2.2 Hinduism

Overview

These notes summarize key historical developments, core beliefs, practices, and major philosophical ideas in Hinduism, including social structures and modern influences.

Historical Development of Hinduism

• Hinduism has over one billion practitioners worldwide; about three-quarters of India is Hindu.
• Tradition traces back around 4000 years, making it one of the oldest living religions.

Major Historical Periods and Texts

• 1700 BCE: Vedic ritual offerings begin, forming the foundation of later Hindu worship.
• 1200–900 BCE: Four Vedas, the oldest Sanskrit scriptures, are composed.
• 6th century BCE: Upanishads written; Buddha is born into a Hindu family.
• c.500–100 BCE: Ramayana explores dharma through Rama’s life.
• 2nd century BCE: Mahabharata compiled, including the Bhagavad-Gita as a key devotional text.
• 2nd century CE: Yoga Sutras systematize yoga practice and philosophy.
• 788–820 CE: Adi Shankara formulates Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism).
• 800 CE onward: Advaita Vedanta, Islamic influence, Western reception, and reformers shape modern Hinduism.
• 19th–20th centuries: Sri Ramakrishna promotes religious tolerance; Gandhi unites religion and politics through nonviolence.

Structured Historical Timeline

Core Concepts of Hinduism

• Hinduism is described as a way of life, not a single prophet, god, or dogma.
• It unites reason and intuition and is ultimately to be experienced.

Fundamental Beliefs

• Samsara: ongoing cycle of birth, death, and rebirth.
• Atman: eternal inner self or soul.
• Moksha: liberation from samsara.
• Dharma: right living, virtue, and cosmic/natural law.
• Karma: actions and their consequences shaping future lives.
• Brahman: single, eternal, absolute reality underlying everything.

Three Paths (Marga) to Moksha

The Trimurti

• Brahma: creator who brings the universe into being.
• Vishnu: preserver who protects and sustains.
• Shiva: destroyer who balances creation and destruction.
• Many traditions see one Lord God complemented by many minor deities with specific powers.

Sacred Texts: Sruti and Smriti

Sruti (“That Which Is Heard”)

• Four Vedas: considered divine revelation.
• Brahmanas: ritual manuals and instructions.
• Aranyakas: meditative and forest teachings.
• Upanishads: philosophical interpretations, nature of self and Brahman.

Smriti (“That Which Is Remembered”)

• Mahabharata: epic including the Bhagavad-Gita.
• Ramayana: epic of Rama, model of dharma.
• Puranas: mythological stories of gods and the cosmos.
• Dharma-shastras: law and ethics texts.

Dharma, Cosmic Order, and Sacrifice

Sanatana Dharma and Cosmic Order

• Sanatana Dharma: “eternal order,” ultimate truth and reality.
• Gods and goddesses manifest aspects of one universal truth.
• Following dharma through rituals and offerings maintains cosmic and social harmony.

Cyclical Time and Shiva’s Dance

• Time is cyclical: endless cycles of creation, sustenance, and dissolution.
• Contrasts with Western linear time requiring a single beginning.
• Shiva Nataraja (Lord of the Dance) embodies the cosmic cycle.
  • Drum: creation; flame: destruction; balanced arms: harmony.
  • Circle of flames: continuous birth and death.
• Brahman is timeless reality behind this cycle.

Vedic Sacrifice (Yajna)

• Primary rite of early Vedic religion.
• Creates a link to the divine and establishes right order.
• Expected to bring protection and worldly benefits (health, crops, happiness).

Steps of sacrifice:

• Prepare sacred ground as prescribed in texts.
• Light sacred fire with correct wood and vessels.
• Make offerings (ghee, cereals, fruit, flowers).
• Chant Vedic hymns at auspicious times with precision.

Vedic Gods and Soma

• Agni: fire god; appears as sacrificial fire; destroys demons of disorder.
• Varuna: sky and water; guardian of cosmic order; separates night and day.
• Indra: thunder and war; defeats chaos; separates heaven and earth.

Soma

• Sacred drink pressed from special plants, intoxicating and possibly hallucinogenic.
• Offered to energize the gods, especially Indra before battle.
• Associated with experiences of immortality and divine light.

