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HINDUISM
(CHAPTER 3)
There is only
one God, but
endless are
aspects/attrib
utes and
endless are
names.
Worship in any
aspect that
pleases you,
you will be
sure to
experience
God.
I. INTRODUCTION: TRUTHS
 Hinduism is the oldest of the world's major religions. It
began as a cultural religion, having emerged without a
founding prophet.
 Hindu  roots in the Sanskrit “ sindhu” meaning….
Of ficial language:
 Monism:
Concerned with:
 Remained essentially a cultural religion of South Asia and is
more than a faith; it is a way of life.
 There is no
 Goal of Hinduism:
II. HISTORY
 A . Background
 Originated in the region of the Indus Valley in what is today Pakistan, as
early as 6,000 B.C.E.
 Hinduism reached its fullest development in India (
% of Hindus), and
spread into Southeast Asia before the advent of Christianity.
 B. Foundation & Development
 Personal and family focus
 There are
III. FOUNDATIONAL TEXTS/READING
 A . The VEDAS
 considered holy presentations of knowledge ( shruti), perceived by holy men.
 most ancient religious Hindu text (1500 B.C.E.), and they define the truth.
 Hindus believe that the texts were received by scholars directly from God and passed
onto generations by word of mouth.
 Made up of four compositions, and each veda in turn has four parts which are
arranged chronologically.
*Oldest/Most Sacred:
*The
are the most ancient par t of the Vedas, consisting of hymns of
praise to God.
*The
are rituals and prayer s to guide the priests in their duties.
*The
concern wor ship and meditation.
 B. The
Hinduism.
 C. OTHER INFO:
consist of the mystical and philosophical teachings of
IV. CORE THEOLOGICAL TEACHINGS
There is no absolute statement (creed) that all Hindus believe
Monism:
A. God:
One Supreme god, many
Hindus believe in a universal eternal soul called
, who
created and is present in everything.
 They also worship other deities such as Ram, Shiva, Lakshmi and
Hanuman, recognizing different attributes of Brahman in them.
 Hindus believe that existence is a cycle ( Samsara) of birth,
death, and rebirth, governed by the law of Karma.





B. Reincarnation

is the wheel of rebirth which means the soul is reborn
from one life form to another.
 People may be reincarnated at a
 People may be reborn as

is not final for Hindus as they expect to be reborn
many times.
There are many ways to God…
IMAGES OF BRAHMAN
 All gods and goddesses are
 Brahman has
Is Transcendent or beyond
reach
 All things in the
material/immaterial world
are of the one essence that
is Brahman
 Traditionally Brahman is
spoken about in 3 forms 
 Brahma is the Creator god
 Vishnu is the Preserving god
 Shiva is the Destroying god
 NOT ONLY MALE
FEMALE IMAGES OF BRAHMAN
 Parvati is the Divine
Mother, often
representing the
goddess Devi or Great
Goddess
 Linked to Shiva
 Saraswati is the
goddess of learning,
literature, and music
 Linked to Brahma
 Lakshmi is the goddess
of prosperity, good
fortune, and beauty
 Linked to Vishnu
AVATARS
 Hinduism does
believe
 Two most popular:
 Both avatars of Vishnu
 Krishna is also
considered a god
 Gautama the Buddha is
considered to be an
avatar of Vishnu
THE ULTIMATE RELATIONSHIP: BRAHMAN
& ATMAN (ETERNAL SOUL)
 Brahman cannot be separated from



