Hinduism

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Hinduism

• GL/ILST 3210 3.0 2006

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Announcements

• Check the lectures on my website
  http//www.arts.yorku.ca/huma/ehrlich/index.html
• Happy Eid al-Fitr (end of Ramadan today)!
• Mid-term exam next week!!!
• Covering the first five weeks of the term
• Study of religion
• Judaism
• Christianity
• Islam
• Hinduism

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Hinduism as a World Religion
About 800 million Hindus in the world ? the third
largest of the worlds religious traditions
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Hindu Sacred Sites
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What is Hinduism?

• An outsiders term for the religious traditions
  of the Indian subcontinent that are not Muslim,
  Christian, Jewish, or Zoroastrian (nor Jain or
  Sikh).
• Therefore has sometimes been used to include
  Jainism, Sikhism, and Buddhism.
• A blanket term that covers a myriad traditions
  and beliefs.
• A cultural and ethnic as well as religious
  designation.
• An amalgamation of indigenous and Aryan
  traditions developing after about 1500 BCE

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Harappan Culture

• Attested ca. 3000-1750 BCE
• Mohenjo-Daro Harappa
• Ritual bathing?

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The Vedas

• Sruti that which is heard (ref. to Vedas)
• Vedas knowledge
• 4 collections of hymns recited when offering
  sacrifice
• Agni as most important deity
• The link between the human the divine
• Soma the divine drink
• Rig Veda earliest most famous
• Ca. 800 BCE
• Selections from Rig Veda!!!
• Upanishads philosophical reflections on the
  Vedas
• Ca. 600 BCE
• Selection from Brihadarabyaka Upanishad!!!

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Smirti Literature

• Smrti that which is remembered (human
  literature as of ca. 500 BCE)
• Written in Sanskrit
• Puranas (old tales about the gods)
• Dharmashastras
• Codes of laws and ethics
• Great Epics
• Ramayana
• Mahabharata

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Laws of Manu

• Belongs to dharmashastra literature
• codification of the caste system (ca. 100 CE)
• Upper three classes/castes twice-born
• String ceremony
• Varnas the four colors (classes ? caste system)
• Priestly (Brahmin)
• Warrior (Kshatriya)
• Merchant (Vaishyas)
• Servant (Shudra)
• Subdivided further into ca. 1000 jatis or
  birth-groups
• Outcastes
• Selection from Laws of Manu!!!

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The Four Stages of Life (Ashramas)

• For upper caste males
• Student
• Householder
• Forest Dweller
• Ascetic/Renouncer (samnyasin)

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Great Epics Ramayana

• Rama Sita
• Ideal husband and wife
• Nonetheless, questions about the latters virtue
• ? she proves her absolute devotion
• Ravana
• Hanuman

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Great Epics Mahabharata

• Mahabharata
• Bharata (India)
• Arjuna
• Krishna
• 100,000 verses long!
• Bhagavad Gita
• Arjuna Krishna
• Selection from Bhagavad Gita!!!

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Krishna Instructs Arjuna
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Basic Terms

• Dharma religious duty/ obligation/
  righteousness (each caste has its own)
• Karma action/law of cause effect what
  goes around comes around
• ? immortality of the soul
• Samsara cycle of rebirths
• Kama sensual pleasure
• Guru teacher

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Moksa (Moksha)

• Release
• Three paths to liberation
• Way of (selfless) action (karma marga
  way/yoga discipline)
• Fulfilling ones dharma
• Way of knowledge (jnana yoga)
• Studying texts
• Way of devotion (bhakti yoga)
• Probably the most popular form

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Om

• The sacred sound of the universe
• Om a-u-m (Aum)

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Humanity and the Divine

• Atman human soul
• Brahman (not Brahmin) Supreme Being which
  cannot be described, only what it is not
• Bhakti devotion
• Darshana to behold with piety/faith
• Puja acts of veneration of gods
• 330,000,000 gods or 1 god?

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Puja
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Trimurti Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva
Early concept, never really caught on
Creator, Preserver, and Destroyer
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Vishnu

• The all-pervasive one
• Has 10 avatars/incarnations in this eon
  (including Rama, Krishna, and Buddha according
  to some)
• As Krishna, has girlfriend Radha and wife Lakshmi
  ? unbridled devotion
• Blue colour indicates other-worldliness
• Devotees called Vaishnavas

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Krishna

• The Dark One
• 9th avatar of Vishnu
• ? Hare Krishna sect (ISKCON)

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Krishna the Gopi-Maidens
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Lakshmi

• Wife of Vishnu
• The Goddess of beauty, fortune, wealth, power,
  and loveliness
• AKA Shri

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Shiva

• Destroyer and Creator
• Married to Parvati
• Devotees called shaivas

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The Goddess

• Devi/Parvati (wife of Shiva)
• Durga (warrior goddess)
• Kali (with necklace of skulls)
• Devotees called daivas

Temple to the Goddess (Devi Mandir) at
Muni-ki-reti, Rishikesh
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Parvati (and Shiva)
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Lingam Yoni
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Durga
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Kali
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Ganesha

• The son of Shiva and Parvati
• The most popular god of Hinduism
• Is the bringer of good fortune/ happiness/
  auspiciousness and the remover of obstacles

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Hanuman
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The Holy Ganges River
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Kumbha Mela at Ganges River
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Diwali Necklace of Lights
Most widely observed holiday, on new moon in
October/November
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Mandalas

• Large geometric shapes for meditation
  representing gods and the cosmos

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Yoga

• To yoke oneself to the divine through
  self-discipline
• Raja yoga mental discipline
• Hatha yoga bodily postures control
• Tantric yoga an anti-nomian discipline
  (left-handed)
• Kundalini yoga unleashing the power of the
  Goddess coiled at the base of the spine through
  six chakras