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Hinduism

An Introduction
to the
Sanatana Dharma
Simple Background
Hinduism is a 19th-century word
Persian: hindu
Sanskrit sindhu (river)
Religions from the Indus Valley
Indian Religion(s)
750+ million Hindus in India
30+ million Hindus abroad
Third largest religion in the world
Definition of Hinduism
Indian Supreme Court 1966 (reaffirmed 1995)
Acceptance and reverence for the Vedas
A spirit of tolerance
Belief in vast cosmic periods of creation and
destruction
Belief in reincarnation
Recognition of multiple paths to salvation and truth,
Polytheism
Philosophical flexibility (no single dogma)
Partition of India
1947
Though relatively stable, there is still some conflict, such at the
Ayodhya Temple.
Hinduism is one of the oldest extant religious
traditions in the world.

From at least 2500 BCE there were people
living in the Indus Valley.

Several cities with advanced plumbing,
architecture, and populations of 40,000+
(e.g., Harappa and Mohenjo-daro)
flourished.




Some scholars have hypothesized that the
Aryan Invasion is the key event in the
founding of Indian civilization and Hinduism.
(2000-1500 BCE)

Now other scholars have questioned the
invasion theory in favor of more organic
theories of cultural dispersion.
The earliest forms of Hinduism are often called
Vedic. (2500-800 BCE)

Dominated by a priestly class concerned with fire
sacrifices.

The fire rituals communicated with the gods,
influenced them, and restored the vital powers of
the universe.

Dyaus Pitr (cf: Zeus & Jupiter)

Agni (god of fire)

Soma (a god & a drug?)
If I were asked under what sky the human mind . . . has
most deeply pondered over the greatest problems of life, and
has found solutions to some of them which well deserve the
attention even of those who have studied Plato and Kant--I
should point to India. And if I were to ask myself from what
literature we who have been nurtured almost exclusively on
the thoughts of Greeks and Romans, and of one Semitic
race, the Jewish, may draw the corrective which is most
wanted in order to make our inner life more perfect, more
comprehensive, more universal, in fact more truly human a
life . . . again I would point to India. -- Max Mller.

"I should have been glad to acquire some sort of idea of
Hindu theology, but the difficulties were too great.--Mark
Twain
What do people want?

What do people want?
Pleasure
What do people want?*
Pleasure
Success: wealth, fame, power
competitive (& precarious)
insatiable (potentially)
centers on the self (lower-case s)
achievements are ephemeral
*based on Huston Smiths, World Religions
What do people want?
Pleasure
Success: wealth, fame, power

Together, we can think of these two as
the path of desire.

What do people want?
Pleasure
Success: wealth, fame, power
Duty

What do people really want/desire?


What do people want?
Pleasure
Success: wealth, fame, power
Duty

What do people really want/desire?
1. being
2. knowing
3. joy


What do people want?
Pleasure
Success: wealth, fame, power
Duty

What do people really want/desire?
1. beinginfinite being
2. knowinginfinite awareness
3. joyinfinite bliss


What do people want?
Pleasure
Success: wealth, fame, power
Duty
Liberation (moksha)
Liberation from the cycle of existence (samsara) often
identified with a state of knowledge in which the phenomenal
world and its concerns are shut out in favor of a mystical
identification with the ultimate, changeless ground of all
things.--Oxford Dictionary of Philosophy
release from the finitude that restricts us from the limitless
being, consciousness, and bliss our hearts desire--Huston
Smith


