Hinduism

• “Hinduism” is an outsider’s term applied to the family of religious traditions arising from the Vedas (earliest sacred scriptures of India). The term comes from “Hindu,” referring to people who lives in the area of the Indus river.
• “Insider’s” term for these traditions is sanatana dharma (sanatana = eternal; dharma = way, religion, duty)
• May be oldest living religious tradition (more than 10,000 years??)

Indus Valley Civilization

• Cities rose in the Indus Valley in the period from 2,500 BCE to 1,500 BCE. People called “Dravidian.”  Two major city-centers were Harappa and Mohenjo-daro.
• Excavations reveal that their religion centered on worship of the mother goddess. The culture was largely agricultural, so focus on fertility.
• About 1500 BCE, bands of “Aryans” migrated from central Asia into Northern India and forced the Dravidians south. The Aryans were nomadic herders and warriors. Emphasis on male deities. Vedic religion associated with the Aryans.

   Shruti Texts

• shruti = revealed, not written by human beings
• The Vedas are shruti, believed to be the breath of the eternal as heard by ancient sages (rishis) and written down later.
• The word ‘veda’ comes from the Sanscrit term for knowledge.
• Oldest part is the Rig-Veda (means  “the Veda of verses of praise”), which contains thousands of hymns to the gods and stories of creation.

• CREATION MYTH – PURUSHA AND THE CASTE SYSTEM
• One of the creation stories in the Rig-Veda uses the story of the sacrifice of the “primal Man,” Purusha. He is dismembered, with different parts of his body becoming different parts of creation.
• Creation stories have interrelationships with ritual practices and social organization.
• This myth related to the practice of animal (maybe human?) sacrifice in ancient Vedic tradition.
• It also relates to the varnas (caste system)
• head = brahman, priestly caste
• arms = kshatriya, warriors/nobles
• thighs = vaishya, merchants, artisans, farmers
• feet = shudra, servants/laborers
• Those outside this system are called untouchables

Vedic Religions

• fire sacrifice was the primary ritual of ancient Vedic religion
• Rituals carried out by brahmins (also known as brahman or pandits – the highest caste)
• Both these customs carried over into present-day Hindu practices. Picture is from a Havan (fire) ceremony at the Hindu Temple of Atlanta conducted by brahmin priests.

Upnishads

• An important shift in Hinduism came with the scriptures called the Upanishads (c. 500 B.C.)
• Shift from a polytheistic view to a form of monotheism (one sacred reality manifest in many different forms)
• Shift from external, ritual focus (sacrifice) to internal focus (union of the individual with the sacred, personal religious experience)

Hindu Understanding of Reality.

• WHAT IS THE FOUNDATION OF EXISTENCE?

All of reality is One, called Brahman, the Absolute Godhead – unchanging and timeless. Too abstract and impersonal for the human mind to grasp.

• WHAT ARE WE?

Essentially we are Brahman. Atman is the term for our individual manifestations of the eternal and unchanging.

We are also jiva – the karmic self, our individual, changing, temporary bodies/identities/personalities.

• WHAT IS OUR PROBLEM?

Atman is trapped in the cycle of rebirth (samsara) by karma (the moral law of cause and effect – what we do in one life influences future lives).

We make bad karmic choices because of desire and attachment and because of ignorance of our true nature.

We are trapped in Maya = often translated as ‘illusion.’ Maya is sometimes translated as the material world, but is better understood as the illusion that our temporary bodies, personalities, and the material are what is “Real.”

• WHAT IS THE SOLUTION?

The goal of Hinduism is moksha – liberation from the cycle of samsara. There are many paths for reaching this goal.

Dharma, Religion, and Hindu Society….

• Dharma is a deeply embedded and complex part of Hindu belief and society. It can be translated “religion,” “way,” “morality,” or “duty.”
• A Hindu’s dharma can vary, depending on gender, caste, and age/stage of life.
• Scriptures concerning this concept of duty include the Vedas, the Upanishads, the Bhagavad-Gita, and the Laws of Manu.

Part of dharma are the four life stages. They are based on the duties of higher-caste Hindu males.

• Student. Males are expected to spend years in their youth studying Hindu scriptures as well as secular learning.
• Householder. In Hindu society, people are expected to marry, raise a family, and (for men) have a career.
• Retirement. After the duties to career and family are fulfilled, people are expected to turn to more spiritual pursuits and studies in retirement.
• Sannyasin. Although not required, the ideal at the end of life is total withdrawal from the world to become a wandering beggar totally focused on spiritual things. This path is open to both men and women, although it is more common for men.

