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Hinduism Dancers, Bali Indonesia The Balinese religion is based on Hinduism, but incorporates a lot of pre-Hindu, animist beliefs (primarily ancestor worship). In ancient times the founder of a Balinese village was revered as a god after his death by the village people. When the Hindu princes from Java occupied Bali, their form of worshipping their dead kings as gods came very close to the old Balinese ancestor worship. The many different gods of Bali (gods of Earth, Fire, Water, and Fertility) were now all viewed as different manifestations of the Trimurti, the Hindu trinity of Brahma, Vishnu, and the destroyer/creator Shiva. The Ramayana narrative being performed in The traditional Balinese dance form India – a land of religious diversity The chief architectural symbol of India is the Taj Mahal (lower right), a Muslim mosque. India is predominantly Hindu, but after the division of Pakistan has a 20% Muslim population and sizeable Sikh, Zoroastrian, and Christian minorities. Introduction to Hinduism Hinduism is one of the most internally diverse world religions. It has many gods and allows many “paths” to salvation. The scriptures of Hinduism mirror this diversity. Vast in size, varied in usage, and profound in influence, many scriptures have been used for three thousand years. “Hinduism” and “Indian” were territorial terms applied by foreigners. Hindu self-identity mirrors external challenges of Islam (9th CE onwards) and colonialism (esp. 19th C.). Would there be a “Hindu consciousness” apart from the need to distinguish it from Muslim and Christian, etc.? All Hindus have a basic reverence for the most ancient scriptures, the Vedas written over a vast period of time. Secondly, all acknowledge a feeling for the structure of society as reflected in the law-code scriptures (including caste structure). The Hindu “Trimurti” Brahman as all three Gods of the Trimurti, Brahman, Shiva, and Vishnu. But Hindus often have a primary attachment to a single chosen god or goddess among many. Hinduism a religion of ‘330 million gods’; yet ‘all gods are one god’ = Henotheism “People say, ‘Sacrifice to this god or that god.’ But each god is his manifestation, for he is all gods.” (B-A Upanisad) The Trimurti and “Henotheism” The different gods are all manifestations of the same divine reality. They are all manifestations of the infinite, omni-present and ultimately incomprehensible Brahmanwithout-attributes. This attitude allows devotion to different deities, and even extolling each as as supreme, while adopting religious pluralism and tolerance. Hindu polytheism/ henotheism “is an expression of Hindu pluralism.” The Upanisads and the mystical ‘yoking’ of self (atman) and Brahman-Atman Upanisad means ‘to sit down next to’ (a spiritual guide or teacher). What is the relation between the individual self (atman) and Atman? Mystical experience related the unity of all things fleetingly experienced in the ‘fourth’ state. The sacred syllable “OM” reflects the monism and mysticism of the Upanisadic teachings. The practice of Yoga is believed to enable one to realize the highest self-knowledge, the “non-duality” of self and other, individual self and world-soul or Brahman-Atman: “Thou art that” (the Self or Atman). Cosmogony in the Upanisads “In the beginning this world was Self (Atman) in the form of a Person. Looking around, he saw nothing else than himself. He first said “I am…He was afraid. Therefore one who is alone is afraid…Verily he had no delight. Therefore one alone has no delight. He desired a second. He was, indeed, as large as a woman and a man closely embraced. He caused that self to fall into two pieces. Hence arose a husband and a wife, and therefore it is true: ‘Oneself is like a half-fragment.’ He lay with her. Therefore human beings were produced. She changed herself into the cow, but he became a bull and again they mated. She became a mare, and he a stallion; she became and ewe and he a ram. In this way he created everything that exists in pairs, down to the ants. He knew: ‘I indeed am this creation, for I created all this.’ Therefore he became the creation, and he who knows this lives on in this his creation.” (Brihad-Aranyaka Upanisad) Origin of the Caste System (from Hymn to Purusha): “When they divided the Self, into how many parts did they arrange him?...The brahmin was his mouth, his two arms were made the kshatriyas (warriors), his two thighs the vaisya (merchants; farmers), from his feet the shudra (servile caste) was born.” The Caste System The ‘Twice-Born’ Castes: The Brahmins (priests and intellectuals) were born of the mouth of Brahma and speak with the gods for humankind. The Kshatriyas (rulers and warriors) were born of Lord Brahma's arms and are given the task of protecting society. The Vaishyas (business people) were born of his thighs and do trade, business, and large-scale farming. The Lower Castes: The Shudras (or common laborers and small farmers) were born of Brahma's feet and their only purpose is to serve the other three castes. Includes the "untouchables" who