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Eastern Religion
Session 1 – Hinduism Pt.1
Introduction to Eastern Religions
Primarily located in India (although we will
look some at China, Japan, etc.)
They have been easily adopted by Western
culture under the name of the New Age
Movement (which we discussed in
detail in another class)
What religions are “Eastern” religions?
Hinduism is the largest of these religions,
and the one that we will look at first.
Buddhism is the second largest religion that
we classify as Eastern.
While we will spend more of our time on
those two religions and the practices
associated with them (Yoga for example),
we will also look at some minor Eastern
Religions that have large followings.
Jainism – Located in India, like Hinduism,
and has around 5 million followers.
Sikhism – This turns out to be the fifth
largest religion in the world, with 30 million
followers worldwide. It is also considered
an Indian religion.
We will spend a week outside the Indian
religions and look at the East Asian
Religions of China and Japan.
Taoism & Confusciousism – Located
primarily in China, these are two of the
largest religions in the world. There is not a
solid estimate on how many adherents there
are between the two groups; some say
between 200-400 million people.
Shinto – The last religion we will spend time
on is Shinto, which is a popular Japanese
religion. The number of adherents is in the
millions and depends on how you define a
follower of Shinto.
Hinduism and Buddhism and other Eastern
Religions parallel evolutionary ideas.
They also parallel
environmental ideas in
many cases (with Mother
Earth) but not all
environmentalists believe
these Eastern ideas.
Information on Hinduism is taken heavily
from Christian Apologetic Research Ministry.
Hinduism differs from Christianity and other
monotheistic religions in that it
does not have:
A single founder,
A specific theological system,
A single concept of deity,
A single holy text,
A single system of morality,
A central religious authority,
The concept of a prophet.
Hinduism has grown to be the world's 3rd
largest religion after Christianity & Islam, but
remains one of the most unstudied religions
because it’s heavily isolated in the East.
It claims about 800 million followers -- about
14% of the world's population. It is the
dominant religion in India, Nepal, and
among the Tamils in Sri Lanka.
Estimates of the number of Hindus in the
U.S. vary greatly: The "American Religious
Identification Survey" is believed to underestimate the numbers of Hindus because
of communications problems with nonEnglish speaking households. They
estimated: 766,000 Hindus in 2001
and 1.2 million in 2008.
While the number isn’t large, there are
certainly Hindus here in America.
Polytheism and Henotheism
Poly meaning many; Theos meaning god
The idea of many gods, and the idea of a
great god and then lesser gods under him.
Hinduism is the
largest religion in
the world today
that promotes
polytheism (and
henotheism).
Origins and History of Hinduism
Hinduism does not have an individual
founder like other religions.
Its origins can be traced to around 1500 B.C.
in what is now known as India.
It originally was a polytheistic and
ritualistic religion with rituals performed by
the head of particular families or tribes.
As time passed, the rituals became
increasingly more complex and there
became a need for a priestly class to
perform these rituals. During this time,
the Vedas were written to instruct
priests how to perform these rituals.
As a result of this ritualistic emphasis, the
priests became the means by which the
Hindus could appease the gods.
Around 600 B.C., the people revolted from
the control of the priests. The form of
Hinduism that emerged focused on internal
meditation as opposed to external rituals.
Around 800 to 300
B.C., the Upinashads
were written. The
Upanishads are the
Hindu equivalent of
the New Testament.
The Upanishads expound on the idea that
behind the many gods stands one reality,
known as Brahman.
Brahman is an
impersonal force that is
the basis of all
reality. The highest form
of Brahman is Nirguna,
which is, “without
attributes or qualities”.
After the Upanishads were written, the
Hindu conception of God continued to
develop from an impersonal god
to a personal one.
Nirguna Brahman essentially became Saguna
Brahman, or Brahman “with attributes”.
This personified form of Brahman is
also known as Ishvara.
Ishvara became known to humanity through the
Trimurti (“three manifestations”) of Brahman
known as Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the
Creator), and Shiva (the Destroyer).
Ishvara became personified through ten
incarnations of Vishnu known as
avatars. These avatars include forms of
animals (fish, tortoise, and boar) or
persons (i.e. Rama, Krishna, Buddha).
In addition to the
Trimurti and ten main
avatars of Vishnu, there
are approximately 330
million other gods in
Hinduism.
Hinduism can be divided according to
those who view the physical universe
to be real or illusory.
The nondualists see Brahman alone as
being real, and the world is illusory, while
the qualified nondualists affirm the reality
of the universe and Brahman, since the
universe is an extension of his being.
The dualists (dvaita) see Brahman and the
universe as being two distinct realities.
“Enlightenment” is called
many things: In Hinduism
it’s called “Moksa”,
“Samadhi”, “Kaivalya”. In
Buddhism, “Nirvana”; in
Zen, “Satori”. Western
cultures call it things like
“Cosmic consciousness”,
“Unified field of creative
intelligence”, “Absolute
bliss”, “One with self”.
In Hinduism, Yoga is the primary method
used to achieve this enlightenment. In
Sanskrit (original language in India), “Yoga”
means “Yoke or union with God”. Yoga was
introduced in 200 B.C. by Patanjali.
