Download Hinduism

HINDUISM
1500 BCE-1900 CE
ORIGIN
• Unlike most other religions, Hinduism has no
single founder, no single scripture, and no
commonly agreed set of teachings.
• For these reasons, writers often refer to
Hinduism as 'a way of life' or 'a family of
religions' rather than a single religion.
• Hinduism or Sanatana Dharma ("eternal
spiritual path") began about 4000 years ago in
India.
• It was the religion of an ancient people known
as the Aryans ("noble people")
•
Archeological evidence from the Indus Valley
civilization of northwestern India helps to
establish Hinduism as the world's oldest living
religion.
BELIEFS AND PRACTICES
•
The fundamental teaching of Hinduism, is that there is a spirit within
us and also within everything we see.
•
Anyone who takes the trouble to undergo the necessary training to
purify and refine the mind and senses can begin to feel the truth of
this.
•
The way they achieved this was practicing “yoga”.
•
There are 4 types of “Yoga”
1) Karma Yoga- or the discipline of right actions is for those
of active temperament
2) Bhakti Yoga -is the path of devotion to God whose
presence can be felt in all things.
3) Jnana Yoga- preferred by those of analytical bent of
mind, is the discipline of trying to see the divine reality
within all things
4) Raja Yoga- is the process of mental control, purity, and
meditation to make the mind very calm and quiet.
BELIEFS AND PRACTICES CONT…
•
Dharma is an important term in Indian religions. In Hinduism it means 'duty', 'virtue',
'morality', even 'religion' and it refers to the power which upholds the universe and society.
•
Atman means 'eternal self'. The atman refers to the real self beyond ego or false self. It is
often referred to as 'spirit' or 'soul' and indicates our true self or essence which underlies
our existence.
•
Karma is a word literal meaning is 'action'. It refers to the law that every action has an
equal reaction either immediately or at some point in the future.
GOD AND DEITIES
•
•Most Hindus believe in a Supreme God, whose
qualities and forms are represented by the
multitude of deities which emanate from him.
•
Brahman is a Sanskrit word which refers to a
transcendent power beyond the universe. As
such, it is sometimes translated as 'God' (they
do not worship him)
•
Some Hindus regard a particular deity or
deities as manifestations of Brahman.
•
God can be approached in a number of ways
and a devoted person can relate to God as a
majestic king, as a parent figure, as a friend.
Each person can relate to God in the ishta
devata or desired form of God.
THE TRIMURTI (HINDU TRINITY):
Brahma
•
The Creator
not commonly worshipped
not to be confused with
Brahman (the ground of all
being
Vishnu
The Preserver
was incarnated (born as an animal or
human) nine times with one more still
to come
is the main god of Vaishnavism
Shiva
The Destroyer / Transformer
is the main god of Saivism
CLASS SYSTEM
•
An important idea that developed in classical Hinduism is that
dharma refers especially to a person's responsibility regarding
class (varna) and stage of life (ashrama). This is called
varnashrama-dharma. In Hindu history the highest class, the
Brahmins, adhered to this doctrine. The class system is a model or
ideal of social order that first occurs in the oldest Hindu text, The
four classes are:
•
Brahmans or Brahmins - the intellectuals and the priestly class
who perform religious rituals
•
Kshatriya (nobles or warriors) - who traditionally had power
•
Vaishyas (commoners or merchants) - ordinary people who
produce, farm, trade and earn a living
•
Shudras (workers) - who traditionally served the higher classes,
including laborers, artists, musicians, and clerks
SACRED TEXTS
• Hindu ancient, sacred texts were written in
Sanskrit, the language of ancient India.
• The Vedas are the oldest - about 3000 years old.
They are a collection of hymns, prayers, and
magic spells.
• The Upanishads are stories and parables told by
gurus (teachers) to their students
• The Mahabharata is a story of a war between two
royal families. The Bhagavad Gita is a very
popular part of this text.
• The Ramayana is a story of the god Rama and the
rescue of his wife Sita from Ravana, the evil
demon king
KARMA&REINCARNATION
• Hinduism, the world's oldest surviving
religion, is unified by its acceptance of
samsara, a chain of births and deaths linked
by reincarnation. Hindus believe that all
individuals accumulate karma over the course
of a lifetime. Good actions create good karma
and evil actions create negative karma.
Karma is not assigned or regulated by any
god; it's simply earned by an individual and
passed down through subsequent lives .
MOKSHA
• But while good karma can eventually earn a person
a higher place in the caste system in a future life,
the ultimate goal of any Hindu adherent is moksha,
or salvation from samsara. Moksha is the final of
four primary Hindu goals. The first three -- kama,
artha and dharma -- concern earthly pursuits like
pleasure, power or well-being and virtue.
• to achieve moksha, you must make a deliberate
effort to not want it. Salvation comes only after a
person has abandoned all pursuits and desires and
accepts that the individual soul is the same as
Brahman, the universal soul or god. By exiting the
cycle, an individual no longer endures the pain and
suffering of earthly existence performed countless
times over.