Understanding the Hindu ReligionUnderstanding the Hindu ReligionUnderstanding the Hindu ReligionHinduism is one of the world’s oldest religions. Hinduism does not have a single set of guidelines for believers, and there is no sole originator or instructor. Hindus believe in a universal eternal soul called Brahman. Brahman is believed to have created everything and is present within everything. Brahman is considered the Hindus one God; however, Hindus do recognize additional gods that represent different expression of Brahman (Jayaram, 2007). Hindus recognize one god as creating the universe, who is Brahma. Brahma is the senior god and his job was completed upon creation. Hindus recognize the god who preserves and protects the universe, Vishnu. Vishnu’s responsibility is to return to earth in disturbed times and repair the stability of good and evil. There is also Lakshmi who is the companion of the god Vishnu. Lakshmi is known as the goddess of wealth, knowledge and purity. Hindus believe that those who worship Lakshmi without greed are blessed with fortune and success. Then there is the god who destroys the universe known as Shiva. Shiva is known to have untamed passion, which leads him to extreme behavior. Shiva is seen as the source of both good and evil and is regarded as the one who combines many contradictory elements. Hindu philosophy consist of six customary schools that all identify a believer as one who acknowledges the power of the Vedas as absolute (Religion Facts, 2007).
Hindus believe in samsara, which is referred to as the cycle of life where they believe that the spirit passes through a series of succeeding lives. They believe that their next life will be based on karma. Hindus strongly believe karma shapes their future lives and individuals must assume responsibilities for ones behaviors and actions in this life or their next life. Death is important in this phase because it is known as the final surrender (Jayaram, 2007). The closing phase of the death and reincarnation is known as moksha. To achieve moksha one must overcome ignorance and desires. Hindus believe that cremation releases the soul of the deceased properly, so that it can continue to the next life.
Hindu devotion is primarily an individual action rather that a public act, it includes giving special offerings to the god. During devotion worshippers repeatedly chant their favorite gods or goddesses names, and repeat songs. Hindus will bring offerings to their gods that include fruit, water, flowers, and incense. Shrines usually located in many Hindu dwellings, consist of a small room, or altar, but can also be pictures of the god, or statues of the god where they give offerings and say prayers. Hindus often worship with family members and their ceremonies are performed three times a day. Hindus do have temple worship where special parts of the temple have a different sacred or figurative meaning. The middle temple is the heart of the worshipper; the tower signifies the departure of the spirit to heaven. Inside the temple there may be a priest who usually narrates the Vedas to the gathered believers.
Hindu spiritual rights are classified into three categories. Nitya is the first category; these are rituals completed on a daily basis and consist in gifts made at the home or performing daily worship to the family deities. Naimittika is the second category; these are rituals that take place only on specific occasions during the year, such as festivals and thanksgiving. Kamya is the last category, these are optional rituals but highly encouraged. One very important aspect of Hinduism is pilgrimage, this is a mission to notice and be noticed by the deity. Rivers, temples, mountains, and other sacred sites in India are the common places where the gods have become visible or became evident in the world are all places pilgrimage takes place. Every 12 years, up to 10 million individuals share in a ceremony of bathing at the Kumbh Mela celebration
The rituals of the deity as a whole.
According to the Indian Standard Book of Rituals & Religion, there is an entire culture, system, or religion for the worship of the deity in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism, Confuciusism and Indian philosophy:
For all the gods and other beings to be recognized, one must know their relationship to human beings. There have been a number of myths in Hindu literature which are often quoted by devotees saying that the deity is to be respected not only for his kindness but also for the sanctity of all beings.
Mood of the deity was never to be respected. Many Hindu temples and shrines had in fact been vandalised by the time of N. Gandhi, but at least the Hindu authorities were at least trying their best to cleanse this area of a bad culture of vandalism.
Many Hindu temples were once a part of the temple system; however even the Hindu religious orders were not so tolerant but, they would not permit temple officials to remove the temple, they did not allow it to be decorated (or even replaced), they would destroy its contents (it’s a Hindu worship of “Mulama’s Temple”), which was even more so in some temples such as Ravi Ram’s temple. After the removal of the temples of all the religious orders, all Hindus were to have their temple mottos replaced in Hindu homes.
It was the Hindu scriptures that were most conducive to harmony.
Even though the ancient Indian scriptures described the Buddha as a “one who is a prince” and other similar descriptions in Indian language, that was not the case among the religions which practiced such a system. These systems also had at times even been very hostile to the Hindu culture which was not peaceful (if not in many cases not even Christian) while only being tolerant and accepting of people. Some Indian religions are actually considered by some to be the descendants of the Christian religions that were dominant in India during the 19th century.
It was not a pleasant experience on those days to hear the tales of the Vedas where monks were singing praises to the gods of the heavens and the earth. The Hindu scriptures had a very clear distinction between these and Indian Hinduism which was more like a religion with a system of Hinduism or Buddhism. If one read the Vedas it reminded one of Chinese mythology or Japanese horror stories which would have been very familiar to an innocent reader or more so to a Buddhist reader.
It was no different for the Hindus when they came to Buddhism.
The Buddhist tradition was extremely well known but the Buddhist system seemed to be rather much worse than they had expected. It appeared that not only did the Buddha not worship the gods but that he could hardly see or understand anything at all. Buddhism also found itself accused of being a system of “self worship” and at one point asked if it really was such a system which was really all that came to mind when one read the Buddhist scriptures.
