanging, and feasting, come from sources other than the Chruch.
Easter? No one knows for certain where the term Easter came from, but one theory is that it's derived from the Anglo-Saxon goddess Eostre, who was connected with fertility and spring. If so, Christians named their high holy day Easter aiming to replace the pagan celebration of spring with their own holiday, like they did with Christmas. Easter is also often known as Pasch, which comes from the Hebrew word Pesach, meaning "Passover." Some Protestants prefer to call it simply Resurrection Day to remove the commecialized baggage that they see associated with the holy day.
In addition, the Easter bunny has pagan origins and has no real connection with the Christian celebration, although some churches use eggs as a metaphor for the new life Christians receive because of the Resurrection.