HINDUISM

1. HINDUISM GENERAL INTRODUCTION, VOCABULARY, BELIEFS

2. GENERAL INTRODUCTION NAME, OVERVIEW, GLOBAL DISPERSMENT, THEORIES OF ORIGIN, SACRED TEXTS, CASTE SYSTEM

3. NAME • Sanatana Dharma, or “eternal religion” • Vaidika Dharma, “religion of the Vedas” • Hinduism, derived from: • The country lying between the Himalayan mountain and Bindu Sarovara (Hindusthan) • The Persian word for Indian • A corruption of the Persian word Indus (Indus River) • The name invented by the British administration during colonial times.

5. OVERVIEW • One of the oldest and most complex of the world’s religions: roots are dated from the 3rd millennium BCE. • This religion is diverse, extremely inclusive, tolerant, and complicated. • Hinduism recognizes three ways to be religious and these provide one good way to sort the religion typologically (categorically) and historically. • These “three ways” not only reflect different dimensions of being religious, they also characterize the whole Hindu religion as passing through three major historical phases, each corresponding to one of the following “margas” (or “paths”).

6. OVERVIEW… • Karma Marga = “deed path,” or “religion of the hands” (ritual and/or ethical) with an emphasis on RITE and RIGHT • Characterized the early Vedic Period (1500-600 BCE) • Focus is on polytheism and ritualism • Primary scripture is the Vedas (ritualistic hymns)

7. OVERVIEW… • Jnana Marga = “insight path” or “religion of the head” (intellectual and/or mystical) with an emphasis on WISDOM and TRUTH • Characterized Vedantic Period (600 BCE-800 CE) • Focus is on monism and mystical philosophy • Primary scripture is the Upanishads (philosophical)

8. OVERVIEW… • Bhakti Marga = “love path” or “religion of the heart” (devotional and/or communal) with an emphasis on FAITH and LOVE • Characterized Sectarian Period (800 CE-Present) • Focus on henotheism and worship (puja) • Main scripture is Bhagavad Gita with the notion that “Krishna is Lord!”

10. YOGAS • The aforementioned “margas” (3 paths) are sometimes labeled “yogas” and numbered at four. • “Yoga” refers to the practice use dto gain control over the mind and body in order to reflect on the path to enlightenment. • According to the “yoga system” of four paths, the mystical side of “jnana marga” is isolated as a separate discipline called “raja yoga.”

12. GLOBAL DISPERSMENT 870,000,000 Adherents

13. THEORIES OF ORIGIN CLASSICAL AND EMERGING THEORIES, THE ARYAN MIGRATION-INVASION, THE ARYAN RELIGION

14. CLASSICAL THEORY • Traces the roots of Hinduism to the Indus Valley civilization c. 4000-2200 BCE • Light-skinned, nomadic, Aryan (or, Indo-European) tribes invaded northern India (c. 1500 BCE) from Russia and Central Asia, bringing with them their Vedic religion • The Vedic beliefs mingled with the indigenous Indian native beliefs to form the Indus Valley culture.

15. EMERGING THEORY • Archaeological digs have placed the above theory in question, suggesting that the Indus Valley culture was not the result of an outside invasion, or so-called Aryan Invasion, but emerged over time. • Archaeological discoveries of Vedic rituals merely prove that the emerging culture shared continuity with the Aryans.

16. THE ARYAN MIGRATION • The Aryans are reputed to have been semi-nomadic people who moved from their original home (between Poland and Central Asia) towards the west, east, and south. • The Indo-Aryans entered Punjab and moved into the Ganga Valley, eventually controlling all of Northern India.

17. THE ARYAN RELIGION • This may be called “proto-Hinduism” and represents the initial Aryan influences of an incipient Hinduism (i.e., beginning to show itself). • Polytheistic: gods and goddesses (“devas”) as personifications or natural forces; a male dominated pantheon of 330,000,000 gods and goddesses. • Sacrificial: Altars in open places with animal sacrifices and libations of milk and “soma” (juice, or perhaps an hallucinogenic mushroom??)

18. SACRED TEXTS MAHABHARATA, BHAGAVAD GITA, VEDAS, AND UPANISHADS

19. MAHABHARATA • Written 540-300 BCE • Attributed to the sage Vyasa • Record “the legends of the Bharatas, one of the Aryan tribal groups” • Epic poem that tells of two feuding royal families who descend from a common ruler named Bharat and suffer through the horrors of a long civil war.

20. BHAGAVAD GITA • Literally means, “Song of God” • The 18th chapter (or 6th book) of the Mahabharata • It is an extended course on Hindu metaphysics, describing a conversation between a warrior (Arjuna) and the Hindu God Krishna (Vishnu).

21. SANSKRIT SELECTION FROM THE BHAGAVAD GITA

22. VEDAS • “Veda” is a Sanskrit word for “truth” or “knowledge” • The “Vedas” represent the ancient Hindu scriptures. • Rig-Veda: Collection of over 10,000 hymns to the Aryan gods. • Yajur-Veda: Collection of ritual material for sacrifices. • Sama-Veda: Collection of chants. • Atharva-Veda: Home-rituals and popular prayers and spells to ward off evil.

