Hindu Religious Traditions Hinduism is easily the oldest world religion still in use today. Not only has it survived countless attacks, but it has also thrived and has changed almost nothing in the last 2500-3000 years. "The Aryans are said to have entered India through the legendary Khyber Pass, around 1500 BC. They mixed with the local population and assimilated into the social structure. The Aryans had no script, but developed a rich tradition. They composed the hymns of the four Vedas, the great philosophical poems that are at the heart of Hindu thought" (The Aryans and the Vedic Age, 2004, par. 2). The Aryans began to write down their ideas and methods of worship which were originally transmitted orally. To transmit these long stories orally, they were put into rhymes and hymns. The first book of the Vedas, the Rig Veda, consists of 1028 hymns to various deities. Other books began to join the Rig Veda into the whole of the Vedas. Books such as Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and Atharva Veda showed that Aryan culture was changing the way it viewed its gods, as well as the way they viewed themselves. The last addition to the Vedas in the classical period, the Upanishad, was added around 800 BC. This is where terms such as samsara, moksha, dharma and karma first emerged in writing. "In Hinduism, salvation is achieved through the spiritual unity of the soul, atman, with the ultimate reality of the universe, Brahman. To achieve this, the soul must achieve moksha, or liberation from samsara, the infinite cycle of birth, death and rebirth. As a result of these basic teachings, Hindus believe in reincarnation, which is influenced by karma (material actions resulting from the consequences of previous actions) and dharma (fulfilling one's duty in life)"( Teachings and Beliefs, 2004, para. 1). The idea of ​​samsara is roughly that of reincarnation. All souls are trapped in a cycle of life, death and rebirth. The goal of each of these souls is to escape the cycle of samsara and achieve moksha. Moksha is a reincarnation with a god. In recent Hinduism the moksha you achieve is with the god of your choice, or whoever you have worshiped as your patron deity. The terms dharma and karma are the tools we must use to achieve moksha and escape samsara.