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Hinduism
“The truth is one, but different sages call it by different names.”
Often viewed as the most tolerant of other religions of all the
world religions.
Hindu Basics
• Some Hindus see Shri Ramakrishna as the
founder of Hinduism.
• Others believe they do not owe their existence to
a single person or prophet.
• Hinduism is a pantheistic - polytheistic religion –
believing in many gods coming from one
Supreme Being - Brahman.
• Pantheism is the view that God is essentially
identical with the universe and totally immanent
in the world: God is the universe and the
universe is God. Thus pantheism seems to be
the most accurate label for Hinduism.
Stats
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Oldest of the World Religions
3rd largest of the World Religions
1000 million participants
India has the largest Hindu population
– 11 Million Hindus live in Bangladesh
• 13% of the world’s population is Hindu
• Language of origin - Persian, Sanskrit
• Holy city - Varanasi, India
• Hindus believe that Buddha - Siddhartha
Gautama - began preaching Buddhism
four miles from this city.
• The term Hindu “Indian” comes the Hindu
term ‘India’ - meaning from the region of
the Indus River.
Sacred Books
• Vedas (chants)
• Mahabharat
• Bhagavad Gita - most
popular
• Ramayana
Religions in India
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HINDUISM - about 82%
ISLAM - about 12%
CHRISTIANITY - about 2.5%
SIKHISM - about 2%
BUDDHISM - about 0.7%
JAINISM - about 0.5%
ZOROASTRIANISM - about 0.01%
JUDAISM - about 0.0005%
Devotional
Divisions/Sections/Sects
• Vaishnavism
– The largest sect in Hinduism.
– Vishnu or one of his incarnations is worshipped as the
supreme God.
• Shaivism
– Shiva or Siva is worshipped as the supreme God.
• Shaktism
• Smartism
Hindu Terms
• Guru - holy teacher
• Priests and sages - lead worship services
• Samskaras - Hindu term for sacraments
– Samskaras are practiced in Hinduism from the
day of conception through the time of death.
– Remember - Buddha thought all of these were
useless - so there are no samskaras in
Buddhism.
• Puja (poojas) - common rituals, ceremonial
dinners for a God.
Hindu Society
• Caste System provides major divisions in the
Hindu society.
• The four main divisions are:
– Brahmin, which is the highest priestly caste,
– Kahatriya, which is the second caste of warriors,
leaders and administrators,
– Vaishya, which is the third caste of merchants,
traders, farmers and craftsmen, and
– Shudra, which is the lowest caste mainly comprised
of slaves. This is the only caste into which a person
is not twice born.
• The Untouchables could be seen as the fifth
caste, but is more precisely outside of the caste
system altogether.
10 commitments
1. Do no harm.
2. Do not lie.
3. Do not steal.
4. Do not overindulge.
5. Do not be greedy.
6. Be clean.
7. Be content.
8. Be self-disciplined.
9. Study
10. Surrender to God.
• Dharma - ethical duty or complete rule of
life.
– Not simply a list of do’s and don’ts.
• Moral Decision making uses Dharma.
Four sources of Dharma:
– Divine revelation
– Tradition
– Examples of those considered wise
– One’s personal conscience
Karma
• Karma - the belief that every action
produces an outcome justified by the
action.
– What goes around comes around
– You get what you put out there
– You get what you ask for
Samsara - Reincarnation
• Reincarnation - the cycle of birth, life, death and
rebirth until one receives freedom from this cycle
through moksha.
• Hindus anticipate a long series of lifetimes, also
known as samsara or the wheel of rebirth.
• If one’s karma is unresolved the soul is born into
a new body.
• If one’s karma is resolved, one attains moksha
or liberation in Nirvana.
Three paths to moksha
• Path of Works
• Path of Knowledge
• Path of Devotion
Hindu Trinity - Trimurti
• Brahma - the Creator God
• Vishnu - The Preserver God
• Shiva or Siva - The Destroyer God
• Brahman
– The Ultimate Reality in Hinduism
– The essence that Hindus believe all share.
It is beyond the reach of human perception
and thought.
– Pure spirit
Four Purposes of Life
• Dharma - to fulfill moral, social and religious duties
• Artha to be successful
• Kama (kami) - to satisfy desires and drives in
moderation
• Moksha - to attain freedom from reincarnation
Four Stages of Life
• Initiation – the time for a person to grow
and learn,
• Householder – a time for marriage, family,
and a career,
• Forest Dweller – a time to turn one’s
attention to spiritual things, and
• Wandering Ascetic – a time to abandon
the world and seek spiritual things.
• Japam - form of worship or meditation
– The name of a deity or a mantra is repeated.
– The most famous - or greatest of all mantras is
om - a.k.a. aum.
Tilaka
• The bindi – colored dot on
forehead - a type of tilaka.
• Sign of piety and reveals the
wearer is Hindu.
• It symbolizes the third eye – the
one focused inwards toward God.
• Both men and women wear it –
although men are not wearing it
as much as in the past.
• In the past black meant unmarried
and red meant married – now the
color varies.
Hindu Symbols
• Mandala
– Symbolic pictorial of the
universe.
– Concentric energy circle
– A Hindu temple's ground
floor plan often takes the
form of a mandala
symbolizing the universe.
The lotus is sacred not only
because it transcends the
darkness of the water and
mud where its roots are, but
also because of its perfectly
symmetrical petals, which
resemble a mandala.
• The swastika is a type of solar cross, with arms bent at right angles,
suggesting a whirling or turning motion. Long before the symbol was coopted as an emblem of Hitler's Nazi party, it was a sacred symbol to
Hindus.
• The name Swastika is derived
from the Sanskrit language,
from "su," meaning "good,"
and "vasti"," meaning "being"
(together; well being)
• In India, it is used as a fertility
and good luck charm.
• The right turning Indian swastika
symbolizes the sun and positive energy,
and is most commonly associated with the deity Ganesh, a God of
prosperity and wealth.
• Some Indians regard an anti-clockwise swastika as an opposing, dark
force- a symbol of the goddess Kali.
• Together, the two can be regarded as symbolically similar to the Yin
Yang symbol of Taoism, or the two Pillars of Kabbalah.
Chakras
• In Hindu Chakra means
wheel.
• Chakras are vital energy
centers in the body.
• Blockages or interruptions
of the flow of this energy is
believed to cause illness,
confusion and emotional
difficulty.
• Traditions differ about the
total number of chakras but most agree that there
are seven considered the
most potent.
Wheel of
Rebirth
• A very integral part of the Indian weddings,
particularly Hindu marriages, Mangalsutra is a
jewelry that symbolizes a married woman. Tying
of the Mangalsutra by the groom is the most
important ritual in a
marriage and is known
as "Mangalya Dharanam".
It symbolizes an unbroken
bond of understanding, love
and sacrifices in their life as
husband and wife.
• The Mangal Sutra is never taken off by the
woman after marriage until the death of the
husband.
Conch Shells
• The conch shell is a deep
part of Hindu symbolic and
religious tradition.
• Many Hindus use the
conch as a part of their
religious practices – blowing it during worship at
specific points
– accompanied by ceremonial
bells.
– A picture of a Hindu priest
blowing a conch during punja
( religious ceremony)
Holy Cow???
• Cows provide milk - often equated to
one’s mother - expression Gomata =
mother cow.
• Traditionally, cows were a part of
every household
• The cow has a special role in Hindu
mythologies.
– Kamadhenu - a wish fulfilling cow
• Many social reform movements in
India advocate non-violence and no
cruelty to animals.