Hinduism Flashcards
Hinduism
oldest eastern world religion, every other religion is stemmed from this
History of Hinduism
hindu –> religion in northern India
3 groups merging: Aryans and Dravidians and animistic people
Aryans
people who migrated into Indian subcontinent from Europe (through many generations) - NORTH
“noble ones” in persian
fare skinned, light eyed
agriculturers
Dravidians
roots in australia
darker skinned
fishermen
went island hopping and moved to India by sea
Animistic people
living in India before Aryans and Dravidians
Blending Animistic Beliefs
- Ritual purity linked to water (bathing is sacred)
- Socio religious unity (person who were political heads/leader became religious head - very powerful)
- Fertility Figures
- lingam (male) - hard and straight
- yoni (female) - round and soft - Holy (shamanistic) persons
- insight into divine, transend normal daily existence
- magical - Nature dieties
Development of caste system
differences in
1. race
2. culture and language
3. Labour and lifestyle
4. all leads to class distinctions
all dependent on technology and education
The cast system
TOP
Brahmins - religious teachers/priests (ARYAN)
Kshatriyas - aristocrats and warriors (ARYAN)
Vaishas - leaders of government (ARYAN)
Shudras - skilled workers, merchants, high farmers (DRAVID)
Parians, harijans, untouchables - outcasts (ANIMISTS)
BOTTOM
- very challenging/impossible to change class/move up
- limitations if you are not in that class (education)
- if you are a man of the top 3 classes, then you have spirit realization
- know class by last name
- if you are a woman of the top 3 casts, then your hope is to be reborn as a man and then have hope for spirit realization
- do not touch people of other casts
- cam not marry outside of cast you are in
- people of higher casts are vegetarians
- how you know what level of cast you are is by looking at what your parent’s job is
- horrible treatment to untouchables - passive because of punishment from earlier life
Which cast are children of god by Gandhi
Untouchables, Parians, Harijans
Brahman
overarching life force, encompasses everything
- do not worship, but still has power
- amoral (not good or bad)
- described as “vast sea” or “dry dessert”
- you are small in the relation to whole universe (drop in the ocean)
- amebic (ebbs and flows with energy) - generous and times of droute
Maya
you are this if you think there is another force besides Brahman or other reality
What are the three dieties?
Brahma and Sarasvati AUSTERITY
Shiva and Parvati AUSTERITY
Vishnu and Lakshmi DEVOTION
Where do the deities come from?
Spill from brahman
Brahma
creator of the universe
omniscient (all knowing) - has three heads
omnipotent (all powerful) - many arms
wise - has beard
Who is Brahma’s consort?
Sarasvati (education and arts)
equal to brahma
Shiva
Destroyer (“auspicious one”)
1. lord of the dance (in fire)
2. lingam (creator) - will to create, unsequentiable, source of life
3. ultimate yogi (meditator) - sustaining the universe
only eternal spirit is important - outer body is useless
Who is Shiva’s consort?
Parvati (and Ganesha)
MOST POWERFUL - called Shiva’s “shakti” or “power”
is yoni
has 4 manifestations
1. Parvati - consort
2. Annapurna - mother (always pregnant) - bounty, fertility
3. Durga - warrior (destroying evil)
4. Kali - death and judgement (“kills you before your karma is too big”)
Who is Ganesha?
Elephant God
wrote scripture and blessings
mookshika - mouse
fertility
Vishnu
preserver
sleeping on the ruminants of the last world (dreaming - 10 dreams)
chanting is important to dreams
brahma comes out of belly from lotus flower from dream
What is Vishnu’s consort
Lakshmi (fortune and beauty)
What are the 10 avatars of vishnu?
- Fish (warns people about flood)
- Tortoise (rescues treasures)
- Boar (lifts universe above to make it dry)
- lion
- dwarf
- Parusha (human)
- Rama (and Sita)
- Prince that is wrongly accused of wronging father and exiled, demon takes Sita away and tests faithfulness, Sita is faithful
- Hanuman (monkey god) = rescues sita - Krishna (and Radha - perfect disciple)
- “dark one”, mischievous warrior, prince, lover, COW HERDER - Buddha
- has not yet appeared - (Kalki - righteousness, delivers justice)
Diwali
celebration of the return of Rama and Sita
Lamps to lead home
The spiritual problem
Samsara
“wandering”
the vicious cycle of life, death and rebirth and reincarnation
can not break cycle
The spiritual solution
Moksha
“release”
spiritual liberation from reincarnation
allowing for union with brahman
Atman
“made it”
union with brahman
Karma
“deeds/words”
locked sequence of events
what you have done in the past and what you are doing in present is conditioning present and future (move up and down to reach
hope - you can change future
Dharma
duty
do duty with cast/obligations
if you do good then better in next life
how you get to karma
Sin and salvation
Sin is….
