Hinduism

An Introduction

to the

Sanatana Dharma

Simple Background

• “Hinduism” is a 19th-century word• 750+ million “Hindus” in India• 30+ million “Hindus” abroad• Third largest religion in the world

Definition of Hinduism

• 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 India1947

Though relatively stable, there is still some conflict, such at the Ayodhya Temple.

What do people want?

What do people want?

• Pleasure

What do people want?*

• Pleasure• Success: wealth, fame, power

*based on Huston Smith’s, 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• 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

Life’s Limitations

• pain (physical and psychological)• ignorance• restricted being

Four Pathsreflective through knowledge

Jnana (yoga)

emotional through lovebhakti (yoga)

active through workkarma (yoga)

experimental through experimentraja (yoga)

[hatha]yoga = “union”

Common Preliminary Commitments

Cultivate habits of:– non-injury– truthfulness– non-stealing– self-control– cleanliness– contentment– self-discipline– compelling desire

Eight Steps:

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 SystemFour (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 PantheonThough 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 “vehicle”—an 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: “Garuda”—eagle/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: दे�वी�) 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 vegetarianWorship Vishnu, Rama, KrishnaOriented towards duty and tradition

Shaiva (Shiva)Worship focuses on union of opposites, especially creation and destructionTend 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