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HINDUISM
By Ted Eby, Derek Jager, Trent Josephson,
Sadie Utter, Stephanie Wagstaff
BEGINNINGS
• Hinduism began in northern India
• Diffused into southeast Asia without the caste
system of northern India
• Founders are the Aryan peoples of northern
India
• Basis was a prophet, fixed doctrine, single
authoritative scripture or specific institutional
organization
PROMINENT FIGURES
• Brahman– Teachers and priests
• Devi
– Deity of gentleness/fright
• Shiva
– Deity of creation/destruction
• Vishnu
– Deity of preservation
BASIC TENETS AND
COSMOLOGY
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Four Stages of Life:
– Student• Boys go to live with teacher and girls learn from the householder, or father, taking the place of
the teacher
– Householder•
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Mandatory
Marries
Have children
Household traditions/sacrifices
– Forest Dweller• Grandchildren take over the household
• Focus on nature and meaning of existence
• Gives up home
– Wandering Ascetic•
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‘Dead’ in the eyes of his family
Renounces the world entirely
Abandons all identity
An object of worship when in a Hindu Temple
Liberation
CONTINUED…
• Manifestations of a single divine force that pervades the
universe
• Text shows underlying unity
• Worship centers on the temple
• Nature is viewed as sanctity
• Religious duties depend on social standing, gender, and
current stage of life
• Moksha
– Union of one’s soul with brahman; ‘release’ or ‘liberation’ from
Samsara
• Samsara
– Cycle of birth, death, rebirth in which the soul works out Karma
CONCEPT OF GOD
• Henotheistic: devoted to one God expressed
in millions of forms
• Brahman- very essence of existence and
knowledge which pervades entire universe and
every being.
– considered highest god to exist
– entire universe, all galaxies, and more
• People choose to worship one certain form of
God
• Devas- celestial entities
– one certain Deva may be worshiped to attain a
personal desire.
HOLY WRITINGS
• Bhagavad Gita (500 BCE): greatest single
statement of Hindu beliefs; opposes evil in the
world. First scripture devoted entirely to yoga.
• Ramayana & Mahabharata: epics
• Upanishads: considers nature of Brahman and
Samsara
• Suriti: filled with stories and histories
• Veda: ‘sacred knowledge’. Consists of four
collections of sacred hymns and prayers and
supplementary writings
• **VERY IMPORTANT**- Mimamasa-Sutra (300
BCE): Jaimini composed this, the first
authoritative text of Hinduism. turning point of
Hinduism. Shift from ancient Hinduism to
modern Hinduism.
SYMBOLS
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Nature was sacred
Beauty/embellishment to receive deities
Mantra: From the Vedas. A sacred formula repeated in meditation.
Murtis: manifest form of the Divinity
Sri Chakra Yantra: represents Shiva (masculine) and Shakti
(feminine). Symbolic of creation and expresses non-duality
Swastika: An Arya, or noble and auspicious symbol. A symbol of
action of the Principle on Manifestation
Aum (Om)- sacred symbol that represents God
Tilaka- mark on forehead that was a sign of faith
Vibhuti- holy ash used on the forehead to represent Shiva
Ahimsa- advocated non-violence; respect for all forms of life
– Vegetarianism
– Abstain from beef
PRACTICES
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Pilgrimages
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People would travel very long distances in order to
worship.
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Distance traveled was a sign of your faith.
Festivals
Duties
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Duties to society were often based on personal characteristics,
such as your caste rank, age, gender, and place in the four
stages of life.
Devotion to Statues
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Worshipers would devote their worship to a specific statue. To
show their worship, they would often bathe the statue or clothe
it, to show an example of their faith.
Yoga
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Goal of Moksha
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Seeking liberation through the disunion of the spirit and nature
through meditation, physical, and spiritual practices and firm
belief in God.
GEOGRAPHY
• Geography played an instrumental role in the
development of Hinduism
• The vast diversity of India allowed for a
complex and varied religion
• Due to the isolation of India because of the
Kush and Himalayan mountains with the
Khyber pass being the only point of contact,
Hinduism evolved into a religion that catered
to the inhabitants of the sub-continent
CASTE SYSTEM (4)
• Brahmanas- teachers/priests
• Kshatriyas- warriors, kings, and
administrators
• Vaishayas- farmers, merchants,
herdsmen, and businessmen
• Shudras- servants and laborers
INFLUENCED BY
• Vedic religion
• Islamic invaders
• Buddhism
SECTS
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Special knowledge of sacred truth
Mental and physical discipline
Extraordinary devotion to the deity
4 Divisions in Contemporary Hinduism