What is Hinduism?

1. What is Hinduism? • One of the oldest religions of humanity. A philosophy and a way of life – focused both on this world and beyond • The major religion of the Indian people. • There are 750 million Hindus in the world today. • Most Hindus still live in India. • Gave birth to Buddhism, Jainism, Sikhism • Tolerance and diversity: "Truth is one, paths are many" • Many deities but a single, impersonal Ultimate Reality

2. How did Hinduism begin? • No particular founder ( before 2nd century BC) • Indus River Valley Civilization >5000 years ago • Aryans enter 4000 - 3500 years ago • Vedic Tradition 3500 – 2500 years ago: • rituals and many gods (polytheism) • sacred texts (Vedas) • social stratification (caste system) • Upanishads (metaphysical philosophy) 2800 – 2400 years ago • Vedic Tradition develops into Hinduism

3. What are the Sacred Texts? • Shruti (“heard”) – oldest, most authoritative: • Four Vedas (“truth”) – myths, rituals, chants • Upanishads - metaphysical speculation (Passed it on from Guru to Disciple) • Plus other texts • Smriti (“remembered”) – the Great Indian Epics: • Ramayana • Mahabharata (includes Bhagavad-Gita) • Plus others

4. What do Hindus believe? • One impersonal Ultimate Reality – Brahman • Manifest as many personal deities • True essence of life – Atman, the soul, is Brahman trapped in matter (“That art thou”) • Reincarnation – atman is continually born into this world lifetime after lifetime (Samsara) • Karma – spiritual impurity due to actions keeps us bound to this world (good and bad) • Ultimate goal of life – to release Atman and reunite with the divine, becoming as one with Brahman (Moksha)

5. How does Hinduism directlife in this world? • Respect for all life • Human life as supreme: • Four “stations” of life (Caste) - priests & teachers, nobles & warriors, merchant class, servant class ( Most Misunderstood and Not so valid concept for the current ages) • Four stages of life – student, householder, retired, renunciant • Four duties of life – Dharma (appropriate living), Artha ( the pursuit of material gain by lawful means), Kama (delight of the senses), Moksha ( Release from rebirth)

6. What are the spiritualpractices of Hinduism? • The Four Yogas - seeking union with the divine: • Karma Yoga – the path of action through selfless service (releases built up karma without building up new karma) • Jnana Yoga – the path of knowledge (understanding the true nature of reality and the self) • Raja Yoga – the path of meditation • Bhakti Yoga – the path of devotion • Guru – a spiritual teacher, especially helpful for Jnana and Raja yoga

7. How do Hindus worship? • Bhakti Yoga is seeking union with the divine through loving devotion to manifest deities • In the home (household shrines) • In the Temples (priests officiate) • Puja– making offerings to and decorating the deity images • Darsan– “seeing” the deity (not idol worship) • Prasad – taking the divine within your own being through eating of food shared with the deity

8. Who do Hindus worship? – the major gods of the Hindu Pantheon Brahma, the creator god with his consort, Saraswathi ( Goddess of Knowledge)

9. Who do Hindus worship? – the major gods of the Hindu Pantheon Vishnu, the preserver god with his consort Lakshmi Incarnates as ten avatars (descents) including: Rama (featured in the Ramayana) Krishna (featured in the Mahabharata) (Each shown with his consort, Sita and Radha, respectively)

10. Who do Hindus worship? – the major gods of the Hindu Pantheon Shiva, god of constructive destruction(the transformer) Appears as Shiva Nataraj,lord of the dance of creation… and with his wife, Parvati, son Subramanya son Ganesha

11. What about the goddesses?Devi – the feminine divine Saraswati, goddess of wisdom, consort ofBrahma

12. What about the goddesses?Devi – the feminine divine Lakshmi, goddess of good fortune, consortof Vishnu

13. What about the goddesses?Devi – the feminine divine Parvati, divine mother, wife ofShiva

14. What about the goddesses?Devi – the feminine divine Durga, protectress Kali, destroyer of demons Plus about 330 million other deities

15. All these deities are but Manifest forms (attributes and functions) of the impersonal Brahman

16. And we too are manifest forms of God! “We are not human beingshaving spiritual experiences;We are spiritual beingshaving a human experience!” “That art Thou” Hinduism is about recognizing the all pervasiveness of the divine

17. Contributions to the world from Ancient India • Indians established Harappan culture in Indus Valley Civilization, at a time when many cultures comprised of nomadic forest dwellers over 5000 years ago. • The game of chess was invented in India. • The birth of Algebra, Trigonometry and Calculus happened in India. • The Decimal and Place Value system originated and developed in India • In the 13th century, a poet saint named Gyandev introduced the game of Snakes and Ladders. Known as Mokshapat during those times, the game had a significant meaning. The snakes stood for vices, while the ladders represented good virtues. The essence of the game was that the ladders or good virtues take people to heaven while snakes or vices take people to a cycle of re-births. • In 700 BC, the world's first university was established in India, in Takshila. It was one of the biggest achievements in the field of education, as more than 10,500 students came from all over the world to receive education in over 60 different subjects. The University of Nalanda was another milestone that was achieved in the field of education in 4th century BC.

18. Contributions to the world from Ancient India • The earliest school of medicine known to mankind was Ayurveda and it originated in India. It was consolidated 2500 years ago by Charaka, the Father of Medicine. • As many as 6000 years back, the art of navigation was developed in the River Indus, which was known as Sindh then. In fact, the word 'navigation' is a derivation of the Sanskrit word, 'Navgatih'. • The correct time taken by the earth to revolve around the sun was calculated by the famous astronomer Bhaskaracharya. His calculation showed that the earth takes around 365.258756484 days to go around the sun once. • In the 6th century, the famous Indian Budhayana mathematician calculated the value of "Pi" and also explained the concept of Pythagoras Theorem. • In the 11th century, Quadratic Equations were introduced by Sridharacharya. Indians used numbers that were way too big than European numbers. While the latter limited themselves to 106, the Indians went a step ahead and used numbers as big as 1053.

19. Contributions to the world from Ancient India • Surgery existed in India even 2600 years ago, when Sushruta, known as the Father of Surgery, conducted many complex surgeries. The valuable ancient scriptures have detailed information on Cataract, Artificial Limbs, Cesareans, Fractures, Urinary Stone Surgery, Plastic Surgery and Brain Surgeries. • Anesthesia was used in ancient India and one finds detailed knowledge of the human anatomy and its functions. • Two major religions, Buddhism and Jainism were established in India in 500 and 600 BC. • The oldest city in the world that is inhabited even today is Varanasi or Benaras. • The art of Yoga that is now popular worldwide originated in India only and was performed by highly revered sages, in the ancient times. • Varahamihira: Greateest Astrologer and mathematician

20. Explore Hinduism on the Web: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism Hinduism for kids: http://www.chiddingstone.kent.sch.uk/homework/religion/hinduism.htm Britannica: http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/266312/Hinduism