They link the individual, Allah, and the community of followers in a seamless unity. From the religions that began in the Middle East, we turn to those religions that began in India . All have several common characteristics. Those whose lives are guided by the Indian religions do not believe in a single creation, to be followed by a culmination of the historical process. Rather, time is thought of as moving in vast cosmic cycles, one after another, with no absolute beginning nor end.
Human life is cyclic as well.
The doctrine of reincarnation, in its most general form, states that this lifetime was preceded by other lives, and will be followed by yet more lives. Nor is there a single way of experiencing and expressing the Absolute. Some believe in one personal god, some in many goddesses and gods. For some, sacred reality is best expressed in impersonal ways. Some believe that there is no deity at all, apart from the rest of what is.