World Religions and Cults Week 7Hinduism

1
World Religions and CultsWeek 7-Hinduism

• Sunday Night Body Building
• Winter Semester
• 2008

2

• Housekeeping

• Class Roll
• Money for materials
• 3 minute break _at_ 640 class ends at 715 SHARP

3
Memory Verse Prayer
4
Why this course?

• Because false religions and cults are growing
• Because knowing their beliefs forces us to
  understand ours
• Because the more we know the more effective we
  are at sharing our faith. And if you are asked
  about your Christian hope, always be ready to
  explain it. I Peter 315a
• Because knowing and learning about others creates
  compassion in our hearts for them

5
Quiz
6

• Quiz

• What is Moksha?
• The entire order or priests that created the
  Caste system that can still be seen today.
• The word Hindu comes from a word meaning a)
  mountain b) journey c) river
• This Hindu god is often depicted with four arms.
• A Hindu spiritual teacher or guide is often
  called a ___________.

7

• Quiz Answers

• The freedom experience when the eternal
  individual soul unites with the ultimate reality
• Brahmin
• River
• Vishnu
• Guru

8
World Religions and CultsWeek 7-Hinduism

• Sunday Night Body Building
• Winter Semester
• 2008

9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
(No Transcript)
12
Discussion question 1
13
Brief History of Hinduism
14
Hinduism

• No specific founder or historical event to mark
  its beginning.
• The Dravidians (Northwest India) were conquered
  by the Aryans (present day Iran) 4000 years ago
  and both groups religious practices were merged
  into early Hinduism.
• The Aryans have sacred texts know as the Vedas
  (The word Veda means knowledge).
• The Vedas and its teaching would later develop
  into Hinduism.

15
Hinduism

• As Hinduism developed, most of its early deities
  disappeared and were replaced by the Big Three
• Brahma The main God known as the Impersonal
  Absolute and Ultimate Reality.
• Vishnu Rules in heaven and over earth as the
  preserver.
• Shiva The creator and destroyer, signifies the
  eternal life-death rhythm of the universe. Shiva
  is usually depicted with four arms.

16
Hinduism

• The Caste System
• Started by the priests of the Hindu god Brahma.
• It is a hierarchy of social classes.
• Brahma Priests
• Kshatriyas warriors and rulers
• Vaisyas merchants and artists
• Shudras slaves
• Untouchables

17
Hinduism

• The story continues
• Another Hindu scripture known as the Upanishad
  gained in popularity.
• It emphasis was on inner meditation, not outward
  performance.
• The Upanishad led to the school of thought known
  as Vedanta (unity in diversity).

18
Basic Beliefs of Hinduism
19
Reincarnation

• Two types of Souls
• 1. Individual Soul (atman)
• 2. Universal Soul (brahman)
• One goal of Hinduism is for the individual soul
  to unite with the universal soul.
• For this to happen, the individual soul must die
  and be born again time after time as a different
  person in a different circumstance.
• Each time a soul is born again, its goal is to
  have more good karma than bad karma (or good
  works rather than bad works).
• Once you have obtained more good karma than bad,
  you can attain moksha (freedom from the
  reincarnation cycle)

20
3 ways to Gain Good Karma

• The way of Activity
• (karma marga)
• The way of Knowledge
• (jnana marga)
• The way of Devotion
• (bhatki marga)

21
The Way of Activity

• Be a good Hindu by worshiping gods and goddesses.
  They exist in the form of idols.
• Attend ceremonies in the temple or worship at
  home
• Wake, bath, feed, and chant to the temple god and
  the one at your house.
• Stay within your caste by working, marrying, and
  eating the correct foods within your own caste.
• Raise your children to do the same.

22
The Way of Knowledge

• Unite the individual soul with the universal soul
  through four stages led by a guru
• The Student stage
• Young Hindus study the Veda and the Upanishads.
• The Householder stage
• Hindu men get married and raise families.
• The Forest Dweller stage
• A Hindu leaves his family and possessions for a
  season and devotes himself to meditation with a
  guru.
• The Ascetic stage
• A Hindu has learned all he can from the guru and
  is now ready to practice yoga on his own.
• Note Another way of knowledge is through
  self-torture.

23
The Way of Devotion

• Most popular way to attain moksha
• A Hindu chooses their own god.
• The two most popular gods are Vishnu and Krishna.
• A Hindu gives love and devotion to their chosen
  god in order to gain good karma.

24
Hinduism and Christianity

• There are many gods, not just one god
• There is only one ultimate reality
• Reincarnation is the best way to become one with
  the ultimate reality
• Good works will ultimately save you
• Vishnu is the god of grace and love

25
Discussion question 4
26
Witnessing to Hindus(1,2,3,4)
27

• 1There is ONE God (vs. many)
• 2God requires TWO births (vs. many births
  samsara)
• 3Many people make the same THREE mistakes (vs.
  one Way)

28

• I believe deep down that everyone who believes in
  a god or many gods wants to please him or them.
  I have seen many people from all types of
  cultures do many different things to please or
  satisfy their gods. Their efforts can be divided
  into three groups and all ultimately are
  ineffective.
• Some people will go the way of works. They
  will literally try to do everything right even
  down to the smallest detail according their
  religious scriptures.
• Some people choose the way of knowledge. This
  is opposite of the way of works and it involves
  rejecting everything for some mystical
  understanding of God.
• Most people choose the way of devotion or
  bhakti. They choose one god or goddess with the
  hope that he or she bring the person into
  fellowship with him or her after death.

29

• 4I can sum up my relationship with God in FOUR
  words
• Redemption (vs. Reincarnation samsara)
• Freedom (vs. Karma)
• Grace (vs. Dharma)
• Equality (vs. Caste)