Lifes Limitations
pain (physical and psychological)
ignorance
restricted being
Four Paths
reflective through knowledge
Jnana (yoga)
emotional through love
bhakti (yoga)
active through work
karma (yoga)
experimental through experiment
raja (yoga)
[hatha]
yoga = union
Common Preliminary Commitments
Cultivate habits of:
non-injury
truthfulness
non-stealing
self-control
cleanliness
contentment
self-discipline
compelling desire
Jnana Yoga/Path
Path to oneness with God through knowledge--a
transforming intuitive discernment--turning the knower into
that which she/he knows.
Reflecting on the nature of the Atman--The self which is
eternal and (in Advaita) identical with Brahman (sacred
Power/Divine Being)
Shifting self-identification to the abiding part of her nature
I am Witness approach to his own history/life
Brahman is all, and the Self (Atman) is Brahman
(Mandukya Upanishad, 2)
Bhakti Yoga/path
Directs towards God the love that is at the base of
every human heart.
Probably the most popular and frequently practiced form
Tends to insist on Gods otherness: Pray no more for utter oneness
with God . . .--Song of Tukaram
Strives to adore God with every fabric of ones being (as opposed to
acknowledging union)
Tends towards incarnational representations of the deity--an ishta
But:
Lord, forgive three sins that are due to my human limitations,
Thou art everywhere, but I worship you here;
Thou art without form, but I worship you in these forms;
Thou needs no praise, yet I offer you these prayers and salutations.
Lord, forgive three sins that are due to my human limitations.
karma yoga/path
By wise and proper involvement in the work of the world,
one can also move towards God/moksha.
by identifying oneself with the transpersonal Absolute (a
la jnana)
every action performed on the external world reacts
on the doer
work performed in detachment from the empirical self
by shifting affection to external person (a la bhakti)
work for Gods sake instead of my own
work done selflessly
He who does the task/Dictated by duty/Caring
nothing/For the fruit of the action/ He is a yogi. (Bhagava-
Gita, VI:1)
The Tale of the Yogi and the Scorpion
raja yoga/path
Disciplined bodily and mental activity designed to explore
the nature of the true self.
Layers of human being:
bodies
minds
subconscious
___________________________________
Being Itself
raja yoga/path (cont.)
Eight Steps: (hatha yoga)
1. Five Abstentions: injury, lying, stealing,sensuality,
greed
2. Five Observances: cleanliness, contentment, self-
control, studiousness, contemplation of the divine
3. asanas (postures, e.g., the lotus position)
4. breathing
5. contemplation (turning inward)
6. concentration (leave the mind alone)
7. merging of subject/object; out of time;
8. samadhi: sam=together with, adhi=the Lord
Stages of Life
The student
Householder (pleasure, success, duty)
Retirement
sannyasin (the one who neither hates
nor loves anything)
Caste System
Beginning with Aryan intrusion (2nd m. BCE)?
Four (plus) castes:
Brahmins (seers)
Kshatriyas (administrators)
Vaishyas (artisans, farmers, craftsmen)
Shudras (unskilled laborers)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
untouchables (today: dalit)

God
Brahman (etymology: br=breath, brih=to be great)
sat: being
chit: awareness
ananda: bliss
neti . . .neti -- a kind of negative theology (Nirguna Brahman
of the philosophers)
Saguna Brahman: the noblest reality encountered in the world.
Sri Ramakrishna claimed both were equally correct
God can be thought of as Creator (Brahma), Preserver (Vishnu),
and Destroyer (Shiva)
But in many Hindu expressions God is transpersonal: beyond it
all

Hindu Pantheon
Though affirming Brahman as ultimate reality, Hinduism
is highly polytheistic.

The Hindu Pantheon is structured around divine couples
(male-structure/form::female-energy/matter) who serve
different functions in the universe; in a way, they point to
the various forces in life/the cosmos.

Many deities are depicted with a vehiclean animal with
whom they are often portrayed.

The Trimurti is organized around Brahma (creation),
Vishnu (maintenance), Shiva (destruction).
Brahma (creation)
Consort/wife: Saraswati, goddess of knowledge and
speech.

Vehicle: hamsa or swan (seven swans).
Vishnu (maintainer of the universe)
Consort: Lakshmi (good fortune and prosperity)
Vehicle: Garudaeagle/human hybrid
Vishnu appears in many avatars (traditionally ten, the
last, who has not yet appeared, is Kalki, who will come
when he is most needed).

The two most important avatars of Vishnu are Rama
and Krishna.
Shiva (the destroyer)
Consort(s): Kali (et al, Sati, Parvati, Lalita, Durga . . .)
Vehicle: Nandi, the Bull
Ganesha (son of Shiva and Parvati)
Devi (the goddess) is sometimes worshipped as the
supreme manifestation of Brahman. All other gods and
goddesses would then be considered emanations of her.


Devi (Devanagari: ) is the Sanskrit word for Goddess.

Devi is synonymous with Shakti, the female aspect of the
divine, as conceptualized by the Shakta tradition of Hinduism.
She is the female counterpart without whom the male aspect,
which represents consciousness or discrimination, remains
impotent and void. Goddess worship is an integral part of
Hinduism.Devi is, quintessentially, the core form of every
Hindu Goddess. As the female manifestation of the supreme
lord, she is also called Prakriti or Maya, as she balances out the
male aspect of the divine addressed Purusha.
[1]ManifestationsDevi or the divine feminine is an equal
conterpart to the divine masculine, and hence manifests herself
as the Trinity herself - the Creator (Durga or the Divine
Mother), Preserver (Lakshmi, Parvati & Sarswati) and Destroyer
(Mahishasura-Mardini, Kali & Smashanakali ).