 The body + mind + emotions ≠ a person’s real self
 These are illusions, or maya
 Only through release from maya can one achieve union with
Brahman
 Both Brahman and atman are elusive and hidden
 We can only achieve true self-realization through rigorous physical
and mental discipline
 True self-realization is called moksha or liberation from the
endless cycle of rebirth
 Happens once you’ve removed the karmic residue from yourself
Life; it’s made up of…
4 Stages of LIFE
(Ashramas)
 Students
 Households
 Forest dwellers
 Wandering ascetics
(called sannyasin)
V. CORE ETHICAL TEACHINGS
 A . Samsara 
 Belief in an ongoing migration
 Ignorance of the Brahman leads the soul to believe in the reality of the temporal,
phenomenal world
 B.
: d ete r m i n e s a l l t h e p a r t i c ula r c i r c ums t a nc e s a n d s i t u a t io n s o f
o n e ’ s l i fe .
1 . L i f e i s c yc l i ca l a n d d ete r m i n e d b y k a r m a
 Moral law of cause and effect
2 . D e e d s o f t h e p r ev i o us l i fe d ete r m i n e i d e n t i t y / a c t i o n s
3.
4 . G o o d a c t i o n s m e r i t m i g r a t i o n to a b et te r s i t ua t i o n i n t h e n ex t l i f e
5 . g o d d o e s n ’ t d ete r m i n e yo u r c i rc um s t a n c e s … yo u r ka r m a d o e s
 C . D h a r m a : et h i c a l d u t y b a s e d o n t h e d i v i n e o r d e r o f r e a l i t y. T h e w o r d i s t h e c l o s e s t
e q u i v al e n t to “ r e l i g io n . ”
 D . C o w Ve n e r a t i o n s : r e p r e s e n t s
3 PATHS TO LIBERATION
 Called
 Each is based on
 Involves
particular human
 Learning  The information
tendencies
rec’d from the outside world
 Effective means of moving
 Thinking  Internal reflection of
what’s been learned
closer to the ultimate goal
 Viewing  Seeing from God’s
of liberation
point of view
 Path of Action
 Path of
 Called
Devotion/Emotional

 Performs right actions for the
sake of Brahman; not
personal gain
 Path of
Knowledge/Philosophical
 Called
 Followed by most Hindus
 Perception that Brahman is
more immanent than
transcendent
VI. RELIGIOUS PRACTICES
 A . Calendar, Feasts, Festivals
 No
 Festival
 No universal date
 Celebrated in the fall
 Length depends on where you live
 North celebrates for 5 days, while the south celebrates for 1
 Some consider this the start of the new year
 Celebrates the return of Rama to his kingdom after a 14 year exile
 People lit lamps to guide him & his friends on their journey
 Today people decorate with colorful lights and candles
 Begins at darkness so the lights really shine
 Also celebrated by Sikhs & Jains
 B. Public/Communal Wor ship

 C. Individual Spirituality

VII. SACRED PLACES/SPACES
Banaras: Holy City
Pilgrims come from all over to bathe in the Ganges.
Countless Hindus come to Banaras to die.
It has 1500 temples, most of them devoted to Shiva.
It is a gathering place for the religiously learned and their disciples .
River
G




Sacred to
Symbol
Ritual bathing  power to wash away the karma
At death  ashes in River
Temples
 Contain images of gods & goddesses
 Traditionally dedicated to
 No group services
Homes
No matter the caste 
VIII. PERSONAL & SOCIAL (MISC)
CASTE SYSTEM:
Social order significantly af fects individual identity and one’s dharma
 One’s ethical duty
 Provides the standard by which to judge the rightness or wrongness of actions
Individuals…
4 levels of the Caste System
 Brahmin:
 Kshaatriya:
 Vaishya:
 Shudra:
Doesn’t stop with 4 levels… but the 5 th group is so low they aren’t mentioned
 Aprishya or the
WOMEN:
 Traditionally strong patriarchal, obedient to men, trying to change this (practice of sati —
burning of a widow)
HINDUS & MUSLIMS:
Relationship have not always been peaceful
IX. IMPT: MOHANDAS GANDHI
Mahatma
Advocated
Efforts to stand up
to oppression thru
nonviolence & civil
disobedience
&passive resistance
to British rule
X. HINDUISM AND CATHOLICISM
 No one religion can claim knowledge of the absolute truth
 The ultimate reality (which other s call God) is unknowable
 If all the truth statements and experiences of the world’s religions were
collected, the sum would be close to the Truth but it wouldn’t be the
Truth
 Good interreligious dialogue with Catholics because of the dominance
of pover ty and lack of basic human needs that plague India
 Jesus’ teachings & Beatitudes are attractive
 He was pure of heart
 Catholicism respects Hinduism’s encouragement of contemplation of
the divine myster y
 Empathizes with the desire for freedom from the anguish of our human
condition
 We can learn from their asceticism/flight to God with love and trust