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Hinduism. The Vedic Traditions. Presentation Outline. Hindu worldview Hindu deities Forms of Yoga Cultic practices a. Temple b. Home. Key Terms in the Hindu Worldview. Brahma Atman Monism maya reincarnation transmigration Dharma karma. Questions for Discussion.
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Hinduism The Vedic Traditions
Presentation Outline • Hindu worldview • Hindu deities • Forms of Yoga • Cultic practices a. Temple b. Home
Key Terms in the Hindu Worldview • Brahma • Atman • Monism • maya • reincarnation • transmigration • Dharma • karma
Questions for Discussion • What are the strengths of the Hindu worldview? What may be its weaknesses? • Is this worldview plausible to you? Do you understand why a billion people would hold these views? • If everyone believed in the Hindu view of things, would the world be better? or worse?
Hindu Deities The Trimurti
Yoga • Yoga is the name for the methods by which one may overcome maya. • The word yoga is related to our word “yoke,” in which we bind an animal to a master. In the same way, yoga typically involves binding oneself to a master, or guru. • These methods basically require asceticism (denial of physical pleasure) and meditation, in other words, discipline of mind and body
Hatha Yoga • This form of yoga focuses on the body. It is closest to what we think of when we hear of yoga classes at the spa. • The idea is to use attention to one’s body, especially one’s breathing, to become more aware of our oneness with Brahma.
Jnana Yoga • This refers to yogic practices that focus on the mind, or the intellect. • It uses lifelong study of ancient texts, such as the Vedas and the Upanishads, to increase one’s awareness of the oneness of all that is. • The goal is to be able to see God as an infinite sea of being underlying the tiny waves of our finite selves.
Karma Yoga • This refers to doing one’s work as a means toward freedom from the cycle of birth and death. • It involves dharma, doing one’s duty, living according to one’s station, or caste, in life. • This approach is not the fast-track. • The Bhagavad Gita offers the clearest example of this form of Yoga.
Bhagavad Gita • The Bhagavad Gita is staged as a conversation between Arjuna, a king leading his army into battle, and his chariot driver, who is actually the god Krishna, a manifestation of Vishnu. • Just at the point of battle, Arjuna suddenly balks, throwing down his sword in disgust at the prospect of bloodshed that lies ahead of him.
Excerpts from the BhagavadGita • Therefore, without being attached to the fruits of activities, one should act as a matter of duty, for by working without attachment one attains the Supreme. • You ought not to falter, for there is nothing better for a Kshatriya than a righteous battle…. But if you will not fight this righteous battle then you will have abandoned your own duty and fame, and you will incur sin…. • Let not the fruit of action be your motive to action. Let not your attachment be fixed on inaction. • One’s duty, though defective, is better than another’s duty well performed. Performing the duty prescribed by nature, one does not incur sin…. For all actions are enveloped by evil.
Bhakti Yoga • This refers to liberation through utter devotion to or love for a particular god. In other forms of yoga, the goal is to see oneself as one with Brahma. But in bhakti yoga, the goal is not union, but loving relationship. As someone once put it, “I don’t want to be sugar, I want to taste sugar.” • Devotees move through more and more intimate stages of devotion: • god as parent • god as friend • god as child • god as lover
Krishna Devotion:A Popular Form of Bhakti Yoga The most popular form of Bhakti devotion is centered on Krishna, a manifestation of Vishnu. In this case, God is thought of in very personal terms—as an irascible child, or a kind lover. Hindus tell the story of how young Krishna, surrounded by beautiful maidens who wish to dance with them, uses his miraculous powers to dance with all them, while making them believe that he dances only with her!
Cultic Practices • Some practices take place at mandirs (temples). • At the center of a mandir is a shrine to the principal deity of the temple, such as Ganesha. God is often standing or sitting on a lotus bloom, under a pillared canopy. Worshippers bring offerings of fruit, flowers, perhaps ghee (butter). They often address the god, offer praise and flattery, and make their requests.
Cultic Practices: Home • Other rituals are centered at the home. • A home shrine will typically have a picture of the deity (many could not afford a sculpture), perhaps a picture of a guru, bells, prayer beads, offerings of flowers, fruit, and ghee, and a book of sacred texts. Many also display the symbol for OM.