are considered outside the system (hence “outcastes”). Women in Hinduism Traditional women often wear devotional marks to their deity on their foreheads. Significance of awakening of a third, “spiritual eye”. The life of women in Hinduism has been tightly regulated in the past by Hindu law. The Laws of Manu specify that females are “never to be independent” of male authority. Woman can sometimes ascend their caste through marriage; but no matter what her caste, a Hindu woman’s life consists of serving her husband and family. In modern India, a movement to liberate women is taking place, especially in the cities. Example: ‘The Bandit Queen’ The Bhagavad-Gita Its name means “The Song of the Lord.” Found in a section of the long epic, the Mahabharata. Comprises a dialogue between Krishna (an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu) and Arjuna in the context of a civil war. Its main point: Do your caste duties faithfully, and even if you have doubts about them, act with detachment. Each person has sacred dharma (moral duty) to promote the stability, solidarity and progress of society. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPWSGiXKDS8& feature=related 17 minute video-English; start at 10 THE FOUR STAGES OF LIFE 1. STUDENT 2. HOUSEHOLDER 3. RETIREMENT 4. WANDERING ASCETIC Each stage is related, though not strictly, to the four goals of life: moral education, earning of wealth, enjoyment of sensual pleasures, and the seeking of liberation (Moksa). THE FIVE YOGAS (MARGAS), OR “PATHS” TO FINAL EMANICIPATION (MOKSHA) DEVOTION (FEELING) = BHAKTI YOGA PASSIONATE LOVE OF A DEITY AND SURRENDER OF SELF; EXEMPLIFIED IN POPULAR HINDHISM WORSHIP AND THE BHAGAVAD GITA ACTION/DUTY (WILLING) = KARMA YOGA FULFILLMENT OF RITES/CEREMONIES AND CASTE DUTIES; EXEMPLIFIED IN KRISHNA’S DEMANDS ON ARJUNA IN THE BHAGAVAD GITA KNOWLEDGE (KNOWING) = JNANA YOGA INTELLECTUAL RECOGNITION OF THE SOLE REALITY OF BRAHMAN-ATMAN; EXEMPLIFIED IN THE MYSTICAL ORIENTATION OF THE UPANISHADS PSYCHOPHYSICAL EXERCISE (MIND) = RAJA YOGA EXEMPLIFIED IN YOGIC PRACTICE & MEDITATION PSYCHOPHYSICAL EXERCISE (BODY) = HATHA YOGA EXEMPLIFIED IN YOGIC PRACTICE & MEDITATION; 15th C. onwards Shiva, the dancing god Vishnu, Preserver & Protector At the end of the world (Kalpa-age) he brings forth Shiva, who then destroys the universe by means of his cosmic dance. After Vishnu has rested on his snake couch, and mates with Yoganidra, the process of creation starts over again, as its has countless times before. Cyclical time vs. Western directional time. Vishnu as Krishna Other gods: Ganesha God of wisdom and the remover of obstacles, son of Shiva and Parvati. One day Parvati, wife of Shiva, made a clay statue of a boy and breathed life into it to create a son and guardian of the house. Shiva arrived home and in a jealous rage chopped of his head before learning this was his own son. A remorseful Shiva then sent servants to find a head to replace it, but they couldn’t find a human head but instead brought back an elephant head, which Shiva then re-attached and breathed life into. Ganesha Symbolism Hindu Goddesses: Kali The Hindu goddess Kali is a ferocious form of the Divine Mother. Kali is the goddess of time and of the transformation that is death. In the ignorant ones she creates fear (existential death anxiety), while for others she removes the ignorance that makes us fear death. The intention of her standing over the slain Shiva “is not to portray the goddess as a slayer of men but as the power (Shakti) of Shiva, who without her is inert like a corpse.” http://kalighat.jagaddhatri.com/Album/adi ganga.html Hindu Goddesses: Shakti Shakti is a more benign image of the mother goddess, a universal principle of energy, power or creativity. The ten Mahavidyas are incarnations of the Goddess Shakti covering the whole range of feminine divinity. Shakti is the divine force, manifesting to destroy demonic forces and restore balance. The play of female energy has no beginning and no end. Every God in Hinduism has his Shakti, and according to followers ofs Shakti and without that energy they have no power. The worship of Shakti as this energy is closely associated with of Tantric and Kundalini Yoga. the Seven Chakras Tantric/Kundalini Energy “Kundalini” energy is one's dormant spiritual energy. “Tantra” means “continuity” or “integration.” As a term for a form of both Hindu and Buddhist religious practice, tantric practices have as their goal to reach an awakened state of higher consciousness by incorporating all the physical, mental, emotional, and spiritual aspects. “The divine power—Kundalini—shines like the stem of a young lotus; Like a snake, coiled round upon herself, She holds her tail in her mouth, And lies resting half asleep at the base of the body” (Yoga Kundalini Upanishad). The Kama Sutra. The dissemination of the "Discipline of Kama" (Love/Pleasure) is attributed to Nandi, the sacred bull and Shiva’s doorkeeper, who was moved by overhearing the lovemaking of the god and his wife Parvati, to record this for the benefit of all man (and woman) kind!