1. ignorance
2. Neglect (of religious duties)
3. Violation (of cast, rules, social conditions)
Salvation is…
1. Knowledge
2. Devotion
3. Works
Bhakti
Devotion
Death and afterlife
death - people are nor afraid
go to river of gangese
Suttee
widow burning
spiritual = live women die with husband when he dies
Hindu practice
Private practice - yoga
Corporate practice - Temples
Communal Practice - festivals
Private Practice
Yoga
- goal of classical yoga is self -transcendence and unio for yoking with divine (binding) - mind, soul and body
- contributes to world peace (enlightened, possess, insight)
Yoga steps
- way of spiritual exercise (restrict body so it frees the mind)
- body becomes like a temple (7 chabras and 3rd eye) - Way of works
- having the right attitude, ceremonies - Way of knowledge
- special instruction on how to get into a trance, blissful state - Way of devotion (bhakti)
- the ultimate goal of yoga is to form a union between human and divine
Hatha yoga
sanskrit (sun and moon)
strives to balance opposing parts of the body
combines: postures, breathing techniques and meditation
Kundalini yoga
you have a power that surrounds base of spine
“feeding serpent” until it goes up to mind through body
Tantric yoga
sex as yoga
no connection with emotional bond (not loving relationship)
sex climax at same moment (woman can become man and vise versa)
Meditator are yogis or Gurus
Gurus (leads darkness to light)
- you must be initiated or helped along the way. You cannot do yoga by yourself
- gives you mantra: phrase written or spoken during meditation. Must be repeated over and over, secret
Corporate Practice
Temples
- house of the deity
- priest (prayers on your behalf, accept offerings)
- bells ring to tell deity you have come and gone
- temple is always open
- kolam - decoration used for meditation
- can worship at home too
Communal Practice
Festivals
music, ritual, food - fun
payment of body to gods (devotion, body destruction, outworking of spiritual vows)
4 stages of hindu life
- student (studying, doing work to prepare for life)
- Householder (marry. raise family, contribution to society, career)
- Withdrawal (retirement, think about spiritual things, give away possessions, make will)
- Renouncing (most honouring, let go of trappings of world, let go of wealth and possessions, beggars)
- sannyasins - one who renounces
Hindu Writings
Rig-veda (hymns of nature worship, oldest text, almost animistic)
Upanishads (giving notion of wisdom and insight on union with the divine, get through the levels to get to brahman)
Bhagavad-Gita (most well known, philosophy and practice of hinduism, one part of poem, delivered in middle of battle (krishna), Dharma, and caste leave to deities)
Sectarian groups
Hare krishnaism
- A.c. Bhaktivefanta swami prahupada
devoted to sacred scriptures
- higher calling is single (married is too material)
- known in north america
Hare Krishna devotee suggest a parallel hindu-christian theology
Trinity
The father - Brahma
The son - Shiva
The holy spirit (vishnu)
Social change
Mohanas K. Gandhi
Gandhi
“great soul”
son of politician
studied law (lawyer in africa)
4 vows
1. pursuit of truth (god)
2. abstinence (gave away wealth, apart, social work)
3. Poverty (tried to change cast system, spun own cloth, materialism isn’t important)
4. Ahimsa (doctrine of non-injury and non-violence to any living thing)
Gandhi - “nonviolence is the supreme form of struggle b/c…”
it is equally accessible to all ages, classes, genders
it recognizes the truth of the divine within ones opponent as well as oneself
it does no physical harm to oneself or others
Dialogue with hindu’s
Bridging discussions
1. respect for scriptures
2. belief that life does not end with this present existence
3. meditation is valued as a mechanism of spiritual growth
4. cause and effect are real
5. God can be a personal being
6. Interest in Christ (christ made it to atman)
7. Messianic expectation
Exploratory Discussions
1. Sense of pathos (offering life without killing oneself)
2. limitations of persons by genders and cast
3. Militancy against other faiths and violence b/w casts
4. Ethics and morals
Other
- unity
- why does family chose specific god
- admiring devotion
