Transcript Hinduism - Holy Cross Collegiate

Hinduism
History of….
Hinduism began in the Indus Valley, the
civilization that live here developed
approximately 2500 BCE and ended
around 1500 BCE
 However, the practices of this civilization
was not actually Hinduism but a series of
rituals and iconic figures and depictions
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Cont…
The reason that scholars believe that the
rituals performed by this civilization was
the start of the Hinduism is because there
are many continuities between the two.
 Some include: ritual bathing, sacrifice, and
goddess worship. (However this is
common in other ancient religions as
well)
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The Vedic Period
This is said to occur around 1500 – 500
BCE
 It is said that the Aryans (Noble ones) of
the Indus Valley migrated and established
their culture in these places
 As a result, they created their own
indigenous traditions and transformed the
culture of the people already living in
these areas
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Cont…
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The Vedic language is also known as: Sanskrit
Sanskrit is a dead language (meaning it is not
spoken anymore)
More importantly the Vedas were composed
during this time, which centered around the
sacrifice (yajna) to many gods (devas)
It was usually a animal sacrifice, but
sometimes any offering would do (ie. Milk)
It was basically just throwing something into
the “sacred fire” that was important
Why the Sacrifice?
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Basically sacrifices were made to various
gods that were responsible for specific
things. (ie. power, rain, fertility)
The Epic and Puranic Era
This occurred about 500 BCE – 500 CE
 During this time the greatest epic (by
length) in the world was created: the
Mahabhrata
 Another epic was the Ramayana and the
Puranas
 These epics contained many famous
stories that explored the core beliefs and
religious systems Hinduism is centered
around
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Cont…
The most famous of the stories is called
the Bhagavad Gita, which is found in the
Mahabhrata
 But before we explore that story we will
look at some core beliefs first.
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What the Bhagavad are those?
The first central and arguably the most
important belief is dharma
 Dharma translates to (law, duty, and
truth)
 It is extremely important as a Hindu to
perform one’s duty (their job) as well as
they can, not doing so will create bad
karma.
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Karma
The modern day misconception is that karma is
immediate. (ie. Not tipping at Starbucks will
ultimately lead to a piano falling on you later on
that day)
 THIS IS WRONG! Karma only affects your next
life. (ie. Not tipping at Starbucks today will result
in you being down on your luck, starving in a
gutter somewhere, wearing rags for clothes and
defecating on yourself daily, and your just about
die from starvation but someone sees you, takes
pity on you and is going to give you a sandwich,
trips and falls and the sandwich falls down a grate,
and you end up dying a minute afterwards)
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Garuda and the Bird
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http://www.hinduhumanrights.info/lessons
-in-karma-lord-garuda-and-the-tiny-bird/
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Karma comes from the sanskrit word
“kri” which means “to do” it incorporates
both an action and its consequence
Cont.
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Garuda’s karma consisted of the act of
carrying away the bird and thus snatching it
from the cruel hand of destiny
The deed was pure in its content but led to
a bad outcome
This story teaches us a lesson in our lives,
basically the impurity or purity of an action
Is an action to be deemed positive or
negative solely on the basis of the result it
generates?
Hinduism would say…
“One who acts with the best of intentions, does not get
the sin of the outward consequence of his action.” (Yoga
Sikha).
 For example, a doctor is not responsible for
murder, if the operation per chance ends in the death
of his patient. In the above tale, Garuda’s duty was not
to protect the bird, but rather to try and protect it.
 “Even if a man does not succeed, he gets all the merit of
doing his duty, if he strives the utmost to his capacity.”
(Mahabharata: Udyoga Parva 93.6)
 “Some undertakings succeed and others fail. That is due
to the divine order of things. If a man does his part of the
work, no sin touches him.” (Mahabharata: Santi
Parva 24.30)
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Cont…
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It is the psychological impulse of that action
that is karmic.
Where can we find the opposite, that on the
surface seems pure but the karmic effects
are negative
Remember: whatever you do is done, and
there’s nothing you can do about it, it is
going to get you in the next life anyways, so
why worry over something that you have no
control over now. #yolokarma
Can I Gita What What!?
The Bhagavad is a story based around 5
brothers, also known as the Pandavas and
their extended family known as the
Kauravas (1000s of them).
 The Pandavas are the rightful heirs to the
kingdom, each of them born from an
important god and a human (demi-god),
the Kauravas are born mainly from lesser
gods and humans or just humans and are
jealous of the Pandavas
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Cont…
Both the P’s and K’s are of the warrior
class, and their dharma states that they
cannot back away from a challenge
 The K’s use this to their advantage and
challenge the P’s for their inheritance…in
a game of dice
 The K’s cheat and win, the P’s lose
everything, including their identities and
are exiled
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Cont.
Eventually the P’s come out of hiding (as
in the agreement of the exile) and fight
for their land
 Arjuna, 2nd eldest becomes the leader of
the P’s during this battle as he is the
greatest warrior and his charioteer is
Krishna.
 The Gita itself is the conversation
between Arjuna and Krishna
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Dharma Drama
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Essentially Arjuna does not want to fight, he
does not understand why he has to shed his
family’s blood for a kingdom he does not
necessarily need. He see killing is evil and a
great sin. He even casts down his weapons
and tells Krishna he will not fight
Krishna explains Arjuna’s karmic duty, he
explains samsara, the cycle of birth and
death, and the purpose of this cycle is to
work off the karma they accumulate, which
will eventually result in moksha
(enlightenment)
Ahhhhhhhhh…
Krishna explains that moksha can only be
found if a person renounces, commits
selfless service, and meditates, then they
can have a union with the god
 Arjuna wants proof, so Krishna appears to
him in his most powerful, divine form “the
power of a 1000 suns” this convinces
Arjuna who picks up his weapons and
goes all 300 on his cousins, and fulfills his
warrior duty (and lives)
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The Ending…
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By choosing to fight, Arjuna picks the path
of righteousness and corrects the balance
of good and evil, fulfilling his dharma, and
since this was the will of Krishna, a god, it
is performing the deepest of selfless
service.