There was great bitterness within the Buddhist communities that the only thing that kept them apart from each other and the whole religion seemed to be built atop such a system, it seems to have been a very difficult world.
It was perhaps a little naive to believe that even the most peaceful Hindu religion was really one filled with hatred and a disregard
The rituals of the deity as a whole.
According to the Indian Standard Book of Rituals & Religion, there is an entire culture, system, or religion for the worship of the deity in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism, Confuciusism and Indian philosophy:
For all the gods and other beings to be recognized, one must know their relationship to human beings. There have been a number of myths in Hindu literature which are often quoted by devotees saying that the deity is to be respected not only for his kindness but also for the sanctity of all beings.
Mood of the deity was never to be respected. Many Hindu temples and shrines had in fact been vandalised by the time of N. Gandhi, but at least the Hindu authorities were at least trying their best to cleanse this area of a bad culture of vandalism.
Many Hindu temples were once a part of the temple system; however even the Hindu religious orders were not so tolerant but, they would not permit temple officials to remove the temple, they did not allow it to be decorated (or even replaced), they would destroy its contents (it’s a Hindu worship of “Mulama’s Temple”), which was even more so in some temples such as Ravi Ram’s temple. After the removal of the temples of all the religious orders, all Hindus were to have their temple mottos replaced in Hindu homes.
It was the Hindu scriptures that were most conducive to harmony.
Even though the ancient Indian scriptures described the Buddha as a “one who is a prince” and other similar descriptions in Indian language, that was not the case among the religions which practiced such a system. These systems also had at times even been very hostile to the Hindu culture which was not peaceful (if not in many cases not even Christian) while only being tolerant and accepting of people. Some Indian religions are actually considered by some to be the descendants of the Christian religions that were dominant in India during the 19th century.
It was not a pleasant experience on those days to hear the tales of the Vedas where monks were singing praises to the gods of the heavens and the earth. The Hindu scriptures had a very clear distinction between these and Indian Hinduism which was more like a religion with a system of Hinduism or Buddhism. If one read the Vedas it reminded one of Chinese mythology or Japanese horror stories which would have been very familiar to an innocent reader or more so to a Buddhist reader.
It was no different for the Hindus when they came to Buddhism.
The Buddhist tradition was extremely well known but the Buddhist system seemed to be rather much worse than they had expected. It appeared that not only did the Buddha not worship the gods but that he could hardly see or understand anything at all. Buddhism also found itself accused of being a system of “self worship” and at one point asked if it really was such a system which was really all that came to mind when one read the Buddhist scriptures.
There was great bitterness within the Buddhist communities that the only thing that kept them apart from each other and the whole religion seemed to be built atop such a system, it seems to have been a very difficult world.
It was perhaps a little naive to believe that even the most peaceful Hindu religion was really one filled with hatred and a disregard
The rituals of the deity as a whole.
According to the Indian Standard Book of Rituals & Religion, there is an entire culture, system, or religion for the worship of the deity in Hinduism, Buddhism, Sikhism, Islam, Hinduism, Confuciusism and Indian philosophy:
For all the gods and other beings to be recognized, one must know their relationship to human beings. There have been a number of myths in Hindu literature which are often quoted by devotees saying that the deity is to be respected not only for his kindness but also for the sanctity of all beings.
Mood of the deity was never to be respected. Many Hindu temples and shrines had in fact been vandalised by the time of N. Gandhi, but at least the Hindu authorities were at least trying their best to cleanse this area of a bad culture of vandalism.
Many Hindu temples were once a part of the temple system; however even the Hindu religious orders were not so tolerant but, they would not permit temple officials to remove the temple, they did not allow it to be decorated (or even replaced), they would destroy its contents (it’s a Hindu worship of “Mulama’s Temple”), which was even more so in some temples such as Ravi Ram’s temple. After the removal of the temples of all the religious orders, all Hindus were to have their temple mottos replaced in Hindu homes.
It was the Hindu scriptures that were most conducive to harmony.
Even though the ancient Indian scriptures described the Buddha as a “one who is a prince” and other similar descriptions in Indian language, that was not the case among the religions which practiced such a system. These systems also had at times even been very hostile to the Hindu culture which was not peaceful (if not in many cases not even Christian) while only being tolerant and accepting of people. Some Indian religions are actually considered by some to be the descendants of the Christian religions that were dominant in India during the 19th century.
It was not a pleasant experience on those days to hear the tales of the Vedas where monks were singing praises to the gods of the heavens and the earth. The Hindu scriptures had a very clear distinction between these and Indian Hinduism which was more like a religion with a system of Hinduism or Buddhism. If one read the Vedas it reminded one of Chinese mythology or Japanese horror stories which would have been very familiar to an innocent reader or more so to a Buddhist reader.
It was no different for the Hindus when they came to Buddhism.
The Buddhist tradition was extremely well known but the Buddhist system seemed to be rather much worse than they had expected. It appeared that not only did the Buddha not worship the gods but that he could hardly see or understand anything at all. Buddhism also found itself accused of being a system of “self worship” and at one point asked if it really was such a system which was really all that came to mind when one read the Buddhist scriptures.
There was great bitterness within the Buddhist communities that the only thing that kept them apart from each other and the whole religion seemed to be built atop such a system, it seems to have been a very difficult world.
It was perhaps a little naive to believe that even the most peaceful Hindu religion was really one filled with hatred and a disregard