Describe Hindu belief in respect for all living creatures.

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A.i. Describe Hindu belief in respect for all living creatures.

Hindus believe the soul (the inner most spirit or true self) is in every living creature. So all living creatures should deserve respect. This is shown by many things in the Hindu society including the fact that all hindus do not eat beef, and many are vegetarian.

" A householder should regard, deer, camels, donkeys, mice, snakes birds, and bees as his sons, for what difference is there between his sons and them?"

Srimad Bhagvatam

They believe that Brahman, the universal spirit, is symbolised in the symbol OM. OM represents all of life and creation and therefore represents male, female and neuter, hence Hindus believe that Brahman is within all living creatures. Hindus also believe the universal soul is the ultimate, so if it is in everything then you should respect everything and therefore killing an animal is exactly the same as killing a human.

Some Hindus also believe in the teachings of the school of Advaita Vedanta, which was founded by the Indian philosopher Shankara. Shankara's main belief was the idea of Non-dualism. This is the belief that the inner self is