Hinduism * Part 2(some points from Robert Elwood’s text Many Peoples, Many

Faiths)

Soma p.59Soma was an intoxicating

drink used in religious ceremonies and believed to be drunk by the gods, especially Indra.

No one knows today its composition (speculation – fly agaric mushroom a.k.a amarita muscaria – still used today by central Asian shamans)

In contemporary Hinduism, Soma is a god associated with the moon.

Rig Veda Hymns, On SomaBook 10, Chapter 116

IndraDRINK soma juice for mighty power and vigour, Drink, Strongest One, that you may smite down Vritra. Drink you, invoked, for strength, and riches:

drink you your fill of meath and pour it down, Indra.

Drink of the foodful juice stirred into motion, drink what you choose of the flowing Soma.

Giver of weal, be joyful in your spirit, and turn you hereward to bless and prosper.

Let heavenly Soma gladden you, Indra, let that effused among mankind delight you.

RigVeda 10:119 Indra

THIS, even this was my resolve, to win a cow, to win a steed:

Have I not drunk soma ? [1] Like violent gusts of wind, the draughts

that I have drunk have lifted me Have I not drunk soma ? [2] The draughts I drank have borne me

up, as fleet-foot horses draw a car: Have I not drunk soma? [3] ……….The heavens and earth themselves

have not grown equal to one half of me

Have I not drunk soma ? [7] I in my grandeur have surpassed the

heavens and all this spacious earth Have I not drunk soma ? [8]

MantrasChants. Example…. Om

(aum)Not just the power of the words,

but the actual sounds are thought to resonate with the gods and the universe itself.

Rituals keep the world on course and help tune the human lives of the people involved with the workings of brahman.

The Yoga Sutras (300 A.D)

Haitha yoga is a collection of teachings on the physical (biological, psychosomatic) techniques to relax the mind and body to achieve new states of consciousness.

Withdraw from distractions and illusions to explore an inner world (spiritual)

Techniques posture control= asana breath control = pranayamaA yogi is someone who practices yoga

Pages 69-73

Other yogasKarma yoga: selfless action,

charity, bravery (emphasized in the Bhagavad Gita), selfless acceptance of one’s fate (caste).

Bhakti yoga: emotional, mystical experience of love and devotion to a particular god. (statues, images, chants).

Hinduism interacts with foreign influences Islam spread out of Arabia and reached India in first throughout

trade in the 600s and then through conquest over the next few centuries.

• Liberal reaction: 1470 A.D. Guru Nanak begins the new Sikh religion that accommodates traditions from Islam and

Hinduism (8 million people). England’s East India Company begins taking over via trade

beginning in the 1600s, the British crown took over in 1857. Ghandi leads religiously inspired independence movement in

the 1930s -1940s. Pakistan broke off from India upon independence in 1947 as a

separate Muslim state.

By1211 A.D. Muslim sultanate begins in New Dehli.* Conservative reactions to the foreign religion which is a threat to traditional values: Hindus become even more Hindu.

Sacred Cows

Cows were originally sacrificed in the Vedas. Beef was eaten.

Vegetarianism grows over time in India, especially among Buddhists and Jains.

The cow provided an abundance of important products, including milk, ghee, browned butter for lamps, and fuel from dried dung that make the cow more valuable alive than as a source of meat.

Tantrism begins around 1000 A.D.

Radical ways to transform consciousness.

Tantrism started a reaction against conventional practices of brahmins, rulers and Buddhist monks in India:

Challenges conventional moral norms and manners.

Encourages out-of-caste behavior.The Shiva –Shakti sexual relationship is

acted out symbolically or actually. Powerful initiation ceremonies meant to

give a sudden “shock therapy” approach to spiritual transformation.

The Hare Krishna mantra a sixteen-word Vaishnava mantra which first

appeared in the Kali-Santarana Upanishad, and which from the 15th century rose to importance in the Bhakti movement following the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu.

Hare Krishna Hare Krishna

Krishna Krishna Hare Hare

Hare Rama Hare Rama

Rama Rama Hare Hare

"Hare" can be interpreted as either the vocative of Hari, another name of Vishnu meaning "he who removes illusion", or as the vocative of Harā, a name of Rādhā, Krishna's eternal consort or Shakti

The mahamantra in Bengali script