Hindu Teachings

1
Hindu Teachings
2
Overview

• Harappan civilization Vedic religion
• The Upanishads the luminous self
• Reincarnation karma
• Bhakti and the Puranas
• Krishna The Bhagavad-Gita
• The Four Paths to God
• Major philosophical systems

3
Truth is one sages call it by various names.
Rig Veda, 2,500 B.C.
4
Indus Valley 2,500BC Aryan Invasion Theory Vedas
5
All Hinduism has three common themes

• Deep roots in the Vedas and appreciation for the
  direct personal experience of the truth with
  meditation
• Ethics is central to orderly social life.
  Suffering is attributed to the law of karma.
• But the ultimate cause of suffering is ignorance
  of the true nature of things.

6
The Vedas

• Rig Veda - worlds oldest known scripture
• passed orally for thousands of years
• Vyasa credited for recording the Vedas in 3,000
  B.C. ( probably written in 1,500 B.C.)
• Upanishads are last of the Vedas and are
  teachings of highly realized masters

7
Beginning from non-being when nothing existed,
not even water nor death, that One breathless
breathed by itself. At first this All was
concealed by darkness and formless chaos, but by
heat that One came into existence. Thus arose
desire, the primal seed and germ of Spirit. Sages
searching in their hearts discovered kinship with
the non-existent. A ray of light extended across
the darkness, but what was known above or below?
Creative fertility was there with energy and
action, but who really knows where this creation
came from? For the gods came after the world's
creation. Who could know the source of this
creation and how it was produced? The one seeing
it in the highest heaven only knows, or maybe it
does not. Rig Veda X129.
8
In the beginning there was Existence aloneOne
only, without a second. He, the One, thought to
himself Let me be many, let me grow forth. Thus
out of himself he projected the universe, and
having projected out of himself the universe,
he entered into every being. All that is has its
self in him alone. Of all things He is the
subtle essence. He is the truth, He is the Self,
And thatTHAT ART THOU. Chandogya
Upanishad
9
Philosophy of the Upanishads

• Reincarnation we live many lives
• Karma what we sow we reap
• Social Duties sacrifice for orderly living
• The Kali Yuga 4,000,000 year cycles

10
Your Comments
The Kali Yuga period is described as, when
society reaches a stage where property confers
rank, wealth becomes the only source of virtue,
passion the sole bond of union between husband
and wife, falsehood the source of success in
life, sex the only means of enjoyment, and when
outer trappings are confused with inner religion
11
Great Hindu Epics

• The Ramayana the play of good and evil through
  the human incarnations of Vishnu
• The Mahabharata the story of the Bharata
  family ruling India
• The Bhagavad-Gita the divine instructions of
  Krishna to Arjuna before a great civil war

12
Kuruksetra
13
The Bhagavad-Gita
14
Krishna
I am the Self seated in the hearts of all
creatures. I am the beginning, the middle and
end of all beings.
15
Arjuna
The perfect warrior, and a devotee and friend of
Lord Krishna.
16
Arjuna Confused By Sorrow
I can find no means to drive away this grief
which is drying up my senses. I will not be able
to destroy it even if I win an unrivalled
kingdom I shall not fight.
17
Arjuna Asks For Teachings
Karma Yoga -- Work
Bhakti Yoga -- Devotion
Ghyana Yoga -- Study
Raja Yoga -- Science
18
Karma Yoga of Work
Considering your specific duty as a Ksatriya,
you should know that there is no better
engagement for you than fighting on religious
principles
Do thou fight for the sake of fighting, without
considering happiness or distress, loss or gain,
victory or defeatand, by so doing, you shall
never incur sin.
19
Bhakti Yoga of Devotion
The wise, engaged in devotional service, take
refuge in the Lord, and free themselves from the
cycle of birth and death by renouncing the fruits
of action in the material world.
A true yogi observes Me in all beings, and also
sees every being in Me. Indeed, the
self-realized man sees Me everywhere.
20
Ghyana Yoga of Study
Many, many births both you and I have passed. I
can remember all of them, but you cannot
As the embodied soul continually passes in this
body from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul
similarly passes into another body at death. The
self-realized soul is not bewildered by such a
change.
Those who are wise lament neither for the living
nor the dead.
21
Raja Yoga of Science
There are others who, enlightened by sacrificing
their material possessions in severe austerities,
take strict vows and practice the yoga of
eightfold mysticism, and others study the Vedas
22
Eightfold Mysticism of Raja Yoga

Samadhi
Yama
Dhyana
Dharana
Niyama
Asana
Pratyahara
Pranayama
Vivekananda
23
Yogananda
It is true that Christ lived in India during
most of the eighteen unaccounted for years of his
life
24
Arjuna asks
the mind is restless, turbulent, obstinate and
very strong, O Krishna, and to subdue it is, it
seems to me, more difficult than controlling the
wind.
What is the destination of the man of faith who
does not persevere
25
Krishna Reveals Himself
Arjuna says to Krishna You are the original
Personality, the Godhead. You are the only
sanctuary of this manifested cosmic world. You
know everything, and You are all that is
knowable.
26
My dear Krishna, O Infallible one, my illusion
is now gone. I have regained my memory by Your
mercy, and I am now firm and free from doubt and
am prepared to act according to Your instruction.
27
The War Begins
28
Krishna of the Puranas

• Myths of ancient times 1000 CE.
• This material universe is only one of millions of
  material universes
• Each is like a bubble created and destroyed as
  Vishnu breathes in and out
• Krishna is depicted as a much loved young cow
  herder boy

29
Four periods in the life of a Hindu male

• 1-25 years a student to a teacher
• 25-50 house holder stage
• 50-75 detach from society
• 75 onward a sannyasin completely detached

30
The Guru
31
Mantras
32
Great Goddess Durga
Goddess Durga with ten arms holding weapons to
vanquish the demons who threaten the dharma.
33
Goddess Kali
The black mother Kali, the destroyer, the divine
in its fierce form. Kali is the destroyer of
evil, the destruction force used for
transformation. She cuts away to the truth.
34
Shiva Lord of the Dance
Shiva is one of the three aspects of deity
Brahma the Creator, Vishnu the preserver, and
Shiva the destroyer.
35
Vishnu
Vishnu exists as the Creator and also within
every being as our soul, our Supreme. He also
enters or descend to our world in the form of
Avatar whenever his presence is needed.
36
Indra King of the Gods
37
Contemporary Hindus
38
Your Comments
Truth or God is One. Our Real nature is
divine. The purpose of our life is to realize the
One in our own soul. There are innumerable
spiritual paths, all leading to this realization
of divinity. Ramakrishna Movement