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A Concise Overview of Hinduism
RLST 410—World Religions
Jordan Karrigan
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Hinduism is the oldest of the prominent religions on our Earth that originated in Eastern
Asia, dating before the 10th cent. BC. Its primary ties have been located in modern day India, in
that time, using Sanskrit as their primary language. While it’s one of the most prevalent Eastern
Religion, the individuals who founded Hindu ideology are unknown. Their primary means of
communication was through orality, however their philosophy was recorded into a Sanskrit
version called the Vedas. The oldest of these Vedas was known as the Rig Vedas which is
comprised of Hindu prayer, ritual, hymns, all passed down by the Brahmin. Thereafter, another
text was created, known as the Upanishads. This was virtually a philosophical commentary on
Hindu ideas with Hindu philosophers attempting to truly comprehend Hindu ideology. Within
the Upanishads, however, these thoughts must show correspondence with the Rig Vedas.
Moreover, another important text in Hindu scripture is the Bhagavad-Gita, a Hindu epic poem
which is a dialogue between Krishna, the reincarnate of the god Vishnu, and a Hindu prince
before the start of the war which seemingly rehashes and states Hindu ideas of achieving
ultimate enlightenment with the world. While these texts are in place to ground and base the
Hindu religion, the religion is an abstract relationship between the physical and spiritual
individual and the spiritual and physical world around them.
The Hindu religion is grounded that the natural world is not self-existent, but grounded
in a much higher spiritual plane. There is a monistic relationship between the physical plane
and the spiritual plane in the world—the world is in an infinite plane, i.e. a plane that is, always
has been, and always will be. Monistic ideology is identified as a spiritualistic viewpoint in which
the world is unified, both physically and metaphysically—both are conjoined with one another
in a constant flux of coexistence. This contrasts dualism in which there are two specific planes
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in which the physical and metaphysical realms exist. So, in terms of Hinduism, while there is the
physical world we “see,” there is also the non-seeable metaphysical world that overlaps with
the physical world known as Brahma. Brahma is the metaphysical world on which everything
has been, is, and will be. The metaphysical individual in all of this is known as the Atman. The
physical body houses the Atman, however, when this physical self is shed, the Atman is joined
with Brahma—Atman is Brahma, and Brahma is everything.
As the Atman is the spiritualized individual in this monistic realm known as Brahma,
Brahman is a Hindu deity which was produced from Brahma. Brahman is the ultimate—while
Brahma is the creator of Brahman, Brahman is the spirit—the Godhead— that created the
universe we live in. He is part of a Trinity of deities, with the other two being Vishnu, the
Preserver, and Shiva, the Destroyer. Vishnu has the duty of conserving the physical and
metaphysical while Shiva has the duty of destroying the finite to make way for the infinite.
Present is the Creator, the Preserver, and the Destroyer, making for seemingly polytheistic
religious practices, however, the conceptualization of Brahma is that all things are one—this
gives a monotheistic impression. It’s up to the individual practitioner of Hinduism in what deity
to worship and how to achieve enlightenment, but doing so is through a process.
There is the overall idea of reincarnation present in Hinduism, known within the religion
as Samsara. The ultimate goal of the Hindu is to be liberated of Samsara and be enlightened
through Moksha—Nirvana. Through Nirvana, the Atman becomes one with Brahma and
achieves all things “desired”—infinite being, awareness, and bliss, all through the conjoining of
Atman and Brahma. Achieving this is through realizing two paths in life—the Path of Desire and
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the Path of Renunciation. It begins with the disillusioned human notion that achieving pleasure
and success for the sake of providing you happiness is possible, however, this individualistic
notion attached to pleasure and success contrasts the Brahma notion of spiritual “oneness.”
Achieving Nirvana is a long, ascetic—extreme self-discipline—process through renouncing
transient desires. This is the Path of Renunciation—to renounce complete excess in the
individual’s life in order for the person’s Atman to break free of Samsara and attain Moksha.
A means for Hindus to achieve Nirvana is through ascetic practices mentioned in the
Bhagavad-Gita known as Yoga. There are four types of Yogi—Jnana, Bhakti, Karma, and Raja.
Jnana is through the acquisition of knowledge—the path to the metaphysical is through
rationality and spirituality. Bhakti is through the adornment and love of God—not a personal
relationship with God, but to adore every aspect present in God. Karma yoga is a yoga of action
and work—the individual finds God through everyday working affairs. The last, Raja Yoga, is
finding god through using intellectuality and exploration of the individual’s mind—it is with
experimentation of the mind to find beyond that is within. Through the individual’s chosen
Yogi, the person tries to gain attunement with Brahma, but the person must have lived their life
with virtue in order to do so.
It is up to the force of Karma to decide whether or not the individual is to attain Moksha
or be perpetuated into the process of Samsara once again. Karma is the universal force that
essentially “judges” if the person is able to achieve Nirvana or if they are to be reincarnated
back into the world once again. This force “decides” if they will attain Moksha through the
person’s actions in their physical life in the physical world. It is through knowledge the person
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attains salvation while it is through ignorance the person is once again subjected to
reincarnation—the individual may have done something they thought was in tides of good
karma, but the action chosen may have garnered bad karma, hence the ignorance. It is through
the inward exploration of the Self that satisfies the needs of karma that you seek to relieve
yourself of this perpetuated cycle of reincarnation, and the result of your previous life’s karma
produces your reincarnated life’s Dharma, or rather the “duty” that your physical life is to fulfill.
The Dharma present is a wide term that encompasses the individual’s duty that is
needed, e.g. religious duty, ethical duty, or even vocational duty. This Dharma is present in the
instilled Caste system that is present in the Hindu religion. Your placement in the Caste is
indicative of your previous life in terms of how much karmic value you seemed to have acquired
through your previous life. The top of the caste system is the Brahmin—the Hindu priest that
has lived a previous life full of virtue and are the closest to understanding and achieving
Nirvana. The next is the “kshatriyas”, figureheads that are skillful in arranging society in a way
to make the most out of the surrounding populations. Next in line are the “vaishyas,” people
who have artisan or merchant traits to offer. The last in the Caste are the “shudras,” or
laborers—the only thing they have to offer is the skill of labor to everyone above. Outside of
the Caste, however, are the “Untouchables”—individuals who have lived an atrocious past life
and are destined in this life to be confined to a poor, unkempt population that aren’t even
considered a part of the society around them. Overall, the karmic value acquired in your past
life is reflective of your present day life which defines what Dharma, or duty, that your are
required to fulfill.
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While Hinduism is one of the most prominent religions known in the world, it also is
coexisting in an amalgamation of different religions present in India. Hinduism is incredibly
diverse and has even had a subtype that has merged with Islamic groups, who initially opposed
and oppressed Hindus once founded. This group is known as the Sikhs—a group of Islamic and
Hindu cultures, living side by side, interweaving ideologies, for example, the monotheism
present in Islam and the Guru teachings of Hinduism. Though the ultimate goal for a Hindu is
achieving Nirvana of the Atman into Brahma, it is up to the individual in this life, no matter their
circumstance, in how to do that. As evident in the Sikhs, there are is an incredible amount of
ways, be it through a polytheistic or monotheistic means, of achieving Nirvana. Ultimately, the
person must achieve karma to do so by learning how to through their Self and ridding
themselves of the ignorance of disillusioned desires.