Session 1 – Hinduism Pt.1

Eastern Religion

Introduction to Eastern Religions

Primarily located in India (although we will look some at China, Japan, etc.)

They have been easily adopted by Western culture under the name of the New Age

Movement (which we discussed in detail in another class)

What religions are “Eastern” religions?

Hinduism is the largest of these religions, and the one that we will look at first.

Buddhism is the second largest religion that we classify as Eastern.

While we will spend more of our time on those two religions and the practices

associated with them (Yoga for example), we will also look at some minor Eastern

Religions that have large followings.

Jainism – Located in India, like Hinduism, and has around 5 million followers.

Sikhism – This turns out to be the fifth largest religion in the world, with 30 million followers worldwide. It is also considered

an Indian religion.

We will spend a week outside the Indian religions and look at the East Asian

Religions of China and Japan.

Taoism & Confusciousism – Located primarily in China, these are two of the

largest religions in the world. There is not a solid estimate on how many adherents there

are between the two groups; some say between 200-400 million people.

Shinto – The last religion we will spend time on is Shinto, which is a popular Japanese

religion. The number of adherents is in the millions and depends on how you define a

follower of Shinto.

Hinduism and Buddhism and other Eastern Religions parallel evolutionary ideas.

They also parallel environmental ideas in

many cases (with Mother Earth) but not all

environmentalists believe these Eastern ideas.

Information on Hinduism is taken heavily from Christian Apologetic Research

Ministry.

Hinduism differs from Christianity and other monotheistic religions in that it

does not have:

A single founder,A specific theological system,

A single concept of deity,A single holy text,

A single system of morality,A central religious authority,The concept of a prophet.

Hinduism has grown to be the world's 3rd largest religion after Christianity & Islam, but remains one of the most unstudied religions

because it’s heavily isolated in the East.

It claims about 800 million followers -- about 14% of the world's population. It is the dominant religion in India, Nepal, and

among the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Estimates of the number of Hindus in the U.S. vary greatly: The "American Religious Identification Survey" is believed to under-estimate the numbers of Hindus because of communications problems with non-

English speaking households. They estimated: 766,000 Hindus in 2001

and 1.2 million in 2008.

While the number isn’t large, there are certainly Hindus here in America.

Hinduism is the largest religion in the world today that promotes

polytheism (and henotheism).

Polytheism and Henotheism

Poly meaning many; Theos meaning god

The idea of many gods, and the idea of a great god and then lesser gods under him.

Origins and History of Hinduism

Hinduism does not have an individual founder like other religions.

Its origins can be traced to around 1500 B.C. in what is now known as India.

It originally was a polytheistic and ritualistic religion with rituals performed by

the head of particular families or tribes.

As time passed, the rituals became increasingly more complex and there became a need for a priestly class to

perform these rituals. During this time, the Vedas were written to instruct

priests how to perform these rituals.

As a result of this ritualistic emphasis, the priests became the means by which the

Hindus could appease the gods.

Around 600 B.C., the people revolted from the control of the priests. The form of

Hinduism that emerged focused on internal meditation as opposed to external rituals.

Around 800 to 300 B.C., the Upinashads

were written. The Upanishads are the Hindu equivalent of the New Testament.

The Upanishads expound on the idea that behind the many gods stands one reality,

known as Brahman.

Brahman is an impersonal force that is the basis of all reality.

The highest form of Brahman is Nirguna,

which is, “without attributes or qualities”.

After the Upanishads were written, the Hindu conception of God continued to

develop from an impersonal god to a personal one.

Nirguna Brahman essentially became Saguna Brahman, or Brahman “with attributes”.

This personified form of Brahman is also known as Ishvara.

Ishvara became known to humanity through the Trimurti (“three manifestations”) of

Brahman known as Brahma (the Creator), Vishnu (the Creator), and Shiva (the Destroyer).

Ishvara became personified through ten incarnations of Vishnu known as avatars.

These avatars include forms of animals (fish, tortoise, and boar) or persons (i.e.

Rama, Krishna, Buddha).

In addition to the Trimurti and ten main

avatars of Vishnu, there are approximately 330 million other gods in

Hinduism.

The nondualists see Brahman alone as being real, and the world is illusory, while the qualified nondualists affirm the reality

of the universe and Brahman, since the universe is an extension of his being.

The dualists (dvaita) see Brahman and the universe as being two distinct realities.

Hinduism can be divided according to those who view the physical universe

to be real or illusory.

“Enlightenment” is called many things: In Hinduism

it’s called “Moksa”, “Samadhi”, “Kaivalya”. In Buddhism, “Nirvana”; in Zen, “Satori”. Western

cultures call it things like “Cosmic consciousness”, “Unified field of creative intelligence”, “Absolute bliss”, “One with self”.

Yoga is an eight-step process called Astanga Yoga. (Astanga means “Eight step in

Sanskrit”.) The goal is to “stop the world and get off”. This is described in the Sanskrit

phrase “Cittevritta-Mrodha” (The stoppage of the mental and physical).

