Hinduism

The first to develop an Interior Life• Silence becomes a religious ingredient, a

medium for religious growth. • Hinduism is the world’s oldest wisdom

tradition• No human founder• This religion leads the devotee to

personally experience the Truth within, and finally reach the peak of consciousness where man and God are one.

HINDUS 2000 BC - Present

Truth is ONE, and yet there is great diversity within Hinduism

There are many Hindu texts, not one, like most religions.

What is the path to moral, spiritual progress?

Sanatana – the eternal way

Bhakti – personal spiritual devotionWe participate as humans in a universal

whole The Vedas – filled with shruti (revelation)The Brahman (the eternal) literally gave

the Vedas as they are (similar to the Qur’an).

Sacred scripturesThe Upanishads primary concern is with

right relationship with Brahman (ultimate reality).

Huge focus on looking inwardly to find one’s true self. Find the Brahman inside yourself.

Less focus on rituals or scriptures. The Ramayana (Vishnu incarnated as

Prince Rama) focuses on dharma (duty in relationships).

Scriptures (cont)Rama, experiencing a rivalry with his new

stepmom, is wrongly exiled by his dad. Despite the injustice of this, Rama still

abides by moral duty. This is all about doing as one ought: loyalty

even in the face of injustice. The Gita: is the story between Arjuna and

Lord Krishna (another avatar of Vishnu) who has to do battle against his family.

Scriptures (continued)The Gita focuses on inwardly attitudes,

and de-emphasizes worldly outcomes. “One who works for the fruits of their labor

makes him/herself into a slave.”Laws of Manu are seen as antithetical to

the Gita. They arose to counter the rise in popularity of Buddhism, similar to the Catholic Counter Reformation.

Laws of Manu reinforce the caste system.

More on Laws of Manu

Caste system – a rigid designation of what one’s permanent place is in society. Mobility occurs only through karma and after one is reincarnated.

Buddhism rejected Indian gender norms by furthering gender equality. The Laws of Manu reasserted those gender norms in India.

Social organization is very important. This reflects a traditional patriarchal and hierarchical culture.

Historical Developments The Vedic religion stems from the Aryan

migration to the subcontinent (1700 BCE). [Compare the Indian swastika with the Third

Reich’s swastika.] The central ceremony in the ancient Vedic ritual

life is the fire sacrifice. Personal devotion to one god or manifestations

of Brahman is dominate in Vedic practice. These gods are really manifestations of one God,

Brahman.

Stations of Life

4 basic castes, but over 3,000 subcastes There are inequalities (it’s based on an

hierarchal system); pressure against inter-caste “love” marriages, and even against interdining.

1. Brahmins who are the religious and intellectual leaders

2. the administrators (kshatriya) 3. the producers (vaishya) 4. the unskilled laborers (shudra caste) The untouchables (dahlit)

Classical Hinduism

Samkhya is the oldest philosophy school in India.

Founded by Kapila and asserts two principles:

1. purusha is beyond cause (unchanging)2. prakriti is the ordinary material worldForgetting the difference causes suffering

for us. Developing purusha is the goal of spirituality.

Non attachment

Non-attachment: draw a line between your impermanent self and your permanent one. The goal is to dis-identify with your impermanent self.

The goal is to be like the center of the spinning wheel: active yet stable and in control: “stillness in absolute motion.”

If you identify with your ego, bad karma will follow. [What’s best for me without considering others’ interests and needs]

The 4 successive stages of life:

1. A student (brahmachari) • 2. A married householder • 3. A 'forest- dweller' • 4. A renouncer (sannyasin)

The 4 Goals in Life

Path of Desire1. Kama - pleasure

2. Artha – worldly success

Path of Renunciation3. Dharma – ethical duty

4. Moksha – liberation

What people want

PATH OF DESIRE

1. Kama – pleasure, seek it intelligently, it is good, natural and part of being human

2. Artha – worldly success, seek to attain wealth and stability and take care of one’s family & responsibilities.

Limitations to Desire Pleasure & Success are fleeting, they do not last,

one wants more and more, ultimately not satisfying.

Drive for success can be insatiable, never-ending, you can never get enough of what you really think you want. How can one extinguish greed with money?

Finite nature of self, as opposed to the Self.

What People Really Want

PATH OF RENUNCIATION

3. Dharma – Ethical duty, community

4. Moksha – liberation/release of the individual self from samsara

Atman – principle of individuation (akin to an individual soul)

Brahman – the principle and source of reality; that which is different from the ordinary world

Only Brahman exists and the visible world is a product of maya (human ignorance)

Bhakti restores right understanding and right relationship with God.

Atman Brahman“  The Self which is free from sin, free from

old age, from death and from grief, from hunger and thirst, which desires nothing but what it ought to desire, and imagines nothing but what it ought to imagine, that it is which we must search out, that it is which we must try to understand. He who has searched out that Self and understands it, obtains all worlds and all desires.” Khândogya-Upanishad 8.7.1

Liberation

• Liberation for a Hindu is called Moksha.

