Download Hindu beliefs and practices

Hindu beliefs and practices 1. About 80 percent of India's population regard themselves as Hindus and 30 million more Hindus live outside of India. There are a total of 900 million Hindus worldwide, making Hinduism the third largest religion (after Christianity and Islam). The term "Hinduism" includes numerous traditions, which are closely related and share common themes but do not constitute a unified set of beliefs or practices. 2. Hinduism has no founder or date of origin. While Hinduism can trace its roots to the early civilizations of the Indus River Valley, the authors and dates of most Hindu sacred texts are unknown. Scholars describe modern Hinduism as the product of religious development in India that spans nearly four thousand years, making it the oldest surviving world religion. Indeed, as seen above, Hindus regard their religion as eternal (sanatama). 3. Hinduism is not a homogeneous, organized system. Many Hindus are devoted followers of Shiva or Vishnu, whom they regard as the only true God, while others look inward to the divine Self (atman). But most recognize the existence of Brahman, the unifying principle and Supreme Reality behind all that is. 4. Most Hindus respect the authority of the Vedas (a collection of ancient sacred texts) and the Brahmans (the priestly class), but some reject one of both of these authorities. Hindu religious life might take the form of devotion to God or gods, the duties of family life, or concentrated meditation. Given all this diversity, it is important to take care when generalizing about "Hinduism" or "Hindu beliefs." 5. The first sacred writings of Hinduism, which date to about 1200 BC, were primarily concerned with the ritual sacrifices associated with numerous gods who represented forces of nature. A more philosophical focus began to develop around 700 BC, with the Upanishads and development of the Vedanta philosophy. Around 500 BC, several new belief systems sprouted from Hinduism, most significantly Buddhism and Jainism. 6. Hinduism embraces a great diversity of beliefs, a fact that can be initially confusing to westerners accustomed to creeds, confessions, and carefully­worded belief statements. One can believe a wide variety of things about God, the universe and the path to liberation and still be considered a Hindu.This attitude towards religious belief has made Hinduism one of the more open­minded religions when it comes to evaluating other faiths. Probably the most well­known Hindu saying about religion is: "Truth is one; sages call it by different names." 7. However, there are some beliefs common to nearly all forms of Hinduism that can be identified, and these basic beliefs are generally regarded as boundaries outside of which lies either heresy or non­Hindu religion. These fundamental Hindu beliefs include: the authority of the Vedas (the oldest Indian sacred texts) and the Brahmans (priests); the existence of an enduring soul that transmigrates from one body to another at death (reincarnation); and the law of karma that determines one's destiny both in this life and the next. 8. Note that a specific belief about God or gods is not considered one of the essentials, which is a major difference between Hinduism and strictly monotheistic religions like Christianity, Judaism, Islam and Sikhism. Most Hindus are devoted followers of one of the principal gods Shiva, Vishnu or Shakti, and often others besides, yet all these are regarded as manifestations of a single Reality. 9. The ultimate goal of all Hindus is release (moksha) from the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth (samsara). For those of a devotional bent, this means being in God's presence, while those of a philosophical persuasion look forward to uniting with God as a drop of rain merges with the sea. In Hinduism, there is not just one purpose of human life, but four: Dharma ­ fulfilling one's purpose; Artha ­ prosperity; Kama ­ desire, sexuality, enjoyment; and Moksha ­ enlightenment. 10.Categorizing the religion of Hinduism is somewhat confusing: Hinduism has commonly been viewed in the west as a polytheistic religion, one which worships multiple deities: gods and goddesses. Although a widespread belief, this is not particularly accurate. Some have viewed it as a monotheistic religion, because it recognizes only one supreme God: the panentheistic principle of Brahman, that all reality is a unity. The entire universe is seen as one divine entity who is simultaneously at one with the universe and who transcends it as well. 11. Some view Hinduism as Trinitarian because Brahman is simultaneously visualized as a triad, one God with three persons: Brahma the Creator who is continuing to create new realities. Vishnu, (Krishna) the Preserver, who preserves these new creations. Whenever dharma (eternal order, righteousness, religion, law and duty) is threatened, Vishnu travels from heaven to earth in one of ten incarnations. Shiva, the Destroyer, is at times compassionate, erotic and destructive. Strictly speaking, most forms of Hinduism are henotheistic; they recognize a single deity, and recognizes other gods and goddesses as facets, forms, manifestations, or aspects of that supreme God. 12. The caste system is a social, economic, political and religious phenomenon, and it is extremely complex. The Hindu caste system is based on the perspective that people are born with different intellectual and spiritual qualities and capabilities. These differences dispose different people to different sorts of occupations and responsibilities in society. The innate differences with which people are born derive from how they acted in previous lives. This is the law of karma. How we act now determines who we will become. And who we are now has been determined by how we have been in the past. 13. Caste is more than just a division of labor. It also entails a hierarchy. The hierarchy of caste is not based on wealth. It is founded on purity. Those at the top of the social ladder are regarded as more spiritually pure than those at the bottom. The entire system is thus a gradient of purity. 14. The term caste refers to what Hindus call Varna and Jati. These two terms designate two different but related systems of organizing Indian society. Varna means color and the term jati means birth, or more specifically, birth group. If Westerners are at all familiarized with the caste system, they usually think of what Hindus call Varna. The Varna system is essentially the traditional Hindu division of labor, comprised of the four categories: Brahmins: the class of priests and intellectuals who comprise about 6% to 7% of the population. The Kshatriyas: the warriors and administrators. The Vaishyas: who are the merchants, farmers and artisans. The Shudras: the peasants or the common folk. The first three castes are known as the twice born, because as children their members undergo a ritual initiation compared to a second birth. The shudras, however, have no such ritual initiation, so they are known as the once born. 15. The Untouchables variously as outcastes, untouchables and harijans: the word used by Gandhi meaning “children of god”. Today, members of this group prefer to call themselves dalits, meaning “the oppressed ones”. People in this class are the handlers of leather, the body burners and the toilet cleaners. In short, the persons who perform the dirty work in Indian society. Other Hindus regard this kind of work so highly polluting that they cannot remove the impurity with standard procedures of purification.