HINDUISM

the dominant religion of the Indian subcontinent, particularly of India, Mauritius and Nepal. It includes Shaivism, Vaishnavism, Smartism among numerous other traditions. Whilst these major sects share rituals, beliefs, and traditions, each denomination has a different philosophy on how to achieve life's ultimate goal, Atma Jnana (self-realization). Among other practices and philosophies, Hinduism includes a wide spectrum of laws and prescriptions of "daily morality" based on karma, dharma, and societal norms.

The true name of the religion is Sanatana Dharma, meaning the eternal religion.

Hinduism is a categorisation of distinct intellectual or philosophical points of view, rather than a rigid, common set of beliefs.

Hinduism is often called the "oldest religion" or the "oldest living major religion" in the world. It consists of many diverse traditions and has no single founder.

HINDU (Persian)

sanskrit

Sindhu

the historic local name for theIndus River in the northwestern part of the Indian subcontinent. The word Sindhu is first mentioned in the Rigveda. The word Hindu was taken by European languages from the Arabic term al-Hind, and refers to the land of the people who live across the River Indus. This Arabic term was itself taken from the Persian termHind, which refers to all Indians. By the 13th century, Hindustan emerged as a popular alternative name of India, meaning the "land of Hindus".

A Brief History of Hinduism

Technically, all people living in Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Nepal, and Bhutan are Hindu because the true definition of the word Hindu is the people of the subcontinent. A correct term for a follower of Sanatana Dharma would be Vaidaki, a follower of the Vedas. A Hindu would respect Jesus as a spiritual person and might even think of him equivalent to an Avatar, or an incarnation.

He realizes that religions are paths to the same goal and thus has a deserved reputation of being highly tolerant of other religions. There is a quote in the Vedas that says Ekam Sataha Vipraha Bahudha Vadanti, which can be translated as The Truth is One, but different Sages call it by different Names.

A Brief History of Hinduism

Another characteristic of Hinduism is that it is not formally organized under any humans authority.

The religious authority has to be earned by ones own piety and spiritual dedication. And finally, one cannot be converted into Hinduism because Hinduism is a way of life in the literal and figurative sense. Thus, if one chooses to lead a life as a Hindu then he will be a Hindu.

A SUMMARY OF HINDU MORAL BELIEF BY BROTHER WILLIAM

For most Hindus the concept of sin is contained in the doctrine of karma or cause and effect. Unlike Christianity where sin is seen as disobedience to the dictates of a parental deity, sin for Hindus has the direct effect of obscuring one's knowledge of the true nature of Self or God. The Bhagavad-Gita says on subject of sin, "The Infinite doesn't care about anyone's sin or good deeds. Knowledge is covered by ignorance by which people are deluded."
Swami Vivekananda once said, "It is a sin to call a man a sinner.... You are children of Immortal Bliss." Ramakrishna said that repeating over and over that one is a sinner, a person becomes a sinner. Thinking of God, one realizes God within. He also used to say that God's name is so powerful that repeating it once, all sins are washed away.

A SUMMARY OF HINDU MORAL BELIEF BY BROTHER WILLIAM The basic moral precepts of Hinduism are avoiding intentional injury to any being and truthfulness. Violating either one results in suffering until the effects of the act are exhausted. Some believe that spiritual practices such as repeating the name of God can reduce the bad effects of sin. Others hold that the law of karma is absolute, and every act must have its effect, in this life or a subsequent one. The ultimate goal of Hinduism is to be freed from the wheel of birth, death, and rebirth--to be free of karma entirely--and experience the innate freedom of the higher Self or God.

THE HINDU VIEW OF MAN

UPANISHADS (VEDANTA) fountainhead of all Indian thoughts. The fundamental concept found is the underlying the external world of change there is unchangeable reality which is identical with that which underlies the essence of man. This unchangeable reality is BRAHMAN and that which underlies the essence of man is the ATMAN. Main teaching of Upanishads is that ATMAN is BRAHMAN. Brahman the ground of all things. The Absolute (Pure Consciousness) that stands transcendingly in the heart of man and of every contingent being. The value of this Upanishadic anthropology lies in that it roots man most ontologically in the divine Absolute and establishes for centuries to come the creaturely dimension of mans personality. This Brahman, as the power that turns into and animates everything in the universe, is identified with Atman. ATMAN is the higher aspect of what we understand as soul the principle of life. It is the inmost essence in man.

1. ANNAMAYATMAH self dependent on food. The material layer of man better known as the physical or corporeal self. 2. PRANAMAYATMAN self vital breath. Biological layer. MAN (5 SHEATHS) 3. MANOMAYATMAN self consisting of will. Psychological layer. 4. VIJNAMAMAYATMAN contains self or consciousness. Intellectual layer.

