
Facts About Hinduism
Brahmanas (guide for ritual rites)
Describes the religion of the Aryans via the writings of “Holy men” or rishis (seers). sruti: all that is heard; smriti: all that is remembered
Describes a number of deities who are mostly personifications of natural phenomena: storms, fire, etc. (c.f. animism)
The Upanishads (secret teaching) 800-600 BC
Spoke of a multitude of gods
Bhagavad Gita
The “New Testament” of Hinduism which records a conversation between the prince Arjuna and his charioteer Krishna (the incarnation of the god Vishnu) condoning personal devotion to deity.
The Bhagavad Gita began to teach a doctrine of "pick your favorite" and honor that god above the other gods that you worship, which gave it a sort of Shintoist flavor whereby each house began to have its own "god" above other gods.
As a side note: this eastern ethos has been propagated into western thinking through film, documentary, yoga, etc. whereby many animal activists are unknowingly acting under the influence of the Hindu religious practice of Ahisma
Despite the doctrine of "ahimsa" there are extremist factions of Hinduism which attack Muslims and Christians (and Sikhs for a time) in the name of their Hindu deities. Which appears to contradict the doctrine of Ahisma's "non-injury" to all living creatures.
Caste System
Kshatriyas – warriors or ruler class. 2nd only to the Brahmins.
Vaisyas – merchant or farmer class follows the Kshatriyas
Shudras – laboring class “bottom feeders”
Dalits – untouchables or “outcastes” which are outside the caste system.
Four goals of the Hindu
Artha – wealth and success
Dharma – moral duty, renouncing personal power and pleasure to seek the common good of others brings personal fulfillment
Moksha – liberation from the death and birth cycle “salvation”
- Brahman is sometimes referred to personally as “Isvara” - generic name for "god" and a philosophical concept denoting a sort of "guardian force" over the universe. Not a specific deity per se.
Brahman is he whom speech cannot express and from whom the mind, unable to reach him, comes away baffled – Taittiriya Upanishad (c.f. Taoism)
Brahma - Doctrinally the preeminent of the 33 million Hindu gods - Brahma is considered the creator of the world.
Vishnu - Doctrinally is the second highest god of the 33 million gods of Hinduism - Vishnu is called the "preserver" – he is said to have had10 creature incarnations over time called Avatars
Shiva (the destroyer) – is really THE primary god worshiped due to the overwhelming fear of his wrath among Hindus. He has many temples built for him11and in the many times I visited India, I witnessed more worship and incense burned to Shiva than any of the other 33 million gods of Hinduism. Shiva has a wife goddess named “Kali” who is also an angry destroyer like her husband-god Shiva. She currently has a large, violent, cult-like following in India that has been known, along with other militant Hindu groups, to persecute Indian Christians for their belief.
The Cow is god to the Hindu: atharava veda – “The Cow is heaven, the Cow is earth, the Cow is "Vishnu, Lord of life”. (Even though the cow is not listed among the 10 avatars of Vishnu the vedas of Hinduism declare this creature to be an incarnation of Vishnu). The cow is permitted to have full reign moving around major cities in India and eating as it wishes.
Hindu World View:
Pantheistic - All things seen and unseen (including the millions and millions of gods) all make up Brahman (god above all)
Metaphysical - Nature of Man - Hinduism embraces the idea of evolution in that they feel that it coincides with their core beliefs that man is progressing steadily over time. This, despite the fact that rape and violence are on an ever-increasing climb within Hindu society, and have been for thousands of years. (ref. "Death of A Guru")
Problem of Evil:
- Karma – action The process by which an individual is either rewarded for his/her good deeds and also the process by which they are punished for their bad deeds. This karma is usually expected to be carried out in the individual’s next incarnation, however, it seems there is a tendency among Hindus to believe that karma can be effected in this life as well.
Karma is ultimately a perpetuation of evil and doesn’t solve it. In order for an individual to get their “evil” karma worked off, evil things must be carried out against them in this or the next life, which in turn requires that THAT individual’s karma must ALSO be worked off by someone ELSE and so on and so on.
Rabi Maharaj, a former Hindu Brahman priest, points out that ultimately, Hindu society is supposed to be progressing and getting better after thousands of years of this karma practice. However, he notes that it only seems to be getting worse!11
Karma is responsible for widespread neglect and needless suffering in India in that a Hindu believes that if they help a person in pain, trouble, etc. they are inhibiting that person’s necessary karma and will force that person to have to relive it all over again to work it off properly.
Kshatriyas – warriors or ruler class. 2nd only to the Brahmins.
Vaisyas – merchant or farmer class follows the Kshatriyas
Shudras – laboring class “bottom feeders”
Dalits – untouchables or “outcastes” which are outside the caste system.
The caste system and the laws of karma make social reform or improvement nearly impossible. One can’t help a person in need for fear of jacking their karma. One cannot improve his/her social position because it is contrary to the caste system. Whatever caste you were born into is the one you die in.
Samsara or “reincarnation” is the method by which bad karma is worked off and good karma rewarded. The more the Hindu overcomes evil in his/her own life, the better chance of being reincarnated in a higher caste and eventually achieving enlightenment – the knowledge that there is no ‘self’ just ‘brahman’.
