Hinduism Background

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Hinduism Background

• Hinduism began in the second millennium B.C.
• Emerged along the banks of the Indus River
• Two different groups of believers
• Dark-skinned Indus
• Dravidians
• Lived near the Indus River
• Light-skinned Aryans
• Nomads from Persia and areas further West
• Hinduism was formed before written records were
  kept
• Worshipers sang hymns, performed rituals, and
  defined what was to be considered Sacred and
  Profane.

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The Vedas

• Veda -- The required guide of every
  Hindui. Oral traditions found in the Veda were
  passed along since the beginning of the Hindu
  religion, until they were finally put into
  written formii. This helped Hinduism to
  continue its teachings without a written text
• Bhagavad Gita A sacred text for the Hindu
  religion
• Hindus enjoyed a close personal relationship with
  their deitiesThey could see, touch, bathe, and
  feed images of their gods

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Oral Traditions

• Shruti a revelation which has been heard
• There are four parts to the Shruti
• The Veda is the oldest part
• Rig-Veda
• Sama-Veda
• Yajur-Veda
• Athara-Veda
• Brahmanas explanations of sacrifices
• Aranyakas forest treatises later parts of the
  Brahmanas
• Upanishads Sittings near teachers Vedanda
  (end of the Vedas)
• Agamas a later interpretation of the
  Upanishads, considered as ancient and
  authoritative as the Vedas
• Smriti that which has been remembered
• Differs from Shruti that which has been heard
• Manu and the Itihasa-Purana two smriti writings

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Agni

• I. 1.
• 1. Agni I call on, who is placed at the fore, the
  divine ministrant of the sacrifice, the invoker,
  who bestows the most gifts.
• 2. Agni is worthy of being called on by former
  seers and present may he bring hither the gods!
• 3. Through Agni may he obtain wealth, prosperity,
  every day, splendid and abounding in heroic sons!
• 4. Oh Agni, the sacrifice and work of the
  sacrifice, which you encircle on every side --
  that alone goes unto the gods
• 5. May Agni, the invoker who has the powers of a
  sage, true and most brilliant in glory, come
  hither, as god with the gods!
• 6. Whatsoever favor you would bestow upon your
  worshipper, Agni, that favor of yours surely is
  unfailing, O Agniras.

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Indra -- Rig Veda

• I. 32
• 1. Now I shall proclaim the heroic feats of
  Indra, which the holder of the thunderbolt
  performed first he slew the serpent, bored
  after the waters, split open the flanks of the
  mountains.
• 2. He slew the serpent reclining on the mountain.
  Tvastr fashioned for him the resounding
  thunderbolt. Tunning like lowing cows, the
  waters went quickly down to the sea.
• 3. Desiring manly strength, he chose the Soma
  he drank of the extract in three brown vessels.
  Maghavan took his missile, the thunderbolt, slew
  him, the first born of serpents.
• 4. When, Indra, you slew the first-born of
  serpents and then reduced to naught the wiles of
  the wily, causing to be born the sun, the heaven
  and the dawn, since then you have found no enemy
  at all.

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The Absolute

• -There is only one divine, all others are but
  manifestations of powers.
• Hinduism unlike Judaism and Islam, has not seen
  images worship as a threat.
• True worshipers of the Hindu religion realize
  that images are symbols of the many powers at
  work in the universe.

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• Some Hindu worshipers prefer to worship one image
  or a god to another.
• Brahman is the ground of all gods.
• All the gods are only powers of the one Brahman.

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• The Hindu religion is best described as a
  henotheism which emphasizes one superior god in
  the presence of lesser gods.

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The Hindu World

• Hindu writings speak of time and space in terms
  that stagger the imagination of all but modern
  astronomers and physicists.
• Other Hindu scriptures speak of cycles of
  expansion and collapse in the universe that are
  consistent with the big bang theory, except
  following the bang is another expansion phase
  followed by collapse and another bang.
• Hinduism has no problem with island universes or
  black holes. These theories support rather than
  threaten Hindu views of the divine and the
  universe

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• Hinduism believes that creation is balanced by
  destruction
• Life is followed by death, and out of decay comes
  life
• Seasons repeat in cycles
• Water from the sea goes to the sun and descends
  as rain that runs through the rivers of the sea
• In a balance of forces is peace in the gods is a
  balance of forces

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• Hindus are less prone to judge the world in moral
  terms
• Hindus do not think that the divine is physical
  the way the universe is. Yet the physical
  universe exists because if is influenced by the
  divine. The universe may be atoms and space, but
  spirit is also a reality.

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Humans in Hinduism

• Four-caste system
• Brahmins- priests
• Kshatriyas- rulers, warriors, landowners
• Vaishya- merchants
• Shudras- artisans, agriculturalists
• Harijan- outside of the caste system,
  untouchables

Sources www.friesian.com/caste.htm
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Basic causes of problems in the world

• Ignorance
• Suffering
• Falsehood

• Selfishness
• Greed

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Solutions to the problems

• Practice Darshanas or visions of Truth
• 1. Nyaya- logicism
• 2. Vaisheshika- atomism
• 3. Samkhya- enumeration of various cosmic
  principles
• 4. Yoga- techniques for meditation and
  transcendence
• 5. Mimamsa- realistic interpretation of the
  Vedas
• 6. Vedanta- metaphysical speculation

Sources www.kheper.net/topics/eastern/6darshanas.
htm
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Solutions

• Strive for happiness, joy, peace, and knowledge
• Renunciation
• Eternal transcendent perfection, Moksha

Sources http//www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/reli
gion/hinduism/beliefs.html
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Four Objectives in Life

• Kama- pleasure physically and emotionally
• Artha- material wealth
• Dharma- righteousness
• Moksha- salvation, eternal transcendence

Sources http//www.mokshayoga.com/events/shivasma
ll.jpg
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Major Figures

• Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi
• Ram Mohan Roy
• Dayananda Sarasvati

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Rituals and Symbols

• Samskaras- sacraments or rites by which a Hindu
  is fully integrated into the community.
• Although Hindu scriptures explain the rituals, it
  is possible that Hindu rituals and rites will
  differ according to particular castes and
  regions.

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• Upanayana
• Vivaha (Marriage)
• Antyesti (Funerals)

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Holidays

• Raksabandhana
• Vijayadasami
• Divali
• Holi

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Thank YouAny Questions?