5. ANANDAMAYATMAN self as pure bliss. This approximates the Brahman which is Pure Bliss.

These sheaths are considered as dark coverings of ignorance that lie underneath the whole created world. Only when this has been torn away can the true self, which is Atman identified with Brahman, be known. SELF-REALIZATION. So, how to come to Brahman and remain in touch with it is the quest that has inspired the spirit of man in India through the ages. CASTE SYSTEMS The logic behind the Caste is that every man is born to his own place in the world and his first duty is to show it, to give up to it and make known both in appearance and action just what is his role in the world drama. The individuals concern is to become identified with the tasks and interests of his social role. The supreme virtue is to become anonymous for the key to the realization of ones present incarnation lies in the virtue of the caste. Caste is regarded as forming an innate part of character; the divine moral order (dharma) by which the social structure is knit together and sustained as the same as that which gives continuity to the lives of the individual. So just as the present is to be understood as a natural consequence of the past, so the manner in which the present role of the caste is played will determine its future. The correct way of dealing with every life problem is indicated by the laws (dharma) of the caste and the particular stage of life proper to ones age. By the rigorous practice of prescribed virtues, the individual man dissolves himself thus gaining release from his own personality and absorption in the boundlessness of universal being. Dharma is the way to pass into the transcendental consciousness and bliss of the purest spiritual self- brahman.

The depersonalizing principle of specialization is divided into the four stages of the ideal life course.

1. PUPIL when one goes to the spiritual teacher (guru) to receive divine knowledge and magic craft of his vocation.

2. HOUSEHOLDER young man is married and takes over the paternal craft.

3. HERMIT He retires to the seclusion of the forest to enter upon the path of the quest of the AtmanBrahman.

4. Wandering beggar all ties with the world have been completely cut off. He is utterly free and attains the fourth end of life spiritual release (moksha)

He gets into 3 of the 4 ends of Hindu life: a. Wealth and power (artha) b. Pleasure of his caste married life (kama) c. Rights and duties of his caste (dharma)

HINDUISM POLITICS
Hindu nationalism is one of the oldest ideological streams in India. It took shape in the 1920s soon after the first Indian communist party and before the first Indian socialist party. In fact, it runs parallel to the dominant Indian political tradition, the Congress, which Gandhi transformed into a mass organization in the 1920s. Hindu nationalism then developed an alternative political culture to the dominant idiom in Indian politics. This came about partly becausein the wake of the discourse of Bal Gangadhar Tilak (b. 1856d. 1920) and his apologia of a Hindu tradition of violent actionthe Hindu nationalists rejected nonviolence as a legitimate and effective reaction against the British. The movement also rejected the Gandhian and the Nehruvian conceptions of the Indian nation. Mahatma Gandhi until the end insisted that he spoke on behalf of all communities and that the Congress represented them all. Jawaharlal Nehru, even before he became the first prime minister of India, looked at the Indian nation in a similar universalistic vein, considering that it was a collection of individuals who were equally entitled to citizenship rights. In contrast, the Hindu nationalist movement has evolved and cultivated an ethno-religious definition of the Indian nation.

HINDUISM RELIGION
BRAHMAN

BRAHMA (THE CREATOR)

VISHNU (THE PRESERVER)

SHIVA (THE DESTROYER)

Karma. The law that good begets good, and bad begets bad. Every action, thought, or decision one makes has consequences good or bad that will return to each person in the present life, or in one yet to come. Reincarnation. Also known as transmigration of souls, or samsara. This is a journey on the circle of life, where each person experiences as series of physical births, deaths, and rebirths. With good karma, a person can be reborn into a higher caste, or even to godhood. Bad karma can relegate one to a lower caste, or even to life as an animal in their next life. Nirvana. This is the goal of the Hindu. Nirvana is the release of the soul from the seemingly endless cycle of rebirths.

Hinduism is both polytheistic, and pantheistic.

Hindus also worship the wives of Shiva, such as Kali, or one of Vishnus ten incarnations (avatars). This is only the beginning. There are literally millions of Hindu gods and goddesses by some counts, as many as 330 million! At the same time, Hinduism teaches that all living things are Brahman in their core. In other words, all living things are Brahman, or god. Enlightenment is attained by becoming tuned in to the Brahman within. Only then can one reach Nirvana. The release from the wheel of life that allows access to Nirvana is known as moksha.

Hindus recognize three possible paths to moksha, or salvation. The first is the way of works or karma yoga. This is a very popular way of salvation and lays emphasis on the idea that liberation may be obtained by fulfilling ones familial and social duties thereby overcoming the weight of bad karma one has accrued.

The second way of salvation is the way of knowledge, or jnana yoga. The basic premise of the way of knowledge is that the cause of our bondage to the cycle of rebirths in this world is ignorance.
According to the predominant view among those committed to this way, our ignorance consists of the mistaken belief that we are individual selves, and not one with the ultimate divine reality Brahman. It is this same ignorance that gives rise to our bad actions, which result in bad karma. Salvation is achieved through attaining a state of consciousness in which we realize our identity with Brahman. This is achieved through deep meditation, often as a part of the discipline of yoga. The third way of salvation is the way of devotion, or bhakti yoga. This is the way most favored by the common people of India. It satisfies the longing for a more emotional and personal approach to religion. It involves the self-surrender to one of the many personal gods and goddesses of Hinduism. Such devotion is expressed through acts of worship, temple rituals, and pilgrimages. Some Hindus conceive of ultimate salvation as absorption into the one divine reality, with all loss of individual existence. Others conceive of it as heavenly existence in adoration of the personal God.