Popular Hinduism

1
Popular Hinduism

• Indus Valley civilization 2500 1500 BC
• Aryan invasion ca 1500 BC
• Vedic period (2300 600 BC) Vedas are classed
  as Shruti
• Classical period (Epics 500 BC 200 AD)
  Smurti
• Sutras 4th century BC 5th century AD)
• Scholastic and sectarian (6th century AD modern
  times)
• Epic period ca 200 BC (Puranas and Epics)
• First, the Puranas there are 18 of them
• 6 are devoted to Brahma, 6 to Vishnu, 6 to Shiva
  (the Hindu trinity)
• They are collections of Indian myths and legends,
  cosmologies
• gods and goddesses, demons
• Ancestors, genealogies, descriptions of
  pilgrimages, rituals
• They illustrate the importance of caste, Dharma
  and Bhakti
• Gandhi believed the Bhagavad Gita to be the
  dictionary for life
• It systematically classifies the more important
  spiritual principles (to be seen soon)
• Then the Puranas are the encyclopedia of that
  dictionary for all of Hinduism
• If Hinduism (a Western term, remember) is a
  jungle of spirituality, containing just about
  everything imaginable, then the Puranas are a
  helpful guidebook
• Hinduism does not have a nice, clean systematic
  theology (in the Western sense)

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• Puranas (one of the best known is the Bhagavata
  Purana)
• Early life of Krishna
• Glorification of the gods Brahma, Vishnu, and
  Shiva
• Radha-Krishna (ideal love between the ideal
  husband and wife like spring)
• This is similar to the Unification ideal
• Another is the Srimad-Bhagavatam (tells the story
  of Lord Krishna)
• Now the Ramayana and Mahabharata (the two great
  Indian epics)
• Ramayana
• Story of the righteous prince Rama and his
  virtuous wife Sita (ideal husband and wife) -
  again, the theme of an ideal husband and wife
• Rama is the seventh incarnation of the god Vishnu
• Justification for worship of the monkey god,
  Hanuman
• Sitas virtue is upheld at the end, p162 The
  Ramayana
• Young Oon Kim, p 6
• Mahabharata (Maha great Bharata legendary
  first king of India)
• Ganesha, the elephant god, records the story as
  it is narrated
• 100,000 verses (larger than the Iliad and Odyssey
  of Greece)
• Includes as one chapter, the Bhagavad Gita (will
  be examined later)
• Elaboration of the orthodox social code, the four
  goals of life, and the four stages of life

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Classical (popular) Hinduism

• Four permissible goals (purusharthas) in life
  (you can have anything you want)
• Path of Desire
• Pleasure (karma) indulge, because anything
  goes one comes to a limit
• The kama sutra is a well-known didactic text
  instructing one in erotic love-making
• Some resemblance to the notion of absolute sex
• Success (artha) you can reach the top of the
  ladder one comes to a limit
• Path of Renunciation
• Duty/righteousness (dharma) following ones
  conscience lifes purpose?
• Release (moksha) liberated from this world of
  maya and union with the One
• World Scripture, 153b
• Four stages in life (ashramas)
• Student (age 7), householder (most people),
  hermit, sannyasin (rare)
• Four castes (varnas) have actually subdivided
  into many sub-castes
• Twice Born (physical birth, and birth into the
  study of the Vedas)
• See the following for the four castes

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• Brahmins (priests)
• Teach and study the Vedas
• Offer sacrificial offerings
• Give and accept alms
• Many Indian university students (in America) are
  from this caste
• Kshatriyas (warriors/administrators)
• Protect the people
• Bestow gifts
• Study the Vedas
• Abstain from attachment to sensual pleasures
• Vaisyas (the people, artisans, shopkeepers,
  merchants, etc.)
• Tend cattle, bestow gifts, study Vedas, trade,
  lend money, cultivate land, etc.
• It is only from one of these higher classes that
  one can even hope to achieve ultimate liberation
  (moksha)
• The great majority of people simply hope for a
  higher level rebirth, a rebirth into a higher
  realm of existence, as they work their way up the
  spiritual ladder to ultimate liberation

