Message #16626

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HINDUISM


Origins

Although the term Hindu dates from the Mughul (Muslim) period in India of 1200 CE, and Hinduism from only the 19th-20th Centuries during English colonial rule, the religious traditions of Hinduism are over 5000 years old. There is no prophet or founder of the Hindu religion. The history of Hinduism is intimately entwined with the complex history of India (the word hindu comes from the Persian name for the river Indus). Hinduism incorporates an extraordinarily diverse range of beliefs and practices which aim to deliver salvation (moksha) to its devotees.


History and Spread
 
From around 3000 BCE, an Indus Valley civilisation worshipped a form of feminine divinity and an ascetic God named Siva. New traditions blended with these when pastoral nomads, called Aryans, migrated to north-west India sometime between 1000-2000 BCE. Part of the Aryan cultural repertory were sacred hymns known as the Rig Veda. Over time these were absorbed and expanded until the Vedas constituted an enormous corpus of oral knowledge which both appeased and celebrated the gods. The Aryans also had a system of cosmic and social order which placed priests, the brahmin (brahmana), at the top.

Between 1000 BCE and 100 BCE different strands of Indic civilisation deepened. Samsara (the circle of birth and death) became a fundamental and organising religious and social principle, as did the notion of karma, the actions performed by each person and their results. Between 800 and 400 BCE, philosophical texts known as the Upanishads were written, which stressed the importance of release from the bonds of ignorance and contained an all-inclusive, transcendent principal called Brahman.

During the period 200 BCE – 1100 CE, the great epics of the Mahabharata which contain the Bhagavad-Gita were written alongside other important texts addressing society and ethics. Hindu society developed a temple culture and against the pre-occupations and high ritualism of the brahmin class, a pantheon of agrarian Gods were given names, roles and faces. This period saw Brahma as a great being responsible for the emanation of the universe while Vishnu took the role of preserver of human fate. Siva became the god of revitalisation and destruction and Sakti, the principle of female, dynamic energy manifested in different many forms like Lakshmi, Durga, Sarasvati, Devi, Parvati and Ganga.

From the 12th to 19th Centuries CE, multiple Hinduisms were inflected by the arrival of first, Islam, and then British colonial rule. In a turbulent time, revivalist and reformist movements within Hinduism appeared and Hindus themselves travelled more and travelled further than at any time in the past.


Key Movements

There are five broad traditions of Hindu practice.

Devotional Hinduism comprises 98 % of the Hindu population and focuses on the worship of particular deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti, Rama, Krishna etc.

Reformed Hinduism consisting of those who follow Dayanand Saraswati, the founder of the Arya Samaj movement. For reformed Hindus, the written Vedas are considered the most sacred object, and worship of deities is rejected in favour of veneration of the five elements (Earth Water, Fire, Sun and Wind)

Followers of individual gurus and neo-Hindu churches including (among many others) the Divine Life Society, the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (Hare Krishna), Sai Baba, Sri Sathya Sai Baba, Holy Mother, Divine Mother, etc

Followers of various systems of yoga, designed to aid self-realisation

Marginal Hindu movements



Organisational Structure
 
High-caste Brahmins perform priestly functions of temple ritual, but equally important are the followings of individual gurus and the tradition of wandering, ascetic, holy men. The diversity and variety of Hindu practice, however, makes both generalisations (and a general ecclesiastical structure) impossible.


Key Beliefs

Hindu belief is enormously diverse: some Hindus are vegetarian, others eat meat; some Hindus believe in many gods, some in one God, some in none at all.

Common to the majority of Hindus is the search for salvation (moksha) – release from the cycle of death and rebirth (samsara)

Brahman is the term for the divine and absolute reality.

Brahman may be worshipped in many different guises (pantheistic), and also as only one of many Gods (polytheistic)

One way Hindus classify themselves is according to which expression of Brahman they worship:

Those who worship Vishnu (the preserver) and Vishnu’s important incarnations Rama, Krishna and Narasimha;

Those who worship Shiva (the destroyer)

Those who worship Shakti – ‘the Great Mother’ – also called Parvati, Mahalakshmi, Durga or Kali.


There is no division of the sacred from daily life in Hindu theology. Adherents can choose from three paths to salvation (moksha):

Jnana-marga, the way of knowledge – usually through yoga and meditation and the stripping away of illusion from reality;

Karma-marga, the way of action – usually through meeting obligations and performing one’s allotted ‘task-in-life’;

Bhakti-marga, the way of devotion – usually through allegiance and worship of particular gods.

Hindus believe in re-incarnation, or the transmigration, of souls. The concept of salvation is thus conceived within a framework of many existences. This can be contrasted with Christian belief which conceives of salvation in terms of only one (this) life.



Key Festivals

Local festivals and temple festivities take place throughout the year according to region.

Holi: This celebratory and popular festival is held in Spring and dedicated to Krishna.

Divali: The festival of lights when presents are given is celebrated between late October and mid-November and small lamps are lit inside and outside houses, to bring good luck.