Dear friends,
"Hinduism" is a European name that comes from a word meaning "river". A long time ago the land beyond the river was known as "the Hind The people who lived in the Hind were known as Hindus.
The real name of this very old Faith to its followers is "Sanatama Dharma". These words in Sanscrit mean "The Eternal Law".
The Hindu Faith is the world's third largest religion after Christianity and Islam. It has over 750 million followers worldwide and claims 13% of the world's population. It is the dominant religion in India, Nepal, and among the Tamils in Sri Landa. There are about 766,000 Hindus in 2001 in the US and 157,015 in Canada.
It is generally regarded as the world's oldest organized religion.
Religions which recognize the existence of multiple deities have traditionally been among the world's most religiously tolerant. Hinduism remains arguably one of the most tolerant of such religions. However, during the past few years, a Hindu nationalistic political party has controlled the government of India. The linkage of religion, the federal government and nationalism has led to a recent degeneration in the separation of church and state in India. This in turn, has decreased the level of religious tolerance in the country. The escalation of anti-Christian violence is one manifestation of this linkage. The informatio in this paragraph was taken from a website for religious tolerance among all the religions.
All parts of it have a common core of beliefs enshrined in the very ancient mainHindu texts. These are the Vedas composed between 1500 and 500 BC. This name means "Divine Knowledge or wisdom". The Vedas were later distilled into the twelve major Upanishads, which are essentially summaries of the Vedas themselves andare considered inspired. The Bhagavad Gita has lesser authority and is a section of the epic poem of the Mahabarata. It is the most popular Hindu text. It was composed between 200 BC and 200 AD by many highly regarded scribes. The Bhagavad Gita is a short series of chapters set up as a conversation between the warrior-prince Arjuna and his charioteer, Krishna. In their conversation, personal devotion to God is endorsed as a way of salvation for all classes. The older Vedas, depicted natural phenomena such as storms and fire as deities or gods. The Upanishads did not speak any longer of many nature gods. It refersto an ultimate reality beyond our comprehension. This great reality they call Brahman. Brahman is impersonal in nature, but is sometimes referred to in personal terms by the name "Isvara". The Upanishads teach that at the core of our soul we are identical with this ultimate reality. In fact, all living things are seen to be ultimate reality at their innermost core. These books are considered to be revealed Scriptures.
Intuitive knowledge of the oneness of all things came to be held up as the way to contact with divine reality. The material world (including our conscious personalities) are believed to be less than fully real. Ultimate reality, brought this less than real world into existence.
The writing of the Bhagavad Gita caused a great transformation in the Faith. It causedtwo major streams of Hindu thought and practice to grow and develop.
The more intellectual and philosophical stream emphasized the oneness of all things.
The other stream emphasized personal devotion to a god. This last is followed among the common people of India until now. They split Brahman into Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver into ten incarnations, and Shiva the destroyer and his wives, such as Kali. It should be clearly understood that all these personal gods of Hinduism as seen as simply being different ways of understanding the one reality behind all things -- Brahman.
The "atma" is the soul. "Dharma" means right living. Hinduism is comfortable with evolutionary thinking. Hinduism emphasizes our spiritual evolution. It emphasizes man's essential divinity, much like modern psychologyh emphasizes the basic goodness and unlimited potential of human nature. Modern philosophy acceptsthe relativity of all truth claims, and in a similar way the Hindu Faith tolerates many seemingly contradictory religious beliefs. It is a religion that emphasizes spiritual reality over material reality.
There are common core beliefs between almost all Hindus. There is no dogma thatall Hindus must believe. There are two main beliefs:
1. All have a belief about the source of evil and suffering which is called Karma. Karma which means "action" and has to do with the results or consequences of actions. Every thought and action results in certain consequences that are carried by the one who acted or thought them. If a person lies or steals he will be wronged in some way in the future. Hindus believe that all suffering is due to one's own past actions in this, or a previous life which is belief in reincarnation or the transmigration of souls They think that because it is impossible that all one's karma can be experienced in one lifetime, after death individual souls are 'reborn' into this world in another body, human or otherwise. The nature of ones rebirth is determined by the karma resulting from past actions.
That is one of the reason for the belief in non-injury to living things, as all life is ultimately divine. The protection of all life is a core moral value of Hinduism. It is the main reason why some Hindus are vegetarian. Some are fatalistic about it and believe that a person must simply resign himself to living out his karma, and can't do anything about it.
Much more common is the belief that our present is determined by our past. We can influence our future by conducting ourselves in a proper manner in the present.
Associated with reincarnation is the caste system. Hindu teaching says there are four basic castes or social classes. There are thousands of sub-groups within the castes. Each has its own rules and obligations pertaining to nearly every facet of life. At the top are the Brahmins or priests. Second in rank are the Kshatriyas or warriors and rulers. Third are the Vaisyas or merchants and farmers. Below these are the Shudras or laboring class. Salvation is possible only for the top three castes, who are called the "twice born" Outside the caste system are the untouchables or outcastes. Though outlawed in India in the late 1940's, many in the countryside are still considered outcastes.
Ones's caste is determined at birth by his or her own persoanl karma. Attempts to bring about social change or to improve one's social positon appear to run contrary to the law of karma and the caste system. The chief aim of a Hindu is to experience release or liberation from this cycle of death and rebirth caused by karma.
Yoga and meditation practises are central to the Hindu search for salvation. There are three primary yogic ways of salvation described later.
There are four goals of life permissible to Hindus. The first is the goal of pleasure or enjoyment. Particularly through love and sexual desire. Second is for wealth and succes. Third aim in life is moral duty. One who gives himself to this one renounces personal pleasure and power, in order to seek the common good. The final one is the aim in life of liberation from the cycle of reincarnation.
There are three possible paths to salvation. The first is the way of works or karma yoga. This is a very popular way and lays emphasis on the idea that liberation may be obtained by fulfilling one's familial and social duties, thereby overcoming the weight of bad karma. The code of Manu lists many of these rules. Most important among them are certain rituals conducted at various stages of life.
The second way of salvation is the way of knowledge yoga. The basic premise is that the cause of our bondage to the cycle of rebirths in this world isignorance. 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 called Brahman. It is this 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 acheved thorugh deep meditation, often as a part of the discipline of yoga.
The third and last way of salvation is the way of devotion yoga. This is the way most favoured by the common people of India;. It satisfies the longing for a more emotional and personal approach to religion. It is self-surrender to one of the many personal gods and goddesses of Hinduism. Such devotion is expressed through acts of worship, at the temple, in the home, through participation in the many festivals in honor of such gods and through pilgrimages to one of the numerous holy sites in India. In the way of devotion, the focus is on obtaining the mercy and help of a god in finding relase from the cycle of reincarnation. Some Hindus conceive of ultimate salvation as absorption into the one divine reality, with all loss of individual existence. Others conceived of it as heavenly existence in adoration of the personal God.
2. All have a belief about life after death.
I hope this helped you to have some understanding of the Hindu Faith. It seems to me that there is a great mixture of ancient truths mixed with priestly additions to be found here. That's about all I think I should say about my thoughts on some of what you have read. It is evident that the caste system is agreat evil that must be removed. I promised Maple-Grace that I would try to give an explanation that might satisfy her that reincarnation and transmigration of souls is not true. Maybe one of these days I'll get to it. I hope someone may have been interested to read this. I put a lot of work into it.
Warmly, Mary