Afterlife:
Inana Yoga – The way of knowledge. Overcomes the avidyya or ‘ignorance’ that brings on the bondage of rebirth cycles. Achieved via deep meditation, a state of consciousness that we are one with Brahman. Selfhood is an illusion, there is only one reality: Brahman (cf Buddhism)
Bhakti Yoga – The way of devotion. Personal devotion to deity is considered (in the Bhagavad Gita) as a way of salvation for all classes of people. It is the most popular in Hinduism due to its emphasis on personal relationship to a god or many gods. The acts of worship at the temples is called puja which seeks the aid of a god to help one escape samsura.
Brahman - Until Moksha is attained there is no afterlife…just “life after life after life”. Once Moksha is attained, the Hindu believes he goes into a being/non-being state of oneness with all the universe (Brahman) or it is believed that the Hindu has a closer and more personal relationship to a particular god.Sects:
Saivism - Worship Siva (Shiva) the god of destruction and seek to be one with him by disciplined philosophy via following a Saivist guru or "satguru" practicing yoga and worshipping in a Saivist temple.
Shaktism - Worship Shakti - the "supreme mother" or Divine Mother by way of chants, magic, diagrams, yoga and religious rituals to summon the kundalini power within one's body. This is deceptively masked within many yoga practices particularly in Southern California. Many participants in yoga have no idea whatsover that they are partaking in Shaktism in addition to their "yoga workout".
Vaishnavism - Worship VIshnu as supreme god along with his avatars (see above) or incarnations. The primary avatars for Vaishnavists are Krishna and Rama. They worship in temples, attempt to adhere closely to Hindu scriptures but maintain a dualistic worldview (spirit is good and the material is evil and both are completely separate at all times)
Smartism - worship six of the 33 million Hindu gods as supreme. Those six are Ganesha, Siva, Sakti, Vishnu, Surya, and Skanda. This group is quite different from the other main sects of Hinduism in that they accept all major Hindu gods and reject sectarianism. They are very similar to Confucianists in that they emphasize a meditative, philosophical pathway to achieving oneness with god. Understanding Hindu gods, man, life, afterlife, etc is the chief pursuit of the Smartist Hindu
Of note: Yazdanism - Kurdish form of polytheism/pantheism which is VERY similar to Hinduism in its infrastructure of multiple deities vs multiple bad deities. What makes it unique is that it incorporates Christian, Islamic, and ancient near east polytheism.
Is Hinduism compatible with Christianity? Here is what the Christian writings say regarding the belief system of Hinduism:
Bibliography
1. Johnstone, Patrick Operation World 2001
2. www.adherents.com: created circa January 2000. Last modified 28 August 2005.
3. Mcdowell, Josh & Don Stewart Handbook of Today’s Religions 1983
4. Geisler, Norman Christian Apologetics 1983
5. Lehmann, Arthur C. and James E. Myers, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: An Anthropological Study 1993
6. Tylor, Edward Burnett Primitive Culture 1871
7. Hefner, Alan G. & Virgilio Guimaraes Article: Animism www.themystica.com
8. Bird-David, Nurit. Animism Revisited: Personhood, environment, and relational epistemology” 1991
9. Hallowell, A. Irving Culture in History 1960
10. Frazer, James G. The Golden Bough 1922
11. Maharaj, Rabi Death of a Guru 1984
12. Rood, Rick article: Hinduism, A Christian Perspective Probe Ministries & www.leaderu.com
13. Smith, Huston The Religions of Man 1958 as reprinted in Handbook of Today’s Religions
14. Offner, Clark B. The World’s Religions 1976 as reprinted in Handbook of Today’s Religions
15. Noss, John B. Man’s Religions 1969 as reprinted in Handbook of Today’s Religions
16. Hume, Robert E. The World’s Living Religions 1959 as reprinted in Handbook of Today’s Religions
17. Singh, Parveen article: Islam Probe Ministries & www.leaderu.com
18. Diller, Daniel C. The Middle East 1994 as reprinted in the article “Islam” by Parveen Singh
19. Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language 1995
1. Johnstone, Patrick Operation World 2001
2. www.adherents.com: created circa January 2000. Last modified 28 August 2005.
3. Mcdowell, Josh & Don Stewart Handbook of Today’s Religions 1983
4. Geisler, Norman Christian Apologetics 1983
5. Lehmann, Arthur C. and James E. Myers, Magic, Witchcraft, and Religion: An Anthropological Study 1993
6. Tylor, Edward Burnett Primitive Culture 1871
7. Hefner, Alan G. & Virgilio Guimaraes Article: Animism www.themystica.com
8. Bird-David, Nurit. Animism Revisited: Personhood, environment, and relational epistemology” 1991
9. Hallowell, A. Irving Culture in History 1960
10. Frazer, James G. The Golden Bough 1922
11. Maharaj, Rabi Death of a Guru 1984
12. Rood, Rick article: Hinduism, A Christian Perspective Probe Ministries & www.leaderu.com
13. Smith, Huston The Religions of Man 1958 as reprinted in Handbook of Today’s Religions
14. Offner, Clark B. The World’s Religions 1976 as reprinted in Handbook of Today’s Religions
15. Noss, John B. Man’s Religions 1969 as reprinted in Handbook of Today’s Religions
16. Hume, Robert E. The World’s Living Religions 1959 as reprinted in Handbook of Today’s Religions
17. Singh, Parveen article: Islam Probe Ministries & www.leaderu.com
18. Diller, Daniel C. The Middle East 1994 as reprinted in the article “Islam” by Parveen Singh
19. Shelley, Bruce L. Church History in Plain Language 1995