5

• Sudras (servants) the lowest class of people
• They basically live in service to the three
  higher classes of people
• Their hope is to be reborn into one of the
  higher classes
• A certain acceptance of their given (poor)
  station in life it is karma, etc.
• Untouchables (non-persons) are not even
  considered to be human are ignored are avoided
  they dont exist
• The caste system is extremely deeply rooted in
  the culture
• Ghandi hated the system, but it is very deeply
  ingrained and difficult to transform
• Which caste one is born into is believed to be
  strictly determined by ones previous life, how
  one lived in ones previous life. The law of
  karma has completely determined ones current
  situation. Karma and reincarnation are important
  beliefs in Hinduism
• Rarely is there marriage to someone of a lower
  caste sometimes up (rare)
• Live, eat, work, and congregate with members of
  ones own caste
• Basic acceptance of ones fate in life (it is
  karma) focus on your caste duty
• Little impetus for social activism or changing
  the world
• A sense of determinism
• If one dutifully follows the way (Dharma) of
  ones present caste, one can hope to be reborn in
  one of the higher classes (often, many lifetimes
  are necessary)

6

• Four orthodox paths (margas) to salvation
• The recognition that all people are different,
  with different temperaments, etc.
• Common assumptions authority of Vedas, idea of
  rebirth, ignorance brings bondage
• All four exhort or encourage one to adhere to or
  follow moral preliminaries
• Yamas (abstinences) non-violence, truthfulness,
  non-stealing, no sexual immorality, greed
• Niyama (observances) purity, serenity,
  asceticism, spiritual study, surrender to god
• The first orthodox path to salvation is Jnana
  Yoga (inner meditation seeking moksha)
• For people more intellectually or philosophically
  inclined time for study meditation
• The way to god through knowledge
• Representative is Shankara (the Aquinas of
  India) non-dualism
• Crest Jewel of Discrimination, p 70
• Advaita Vedanta (Brahman-Atman)
• Nirguna Brahman (without qualities) and Saguna
  Brahman (with qualities)
• Saguna Brahman (Heavenly Father, Allah, Jehovah,
  etc.)
• Nirguna Brahman represents a higher level of
  understanding
• Perception of plurality is due to maya or
  ignorance
• World Scripture 282b, 382b
• Ramanuja represents vishishta advaita vedanta, or
  qualified non-dualism

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• The second orthodox path to liberation is Karma
  yoga (unattached work)
• For active people who engage in daily work
• The way to god through work (works like
  sacrifice, extreme asceticism, moral deeds, or
  fulfillment of the dharma for ones caste or
  social class)
• Work diligently at important or relevant tasks
  (dont waste time, etc. but be effective)
• Have no attachment to the fruits of your action/s
  (compare UT and the theory of art)
• Laws of Manu (a guidebook for karma yoga
  something like Leviticus dos and donts)
• The third path - Raja yoga (health disciplines
  includes kundalini yoga--chakras)
• For people who have a scientific inclination
• The way to god through psychological
  experimentation (on oneself)
• Man is a layered being
• Popular is Patanjali Yoga (the Yoga practiced in
  the West) willed introversion
• Ethical practices 1) (yamas) abstinences 2)
  (niyamas) observances
• Physical practices 3) asana (body postures) 4)
  pranayama (energy, breath control)
• Sensorial practices 5) pratyahara (control of
  senses) 6) dharana (concentration)
• Mental practices 6) dharana (concentration) 7)
  dhyana (meditation S and O)
• and finally 8) samadhi (absorption) union
  mystical union
• Three Heterodox systems Jainism, Buddhism,
  Carvaka (materialism)

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• The final orthodox path - Bhakti yoga (one of the
  most important paths to god)
• For people who are more emotional in nature
• The way to god through love (love and devotion to
  a personal god)
• Especially promoted by the well-known Bhagavad
  Gita (Song of the Lord)
• Bhagavad Gita (Song of the Lord)
• A small scripture which emerges from (previously
  one chapter of) the great Sanskrit epic, the
  Mahabharata (p 21, Gita)
• Introduction, p 24, Gita
• 18 chapters (ca 500 BC preparation for the
  Messiah) National chart
• Many believe it to be the highest point of Indian
  spirituality (ca 500 BC)
• Best known and loved Indian scripture (Ghandi
  read it avidly)
• A grand synthesis, the Gita tries to bring the
  different yogas or paths to salvation in line
  with bhakti (devotion)
• Story (many levels of meaning) the war between
  two families
• Arjuna, a warrior, seeing family, falters in his
  caste duty to fight
• Krishna, the charioteer, counsels Arjuna and
  encourages him to fight
• Jnana yoga the body can be killed, but not the
  Atman it is eternal
• Karma yoga your caste duty as a warrior, is to
  fight
• All paths (yogas) are valid ways to god, but
  Bhakti Yoga is the superior yoga (path)
• The most perfect yogi is he who worships god full
  of faith

