Hindus have always believed in living life to the fullest. They have thought of maximising their contribution to society and as well as to family. No other faith is clear about the purpose of life. The semitic religions which comprise of Judaism, Christianity and Islam start with the belief that all human beings are born sinners. A very negative approach to life.
Semitic religions believe that in order to wash away the sins the only recourse available to human beings is to pray as many times as possible. That is why all these religions are preoccupied with prayers. In particular Islam has touched this highest point on this issue. They believe in praying five times at fixed times and in a fixed direction before sunrise and ending late at night and in certain postures.
Hindus on the other hand are free to pray at the time of their convenience. They have been advised that there are four purposes of life which are: Artha, Kama, Dharma and Moksha. Artha denotes creation of wealth as much as you can, without this we would still be in the Stone Age. Kama implies enjoyment of life to the fullest extent, paricularly getting married and bringing up a family - the universe would not function without a steady human growth. Dharma implores us to live a life of compassion and love. No hatred for any and treating everyone as equals. Finally Moksha means living in peace with yourself, thinking of the next life and making amends for your shortcomings in this life.
Hindus have laid emphasis on a need based life rather than greed based one. Our emphasis in on simple life and high thinking and not just counting money which is left many times unused.
Pran Aggarwal MA FCA
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