Hinduism and christian mysticism youtube channel are different in their specific beliefs, but their fundamentals are essentially the same. That is, the stories, teachings and means to their goals may radically differ, but the goals themselves, such as concepts of afterlife, heaven, and human goodness, are alike. Spiritual perfection is found in Hinduism’s moksha and Christianity’s Heaven. Hinduism teaches Karma and Christianity holds Jesus Christ’s teachings of goodness as means whereby humans can measure right and wrong conduct. Hinduism and Christianity edify cleanings of the soul, both with great focus on water. Hinduism believes in the role of its many Gods in everyday life. It has three primary Gods, which some Hindus believe act as one in Brahman. “Most Hindus […] hold that all gods and goddesses are the Ultimate Reality or Absolute Reality […] called Brahman” (Clemmons). Christianity also believes in the role of God in everyday life, and similarly, has only one God, composed of three figures: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, to which all are referred, “God.” It is for these reasons to be elaborated herein, that Christianity and Hinduism, despite superficial variation, are the same at their cores.

Hinduism is one of the world’s oldest religions at approximately 3 500 years old, beginning approximately 1 500 BCE. Its origins trace back to the Indus Valley region (Jayaram). “Hinduism derived richly from the Indus People, the Vedic People, from Dravidian cultures, from folk religions and also from the foreign traditions of Mesopotamia, Greece, Arabia, China and central Russia” (Jayaram). Its highest concentration is in India, and the majority of the population of India is Hindu. Followers of Hinduism, however, exist worldwide, numbering an approximate total of 800 million. Furthermore, Hindu philosophy and literature have become worldly influential even to those who do not follow the religion (White). Such is the wisdom behind them. Hindu scriptures do not come from a single book; Hinduism rather has many sacred writings, all of which have in some way contributed to its doctrines. The Vedas, the Puranas, the Ramayana, the Mahabharata and the Manu Smriti are the most important (White).

Christianity, known as such, began approximately 2 000 years ago after the death of Jesus Christ, who taught about human values of Goodness, God’s unconditional love for all humans, and His perpetual will to forgive all repenting sinners from their wrongdoings. Christianity has become the largest of world religions with over 2 billion followers. Furthermore, of all religions, Christianity spans the greatest geographic area (Britannica). Christianity has many denominations, sprouting from numerous discrepancies in the opinions and biblical interpretations of its followers. Christian doctrines are derived almost in totality from interpretations of the bible, which was written by followers of Jesus throughout a period following his death, during the formation of the Church. Still today, many separations within the church exist, but its fundamentals about right and wrong, good and evil, and necessary human love for God and each other stand steadfast.

Both Hinduism and Christianity have central beliefs in Heaven. “In Hinduism there are many and varied concepts of heaven. Worshippers of Vishnu, the Preserver, for example, believe that they will go to a heaven in which there is no suffering, fear, or death and that they will be able to live in the glory of Vishnu’s eternal light” (Britannica). Christianity’s view of heaven is more uniform among its believers. It holds that heaven is a place of peace and salvation in which to dwell eternally with Jesus, the Son, God, the Father, and the Holy Spirit.

The core belief of Hinduism is that humans and all living beings contain souls, which must achieve spiritual perfection. When it is achieved, the soul permanently enters a higher level of existence, called moksha. This entry is the purpose of living. Reincarnation is the rebirth of a soul into a new Earthly existence. It takes place redundantly over extraordinary numbers of years, until moksha is achieved (White). The concept of perfection, though elucidated differently in Hinduism, is similar to Christianity’s beliefs that a human soul goes to heaven after achieving subjective perfection; not true perfection, as implied in Hinduism, because such was only possible by the Christian saviour, Jesus Christ. The cyclic death and rebirth process in Christianity is a metaphoric rather than an actual one. In Hinduism, a soul is actually dead and then reborn. Whereas, in Christianity, the soul, within the same physical Earthly body goes through a series of deaths and births, so to speak, within the lifespan of that one body only. The birth and death in Christianity are caused by sin and repentance. In sinning, the soul is wounded, and a part of it dies. In repenting one’s sins, that dead part of the soul is reborn even stronger than before. Hence, the process of achieving perfection in both Hinduism and Christianity is through failure and death, and resultant rebirth, in order to try again to achieve sufficient perfection for Heaven or moksha.

In Hinduism, “the law of karma states that every action influences how the soul will be born in the next reincarnation. If a person lives a good life, the soul will be born into a higher state, perhaps into the body of a brahmin. If a person leads an evil life, the soul will be born into a lower state, perhaps into the body of a worm” (White). The conclusion, therefore, is that virtue yields reward, and evil yields penalty. This is true in Christianity as well, although endorsement of punishment throughout the years, especially after Vatican II, has somewhat ceased. In Christianity, doers of good find reward in heaven, while doers of evil do not. In both Christianity and Hinduism, blissful ends promote living for the glory of God, and doing what is, by human and divine standards, morally right. Furthermore, both religions promote similar standards of what such righteousness is, focusing of communal values, loving one’s neighbours, and in trust, obeying when asked to obey, as with parents, respected peers, and God.