Social Order: Varna and Caste

Varna System (Ideal Ordering)

• All varnas come from Purusha (cosmic person), emphasizing unity and interdependence.
• Each has its own dharma (duty) essential for cosmic and social order.
• Brahmins traditionally maintain universal order through ritual and teaching.

Caste System (Historical Distortion)

• More rigid, occupation-based, emphasizing separation and “pollution.”
• Restricted social mixing and intermarriage; led to social fragmentation.
• Dalits (“oppressed”) placed outside the four varnas.
• 1948 Constitution of India banned caste discrimination, though prejudice continues.

Critique from Buddhism

• Buddha: status comes from deeds, not birth (“By deed one becomes a Brahmin or outcast”).

The Divine Feminine and Shakti

• Shakti: divine power, creativity, fertility, active force of the divine.
• Maha Devi: great mother, nurturing force of the universe.
• Parvati: gentle, loving consort of Shiva.
• Kali: fierce, terrifying goddess.
• Durga: warrior goddess, powerful protector.
• Shaktism: school where Maha Devi is worshipped as supreme.

Kundalini

• Kundalini: coiled serpent energy at the base of the spine.
• Seen as sleeping goddess; source of sexual and life force.
• Through tantric rituals, yoga, and meditation, energy is awakened for spiritual release.

Higher Teaching: Guru and Upanishads

• Around 6th century BCE, focus shifts from ritual to philosophy and inner knowledge.
• “Upanishad” means “to sit up close,” indicating proximity to a guru.

Characteristics:

• Restricted knowledge: for initiated students under a guru.
• Abstract: explores nature of self and universe philosophically.
• Single universal reality: Brahman known through thought and analysis of experience.
• Emphasis on concentrated attention and inner discipline.

Self, Atman, and Brahman

Three Parts of the Self

• True self (atman) is one with fundamental reality, though we experience separateness.

Key Upanishadic Teachings

• Fig seed: invisible “nothingness” inside seed generates entire tree; that subtle essence is the self (“Tat tvam asi” – you are that).
• Salt in water: dissolved salt unseen yet tastes everywhere; Brahman is unseen but present everywhere.

Karma, Reincarnation, and Release

• Karma: actions produce consequences that shape future rebirths.
• Rebirth: soul (atman) takes successive bodies.
• Next life’s form determined by accumulated karma.
• Liberation (moksha) comes when knowledge of atman–Brahman breaks the cycle.

Chariot Analogy

• Horses: senses pulling us forward.
• Driver: mind steering.
• Passenger: atman giving purpose.
• Without awareness of atman, life’s journey lacks ultimate purpose; intuition of atman restores meaning.

Realizing the True Self

• Awareness of atman is difficult and gradual.
• Requires examining and discarding other identities as inadequate.
• Gained as deep intuition, not just intellectual fact.

The Four Stages of Life (Ashrama)

Stage One: Student (Brahmacharya)

• Roughly ages 8–25; study Vedas, history, philosophy, law, rhetoric.
• Sacred thread ceremony confers “twice-born” status.
• Celibacy; all energy directed to learning and discipline.

Stage Two: Householder (Grihastha)

• Marriage, raising children, supporting extended family.
• Pursue wealth (artha) and pleasure (kama) within dharma.
• Provide hospitality and support to ascetics and community.

Stage Three: Retirement (Vanaprastha)

• Traditionally begins with birth of first grandson.
• Gradual withdrawal from business and finances.
• More time for study, meditation, counsel; simpler life, celibacy.

Stage Four: Ascetic (Sannyasa)

• Full renunciation of worldly ties and possessions.
• Sole focus on moksha and spiritual realization.
• Reached by relatively few, and only after family duties are completed.

Five Moral Principles

• Ahimsa: not killing; nonviolence.
• Satya: truthfulness in speech.
• Asteya: not stealing.
• Brahmacharya: sexual continence or restraint.
• Aparigraha: non-possessiveness, avoiding greed.
• Correct aims and behavior depend on both varna and life stage; ashrama system unifies spiritual and social life.

