Download Hinduism Notes

Hinduism Notes
Afterlife:
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believe they go through samsara until they reach moksha/Nirvana.
○ Samsara: perpetual process of birth and death
karma unresolved: the soul is born into a new body.
karma resolved:soul attains moksha
○ Karma: total effects of a persons thoughts & how they act during the phases of a
person’s existence aim to get freedom or escape from this cycle.
Ultimate religious goal for Hindus is to reach Moksha.
When one does attain moksha, their soul merges with Brahman(Absolute God of
Hindus)
○ Nirvana: Getting free from samsara & suffering involved in samsara
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Hinduism/Beliefs/Afterlife-and-Salvation.html
http://www.religionfacts.com/hinduism/fastfacts.htm
http://library.thinkquest.org/28505/hinduism/nirva.htm
http://www.angelfire.com/pro2/compare_religions222/hindu_belief_of_the_afterlife.htm
Prayer/Worship:
How(Basics of all 3 shrines):
● Puja :worship preformed through prayers, songs, rituals
○ Important aspect of puja isnt congregational worship but individual offering to
deity
○ Essential part is for Hindu to make a spiritual connection with the god
■ usually facilitated through objects(element of nature, scripture, vessel,
painting, print)
■ During puja an image/other symbol of the god serves like a way of
gaining access to the god (it is believed to be filled with the Deity's cosmic
energy)
● It is the focal point fir honoring/communicating with gods
■ includes:
● 1.) seeing of the Deity
● 2.) offering(Flowers,Fruits, & Food)
● 3.) retrieving the blessed food & consuming it
Where?
● Hindus commonly conduct pujas in shrines at temples, home, or outdoor(All equally
common)
● Temples
○ Normally dedicated to one god
○ believe deity stays at temple waiting for devotees
○ believe if temple isn't taken care of the god will leave
■ why the priests’ live in the temples(They take care of the gods’ needs)
○ take off shoes before entering temple to pay respect to deity
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connection between devotee and deity requires intervention of a priest
innermost sanctuary of the temple
■ contains principle image of the deity
■ pujas usually preformed at sunrise, noon, sunset, and midnight
○ worshipers can arrange for a puja to be done by priest to mark special event
(birth, death, to ask a particular favor)
● Home Shrines
○ pujas that take place in home shrine are base of all family actions/decisions
○ contact between devotee& deity is direct
○ main things when preforming puja at home
■ incense burner
■ tray with flowers/foods/fruits
○ Shrines may be any size desired
○ There may be multiple shrines in a household
○ head of household chants prayers to deity
○ worshipers offer deity seat(?)
■ wash its feet
○ image may be symbolically bathed, clothed in new garments, embellished with
ornaments
■ perfumes/ointments may be applied
■ flowers/garlands can be placed before it
○ incenses are burned, lighted lamp is waved in front of deity
○ foods(cooked rise, fruit, butter, &sugar) are offered
■ Food and water are considered blessed by the deity for devotees
● Outdoor Shrines
○ usually marked with something small to mark its presence
○ deities are often worshiped through natural land marks: mountains, river, large
rocks, trees
○ streets are filled with shrines(carvings, stone, ect..)
When?
● Temple visits everyday/regularly aren’t mandatory
● Devoted hindu may visit temple every day
● others go only to ask favors of deity, fulfill specific vows, on festival days
● worship takes place whenever individual wishes
● Hindus have to pray at least once every day
● PRIESTS preform puja at sunrise, noon, sunset, & midnight every day
● Usually preformed daily at each home shrine by one/more family members on behave of
whole household
http://www.asia.si.edu/pujaonline/puja/shrines.html
http://www.lotussculpture.com/my_articles_puja.htm
http://www.patheos.com/Library/Hinduism/Ritual-Worship-Devotion-Symbolism.html
Certain Gods For Days Of The Week
Sunday: Lord Sury
-Day:Ravivar
-Eat once before sunset
-Ritual bath, cleansing of body, house, surrounding
-Color: red, pink
-Sun God
Monday: Lord Shiva, Goddess Parvati
-Day In Hindu: Somvar
-food is eaten after evening prayer
-color of the day: white
-The moon rules the day
Tuesday: Lord Hanuman (in South India: Lord Skanda)
-Day: Mangalvar
-Only one meal (Usually consiting of any food made of wheat/jaggery)
-Color: Red
-Mars Rules the day
-Observed to ward off evil/problems
Wednesday: Lord Krishna and Lord Vithal(incarnation of lord krishna)
-Day:Budhvar
-One meal in afternoon
-Color: green
-observed by couple for a peaceful family life
-Mercury Rules the day
Thursday: Vishnu and Brihaspati
-Day: Vrihaspativar or Guruvar
-Eat only once
-Color: yellow
-Believed devotees are blessed with wealth, Success, fame, happiness
-Jupiter
Friday: Shakti and Santoshi Mata
-Day: Shukravar
-Begins Sunrise ends sunset
-Color: white, indigo, orange, violet, purple, burgundy
-One evening meal
-Venus
Saturday: Shani
-Day:Shanivar
-After evening prayers, devotees have one meal
-Shani is said to ward off effects, illness, troubles
-Observed to avoid misfortunes
-Color: blue, black
-Saturn
http://hinduism.about.com/od/basics/ss/sevendays.htm & all pages with it.
