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Hinduism
“We cannot know whether there is only one truth
or not, unless indeed, we let a particular faith
simply state the matter for us; and secondly,
even if there is only one truth, there are many
ways that lead to it.”
Swami Agehananda Bharati
A Few Facts and Figures

No unique philosophy

Over 800 million Hindus

No founder or central teacher

13.7% of the world’s religious
population is Hindu

No one deity (330 million of
them) in the strictest sense of
the word

99.2% of all Hindus live in Asia

The majority live in India and
Nepal (the only Hindu nation
in the world)
 Large minorities in
Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, and
Pakistan
What does Hindu mean?

The Persian word for
the Indus River is how
we get the word (in
Sanskrit it is Sidhu.)

Indigenous Term:
Sanatana Dharma or
“Eternal Duty”
Sri Ramakrishna (19th century
teacher)
God has made different religions to suit different aspirations, times and countries. All
doctrines are only so many different paths; but a path is by no means God
(God’s)self. Indeed, one can reach God if one follows any of the paths with
wholehearted devotion. One may eat a cake with icing either straight or sidewise. It
will taste sweet either way. As one can ascend to the top of a house by means of a
ladder or a bamboo staircase or a rope, so diverse are the ways and means to
approach God, and every religion in the world shows one of these ways......
People partition off their lands by means of boundaries,
but no one can partition off the all-embracing sky
overhead. The indivisible sky surrounds all and includes
all. So it is in all ignorance people say, ‘My religion is the
only one, my religion is the best.’ When a heart is
illumined by true knowledge, it knows that above all these
wars of sects and sectarians presides the one indivisible,
eternal, all-knowing bliss.
No One Hinduism

Classical or
Brahamanic Hinduism
favors elite, educated
men

Many variations in
deities worshiped and
practices of faith
A Little History

Dravidian People
 Native

to Region
Harappan Civilization
 Advanced
Urban
Areas in Indus Valley
 2500-1500 BCE

Many figurines and
seals survive
Vedic Religion

Mixture of a new
cultural influence with
traditional forms

Vedas
 Scriptural
texts
 Sanskrit
 “vid”
or “to know”
Vedas

Four Parts To a Veda

Samhitas




Brahmanas


Manuals about ritual
Aranyakas



Main Body
Oldest Part
Hymns of Praise
“forest texts”
Quite esoteric
Upanishads


“Near sitting”
Spiritual Teaching

Four Vedas




Rig-Veda
Sama-Veda
Yajur-Veda
Artharva-Veda
Two Basic Types of Literature

SHRUTI
 Oldest
Texts
 “Heard” by wise ones
or rishis
 Recited for centuries
by pupils for their
teachers and thus
preserved

SMIRTI
 500
CE or later
 “Remembered”
tradition
 Often collections of
either


Dharma (obligations,
duties, laws)
Itihasa (“how it was” or
epic literature)
Itihasa

Mahabharata
 World’s

Longest Poem
Bhagavad-Gita
 Book
6
 “Song of the Adorable
One”
 Krishna is the subject
Core Concepts -- Brahman

“To Be Great”

Sat


Nirakara and Nirguna


Without form and without
attributes

Sakara and Saguna

With form and with
attributes
Chit


Reality itself
Pure consciousness
Ananda

Bliss
More Key Ideas

Atman



Originally ‘breath’ or ‘soul’
Universal spirit
 Physical


Jiva



Our individual self
More like the western
concept of a soul
More common in Jainism
Prakriti
matter
Maya
 ‘magic’
 illusion
or ‘trick’
Samsara

Wheel

Continuous cycle of
birth/death/rebirth

Humans are trapped;
our goal is moksha or
liberation
Karma and Reincarnation

Karma


“To Do”
Deeds, Works

Reincarnation




The sum total of an
individual’s desires,
thoughts, feelings, and
actions.

Actions Produce
Consequences
Taking on bodily form again
Not necessarily human
Based on your karma
Ashramas – Life Stages

Bramacharya


Vanaspratha
Moksha
 sannyasin

Grihastha
Four Life Goals

Artha

Dharma

Kama

Moksha
Castes

Brahmins
 Priests,


Vaishyas
 Farmers,
philosophers
Merchants
Kshatriyas
 Warriors,
nobles

Shudras
 Laborers, Artisans
Bhagavad –Gita 18:11

…the duties of the Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and
Shudras have been fixed according to the qualities
arising from their inherent natures. The natural duties of
a Brahmins are serenity, self-restraint, religious austerity,
ritual purity, forgiveness, uprightness, spiritual
knowledge, and belief in God. The natural duties of a
Kshatriya are bravery, splendor, fortitude, dexterity,
courage in battle, and the exercise of authority. The
natural duties of a Vaishya are agriculture, cattle-rearing,
and trade. In the same way, rendering work through
service is the natural duty of a shudra.
Final Notes on Caste

