HINDUISM AND DRUG ABUSE - RS2

"Hinduism' has many religious and cultural traditions which stem from the Vedas, the ancient Sanskrit writings of India. The tradition, therefore, has no clear beginning, and has no single founder or single belief, but there are a number of beliefs and practices which are widely accepted.

Practically all Hindus believe in the idea of reincarnation, in which the eternal soul (ATMAN) moves through different species, from one body to another according to 'the law of Kama' ,the goodness or badness of their deeds in this life. The belief that every soul is trapped in a cycle of birth and then death and then rebirth is known as Samsara. The quality of a life that the soul is born into depends on the previous life. The aim of human life, for most Hindus, is to escape from the cycle of birth and death (Moksha), through union with the Supreme BRAHMAN who is present in everything. Behind Hindu practice is So Hinduism is about the sort of life a person should lead in order to be born into a better life next time and eventually become free from rebirth altogether. Every Hindu wants to escape from this cycle so Hindus aim to live in a way that will cause each of their lives to be better than the life before. Living or acting in the right way is known as dharma.

Every Hindu has a purusharthas, or life goal, and leading a pure life through purity of body and mind is very important so that they are able to carry out their religious duties. To reach their individual goal they must create good Karma through control over gratification of the senses; pleasure; sensual, sexual, and mental enjoyment. The Laws of Manu are guidelines for a pure life and describe the perfect man as:
Join now!


'He who has perfect 3 fold control: that is control over speech, thought and actions.'

So a perfect man should only say pure things, think pure thoughts and act in a controlled, alert way. Anything which takes man from this control is harmful and wrong, which is known as AHISMA.

Hindus follow this principle of non-violence, non-harming and therefore use of drugs and alcohol can harm the body and so go against the principle of AHISMA. Also Hindus rely so much on Karmic energy for their ultimate goal that AHISMA and bad actions taint this karmic ...

This is a preview of the whole essay