It is used in most or all philosophies and religions of Indian origin — sometimes summarized under the umbrella term of Dharmic faiths — including Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism.

The term ‘ Hindu ’ came to include persons professing any Indian religion ( i. e. Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism or Sikhism ) after India became an independent country

While the general concept of a " Spirit " that permeates the cosmos is a general feature of most religions ( e. g. Brahman in Hinduism and Tao in Taoism and Great Spirit among Indigenous peoples of the Americas ), the term Holy Spirit specifically refers to the beliefs held in the Abrahamic religions.

Hinduism uses the terms Aikantya, Apamarga, Brahma-upalabdhi, Sahaj, Sakshatkara, Sayujya, Videhalcivalyam and Yogakshemma, while Buddhism also uses the term Bodhi.

The formalization of this term in the West in the 18th century was of course not new ; philosophical treatises had been written on it in the context of Hinduism for millennia.

The actual process of change from one life to the next is called punarbhava ( Sanskrit ) or punabbhava ( Pāli ), literally " becoming again ", or more briefly bhava, " becoming ", and some English-speaking Buddhists prefer the term " rebirth " or " re-becoming " to render this term as they take " reincarnation " to imply a fixed entity that is reborn .< ref >" Reincarnation in Buddhism: What the Buddha Didn't Teach " By Barbara O ' Brien, About. com < sup > Popular Jain cosmology and Buddhist cosmology as well as a number of schools of Hinduism posit rebirth in many worlds and in varied forms.

In Hinduism, the term sin ( in Sanskrit ) is often used to describe actions that create negative karma by violating moral and ethical codes, which automatically brings negative consequences.

This term is probably a central one in Hinduism.

In Hinduism the term refers to an adherent of Yoga.

Gandharva is a name used for distinct mythological beings in Hinduism and Buddhism ; it is also a term for skilled singers in Indian classical music.

Indeed this term can be seen as the original name of Hinduism, the latter being a term invented by ancient Persians.

Under the term ' Sanātana Dharma '-- the eternal law — the concept of a philosophy which is ' authorless ' but perceived by the great ancient seers, has been a fundamental concept of Hinduism for over two thousand years.

Bahun is a colloquial Nepali term for a member of the Pahari or " hill " Brahmin ( ब ् र ा ह ् मण ) caste, who are traditionally educators, scholars and priests of Hinduism.

Savarkar created the term Hindutva, and emphasized its distinctiveness from Hinduism which he associated with social and political disunity.

" hearing, listening "), often spelled sruti or sruthi mainly in South India, is a term that describes the sacred texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism and is one of the three main sources of dharma and therefore is also influential within Hindu Law.

Judaism and Hinduism, for example, do not include this term in their vocabulary.

In Hinduism and Buddhism, the Sanskrit term ब ी ज bīja ( Jp.

In Vajrayana Buddhism and Hinduism, the term bīja is used for mystical " seed syllables " contained within mantras.

In Hinduism the term Brahman or Parabrahman is often used, while, in other cases, the proper name for a deity is given special significance as a true name of God or incorporated from earlier beliefs, as in the case of the Native American appellation Gitche Manitou.

The term religious communism has been ascribed to the social arrangement practiced by many orders of monks and nuns of such religions as Christianity, Taoism, Jainism, Hinduism and Buddhism.

A sadhu in Haridwar, India, during Kumbha Mela. In Hinduism, sadhu is a common term for a mystic, an ascetic, practitioner of yoga ( yogi ) and / or wandering monks.

Avatar is a term used in Hinduism for a material manifestation of a deity.

In Saivite traditions of Hinduism, the term is used as part of the compound " Maheshvara " (" great lord ") as a name for Shiva.

Founded by Maharaja Sri-Gupta, the dynasty was the model of a classical civilization. Maurya and Gupta empires are called as the Golden Age of India and were marked by extensive inventions and discoveries in science, technology, art, religion and philosophy that crystallized the elements of what is generally known as Indian culture. The religions of Hinduism and Buddhism, which began in India, were an important influence on South, East and Southeast Asia

With the rise of Shaivism and Vaishnavism in the early centuries of the Common era, Hinduism is generally monistic and henotheistic: there is practically a consensus that there is a supreme, absolute, and omnipresent divine entity.

The Prakrits became literary languages, generally patronized by ancient Indian kings identified with the Kshatriya Varna of Hinduism, but were regarded as illegitimate by the orthodoxy.

Reincarnation-known as Punarjanma is one of the core beliefs of Hinduism that is generally accepted by many of its practitioners.

In Hinduism, incarnation generally refers to an Avatar of Vishnu, the preserver in the Trimurti.

Within both the Vaishnava traditions and Hinduism generally he is known as being a manifestation of Shesha, the serpent on whom Vishnu rests.

In Hinduism coming of age generally signifies that a boy or girl is mature enough to understand his responsibility towards family and society.

This reformism generally developed in response to an external threat ( the influence of Hinduism on Islam, for example.

In Hinduism sutra denotes a distinct type of literary composition, based on short aphoristic statements, generally using various technical terms.

Within Hinduism, there are a number of names of God which are generally in Sanskrit, each supported by a different tradition within the religion.

Whereas Duff and many of his fellow evangelists saw Christianity and Hinduism as diametrically opposed, Hindus did not generally consider the knowledge either tradition provided as mutually exclusive with the other.

The Tenggerese generally profess Hinduism as their religion, although they have incorporated many Buddhist and Animist elements.

The name Durga can refer to a specific aspect of the Goddess but in the Shakti forms of Hinduism generally refers to the Great Goddess as AdyaShakti: the primoridal Shakti who incorporates all aspects.

The people have strong culture and beliefs, generally follow Buddhism and Hinduism, believing the Pandavas came and resided in the land while in the exile.

Born in Rome on June 14, 1955, Massimo Introvigne reported in a partially autobiographical paper presented at the 2008 yearly conference of the American Academy of Religion in Chicago how his interest in non-Christian religions dates back to his reading as a young boy of the novels of Emilio Salgari, Rudyard Kipling, and Luigi Ugolini ( 1891 – 1980, the author of the 1950 Italian novel L ' isola non trovata ), which included references to Hinduism, Islam and other religions not generally well-known at that time in Italy.

Within the context of the Indian religions, or dharmas, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism, sex is generally either seen as a moral duty of each partner in a long term marriage relationship to the other, or is seen as a desire which hinders spiritual detachment, and so must be renounced.

They are Hindus and generally follow Dvaita ( Dual ) Saiva Siddhantam school of thought in Hinduism.

In Hinduism and Buddhism, rūpa ( Sanskrit ; Pāli ; Devanagari: ; ) generally refers to material objects, particularly in regards to their appearance.

In Hinduism, altars generally contain pictures or statues of gods and goddesses.

However, Tantra is an esoteric teaching of Hinduism and Buddhism not generally accepted by most other forms of these religions.

These differences and the understanding of these differences is now generally diminishing between the Hindus, and the current practitioners of Hinduism are converging towards the Smarta philosophy, where Shaivites accept and pray to forms of Vishnu and vice-versa.

Hinduism generally disapproves of the use of non-pharmaceutical drugs.