Social Order

Dvija or “twice-born”
 Upper

Mlechcha or
“untouchables” are
outside of the system
 Renamed
“harijan” or
“children of God” by
Gandhi
three castes
 They can study the
Vedas
Spiritual Disciplines

Yoga
 “Yug”
– yoke or union
 State
of “living in the
divine”
 Four
Paths
Bhakti Yoga

“To Share”

Most common path

Path of Devotion or
Love

Ishta
Mantra

Japam

Jnana Yoga

Path of Knowledge

Who am I?

Way of Wisdom

Neti-Neti
 “not

Intellectual
Orientation; Spiritual
Insight
this, not this”
Karma Yoga

Path of Selfless Action

Putting yourself to work
helping others without
any thought to your own
reward

Every act part of the
divine that we all share
Raja Yoga

Raj – reintegration

Path of Stillness

Samadhi or union with
the divine is your goal

Sadhanas or “practices”


Date back in time
Coherent system finally
developed by 2nd century

Pantanajali’s sutras or
threads (196 total – eight
steps)
First, the body

The body is full of energy
(kundalini)

Seven chakras or circles.
They move energy

Must move energy
through the body in order
to reintegrate and reach
higher consciousness
Chakras

Mooladhara or “base”

Swadishthan or “sacral”

Nabhi (Manipura) or
“solar plexus”

Anahat, Anahata or
“Heart”

Vishuddhi or “throat”

Agnya or “brow”

Sahasara or “crown” –
1000-petal lotus
Step One

Yamas
 Self-control

Five Abstentions
 Ahimsa
or “non-injury”
 Satya
 Bramacharya
 No
Greed
 No Theft
Step Two

Niyamas or observances

Works with step one

5 observances

Clears your visual field by
removing you from
concerns of this world





Cleanliness
Contentment
Self-Control
Studiousness
Contemplation of the
Divine
Step Three

Asanas or posture

Most common is the
lotus (padmasana)

Align chakras for
good energy flow
Step Four

Pranayamas or breath
control

Prana is life energy

Three basic types of
breath



Clavicular
Thoracic
Deep Abdomina
Step Five

Pratyahara or sense
control

Learning to control all
of the data you see,
hear, smell, taste, and
touch
Step Six

Dharana

Steadying the Mind

Working to Focus on One
Thing

Mantras again are helpful
as are ishtas

Yantras – linear image
Step Seven

Dhyana

Meditation

Start Experiencing
Loss of Self
Step Eight

Samadhi
 Sam
= with
 Adhi = divine or Lord

Higher
Consciousness or
Illumination
Hindu gods and goddesses

33 gods/goddesses in the
sacred texts (more if you
count the names)

Trimurti or Triple Form




Brahma
Vishnu
Shiva
33 koti devas



Koti can mean kinds or
types
Koti can also mean
10,000,000
330 million

Most Hindus



Vaishnavites
Saivites
Saktas
Vaishnavites

580 million adherents

Third only to Roman Catholics
(1,030,000,000) and Sunni
Muslims (940,000,000)

Typically with four arms; on the
serpent Shesha; with consort
Lakshmi

Avatars or descents; 22
mentioned only 10 really key
Saivites

220 million followers

Fifth (Eastern Orthodox
Christians are fourth at 240
million)

Symbolizes asceticism

Mahadeva or “Great god”

Spouse is Parvarti
Saktas

50 million worship goddesses

Durga is the great goddess

Kali is the destroyer of evil

Also Parvarti, Uma

Tantras (sacred texts) help
explain the feminine and stress
the need for unity between the
male and the female

Union of a lingam and yoni
Mohandas Gandhi

1869-1948

Satyagraha or ‘reality
force’

Mahatma or “Great
Spirit”
Final Notes -- India

1,065,070,607



0-14 years: 31.7%
 15-64 years: 63.5%
 65 years and over: 4.8%


2.5% world’s land; 15% of the
world’s population
1.44% growth rate




15 million people added each
year
Median age is 24
Life expectancy is 65
Most women average 2.85
children
Literacy
definition: age 15 and over
can read and write
 total population: 59.5%
male: 70.2%
female: 48.3%

Religion

Hindu 81.3%, Muslim 12%,
Christian 2.3%, Sikh 1.9%,
other groups including
Buddhist, Jain, Parsi 2.5%