Another part of dharma are the four life goals. They are all considered appropriate human goals, although some are more appropriate at certain life stages:

• Dharma - duty
• Artha – material gain, career success and reputation
• Kama – physical pleasure.
• Moksha – liberation from attachments and the wheel of samsara (need for rebirth).

The Four Yogas

The word “yoga” is related to the word “yoke” (a discipline/practice that a person takes on himself in order to reach liberation (moksha) and become one with Brahman. There are four different yogas that attract people of different personality types:

1. Jnana yoga = the path of knowledge. Realization of oneness with God through study.
2. Karma yoga = the path of selfless work in the world. Transcend the “small self” through action for others.
3. Bhakti yoga = the path of love and devotion to God in a particular form.
4. Raja yoga = the path of meditation (including physical – hatha – yoga).

Hindu Temples

• Many Hindu temples are in the form of pyramids or domes – both forms refer to mountains which are thought to be sacred and which link heaven with earth.
• The style to the left is common in northern India.
• The style below is more common in southern India.

HINDU TEMPLE OF ATLANTA – RIVERDALE

§  The Hindu Temple of Atlanta in Riverdale was built by immigrants from different areas of India, so it contains elements from both northern and southern styles.

SHRI SWAMINARAYAN TEMPLE – LILBURN

• A Hindu temple is believed to be the universe in ‘microcosm’ (a small ‘model’ of the whole)
• One example of a temple ground plan is a yantra (geometric map of cosmos).
• The four-sided figure represents the four directions of the universe.
• The circles represent a lotus flower (symbolizing the unity of God/consciousness)

Worship and Rituals

• Puja = devotion to God, often in the form of an image. May involve prayers, songs, lights, food offerings, and flower garlands.
• Prasad = food that is offered to an image of God is then returned to the worshipper (conveys a blessing – comparable to eucharist).
• Particular forms of god are believed to be present in their images. The practice of darshan = ‘seeing and being seen by god in the form of an image.’ Conveys a blessing (comparable to eucharist).

The Gods and their images

• Gods, goddesses and their images are an important part of Hinduism. People often ask if Hindus are polytheists because of the many images of the sacred in Hindu tradition. The dominant teaching of Hinduism is that God is One (Brahman) that manifests itself to human understanding in many forms.
• These forms express different aspects of reality. Although Hindus recognize God as one, they tend to focus on one or more specific forms as objects of worship.
• The chart to the left shows the three main forms of God.
• The images to the left are of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva
• Images are important as objects of devotion and as ways of learning about aspects of sacred reality.
• Why do images of the gods have so many arms? It is because each arm either holds something a symbolic object that conveys information or is making a symbolic gesture (a mudra).
• If you know the ‘visual language’ of the images, you can identify the god and be reminded of sacred stories and teachings associated with the image.
• Example: the figure of Shiva at the bottom is dancing in a ring of fire symbolizing samsara. He holds in one hand the drum of creation and in another the fire of destruction. He has his foot on the dwarf of ignorance. There are many levels of meaning, but one thing all this conveys is the oneness of God (creation/destruction) and the god’s ability to liberate his followers from the wheel of karmic rebirth and ignorance.

Goddesses, Shakti, and the status of women…

• Brahman manifests in both male and female forms.
• Shakti means sacred force or power, cosmic energy. In Hindu tradition, Shakti is personified as creative, feminine power – the “Great Mother.”
• Traditionally, the male gods are powerless without Shakti, so all have wives.
• To the left is an image of Devi, the Great Mother. She has many heads and arms, representing the fact that all the forms of the goddess come from her.

 the three main forms of Devi:

• Saraswati is the wife of Brahma the Creator. She is associated with music and the arts.
• Lakshmi is the wife of Vishnu the Preserver. She is often associated with good fortune, money, purity, and chastity.
• Parvati is the wife of Shiva the Destroyer. She is associated with motherhood and the power of Shakti.

While goddesses are greatly respected in Hinduism, the religion has an ambivalent attitude toward women. Because of the power of Shakti, women are both revered and feared. When Shakti is ‘bound’ in marriage and childbearing, it is positive. When it is ‘unbound’ (for instance, in widowhood), it becomes ‘polluting.’

“Dark” forms of the goddess….

• There are many “dark forms” of the goddesses in Hinduism – two of the most important are Durga, the Warrior Goddess, and Kali. Kali is associated with death.
• These forms are not “evil,” but simply represent the darker side of universal sacred reality.