conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know a description for a book titled Essence of Hinduism about Hinduism, People, India with the genre: Politics & Social Sciences, Philosophy?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: People from time immemorial have yearned to understand the rarest of rare secrets of divine knowledge housed in the spiritual land of India. People have travelled to this holy land in search of resplendent knowledge which contains the key for bringing divine transformation in our lives and so there is an inherent curiosity for understanding the concepts of Hinduism through scriptures. However without proper guidance, such endeavours to fathom secrets of Hinduism, even with best intentions, do not meet with success. People get stumped with how to access the knowledge, comprehend its wide-spectrum of concepts and utilize them meaningfully in their lives. That is why Hinduism is an enigma for most westerners. Their clichd understandings of Hinduism as a way of life, etc. cannot fathom the precious treasure of gems in its repository.   Interestingly, Hinduism is not mentioned by that name anywhere in the Vedic scriptures. The word Hindu was first coined by the Arabs to refer to the people who lived on the other side of the river Indus.  The Vedas which are the eternal knowledge of God, in contrast, have a very different and majestic perspective on the nomenclature of the religion that they teach. Thee name of the religion described in them is called Santan Dharm, or Eternal Religion. It is the path to God-realization, based on scientific, non-sectarian, and eternal principles. 
  
  the author has explained this ancient esoteric knowledge with rigorous scientific logic, in the modern context. He uses a simple-yet-scientific approach to make this enormous knowledge comprehensible to both youth and westerners, at the same time each subject is treated with philosophical depth for the satisfaction of the more learned and erudite readers.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the first five paragraphs for this book?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Essence of Hinduism
  When you look at your family album, you find the picture of a newborn baby, and you say, "That is me." Then you see the picture of a two-year old, and you say, "That is me." Then there is a picture of a five-year old, and you say, "That is also me." Now, who are you? The body is continuously changing. If you were the body, you too would have changed. However, you intuitively realize that you are the same person who was the newborn baby in the photograph, and then the two-year old , and then the five-year old.
  Biology teaches us that the body consists of trillions of cells. These cells keep dying while new ones are created in their place. The process of regeneration changes the whole body within a period of seven years. Yet, despite the constantly changing body, one remains the same person. The Vedas teach us that within the body is the unchanging ātmā, or soul. That is the real "I," the real self. The body is material, while the ātmā is spiritual and immortal, like God.
  We perceive the soul by the presence of consciousness in the body. The material elements from which the body is made do not possess consciousness. It comes from the presence of the soul. The body receives the energy of life from the soul. As long as the soul imparts it to the brain, heart, lungs, kidneys, liver, etc., they continue to work. Once the soul leaves, the organs and parts of the body are still there, but all work ceases. The body is now declared dead. Hence, the symptom of the soul is life, or consciousness.
  This consciousness does not exist in matter. Nor can it be created in the laboratory. Scientists can manipulate matter to create different forms. However, they cannot make matter conscious. Matter is thus termed "insentient," or lifeless, while all living creatures are termed "sentient," or possessing life. Consciousness is thus the evidence of the soul.
  Although it is situated in one place, the soul spreads its consciousness throughout the body. This is just as a light-bulb remains in one place, while its light spreads throughout the room. The soul too, while being seated in the heart, enlivens the entire body.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know another paragraph?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: If we love someone, we naturally wish to do something for the happiness of that person. Similarly, bhakti manifests as the desire to serve and glorify God.
conversations.from: human
conversations.value: Do you know the last five paragraphs?
conversations.from: assistant
conversations.value: Swarg—The higher abodes within the material world, which have far greater facility for enjoyment than the earth planet, but are not beyond the cycle of life and death.
  Tāṇḍav—The dance performed by Lord Shiv with which He annihilates the world at the time of dissolution.
  Varṇāśhram—The social system, in which one's duties were defined according to one's occupation and stage in life.
  Yamdoots—The servants of Yamraj, who come to take sinful souls after death, to their next destination.
  Yajnas—Fire sacrifice ritual conducted in accordance with Vedic rules, accompanied by the chanting of mantras and the offering of oblations.