2. Hindu Metaphysics

Introduction

Hinduism is the oldest of the world religions and on some accounts dates back to 2500 BC. If this is correct, Hinduism began at roughly the same time as the ancient Egyptian religion. Although, the latter died out two thousand years ago, Hinduism today is flourishing and is the third largest religion in the world. Owing to its age, Hinduism’s influence is immense, especially upon the other major Indian faiths: Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism. But its influence is more than this. It could be argued that any understanding of religion, philosophy, history, art and culture would be deficient without a basic grasp of the principles of Hinduism. Hindu theories about the nature of the universe (metaphysics) are particularly unique and of a highly interesting and influential nature. Simply put, all things ultimately reflect one single underlying reality.