According
to Hinduism, the goal of life in this world is to realize God and reach
Him to escape the cycle of birth and death forever. To this end, the
human life is divided in to four stages. The first stage, that of
celibacy and learning, lasts until about 25 years of age. The second
stage is that of a married house holder. The house holder is held in
great esteem because he is the one who makes the other stages of life
possible by earning money and supporting the society. The house holder
and his family are considered to be very essential for the well being of
the society. The third stage is that of retirement commencing after
one’s children are grown up. The last stage is of complete renunciation
of the world in which one seeks God full-time in a forest and living on
whatever one obtains from day to day.
The Means of Attaining God
The
Hindu religion is very flexible and understands that humans differ
vastly in their psychological makeup. Consequently, no one doctrine is
likely to appeal to all. According to Hinduism, there are three types of
temperaments in humans and there are three different approaches to suit
these different emotional makeup of humans. The Hindus believe that God
can be reached either by Jnana Yoga, the path of knowledge,
contemplation and meditation or by Karma Yoga, the path of work and duty
or by Bhakti Yoga, the path of worship, prayer and service to God. No
one path is superior to the others. It is simply finding what comes
naturally to oneself. Most often one finds that a combination will work
best. That it is possible to reach God by any one of these paths is
amply proved by the life stories of Saints who lived in the country from
very ancient times to the present day and practiced and preached one or
the other of these paths as the way to God.
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