Yoga is an eight-step process called Astanga
Yoga. (Astanga means “Eight step in
Sanskrit”.) The goal is to “stop the world and
get off”. This is described in the Sanskrit
phrase “Cittevritta-Mrodha” (The stoppage
of the mental and physical).
More on the Hindu Scriptures
The Earliest Hindu Scriptures are the Vedas,
which were written around 1500 B.C. Veda
means knowledge.
There are four
Vedas: the Rig
Veda, the Sama
Veda, the Yajur
Veda, and the
Atharva Veda.
Each Veda is then divided into four parts:
Mantras (the basic verses or hymns sung
during the rituals), Brahmanas
(explanations of the verses), Aran-yakas
(reflections on the meaning of the verses),
and the Upanishads (mystical
interpretations of the verses).
This is also known as Shruti, or “that which
is heard.” Shruti literature is the Hindu
equivalent to revealed Scripture.
In addition to primary writings, there are
secondary writings known as Smriti, or
“remembered.” Among the Smriti writings
are the Ramayana (“Rama’s way”) and
Mahabharata (“the great story”) epics.
Within the Mahabharata
is the Bhagavad Gita,
which is the most
popular of all Hindu
Scriptures with the main
character Krishna.
While the Smriti scriptures are not as
authoritative as the Shruti scriptures,
through their popularity they have exerted a
much stronger influence on India’s culture.
Other Smriti scriptures include the Vedangas
(codes of law, such as the Laws of Manu),
the Puranas (the genealogies and legends
of the gods), the Darshanas (philosophical
writings), Sutras (rules of ritual and social
conduct), and the Tantras (writings on
attaining occultic power).
Ultimate Goal of Hinduism is to liberate
one’s self from this “Physical personal
existence” and become one with the
“Impersonal All” (which is referred to as
Brahman-Atman, or true reality).
People suffer because they have not
liberated themselves. Physical world is
an illusion called “Maya” (In order to get
rid of your suffering, you have to get
rid of the illusion).
According to Eastern religions, you must
transcend past the illusion by
Yoga/Transcendental meditation. When you
do this you become “enlightened”.
Karma is heavily emphasized in the Hindu
Religion (where the idea originated).
Karma is defined as the sum of a person's
actions in this and previous states of
existence, viewed as deciding their fate in
future existences.
Reincarnation within Hinduism
The belief in
reincarnation
(going along with
Karma) is central to
the Hindu religion.
When you die (for the vast majority of
people) you come back in another life, either
as a human, or as an animal (depending on
your Karma and how you lived this life).
Resurrection vs. Reincarnation
The Bible does talk about resurrection, and
the idea of a future life.
The resurrection is completely different
from reincarnation, though (even though
many like to compare them and say the
Bible teaches reincarnation).
The Christian teaching of resurrection does
not change the body that you inhabit.
In reincarnation, your body is still dead, but
your essence (spirit/soul) gets put inside a
different object (animal, human, or other).
Jesus said, “See My hands and My feet, that
it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit
does not have flesh and bones as you see
that I have" (Luke. 24:39).
Jesus had the same body before and after
the resurrection (wounds were still there).
The Bible makes it clear there are not
endless cycles of reincarnation.
Hebrews 9:27: “And as it is appointed
for men to die once, but after this
the judgment.”
Who knows how many lifetimes we have
gone through according to the Hindu faith,
the goal is to one day break out of this cycle
and become one with the universal all.
To Hindus, animal life is sacred because of
the belief in reincarnation & non-violence.
Your relatives or friends could always be
reincarnated as an animal, so you don’t want
to kill it and risk killing your friend/relative.
Because of this belief,
1/4th of the grain crops
each year goes bad
because of the 3-4 billion
rats that they won’t kill.
The Caste System
Historically the caste
system dates back to
the Aryan invasion of
India around 2,000 BC.
Society is divided into four main groups with
a fifth, "the untouchables“, outside
of the caste system.
The teaching of the cast system comes
from the Rig Vedas.
"The brahmin was his mouth, his two arms
became the rajanya (kshatriyas), his thighs
are what the vaisya are, and from his
feet the shudra was made."
1) Brahmin: the seers, the priests.
The intellectual and spiritual
leaders in Himduism.
In our society, they would
correspond to the philosophers,
religious leaders, and teachers.
2) Kshatriyas--(pronounced "kshot ree yahs")
this is the warriors/nobles class.
The protectors of society. In our society, the
politicians, police, and the military.
3) Vaisyas: (pronounced "vy sy us") the
merchant class (craftsmen, producers, etc.).
The skillful producers of material things. In
our society, the merchants.
4) Shudras--(pronounced "shoo drrahs") the
unskilled laborers or laboring class.
The followers or the
maintenance people.
The so-called menial
workers or hard
laborers in our society.
If you are born into a cast system you are
supposed to stay in the cast system, Karma
decides where you come in this life.
In the next session, we
will continue our study
on the topic of
Hinduism. Now that we
have an idea of what
they believe, we will
focus on how to engage
with those ideas and
share the truth of
Christianity with them.
Memory Verses
Hebrews 9:27: “And just as it is
appointed for man to die once, and
after that comes judgment,”