Gods:There are 3 Divine beings of Hindu religion that are part of the Hindu God Trinity.
Each divine has taken multiple incarnations. (Ex.Vishnu takes the Kurma/turtle form)
● Brahma- the creator
● Shiva-the destroyer
● Vishnu- the preserver
● Other Gods known to not be incarnations: Ganesha,
Worship a different god each day (expert)
Over 330 million Hindu Gods have been counted.
http://www.sanatansociety.org/hindu_gods_and_goddesses.htm
The three divines gave the Vedas
Vedas: the Hindu prayer book. It is mostly passed down verbally for thousands of years.
The Vedas is broken into 4 main parts
● Yajur-Veda
● Sama-Veda
● Atharva-Veda
● Rig-Veda
The Bhagavad Gita is the 700-verse Hindu Scripture.-main scripture
2 major tales of India.
Ramayana-24,000 couplets about King Rama.
Mahabhrata- telling of the Aryan clans’ deeds.
The Upanishads, or revelations as translated by ancient seers(prophets).
http://www.hinduwisdom.info/Hindu_Scriptures.htm
Clothing
● women wear dresses called saris
● Men wear clothng called sherwanis.
http://hinduism.iskcon.org/practice/401.htm
http://sgholiday.com/calendar/india-public-holidays-2012-calendar/
http://www.mapsofindia.com/amritsar/fairs-and-festivals/hola-mohalla.html
http://www.tdsb.on.ca/_site/viewitem.asp?siteid=15&menuid=21858&pageid=19037
http://blogs.wsj.com/indiarealtime/2011/05/06/what-is-akshaya-tritiya/
Languages:
Hindi
● Principles&Discipline
○ Principles
■ 1. Gods Exists
■ 2.All Humans are divine.
■ 3.Unity of existence through love.
■ 4.Religious harmony
■ 5.Knowledge of the sacred river,sacred script,and sacred mantra
○ Disciplines
■ 1.Truth
■ 2.Non-violence
■ 3.Vegetarians
■ 4.Non-adultery
■ 5.No desire to possess or steal
■ 6.Non-corrupt
■ 7.Cleanliness
■ 8.Contentment
■ 9.Reading of scripture
■ 10.Austerity,perseverance,penance
■ 11.Pray regularly (daily)
■ 12.Fast on special events
http://hinduism.about.com/od/basics/a/principles.htm
http://living.oneindia.in/yoga-spirituality/faith-mysticism/2009/fasting-significancepurpose-benefits-270509.html
DHARMA
Dharma: what is right.
Traditional Hinduism has two life-long dharmas that one can follow.
○ ‘Grihastha Dharma’
■ The ‘Grihastha Dharma’ has four goals: ‘kāma’ (sensual pleasure), ‘artha’ (wealth and
prosperity), ‘dharma’ (the laws of life), and ‘moksha’ (liberation from the cycle of births).
○ ‘Sannyasin Dharma’
■ The ‘Sannyasin Dharma’ recognizes ‘moksha’ as its ultimate goal.
● Practices
○ Hindus are cremated
No official or orthodox Hinduism
Holidays
http://festivals.iloveindia.com/festival-calendar.html
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- Ganga Dussehra- to celebrate the sacred river.
- Shravan- Month of Fasting
.-Ganesh Charurthi- celebrates Lord Ganesh received his head
-Onam-State festival of Kerala
Krishna Janmashtami- the birth of Lord Krishna
-Navratri (ends 9 days after begins)
Raksha Bandhan-celebration of brotherhood
- Gandhi’s birthday
-Durga Ashtami - celebrates the god Durga’s victory over the buffalo demons