In Hinduism, Yoga is the primary method used to achieve this enlightenment. In

Sanskrit (original language in India), “Yoga” means “Yoke or union with God”. Yoga was

introduced in 200 B.C. by Patanjali.

More on the Hindu Scriptures

The Earliest Hindu Scriptures are the Vedas, which were written around 1500 B.C. Veda

means knowledge.

There are four Vedas: the Rig

Veda, the Sama Veda, the Yajur Veda, and the Atharva Veda.

Each Veda is then divided into four parts: Mantras (the basic verses or hymns sung

during the rituals), Brahmanas (explanations of the verses), Aran-yakas

(reflections on the meaning of the verses), and the Upanishads (mystical interpretations of the verses).

This is also known as Shruti, or “that which is heard.” Shruti literature is the Hindu

equivalent to revealed Scripture.

In addition to primary writings, there are secondary writings known as Smriti, or

“remembered.” Among the Smriti writings are the Ramayana (“Rama’s way”) and Mahabharata (“the great story”) epics.

Within the Mahabharata is the Bhagavad Gita,

which is the most popular of all Hindu

Scriptures with the main character Krishna.

Other Smriti scriptures include the Vedangas (codes of law, such as the Laws of Manu), the Puranas (the genealogies and legends of the gods), the Darshanas (philosophical writings), Sutras (rules of ritual and social

conduct), and the Tantras (writings on attaining occultic power).

While the Smriti scriptures are not as authoritative as the Shruti scriptures,

through their popularity they have exerted a much stronger influence on India’s culture.

Ultimate Goal of Hinduism is to liberate one’s self from this “Physical personal existence” and become one with the

“Impersonal All” (which is referred to as Brahman-Atman, or true reality).

People suffer because they have not liberated themselves. Physical world is

an illusion called “Maya” (In order to get rid of your suffering, you have to get

rid of the illusion).

According to Eastern religions, you must transcend past the illusion by

Yoga/Transcendental meditation. When you do this you become “enlightened”.

Karma is heavily emphasized in the Hindu Religion (where the idea originated).

Karma is defined as the sum of a person's actions in this and previous states of

existence, viewed as deciding their fate in future existences.

Reincarnation within Hinduism

The belief in reincarnation

(going along with Karma) is central to the Hindu religion.

When you die (for the vast majority of people) you come back in another life,

either as a human, or as an animal (depending on your Karma and how you

lived this life).

Resurrection vs. Reincarnation

The Bible does talk about resurrection, and the idea of a future life.

The resurrection is completely different from reincarnation, though (even though many like to compare them and say the

Bible teaches reincarnation).

The Christian teaching of resurrection does not change the body that you inhabit.

In reincarnation, your body is still dead, but your essence (spirit/soul) gets put inside a different object (animal, human, or other).

Jesus said, “See My hands and My feet, that it is I Myself; touch Me and see, for a spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see

that I have" (Luke. 24:39).

Jesus had the same body before and after the resurrection (wounds were still there).

Hebrews 9:27: “And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this

the judgment.”

The Bible makes it clear there are not endless cycles of reincarnation.

Who knows how many lifetimes we have gone through according to the Hindu faith,

the goal is to one day break out of this cycle and become one with the universal all.

To Hindus, animal life is sacred because of the belief in reincarnation & non-violence.

Your relatives or friends could always be reincarnated as an animal, so you don’t

want to kill it and risk killing your friend/relative.

Because of this belief, 1/4th of the grain crops

each year goes bad because of the 3-4 billion rats that they won’t kill.

The Caste System

Historically the caste system dates back to the Aryan invasion of

India around 2,000 BC.

Society is divided into four main groups with a fifth, "the untouchables“, outside

of the caste system.

The teaching of the cast system comes from the Rig Vedas.

"The brahmin was his mouth, his two arms became the rajanya (kshatriyas), his thighs

are what the vaisya are, and from his feet the shudra was made."

1) Brahmin: the seers, the priests.

The intellectual and spiritual leaders in Himduism.

In our society, they would correspond to the philosophers, religious leaders, and teachers.

2) Kshatriyas--(pronounced "kshot ree yahs") this is the warriors/nobles class.

The protectors of society. In our society, the politicians, police, and the military.

3) Vaisyas: (pronounced "vy sy us") the merchant class (craftsmen, producers, etc.).

The skillful producers of material things. In our society, the merchants.

4) Shudras--(pronounced "shoo drrahs") the unskilled laborers or laboring class.

The followers or the maintenance people. The so-called menial

workers or hard laborers in our society.

If you are born into a cast system you are supposed to stay in the cast system, Karma

decides where you come in this life.

In the next session, we will continue our study

on the topic of Hinduism. Now that we

have an idea of what they believe, we will

focus on how to engage with those ideas and

share the truth of Christianity with them.

Memory Verses

Hebrews 9:27: “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and

after that comes judgment,”