Source: The Goddess Files
People
Individual souls (jivas) enter the world mysteriously
They begin as the souls of the simplest forms of life and
reincarnate/transmigrate (samsara) into more complex bodies
until they enter human bodies
Souls in human bodies are engaged in issues of freedom and
responsibility (karma)
Is this fatalism?
there is choice
natural causes factor in
ultimately the soul gets what it wants
The Tale of the Magic Kalpataru Tree

The World
A multiple world with innumerable galaxies (horizontally),
innumerable tiers (vertically), and innumerable cycles
(temporally)
Moral world in which karma is always operational
a middle place; will never replace paradise
maya (an element of illusion)
a place of human growth
lila (site of exuberant divine activity)
There are three major devotional traditions:
Vaishnava (Vishnu)
Generally vegetarian
Worship Vishnu, Rama, Krishna
Oriented towards duty and tradition

Shaiva (Shiva)
Worship focuses on union of opposites,
especially creation and destruction
Tend to emphasize ascetic practices.

Shakta (Devi)
Worship the goddess as ultimate reality
(Bengali)
Not as likely to be vegetarian


Hindus worship principally through seeing (Darshan) an
image of the divinity.

Shrines can be anywhere, in great temples, by the
road, or in the home.

Puja is the act of worship, offering them fruit, flowers,
incense, water, or cloth in order to symbolize an
offering of the self to the god/goddess.

In some cases deities are processed through the
streets (at festivals, etc.). See Diwali Video.

Sometimes the worshipper will take a pilgrimage to a
sacred place, the most well-known being Benares, on
the Ganges River.
Jainism
There are about 4 million Jains today,
most of them lay people
Historians consider Jainism to have
been founded by Mahavira (599-527
BCE) as a reaction to the conservative
Brahminism of the 6th-century BCE
In general, they do NOT accept the
Hindu Scriptures or rituals, but they do
share a belief in the transmigration of
souls
The most obvious characteristic of
them is their devotion to the principle of
ahimsa, or non-injury
monks wear a veil
even lay people forbidden to drink after
sunset

Jainism (cont.)
Jains are followers of the Jinas, or
tirthankaras (the ford-makers, who
reveal the path to moksha)
They believe 24 tirthankaras appear in
every half cycle
Mahavira is the 24th tirthankara in this
cycle
A contemporary of Buddha, Mahavira
renounced the world at the age of 30,
and after 12 years as a wandering
ascetic achieved enlightenment
He then converted 12 disciples who
structure his teachings into the Jain
Scriptures
He died in meditation and became a
liberated soul

Jainism (cont.)
Jain monks commit to the Great Vows:
non-injury (ahisma)
truth-speaking (satya)
sexual abstinence (brahmacharya)
non-stealing (asteya)
detachment from persons, places, and things
(aparigraha)
Lay people take the lesser vows which try to
apply the great vows to more normal modes of
living: e.g., strict vegetarianism, no work that
involves the deliberate destruction of life (e.g.,
hunting no, farming okay).
In the fourth century CE a major split occurred:
Digambaras: all possessions, including
clothing are hindrance to liberation
Shvetambaras: detachment is in the mind
(and not wearing clothes can also cause
injury; e.g., if you light a fire to stay warm)

The only objects a
Digambara monk is allowed
to carry are a water-pot and
a fly-whisk of peacock
feathers.
Sikhism
Some see them as rather different from Hinduism
Guru Nanak, ca. 1500, had encounter leaving him to seek a path to
God that didnt require strict identification with Islam or Hinduism.
In keeping with Hinduism, it affirms the ultimacy of a supreme and
formless God beyond human conceiving
In keeping with Islam, it rejects the notion of avatars (divine
incarnations), caste distinctions, images as aids to worship, and the
sanctity of the Vedas
Follows Hinduism, but not Islam, in affirming reincarnation
Five ks (in Punjabi):
uncut hair (conserves vitality, draws upward)
comb (cleanliness and order)
steel bracelet (shackles one to God)
undershorts (one always dressed for action)
dagger (originally needed for self-defense)
Seek salvation through union with God, by realizing, through love, the
Person of God, who dwells in the depths of their own being.
World renunciation does not really figure in their faith.
About 13 million Sikhs in the world

Though not really a proselytizing religion, Hinduism,
especially in its most philosophical and meditative forms, has
made a number of converts in the West.

Swami Vivekananda (appeared at the first World Parliament
of Religions in Chicago in 1893)philosophical Hinduism.

Transcendental Meditation (1960sMaharishi Mahesh
Yogi)ascetic Hinduism.

International Society for Krishna Consciousness so called
Hare Krishnas (1960s Swami Prabhupada)bhakti
Hinduism.

Hatha Yoga.

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