• It is liberation from Samsara (cycle of life and death)

• When an enlightened human being is freed from samsara and comes into a state of completeness, he then becomes one with God.

Karma Reincarnation can be understood as

“transmigration.” just as we travel from the body of a baby to being a teenager to being an old man, we, too, travel from one body to another after death.

Along the path, God is one’s constant companion.

What we must destroy is illusion and attachments to this world. This is why many Hindu paintings depict destruction (usually a god holding a sword).

Four Paths to Moksha

1. The way of action (karma)2. The way of knowledge (jnana)3. The way of devotion (bhakti)4. The royal road (raja)

These paths/yogas lead to Moksha!

Prayer and rituals Puja - worship done privately & publicly Samskaras – rites of passage which resemble the

Christian notion of a sacrament In one’s home, there often are mini altars or

devotional spaces that can include small statues, portraits, and even food offerings to one’s chosen deity (for instance, Ganesh – elephant headed deity)

Use of incense and bells (awaken the senses) Similar to Islam, Hindus emphasize orthopraxy

(practices are more important than doctrine) OM represents the primordial sound of creation.

Chanting OM allows one to commune with the vibration of the universe.

Renaissance Periods (2)

1. 3rd century BCE when Buddhism spread rapidly. Hindus felt threatened with the mass exodus, and needed to clarify and re-market how Hinduism differed from Buddhism. Among other things, it reasserted the belief in the caste system, and the traditional notions of gender roles.

The Laws of Manu emerged during this time.

Part II

As the British colonized the subcontinent, there emerged a nationalistic, religious movement to resist the British both on a political level as well as a religious one.

Spike in Christian missionary effortsNational effort to preserve ethnic and

religious heritage of India.

Concepts of the Sacred

Huge range within Hindu theology, and even apparent contradictions

Case for polytheism: There are many gods, such as Shiva, Vishnu, Devi, etc.

Case for monotheism: All the gods are mere manifestations of Brahman – a genderless entity that creates and destroys all.

Hindu Ethics Anchored in moral duty Duty connects to dharmaOne should act according to their designated

place in societyKarma is the cosmic force generated by

one’s actions Accumulated karma determines one’s

reincarnated location

Gurus

Highly important given the theological diversity and complexity of Hinduism

A Guru makes all the difference in one’s understanding and practice.

Gurus guide which god to venerate and how one understands what a god is.

Yoga “Yoga is an all-embracing way of life, a

science of self-culture and mental discipline that ensures the purgation of the ignoble in man and brings forth what is most noble in him.”

Karma yoga: the way of action. All is done mindfully and in service to the

absolute. Act in the world but be free of attachments to

outcomes.Goal is to discipline the egoistic self.

Yoga of action

Become God by acting like GodRequires a focused mindTeaches selfless actsNo expectation of benefit

Yoga

1. Keep personal life in reasonable order or no hope of deeper self-knowledge.

Abstain from lying, injury, stealing, sensuality, and greed

2. Observe cleanliness, contentment, self-control, studiousness, and contemplation of the divine.

3. take care of the body in order that it does not disturb the mind. The mind is way more important.

4. Get into a lotus position: ankles on thighs, hands folded on top of each other, erect spine, and unfocused stare on the ground.

Turn your attention to your breath. 5. unplug your sense perceptors so that you can

focus on your breath. You want to turn concentration into a controlled skill.

6: the mind is its fiercest antagonist. The mind is like a drunken, crazed monkey

who has just been stung by a wasp. 7. increase level of concentration and one

will discover the extreme power of the mind.

Focus on an object and the ego will disappear.

8. Samadhi = then the object will dissolve and the raja yogi has achieved ultimate consciousness, or total being.

Bhakti Yoga: devotion/divine love

Most popular among Hindus

Everything is truly seen as God

Chanting and prayer are a large part

Personal devotion to one’s chosen deity.

Jnana Yoga

Yoga of knowledge/wisdom

Rational inquiry Direct experience of Moksha Integrates the other Yoga paths Most difficult path Discovery of one’s true self brings peace

and freedom

Raja Yoga: physical/mental control

Method = clear the mind through intense concentration

Final result = Absolute Mind Control

All energies become spiritual energies

Achieved by meditation

Asanas

We are God, therefore our bodies are sacred and we should keep them well. Exercise should be beneficial to the mind and body while enjoyable to the person. It should be a spiritual experience.

Pranayana (proper breathing) We should breathe as deep as possible. Breathing

should be slow, deep and in rhythm.

Savasana (proper relaxation) Inner peace and complete physical rejuvenation

can be achieved through Savasana. Proper Diet: Yoga promotes a vegetarian diet for the complete

health of a person mentally, physically and spiritually.

Dhyana (meditation)

“We become what we think.” We should think happy thoughts to lead to a happy and healthful lifestyle.

Employs the philosophy of Vedanta.