Hinduism
Major BeliefsThe Hindu tradition is more a way of life than a set of beliefs. Hindus have many different practices that vary from country to country, even from community to community.
Most Hindus believe that the whole universe is permeated with the Divine, a reality called the Brahman. This Divine can be known by many names and take many forms, and it is fully present in the human soul.
Hindus believe there is one God and that God can take many forms, expressed as gods and goddesses. For example:
- Brahma is Creator
- Vishnu is Sustainer
- Shiva is Destroyer
Hindus understand these as many ways to understand the Divine. Thus many Hindus do not worship a multitude of gods, and understand the one supreme world-soul as manifested in a multitude of ways. So each image stands for one aspect of the supreme force of the universe. For example, there are gods of the sun, of marriage, of knowledge, of art and music, of fire, of agriculture, as well as gods who exemplify all of the virtues of life required by the teachings of religion.
Hindus also see the presence of the Divine manifest in the female, worshiped as the Divine Mother. A Hindu temple will house the image, or murti, of one or more gods. For Hindus, the murti acts as a lens that focuses one on beholding God.
Hindus believe in reincarnation, the belief that the soul's journey to self-realization takes many lifetimes and that its journey from one life to the next is influenced by the deeds one performs in a lifetime. What people do in the way of good or evil influences how they will be reborn after death, that is, their goodness may be rewarded with a higher level of existence or else they may be reduced to a lower level.
The final goal lies beyond unending rebirths. All Hindus long for the eventual union of their soul with the world-soul thereby breaking free from the cycle of births and rebirths.
The good life, tending toward ultimate fulfillment, consists of:
- Moral behavior
- Service to others
- Seeking knowledge
- Worship and devotion to one's personal deity who helps in the struggle with evil.
Scripture / Sacred Writings
Hindu tradition is contained in the Vedas, a body of ancient hymns and chants recited orally in verse.
Each Veda has an associated literature called Brahmanas (rituals) and Upanishads (explorations of deeper understandings of the universe).
Veda can also mean more generally the wisdom and authority of the whole Hindu tradition.
The sacred books tell about the indescribable essence, or world-soul, and the existence of thousands of deities, all of which are concerned with sustaining the world.
Worship and Spiritual Practice
For Hindus, Karma (action) is one's acts and their consequences. The path of action involves one in the world and its concerns without claiming the results of one's actions for oneself.
Hindu tradition is centered in the home altar, where family members may spend time in prayer each day. Families also study the Hindu scriptures and sing hymns at home. They light an oil lamp, burn incense, or place fresh flowers at the home altar.
On festival days or the special days of certain deities, many Hindus go to the temple for festivals and pilgrimages.
Many temples in the United States are large buildings housing offices, meeting and classrooms. The centerpiece is a group of shrines, each one dedicated to a particular deity and containing richly ornamented images of the gods. In the center of the shrine area is a simulated Indian temple, with its elaborately carved, uplifting columns and figures, the whole bathed brilliantly in natural light from a soaring skylight. This gives the effect of an outdoor setting, as would commonly be the case in India.
Worshippers come and go at will having removed their shoes at the entrance. Men and women mingle together freely. Many gather to stand reverently before the shrine of a particular god whose worship is the focus of the day. Several priests recite prayers and devotional texts. The people bring gifts of fruit, rice, flowers, milk and other things to the deity. After blessing the gifts, the priests walk among the people distributing bits of the food offerings to be eaten and also briefly placing a turban-shaped object with a handle upon the heads of the worshippers as a symbol of the protection offered by the deity whom they have invoked.
All the time that the greater number of people are gathered at one shrine, others go to the other images, bowing or prostrating themselves and offering gifts. A large bell hanging at the entrance to the worship area is rung by those who desire in that way to announce their presence and call upon the god of their choice.
History
The Hindu way of life is based on the teachings of ancient scriptures that go back perhaps 3,000 years BCE. These teachings were transmitted orally for centuries and then written down in the Sanskrit language.
The writings include hymns to the gods of ancient people of India, as well as legends and prayers composed by unknown authors. Later collections of material, also accepted as authoritative scripture, contain philosophical discourses, stories about the gods, epic poems and devotional writings.
Hinduism is the principal religion of India, and has moved out into most countries of the world. Today millions of people world wide follow the Hindu way of life.
Calendar
Hindus use a lunar calendar, but they have one solar holiday, Makar Sankranti.
Hindus observe a number of holy days and festivals honoring certain deities, celebrating the harvest and the new year. These occasions often include colorful displays of traditional dress and dancing native to India.
Families mark the significant moments of life with special rites, such as births, name-giving, first taking of solid food, head shaving to remove symbolically the traces of evil from a pervious life, ear-piercing, coming of age, marriage and death.
Diversity
This brief description of the Hindu way does not do justice to the extreme diversity in that religion. Little uniformity exists in the multitude of rituals, doctrines, devotions, art forms and customs. Some adherents emphasize the ritual aspect of worship, others the devotional life of love for the gods, still others have little to do with the gods at all and concentrate on Hindu philosophy. And there are many whose religious practice is largely a matter of moral behavior.
Hindus in general believe that no one religion is exclusively true, but that all genuine ways of faith are aspects of the one universal, all-encompassing truth.