23. UPANISHADS • The word means “a sitting beside” or “a session” which implies a personal teaching from one’s spiritual master. • These writings are also called “Vedanta” or “the end of the Vedas” in the sense of… • Last part • Last in importance, or • Goal • “Vedanta” also refers to the tradition of Hindu philosophy that focuses on the writings of the Upanishads as the interpretive “lens” through which the Vedas and other scriptures are read (speculative, philosophical writings)

24. CASTE SYSTEM HINDU SOCIETY

25. PRIMARY CASTES • In ancient India there developed a social system in which people were divided into separate close communities. These communities are known in English as caste. • The origin of the caste system is in Hinduism, but it affected the whole Indian society. • The caste system in the religious form is basically a simple division of society in which there are four castes arranged in a hierarchy and below them the outcast. • But socially the caste system was more complicated, with much more castes and sub-castes and other divisions. • Legally the government disallows the practice of caste system but has a policy of affirmative discrimination of the backward classes.

26. PRIMARY CASTES… • The religious word for caste is 'Varna'. Each Varna has certain duties and rights. Each Varna members have to work in certain occupation which only that Varna members are allowed. Each Varna has certain type of diet. • The highest Varna is of the Brahman. Members of this class are priests and the educated people of the society. • The Varna after them in hierarchy is Kshatria. The members of this class are the rulers and aristocrats of the society. • After them are the Vaisia. Members of this class are the landlords and businessmen of the society. • After them in hierarchy are the Sudra. Members of this class are the peasants and working class of the society who work in non-polluting jobs. The caste hierarchy ends here. • Below these castes are the outcasts who are untouchable to the four castes. These untouchables worked in degrading jobs like cleaning, sewage etc.

28. CASTE IMPLICATIONS • On 2001-NOV-4, one million low-caste Dalits were scheduled to meet in Delhi, India, for a mass conversion to Buddhism. • According to Gospel for Asia, Dalits feel that: • "The only way for our people to find freedom from 3,000 years of slavery is to quit Hinduism and Castism and embrace another faith." • Mass conversions to Christianity have also occurred.

29. CASTE IMPLICATIONS… • Two protest religions formed as reactions against selected Hindu religious practices and/or teachings such as the power of the priests, the overwhelming presence of rituals and the alienation of the lower castes from their Hindu faith.

30. VOCABULARY KEY TERMS DESCRIBING HINDU BELIEFS AND PRACTICES

33. HINDU BELIEFS NINE BELIEFS IN HINDUISM, FIVE OBLIGATIONS, FOUR ENDS, AND FOUR STAGES

34. NINE BELIEFS • Hindus believe in the divinity of the Vedas, the worlds most ancient scripture. These hymns are God’s word and the bedrock of Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism), the eternal religion which has neither beginning nor end. • Hindus believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Un-manifest Reality. • Hindus believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation, and dissolution. • Hindus believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words, and deeds.

35. NINE BELIEFS… • Hindus believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, spiritual knowledge and liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained. • Hindus believe that divine beings exist in unseen worlds and that temple worship, rituals, sacraments, as well as personal devotionals create a communion with these devas and gods. • Hindus believe that a spiritually awakened master (satguru) is essential to know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry and meditation.

36. NINE BELIEFS… • Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore practice ahimsha (“non-injury”). • Hindus believe that no particular religion teaches the only way to salvation above all others, but that all genuine religious paths are facets of God’s Pure Love and Light, deserving tolerance and understanding.

37. FIVE OBLIGATIONS • Worship: Young Hindus are taught daily worship in the family shrine room…rituals, disciplines, chants, yogas and religious study. They learn to secure through devotion in home and temple, wearing traditional dress, bringing forth love of the Divine and preparing the mind for serene meditation. • Holy Days: Young Hindus are taught to participate in Hindu festivals and holy days in the home and temple. They learn to be happy through communion with God at such auspicious celebrations. The festivals may include fasting and temple attendance.

38. FIVE OBLIGATIONS… • Virtuous Living (dharma, or “duty”): Young Hindus are taught to live a life of duty and good conduct. They learn to be self-less (renunciation) by thinking of others first, being respectful of parents, elders and swamis (or “masters,” those who mastery over themselves so as to have achieved renunciation), following divine law (especially, ahimsha). In this way they resolve karmas. • Pilgrimage: Young Hindus are taught the value of pilgrimage either to holy persons or temples in order to learn to be detached from worldly affairs and to make God, gods, and gurus the focus during these journeys.

39. FIVE OBLIGATIONS… • Rites of Passage: Young Hindus are taught to observe the many sacraments which mark and sanctify their passage through life. They learn to be traditional by celebrating the rites of birth, name-giving, head-shaving, first feeding, ear-piercing, coming of age, marriage and death.

40. FOUR ENDS OF MAN • Human pursuits can be guided by four different kinds of motive or purpose (end): • Duty (dharma): We can do something because it is right, it is our duty, it is what we ought to do. • Material Gain (artha): We can do something for the sake of material gain, such as money or power. • Pleasure (kama): We can do something in order to experience pleasure. • Liberation (moksha): We can do something to achieve liberation, or release from the everlasting cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.

41. FOUR STAGES OF LIFE (ASHRAMAS) • Student: On being invested with the sacred cord, the Brahmin boy enters a celibate “student” stage in which his chief duty is to study the Vedas and live in the house of his teacher. Being "twice born" means that you come of age religiously, making you a member of the Vedic religion, eligible to learn Sanskrit, study the Vedas, and perform Vedic rituals. The "second birth" is thus like Confirmation or a Bar Mitzvah. • Householder: Upon completion of his education, he returns home, marries, and becomes a householder. His principle duty is to care for the welfare of his family. • Hermit: When his hair turns white, he should retire to the forest and live as a hermit, spending his days in meditation and devotion • Homeless Wanderer: He now cuts off all ties with his family, changes his name, gives up all possessions except a staff, a begging bowl, and a few pieces of clothing (asceticism). He is now beyond all religious duties.