Hinduism is the world's oldest extant religion with over a billion followers. It originated in India and is characterized by the concepts of samsara (the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth), karma (the effects of one's actions), and moksha (liberation from samsara). Hindus believe in one absolute being Brahman that has multiple manifestations, including personal gods. The Vedas are Hinduism's most important religious texts. Hindus seek to fulfill religious, success and pleasure-oriented aims through different life stages and spiritual practices, with moksha as the ultimate goal.

1. Hinduism

2. What is Hinduism?
 What is Hinduism?:
 Hinduism is the world's oldest extant
religion, with a billion followers, which
makes it the world's third largest religion.

3. REINCARNATION
 ideas and practices that originated in
India, characterized by the belief in
reincarnation,

4. BRAHMAN
 one
absolute being of multiple
manifestations,.

5. One GOD with various
manifestations.
 Within
Hinduism a large number of
personal gods are worshipped as murtis.
These beings are either
 aspects of the supreme Brahman,
 avatars of the supreme being, or
 significantly powerful entities known as
devas.
 In total, there are 330 thousand of these
supernatural beings in various Hindu
traditions.

6. One God with many
manifestations….like krishna.

7. RELIGIOUS SACRED TEXTS
 The VEDAS recited as Mantras

8. Purusha
 The Cosmic Man
 The Self that Pervades the Universe
 The Gods are the many “facets” of Purusha

9. PURUSHA
 Dismemberedby the DEVAS
(gods/goddesses)
 Mind = Moon
 Eyes = Sun
 Breath = Wind

10. Purusha
 From his dismembered body come the World
and Castes
 MOUTH = Brahamin (Priests and Teachers of the
Law)
 ARMS = Ksatriya (Monarchs and Ruling Class)
 THIGHS = Vaisyras (Cattle-herders, merchant-
traders, farmers and some artisan castes)
 FEET = Sudra (labourers, some farming castes
and other artisan castes)

11. What of the Dalit?
 Dalit = the unmentioned “fifth” caste:
 Suppressed, crushed, ground. Considered
of “mixed race” hence, outcast,
 Do work ritually impure:
 Butchering
 Removal of rubbish, animal carcasses, wastes
 Manual labourers cleaning streets, latrines
sewers. Pollution considered contagious,
hence segregated and banned from social
life.

12. SAMSKARAS/ LIFE JOURNEY
RITUALS
 SAMSKARAS/ What do they do?
 CONSTRUCT
 ACCOMPSH
 PERFECT
 REFINE
RITUALS: CELEBRATE COMPLETION OF ONE
STAGE OF LIFE AND ACCOMPLISH SUCCESSFUL
PASSAGE TO ANOTHER.

13. 8 sacred rituals
 Naming …………………………..
 Solid Food…
 Ear Piercing …………………

14. 8 sacred rituals
 Head Shaving …………………………
 Beginning
Education…………
 Sacred Thread (adolescence) …………………………..

15. 8 sacred rituals
 Marriage………………….
 Death….

16. CONTEMPORARY “SAMSKARA”
 RITUAL ADVANCEMENT OF A LIFE-BODY
FROM
 Moment of conception
 To immediately beyond bodily death.
Why? Refinement of life body by elimination
of “impurities”.
Attention to previous life and passage from
body to body.

17. FINAL SAMSKARA: DISPOSAL
OF BODY.
 FINAL SAMSKARA = ANTYESTI: final
sacrifice. WHAT IS SACRIFICED? THE
DECEASED PERSON?
 ELIMINATESIMPURITIES OF THE LIFE BODY
 CONSTRUCTS ANOTHER BODY FOR
ANOTHER BIRTH

18. The body and the spirit
 The Soul can never exist without some sort
of body. The death ritual helps to
develop an Thumb sized“air body” which
gives way to the forearm sized “preta
body” and then to the full grown glorified
(pitr) body.

19. Hindu Funerals
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HMO
JXPizC5E
 Therapeutic and consoling to prepare
body:
 Body not embalmed or cosmeticized.
 A Hindu funeral in the West:
 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8THoiD
ZhblQ

20. Karma & Reincarnation

21. Karma
 Human actions produce results for good
or bad. You make yourself what you
become and by your actions you
become what you make yourself: eg.
Dorian
Grayhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=
8THoiDZhblQ

22. SAMSARA
 THEPOTENTIALLY ENDLESS PROCESS OF
BIRTH DEATH, REBIRTH AND RE-DEATH

23. MOKSHA = Liberation
 From cycle of birth and death. Heaven
and Hell not eternal….only as long as
merited.
 Moksha not the most urgent personal
ambition of every Hindu

24. Four aims
 Pleasure: aesthetic, erotic, sensual
 Success: economic and social
 Duty: social responsibilities and obligations
 Moksha: liberation and release from birth
and death and all embodiments.

25. Four stages of life are
 Student
 Householder
 Forest
dweller
 Sunyasin or enlightened renunciant.

26. Life movement?
 From aim to aim & stage to stage.
 Not all aims are appropriate at all stages.
 Householder: marriage, career, family
 Pleasure: Sacred literature on pursuit of erotic
pleasure. Kama sutra.
 Success
 Social obligations

27. Is Moksha or seeking „release‟
from re-incarnation the final
aim of all?
 NO! Since life is pleasurable and there is
an infinity of life-times there is an infinity of
pleasure and hopes for the next life-time.
 So the life of the ascetic, and renunciant
who seeks freedom is not popular!

28. What is most popular form of
religious practice?
 DEVOTIONAL THEISM …. Many ways to
freedom.
 MOKSHA IS ATTAINABLE BY GOD‟S GRACE
THROUGH FAITH. It is God‟s presence.
 It is deep dreamless sleep, no pain, no
suffering.
 It is pure consciousness, direct awareness of
infinite depth of one‟s own being.

29. Who are the most famous
practitioners of modern Hinduism?
 SriRAMAKRISHNA Paramhansa (1836 –
1886)
 Narendra Dutta aka Swami Vivekenanda
(1863-1902)
 Mohandas Gandhi (1869 – 1948) aka the
Mahatma Gandhi

30. Mystical & Practical Hinduism
 Rama Krishna:
 Called for ethical conduct
 Direct mystical illumination.
 Direct rapturous devotion/to God and the
Goddess Kali

31. Swami Vivekenanda
 Socially engaged Hinduisim
 A tolerant faith
 In 1893 Takes Ramakrishna‟s message to
the West with a famous talk in Chicago at
the “World Parliament of Religions” 1893.

32. Mohandas K. Gandhi
 Primacy of conscience over text
 Dialogue with other faiths
 Satygraha or non-violent resistance.
 Non-violence ahimsa
 Against the caste system.