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Hinduism
World Religions
Chapter 3
There is only one God
But endless are his aspects and endless are
his names.
Call him by any name and worship him in
any aspect that pleases you,
You are sure to see him.
- Shri Ramakrishna
Hinduism
Claims about 800 million practioners
It is unique among the major world
religions
In that it cannot be
traced to any specific
individual or historical
event.
Because of this,
It is seen as having
some eternal
essence, a religion
that has existed
forever.
It is the oldest of the living religious
traditions
Dating back at least 3,500 years
Hinduism
Is a challenging term
because it was not
invented by those
who practice
Hinduism, but was
given by outsiders
The name comes from the Indus
River
But has gained
acceptance by those
living in India and
practicing Hinduism
Hinduism is not an easily classified
It is not simply a religion
in the Western sense
like Christianity or
Islam
It is a diverse collection of beliefs,
traditions, practices, and texts
But this diversity itself reflects the worldview of Hinduism
Diversity is also a hallmark of India,
where Hinduism is rooted
India has over 1,000
languages, 20 of
which have over 1
million speakers each
The country of India
has 18 official
languages
Throughout its development,
Hinduism has revealed an
inclusive approach: It has
tended to stress
convergence rather than
suppression when
encountering other faiths.
Brief history:
1) Indus Valley
Civilization
One of the major early
cultures of the world,
settled along the
Indus Valley region
in modern day
Pakistan
2500 BCE – 1500 BCE
It exceeded, at least geographically, the two
other great civilizations – Egypt and
Mesopotamia
Aryan Settlement
A group from the northwest – the Aryans – settles in India.
More likely it was a gradual migration than violent invasion.
The Aryans merge with the existing
Indus Valley culture
And contribute to it the main Hindu pantheon and their
language – Sanskrit
The Vedic Period
“Veda” comes from a
Sanskrit word meaning
knowledge
The Vedas were brought by
the Aryans as oral
tradition
The Vedas are the most
ancient of the Hindu
sacred scripture
The Rig Veda
Is the oldest and is a
collection of 1,028 hymns
“God is one but men call
him by many names.”
The wisdom collected in the Vedas
Stretches from writings
in the Rig Veda(1200
BCE) to the beginning
of the 1st and 2nd
century CE
The Upanishads
A collection of writings appended to the Vedas between 800
and 300 BCE
The name Upanishads
means “sitting at the feet of
the master”, and the texts
are filled with the spiritual
advice of the advanced
mystics.
The Upanishads set out the
principle of reincarnation
and the path out of the
cycle of birth and death.
The Bhagavad-Gita
An epic poem that has
deeply influenced Hindu
life and spirituality
In it, the god Krishna
imparts to the warrior
Arjuna spiritual wisdom in
the eve of a crucial battle
Arjuna learns about dharma
– what it means to do
one’s duty
The Hindu worldview
It is vital to understand that the Hindu worldview is very
different from the Western worldview
The Goal of Life
Is liberation from the
constraints of the human
condition
Moksha
Hindus believe in reincarnation
That one is reborn into a
new life after death
And Hindus anticipate many
lifetimes,
So Hindus do not
experience the urgency to
get it all right in one
lifetime.
Moksha
Is the experience of being reunited with
the divine source
It is unlimited joy, being, and knowledge
Brahman
All reality is one thing:
All plants and animals, all
material things, all gods
and goddesses, and
humans – are all from the
same essence –
Brahman
Brahman
Like all water droplets are
from the ocean and will
return to the ocean – so
are all things from
Brahman and will return
to Brahman.
Neti, neti
Brahman can only be
described by what it is
not.
Neti, neti “not this, not that”
– is the description given
in the Upanishads.
Atman
One can discover Brahman
by discovering the
ultimate reality in oneself
– which is called Atman.
(the best way in the west to
understand Atman is to
think of the soul)
Brahman is Atman, and
Atman is Brahman
One can experience Brahman by
Contemplating the universe,
Or by contemplating the inner self – the Atman.
Polytheism – Points of contact
Human beings need points
of contact with the divine.
One reality, many
masks
Gods and goddesses are
seen as the various
masks of GOD, the ways
that people can
experience the divine.
330 million
gods!
Traditionally the
number is 330
million – but all are
masks of the one
GOD – of the one
ESSENCE –
BRAHMAN
People are free to worship which gods
they please
This plethora of gods
reflects the diversity of
human experience.
Hinduism does
not dwell much on
the why of
creation
Hinduism sees creation not
in a linear way (as in the
West) but cyclically.
The nature of the universe is a cycle of
birth, destruction, and rebirth
This is a rhythmic
pattern that repeats
itself over and over.
The universe is created by the God
Brahma
It is kept in existence by Vishnu
And destroyed by Shiva
All three gods are
necessary for the
cycle of existence –
even Shiva who
prepares the way for
new life to come
This pattern plays itself out in human
life
Humans are born again and again until they can escape the
cycle and be reconnected with Brahman
This wheel of life is called
Samsara
Two principles connect the cycle of
life with the divine
• Karma
• Dharma
Karma literally means “action” or
“deeds”
Every action produces
an effect.
