Why do Hindus believe that life begins at conception?
Well, the act of conception like so many other things in the Hindu tradition is seen as mirroring the universe. It’s a microcosmic reflection of the macrocosmic reality of things. And in every act of conception and every act of creation, there is a parallel of God entering the world, because in the Hindu text we are told when God created the world and when God entered into the world. Similarly, at the moment of conception you have the coming into being new physical life, but simultaneously with the coming into being of physical life is the entry of the spirit into the physical body. So each time you have a child conceived it’s like a replication of God’s act of creation. This is why in Hindu tradition we do not have a notion of degrees of ensoulment, or a view that it is some time later in a later stage in the development of the child the spirit enters. It’s at the very moment of conception. In India, is the discussion of abortion as polarizing as it is in the US? I don’t think that th
