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Hinduism Background

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Title: Hinduism Background


1
Hinduism Background
  • Hinduism began in the second millennium B.C.
  • Emerged along the banks of the Indus River
  • Two different groups of believers
  • Dark-skinned Indus
  • Dravidians
  • Lived near the Indus River
  • Light-skinned Aryans
  • Nomads from Persia and areas further West
  • Hinduism was formed before written records were
    kept
  • Worshipers sang hymns, performed rituals, and
    defined what was to be considered Sacred and
    Profane.

2
The Vedas
  • Veda -- The required guide of every
    Hindui. Oral traditions found in the Veda were
    passed along since the beginning of the Hindu
    religion, until they were finally put into
    written formii. This helped Hinduism to
    continue its teachings without a written text
  • Bhagavad Gita A sacred text for the Hindu
    religion
  • Hindus enjoyed a close personal relationship with
    their deitiesThey could see, touch, bathe, and
    feed images of their gods

3
Oral Traditions
  • Shruti a revelation which has been heard
  • There are four parts to the Shruti
  • The Veda is the oldest part
  • Rig-Veda
  • Sama-Veda
  • Yajur-Veda
  • Athara-Veda
  • Brahmanas explanations of sacrifices
  • Aranyakas forest treatises later parts of the
    Brahmanas
  • Upanishads Sittings near teachers Vedanda
    (end of the Vedas)
  • Agamas a later interpretation of the
    Upanishads, considered as ancient and
    authoritative as the Vedas
  • Smriti that which has been remembered
  • Differs from Shruti that which has been heard
  • Manu and the Itihasa-Purana two smriti writings

4
Agni
  • I. 1.
  • 1. Agni I call on, who is placed at the fore, the
    divine ministrant of the sacrifice, the invoker,
    who bestows the most gifts.
  • 2. Agni is worthy of being called on by former
    seers and present may he bring hither the gods!
  • 3. Through Agni may he obtain wealth, prosperity,
    every day, splendid and abounding in heroic sons!
  • 4. Oh Agni, the sacrifice and work of the
    sacrifice, which you encircle on every side --
    that alone goes unto the gods
  • 5. May Agni, the invoker who has the powers of a
    sage, true and most brilliant in glory, come
    hither, as god with the gods!
  • 6. Whatsoever favor you would bestow upon your
    worshipper, Agni, that favor of yours surely is
    unfailing, O Agniras.

5
Indra -- Rig Veda
  • I. 32
  • 1. Now I shall proclaim the heroic feats of
    Indra, which the holder of the thunderbolt
    performed first he slew the serpent, bored
    after the waters, split open the flanks of the
    mountains.
  • 2. He slew the serpent reclining on the mountain.
    Tvastr fashioned for him the resounding
    thunderbolt. Tunning like lowing cows, the
    waters went quickly down to the sea.
  • 3. Desiring manly strength, he chose the Soma
    he drank of the extract in three brown vessels.
    Maghavan took his missile, the thunderbolt, slew
    him, the first born of serpents.
  • 4. When, Indra, you slew the first-born of
    serpents and then reduced to naught the wiles of
    the wily, causing to be born the sun, the heaven
    and the dawn, since then you have found no enemy
    at all.

6
The Absolute
  • -There is only one divine, all others are but
    manifestations of powers.
  • Hinduism unlike Judaism and Islam, has not seen
    images worship as a threat.
  • True worshipers of the Hindu religion realize
    that images are symbols of the many powers at
    work in the universe.

7
  • Some Hindu worshipers prefer to worship one image
    or a god to another.
  • Brahman is the ground of all gods.
  • All the gods are only powers of the one Brahman.

8
  • The Hindu religion is best described as a
    henotheism which emphasizes one superior god in
    the presence of lesser gods.

9
The Hindu World
  • Hindu writings speak of time and space in terms
    that stagger the imagination of all but modern
    astronomers and physicists.
  • Other Hindu scriptures speak of cycles of
    expansion and collapse in the universe that are
    consistent with the big bang theory, except
    following the bang is another expansion phase
    followed by collapse and another bang.
  • Hinduism has no problem with island universes or
    black holes. These theories support rather than
    threaten Hindu views of the divine and the
    universe

10
  • Hinduism believes that creation is balanced by
    destruction
  • Life is followed by death, and out of decay comes
    life
  • Seasons repeat in cycles
  • Water from the sea goes to the sun and descends
    as rain that runs through the rivers of the sea
  • In a balance of forces is peace in the gods is a
    balance of forces

11
  • Hindus are less prone to judge the world in moral
    terms
  • Hindus do not think that the divine is physical
    the way the universe is. Yet the physical
    universe exists because if is influenced by the
    divine. The universe may be atoms and space, but
    spirit is also a reality.

12
Humans in Hinduism
  • Four-caste system
  • Brahmins- priests
  • Kshatriyas- rulers, warriors, landowners
  • Vaishya- merchants
  • Shudras- artisans, agriculturalists
  • Harijan- outside of the caste system,
    untouchables

Sources www.friesian.com/caste.htm
13
Basic causes of problems in the world
  • Ignorance
  • Suffering
  • Falsehood
  • Selfishness
  • Greed

14
Solutions to the problems
  • Practice Darshanas or visions of Truth
  • 1. Nyaya- logicism
  • 2. Vaisheshika- atomism
  • 3. Samkhya- enumeration of various cosmic
    principles
  • 4. Yoga- techniques for meditation and
    transcendence
  • 5. Mimamsa- realistic interpretation of the
    Vedas
  • 6. Vedanta- metaphysical speculation

Sources www.kheper.net/topics/eastern/6darshanas.
htm
15
Solutions
  • Strive for happiness, joy, peace, and knowledge
  • Renunciation
  • Eternal transcendent perfection, Moksha

Sources http//www.mnsu.edu/emuseum/cultural/reli
gion/hinduism/beliefs.html
16
Four Objectives in Life
  • Kama- pleasure physically and emotionally
  • Artha- material wealth
  • Dharma- righteousness
  • Moksha- salvation, eternal transcendence

Sources http//www.mokshayoga.com/events/shivasma
ll.jpg
17
Major Figures
  • Mohandas 'Mahatma' Gandhi
  • Ram Mohan Roy
  • Dayananda Sarasvati

18
Rituals and Symbols
  • Samskaras- sacraments or rites by which a Hindu
    is fully integrated into the community.
  • Although Hindu scriptures explain the rituals, it
    is possible that Hindu rituals and rites will
    differ according to particular castes and
    regions.

19
  • Upanayana
  • Vivaha (Marriage)
  • Antyesti (Funerals)

20
Holidays
  • Raksabandhana
  • Vijayadasami
  • Divali
  • Holi

21
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