Karma is unaffiliated with any god
It has nothing to do
with judgment of
people or gods
But it is the natural
consequence of
an action
It is like the law of
gravity impersonal
Karma so permeates samsara
That ones karma stays
with one from one life
to the next
Only human beings can affect
karma
Other life forms cannot
– so being human is a
great responsibility
and great privilege
In theory, Karma is a wonderful
explanation for the things that
happen to a person in his or her life
If one suffers, it is
because of bad
karma in a previous
life
If one thrives in this life,
it is because of good
karma
Dharma
Means doing ones duty
– doing what your life
asks of you
Dharma is a complete rule for life
A particular person’s dharma is determined by
gender, caste, and stage of life.
Caste
The caste system
seems to have
emerged during the
Aryan settlement as a
way of maintaining
social order
All people were divided into
hereditary castes
Brahmin – Priests
Kshatriya – warriors
Vaishya – producers (farmers, merchants,
artisans)
Shudra – servants and laborers
The originial
four castes
were divided
and
subdivided
over and
over
Until over 3,000 categories
emerged
An additional category of “outcast”
exists
For all those who are
deemed outside of
the social system
This group includes the
“Untouchables” who
only recently began to
enjoy legal rights due
to the work of Gandhi
– he renamed them
“God’s beloved.”
Karma determines cast identity
And caste identity
determines dharma
One’s dharma is also determined
by your stage in life
Hinduism sees four
stages to life
1)
2)
3)
4)
Student
Householder
Forest Dweller
Wandering Ascetic
These four stages mirror the four
goals of life
1)
2)
3)
4)
Pleasure – Kama
Success – Artha
Duty – Dharma
Release or enlightenment – Moksha
Hinduism offers three paths to
liberation
This reflects Hinduism’s
appreciation for the
diversity within human
nature
1) Karma Marga
The path of works
This will be the path of most people
It means to do your
ethical duty
Gandhi is the exemplar of this
tradition
“I am being led to my religion through
Truth and Non-Violence, i.e. love in
the broadest sense.
The bearing of this religion on social life
is, or has to be, seen in one’s daily
social contact. To be true to such
religion one has to lose oneself in
continuous and continuing service of
all life.
Hence for me, there is no escape from
social service; there is no happiness
on earth beyond or apart from it.”
The path of works succeeds when
one does right action
And is able to not identify
oneself with the action
“Be intent on the action,
Not on the fruits of the action;
Avoid attraction to the fruits
And attachment to inaction.”
- Bhagavad-Gita 2:47
2) Jnana Marga
The Path of Knowledge
This path is intended for
those who do well
with philosophical
reflection
There are several schools of
thought within this path
But all three emphasize
the basic task:
The attainment of
knowledge over the
ignorance that binds
the self to samsara
Human beings can attain
awareness of the fundamental
illusion of existence
That I am an individual
– something separate
from Brahman, from
the entirety of
existence
This illusion is
referred to as
“maya”
A cosmic illusion
Yoga
Refers to any sort of
spiritual practice
It is meant to strip away
the layers of false self
– to free the eternal
self from the bondage
of existence
3) Bhakti Marga
The Path of Devotion
Suited for those who
naturally favor
emotional life
This is the practice of devotion to a
deity
There are many popular
deities in Hinduism
Some are avatars, or
incarnations, of other
gods.
Example: Krishna,
Rama are avatars of
Vishnu
Those following the path of Bhakti
Marga
Practice many rituals
and devotions
Household rituals
Shrines in the home
Pilgrimages to holy places
Especially the Ganges
Cow veneration
The cow represents all
of the life. Protection
of the cow, and
veneration of them, is
a way of caring for all
creation
“The cow to me means the entire
sub-human world. Man
through the cow is enjoined to
realize his identity with all that
lives… The cow is a poem of
pity. One reads pity in the
gentle animal. She is the
mother to millions of Indian
mankind. Protection of the cow
means protection of the whole
dumb creation of God.”
- Gandhi
Hinduism in the modern world
India is a secular
society, and the
intersection of
Hinduism and the
government of a
secular state can at
times be challenging
Mohandas K. Gandhi
Reverently called
Mahatma– great
souled
Gandhi was the first modern
person
To articulate nonviolence as a political
strategy and a way of
life
– "When I despair, I remember that all
through history the way of truth and love
has always won. There have been tyrants
and murderers and for a time they seem
invincible, but in the end, they always fall
— think of it, always.“
• "What difference does it make to the
dead, the orphans, and the homeless,
whether the mad destruction is
wrought under the name of
totalitarianism or the holy name of
liberty and democracy?“
• "An eye for an eye makes the whole
world blind.“
• "There are many causes that I am
prepared to die for but no causes that
I am prepared to kill for.“
Hinduism and Islam
India is the fourth largest Muslim nation
The two faith traditions are
extremely different
And this difference
was seen in the
dividing of colonial
India into the two
countries of India
and Pakistan
Relations between Muslims and
Hindus
Are still tense
Hinduism outside India
Hinduism has not
had the missionary
impulse like
Christianity or
Islam
However, Hindu wisdom has
spread to the west
Yoga
Transcendental meditation