Untitled Slide

HINDUISM

Hinduism is a Colorful Faith With Familiar and Unusual Practices

Unusual Hindu Facts

Mars, the red planet, is the planet of marriage. Red is worn to represent prosperity and fertility in Hinduism

Henna designs on the hands and feet are done as expressions of beauty

Hindu Nose Ring-Chains Represent "Coming of Age" or of 'Married' Status

Hindu Toe Rings Also Represent 'Married' Status

Thookam Festival pierces skin with hooks to please the gods to atone one's sins

Lower castes roll over "Made Snana" (food scraps) to gain the high caste's health and remove bad karma

Firewalking originated as a Hindu practice to reveal purity

Baby Throwing (50+ feet) is an uncommon Hindu practice for fertility, luck, and health

Self-flagellation to pay the price for their immoral acts to remove bad karma

Hindu Faith

Sacred Literature

• Vedas (Oldest, authorless)
• Upanishads (philosophical)
• Bhagavad Gita (ethics/morality)
• Sutras (proverbs, sayings)

Four Branches of Hinduism

• One Billion followers
• Four denominations:
• (1) Saivism (Shiva devotees)
• (2) Shaktism (Feminine Shakti worship)
• (3) Vaishnavism (Vishnu devotee)
• (4) Smartism (philosophy, unity of all), more liberal and they worship the deity of heir choice

Three Primary Deities

• Brahma: Creator
• Vishnu: Preserver
• Shiva: Destroyer (but have "330 million" lower deities below them and are not a trinity)

Each movement has a multitude of guru lineages, religious leaders, priesthoods, sacred literature, monastic communities, schools, pilgrimage centers and tens of thousands of temples. They possess a wealth of art and architecture, philosophy and scholarship.

YOGA are "Yokes" Placed On Themselves and are "Ways," or "Disciplines" Hindus Believe Can Help Them Work to Perfection

Four Paths to Ultimate Reality

• Karma Yoga: Good deeds
• Jnana Yoga: Study & Wisdom
• Bhakti Yoga: Devotion to a god
• Raja Yoga: Exercise (astanga- 8 parts) & Meditation on the god within

Four Ways to Meaning in Life

1. DHARMA
Pay the Five Karmic Debts

Five Karmic Debts of Dharma

• Debt to the gods for their blessings; paid by rituals and offerings.
• Debt to parents and teachers; paid by supporting them and having children
• Debt to guests; repaid by treating them as if they were gods in one's home.
• Debt to others, repaid by respect.
• Debt to all other living beings; repaid by offering good will, food, etc.

2. ARTHA
Achievement, Prosperity & Ease

3. KAMA
Pleasure and Sexuality

4. MOKSHA
Enlightenment, Union with God

Hindu Castes (career/social levels)

• Brahmin: priests
• Kshatriyas: soldiers
• Vaishyas: governors, soldiers
• Shudras: laborers
• Dalits: untouchables

REINCARNATION

The endless cycle of life, death, and rebirth as a thing or being

WORLDVIEW:
You have a duty (dharma) to do right through devotion to one of many religious paths (yogas)

WORLDVIEW:
You have a duty (dharma) to do right and balance the scales (karma) for all times or pay the price (reincarnation)

Reincarnation results in endless rebirths at higher or lower life forms, castes, or qualities of life until perfection (moksha)

Q & A

Small Group Questions

• Hinduism teaches 3 primary gods (Brahma, Vishnu and Shiva). Compare these to the Christian Trinity.
• Hinduism teaches release from reincarnation (moksha) as the ultimate goal. Is this the equivalent of heaven?
• Hinduism uses multiple holy books. Are they authoritative like the Bible? Why or why not?

Small Group Questions

• Hinduism has four branches that teach wildly different views of Hinduism. How are Christian denominations different?
• Hinduism's 4 ways to appease God exclusively involve human effort. How is salvation in Christianity different?

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