What up, Brah….ma
There are three main devas that are
currently worshipped in the Hindu
religion, and though other lesser devas
are devoted to, they are few and far
between
 The main Devas are: Brahma (the creator
god),Vishnu (preserver of the universe),
and Shiva (the destroyer)
 Of the 3, Vishnu is the god with most and
important avatars
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What are avatars?
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They are reincarnations of a particular person
Vishnu’s avatars are:
Matsya (a fish)
Kurma (a tortoise)
Varaha (a boar)
Narasimha (half man-half lion)
Vamana (dwarf)
Parashurama (sage)
Rama (hero of the epic Ramayana)
Krishna (central figure of Bhagavad Gita)
Buddha (sage)
Kalki (time)
Pre-Modern to Modern Hinduism
When the British occupied India (1757-1947 CE),
being “Hindu” was more of a way to distinguish
and establish an identity than for religious
purposes.
 In many ways it was a form of protest, Indians
wanted to let their occupiers know that they
were not British and referred to themselves as
Hindus.
 Eventually the rituals and religious aspects were
correlated to this identity but not immediately, as
many Hindus became Christians through
missionaries who came overseas.
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Gandhi
Gandhi is arguably the most famous
Hindu, as he used this term to separate
himself from the British assimilation.
 Gandhi famously used the Hindu religious
philosophy of ahimsa (non-violence) to
make his point
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The Born Identity
In India that idea of dharma is very
important, as a result, the population of
India was/is segregated into roles
 These roles are also known as the caste
system.
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http://thumbs.dreamstime.com/z/indiacaste-system-23683133.jpg
How did they come up with this?
In the Rg Veda, Brahma the creator god
made the universe and everything in it. He
then wanted to created beings to fill this
universe.
 Brahma grabbed some clay and began to
form the body of a human being
 After creating the human he assigned
specific duties (dharmas) to particular
sections of the body
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Caste Away!
Head = Brahmins
 The brain is located in the head, and
contains knowledge, wisdom and thought,
as a result, the Brahmins are
scholars/priests that spend their time
critically analyzing and interpreting the
Vedas, collecting knowledge
 This is the most preferred caste
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THIS…IS…KSHATRIYA!
Arms and Torso = Kshatriya
 The arms and torso are the symbols of
strength and power, as a result they
represent warriors and rulers
 Only the strong are allowed to rule, thus
the Kshatriyas are the only ones allowed
to be in politics or enlist in an army
 2nd most preferred caste
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The Merchant of India
The thigh and legs = Vaisyas
 Because much of the commerce and
trading is done via walking and travel, the
legs were designated to represent the
merchants who would be constantly
moving from one place to another to
trade, buy and sell to each other
 One can become very rich this way, this is
the third best caste
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Polish my Sudras, Peasant!
Feet = Sudras
 The feet do the dirty work, figuratively
and literally in this society. This caste is
designated for unskilled labourers, many
of them uneducated, that own little or no
property and are sometimes indentured
slaves
 2nd worst caste to be in
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The Pariah (there’s no real pun for
this…sorry)
When Brahma was carving the clay into a
body, he noticed the unused, useless,
discards scraps of clay on the ground.
Instead of discarding them, he kept them
and made them the outcastes of society.
 They are known as the untouchables, they
have the most taboo jobs (dealing with
excrement, the dead, slaughtering animals,
etc.)
 This is the lowest form of existence…
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Unless!
You’re a woman in any of these castes.
 This automatically places you at the
bottom of each caste
 So imagine being a woman, and a pariah…
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The Hinduism Connection
The connection between dharma and
castes is karma.
 It is believed that if you perform your
duty (job) and do it to the best of your
ability, you will be rewarded in the next
life with a better caste
 However, you only get a certain amount
of time in each caste before you are
moved around
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Cont.
For example: you are only born into the
pariah, sudra, and vaisya caste once before
moving to another caste
 If you are in the brahmin or kshatriya
caste, you get to spend two consecutive
lifetimes in that caste before moving
 Remember that you can move up or
down depending on how well or poor
you fulfilled your dharma, and you can
always revisit that caste again
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Dharma and Greg
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Greg is a sudra, he’s loyal, does his job extremely
well and dies. In the next life, he will not be a
sudra again, but is reborn as a brahmin. After
living two lifetimes consecutively as a brahmin he
fails to achieve enlightenment (thus not fulfilling
his dharma to the fullest) he drops down to a
vaisya. He ends up cheating many people out of
their money in this lifetime as a merchant and
ends up accumulating enough bad karma to send
him to the pariah caste in his next life. This life
humbles him and he learns how to live with very
little and ends up dying. In this lifetime he will
become a warrior, how many lifetimes will be in
this caste?
Can I get a grande deva with a shot
of moksha please?
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To end this cycle of life and death
(samsara), Hindus believe the ultimate
goal is achieve moksha, which is
enlightenment. When one achieves this,
they become a deva themselves and dwell
in the heavenly realm, never worrying
about the caste system again.