Huge Part Of Hindu Civilization example essay topic

The year is 1202. Being a female during this time was no easy task. We had a lot of obligations to keep up with. During this time I was a wealthy Christian capitalist merchant that was involved in Asian luxury trade and I would travel form Venice to the far east to pursue the trade. Along the way I visit China and India. While I was there I examined that what these two countries had to offer.

Both were unique in there own way. In India, Hinduism was a big part for people of the Hindu civilization. Hindu stands for the "one who believes in the Vedas". There are four human desire that that the Hindu civilization is encouraged to experience throughout their life. A big part of Hinduism is experiencing as much as you can, to the fullest, while you are still alive. There are no limits.

One of the things that Hindu's want to experience during their lifetime is Artha. Artha is ability to have wealth, fame, power and social achievement. Even though that artha is encouraged, it can lead to greed and competition. The Hindus believe that pleasure and success should be obtained as long as they play fair. It is almost seems that once an individual seeks artha, they should derive a conclusion that there is so much more to life than material things. The second thing is Kama.

Kama is the ability to experience things through your five senses. These are hearing, smelling, tasting, touching and seeing. These might be satisfying to one, but the satisfaction will not last long. It is too private and small to get the true meaning of happiness.

These two desires are referred to as what people seem to want. The next two desires are referred to as the desires that people really want. These two will help you seek joy and make you want being. Dharma, the first desire of what people really want, has to do with social duty and responsibility. This has a lot to do with morality or doing what is right.

This is giving all you can to your family and society, and to religious laws. These is realizing that you have obligations and taking care of them. The second desire under what people really want is called Moksha. Moksha is the release from the finitude that restricts us from the limitless being, consciousness, and bliss over our hearts desire. Yoga also played a huge part of Hindu civilization. Yoga means to these ends, it yokes the body and the mind together.

There are four paths or yoga's to the Hindu goal. These for paths are knowledge or J hana, love or Bhakti, work or Karma, and physchological exercises or Raja. Raja is the royal road to reintegration. In meditation one goes into lotus position and sits in a tiger skin to release more energy.

There are eight different stages of yoga meditation. They are as follows: yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, pratyahara, dharana, dhyana, and samadhi. All these stages focus on different aspects that can bring peace. In Hindu civilization there are four stages of life. These stages are accomplished at different ages throughout their life. These stages are student, householder, forest dweller and wandering ascetic.

Each stage taking on a different amount of responsibility and tasks. The caste system played a huge part in the Hindu society. The caste system was based upon Karma. Karma is the belief that actions and thoughts are all added up and the sum determines the next form of your reincarnation. The four stations of life, dealing with the caste system, are Brahmins or spiritual leaders, Kshatriyas or born administrators, vaisyas or producers, and sudras or servants. Brahmins being at the top of the caste, what every Hindu wants to be reincarnated into.

China on the other hand has different views and are not so rapped up in religion like India They believe in Confucianism which is defined as the a practical moral system that concerned with problems of everyday life and emphasizing conformity, propriety and social responsibility. This was discovered by Confucius, who was a teacher of rare enthusiasm and skill. He was kind hearted, sensible, and had a good sense of humor. He was a rationalist in an age of gross superstition and fear of the supernatural. The Chinese civilization that is one of the oldest civilizations that live from the past. They are not a civilization that is looking for new ideas, but one that makes old ideas present ones.

Two words that best describes or characterize the Chinese civilization is togetherness and continuance. One of the things that is so unique about this culture is after all the nomadic invasions the civilization still remained the same. It was the nomads that adapted to the new culture. It almost seems that the Chinese Civilization has two different societies: one for the emperor and another for the people outside the government, called the bureaucracy. The emperor obviously had the most power in the civilization. He was responsible for the physical well being of his subjects.

The king also had to certain virtues or he no longer could rule. These virtues are: justice, benevolence, and sincerity. This belief was called the "Mandate of Heaven". Below him were two senior officials that are like a prime minister and head of the civil service. They made sure that everything ran smoothly in the government and that the emperor was notified at all times. Below them were nine ministries.

They were responsible for religious ceremonials, security of the palace, care of the imperial stables, punishment of criminals, receipt of homage and tribute from foreign leaders, maintenance of records of the imperial family, collection of state revenues, and the management of the imperial exchequer. There were four officials that made up the bureaucracy: the commanderies, prefectures, districts, and wards. The wards, at the lowest level, were responsible for collection of tax in grain, textiles, arresting criminals, maintenance of roads, canals, and upkeep of the imperial post, with its horses and chain of stations. An examination period was created around 124 B.C.E. It was made for people to have a chance and move up to the "government society".

It was opened to anyone and the required a large amount of studying. There are three levels that one can achieve from this examination if you kept passing the previous exam. The levels we almost equivalent to a bachelor, master, and a doctor degree. On my way through both of these countries I encountered an India Brahman, who is also a land owner and keeper if a large Hindu temple, and a high bureaucrat and land owner in China.

Not sure who to pick for marriage, I went to my cousin for a thorough briefing. In Hinduism and Confucianism women are not respect as much as they should be. They are degraded in a lot of ways. In Hindu culture women have arranged marriages and they would marry as soon as the had their first menstruation. It was very dishonorable if a female started to have sexual relations without being married.

The wife had to buy property to give to her husband at marriage, this is called dowry. She would transfer to her husband's home and ceases to be a member of the family and gives power to the mother and law. A good wife is gentle, docile, selfless and is devoted to having a son. If a son is not produced then a second wife will take over. The wife eats after, sits behind, walks behind, sleeps after, and never sits when her husband stands. She must refer to her husband in the third person and she must be covered at all times.

If the husband dies it is a huge sin for the wife to remarry. She must spend the rest of her life atoning for her husband's sins. If she wants to be guaranteed a positive reincarnation she must die with her husband. This is a respected ceremony. In Confucianism there is no place for a single women.

The marriages are arranged as soon as they have their first menstruation just like Hinduism. They are brought to a matchmaker who reads birth cards and places two together as she sees fit. Both dowry and bride are transferred over to the husband's home and the mother in law get full power of the wife. The man purpose of a wife is to produce a son. If this is not accomplished then she can be sold for the price of grain. The wife can be divorced for having no children, neglect of husband, dishonesty, and jealousy.

There can be no divorce if her parents were dead or if her father was poor at the time and became wealthy. If she is a widow and had no sons she could expect little in the future. She would no longer be the responsibility of the birth family and the only thing she could do is try to remarry someone of a lower status, or remarry someone who has already had a wife and she announced her intentions to follow her husband. She would be honored for this and would be celebrated as a chaste widow. There was a good chance the peasant families could not afford such a luxury and widows with sons to feed were often given to a relative. After a thorough investigation, I would have to choose the Brahman.

Either way I am going to devote my life to my husband and I would like to practice spirituality. And sense he is a perfect match I would only want to be with him and not remarry. Thus giving us positive reincarnation of husband and wife for thirty five years..