Selfless Action and the Bhagavad-Gita

• Date/context: Bhagavad-Gita within Mahabharata, around 2nd century BCE.
• Arjuna, warrior-prince, must fight relatives and teachers; experiences moral conflict.
• Krishna teaches him about duty, self, and action.

Key teachings:

• Perform your dharma (duty) even when painful.
• The soul is immortal; only the body dies.
• Moral quality of karma depends on motives, not the mere act.
• Act without selfish desire; selfless duty leads to no spiritual downfall.

Yoga as a Path to Liberation

Yoga Sutras (2nd Century CE)

• First systematic account of yoga philosophy and practice.
• Originally for ascetics, later adapted for broader practice.
• Aims at mental calmness, concentration, and insight.

Eight Steps of Yoga

Meaning of Yoga

• Western focus: physical exercise and relaxation.
• Hindu perspective: integrated discipline of ethics, posture, breath, meditation, knowledge, devotion.
• Ultimate goal: free the true self (purusha) from material entanglements (prakriti), achieving liberation.

Puja and Devotional Practice (Bhakti)

Daily Puja

• Offerings (food, incense, flowers) before deity images.
• Performed in temples and homes; accessible beyond priestly class.
• Devotees receive blessings, often marked on forehead and prasad (blessed food).

Vishnu’s Nine Forms of Worship

• Satsang: association with fellow devotees.
• Hearing stories: listening to divine narratives.
• Service to guru: honoring and serving teacher.
• Singing: communal devotional songs (bhajans).
• Chanting: repetition of holy names (mantras).
• Following scripture: self-control and selfless service.
• Seeing divinity: recognizing God everywhere.
• Contentment: accepting one’s lot without fault-finding.
• Surrender: complete faith, considered the highest stage.

Illusion, Advaita Vedanta, and Two Truths

Adi Shankara and Advaita (Non-Dualism)

• Statement: “Brahman is real; the world is an illusory appearance; the soul is Brahman itself.”
• Two levels of truth:
  • Conventional: empirical world; useful but ultimately unreal.
  • Absolute: pure consciousness, direct awareness of Brahman.

Key Ideas of Advaita Vedanta

• Metaphor: one sun reflected in many pots of water—many atmans, one Brahman.
• Truth of atman buried under maya; reached by meditation, contemplation, and spiritual disciplines.

Religious Pluralism and Unity of Paths

Sri Ramakrishna’s View

• Practiced devotion to Kali, then explored Islam and Christianity internally.
• Experienced each path as genuine; concluded all can lead to same divine reality.
• Emphasized internal, experiential identification with “eternal spiritual oneness.”

One Truth, Many Paths

• Hinduism: many gods, one Brahman.
• Islam: submission to Allah.
• Christianity: love through Christ.
• Buddhism: enlightenment and compassion.
• Within Hinduism, individuals are free to worship in their own way while affirming one holy power.

Hinduism as Living Tradition

• Defined as a union of reason and intuition, known by experience.
• Embraces multiple paths (ritual, meditation, devotion).
• Values tolerance of different beliefs and practices.
• Continues to evolve while preserving core truths.

Gandhi, Ahimsa, and Satyagraha

Gandhi’s Core Ideas

• God is truth; way to truth lies through nonviolence (ahimsa).
• Ahimsa: not merely refraining from killing, but active love for all beings.
• Satyagraha: “holding on to the truth” with moral courage despite suffering.
• Civil disobedience: noncooperation and nonviolent resistance against injustice.

Nonviolence as Strength

• Doing nothing allows injustice to persist.
• Violence breeds further violence.
• Nonviolent protest, grounded in truth, offers a powerful alternative.

Gandhi’s Legacy

• Called untouchability a crime against humanity; contributed to its legal abolition.
• Advocated strongly for religious freedom and against discrimination.
• Inspired global civil rights movements, including in South Africa and the United States.

Key Terms & Definitions

Action Items / Next Steps

• Review differences between varna system and caste practices with examples.
• Compare the three margas (jnana, karma, bhakti) and how they relate to yoga’s eight steps.
• Reflect personally on which Hindu doctrines (e.g., karma, nonviolence, pluralism) seem most convincing or difficult.
• Re-read key metaphors (fig seed, salt in water, chariot, sun in pots) and link each to atman–Brahman teaching.