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• Song of the Lord the manifested Krishna
• Expresses a deeply personal and devotional
  religious faith
• Includes a dramatic revelation of the nature of
  god a loving relationship to him, when Krishna
  takes his cosmic form (Varuna) in a theophany in
  chapter 11 p 89
• Krishna is an Avatar of the god Vishnu
• This revelation of Krishna is an act of grace
  (the god was affected or influenced by human
  feeling)
• Another level of meaning Arjuna becomes the soul
  of man, Krishna is the charioteer of the soul p
  22 (this is a famous image regarding the horses
  which represent the unruly senses which bind us
  to the sorrows of this world
• Pre-Buddhistic p 23
• Symphonic nature p 24
• Essence p 34
• Symbol of hope p 35
• Avatar p 61 (4.5-8) (see 12 characteristics of an
  avatar)
• Krishna/Rama/Buddha/Kalkin
• World scripture 288a 294a-b 336a 337a 384a

10

• A Christian spirit is expressed in the Bhagavad
  Gita (what Jesus would have encountered had he
  gone to preach the Gospel in India)
• 6.47 p 73
• 9.26, 30-32, 34 p 82
• 12.19-20 p 98
• 18.64-65 p 121
• High point of Hindu spirituality 400 BC, in
  preparation for the coming of the Messiah
• Neill p 57 Why, having come so far, did Hinduism
  not take the further step of the acceptance of
  the idea of a living God, personally conceived
  and known through his own revelation of himself,
  and accessible to the least of his worshippers?
  To this question no certain answer can be given.
  It remains the fact that this step was not
  taken.
• Gods Will and the World p 341 If Jesus had not
  been crucified, instead of turning to the West
  and crossing the Atlantic to America,
  Christianity would have gone the other way to
  India, China, and the Orient, and then over to
  the Western world. However, because of the
  crucifixion, Christianity made a 180-degree turn
  and moved toward Rome, England, America, and then
  back to the Orient.
• The Bhagavad Gita (and its spirituality) was a
  preparation for Jesus Christ

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• Popular Hinduism (The current religion of the
  masses)
• Home worship (puja) especially in the upper
  (Brahmin) classes
• Husband and wife must worship together
• Preparing the altar removing the god from its
  abode and giving it a bath
• Feeding the god food and water Replacing the god
  back into its home (altar) and closing with a bow
• Cow veneration (the cow represents the creation
  and is of great use to the people)
• Pilgrimage (to holy rivers Ganges, Benares,
  etc.)
• People will bathe in the water to wash away their
  sins and be healed
• Bhagavad Gita (most popular scripture)
• A variety of gods (henotheism) pre-eminent is
  the Trimurti (trinity)
• Brahma creator Vishnu preserver Shiva -
  destroyer
• The gods have consorts, or wives (masculine and
  feminine in Reality)
• Shiva destroyer vast mythology of
  wives/consorts shakti (female power)
• Dance of Shiva (famous sculpture) see image
• Vishnu the preserver
• Avatars of Vishnu fish, tortoise, boar,
  man-lion, dwarf, Rama, Krishna, Buddha, Kalkin
• The future avatar Kalkin - is now being
  awaited that is True Father

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• Hindu concept of time (vast) bird pecking
  chart, as seen here
• Night of Brahman day of Brahman (kalpa)
  alternate
• Day of Brahman 1,000 cycles of Great Yugas
  (4,320,000 human years)
• One Great Yuga
• Krita Yuga (4,800 years)
• Treta Yuga (3,600 years)
• Dvapara Yuga (2,400 years)
• Kali Yuga (1,800 years)
• We are now in the Kali Yuga ( the last days)
• Dharma starts strong, but erodes as time passes
• In the last days, it is very difficult to keep
  the Dharma
• In the last days, evil and iniquity is very
  strong
• Bhagavad Gita on the avatar from time to time I
  come into being

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Significant Individuals in Hinduism

• Ram Mohun Roy (1772-1833)
• Swami Dayananda Sarasvati (1824-1883)
• Sri Ramakrishnan (1836-1886)
• Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902 Chicago Parliament
  of the World Religions speech)
• B.C. Chatterjee (b 1838)
• B.K. Tilak (1856-1920)
• Aurobindo Ghose (1872-1950)
• Mohandas Ghandi (1869-1948)
• Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941)
• Jawaharlal Nehru
• Uinoba Bhave
• Reform movements
• Brahmo Samaj
• Arya Samaj
• Ramakrishna Mission
• Sri Aurobindo, Ghandi, and Tagore

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Worldview of Popular Hinduism

• Deity In practice, polytheistic (henotheistic)
  Krishna, Vishnu and Shiva are very popular as
  preserver, Vishnu manifests avatars or
  descendings at certain intervals of time (when
  evil is strong, and help is needed)
• Cosmos The universe is vast many worlds,
  heavens and hells cycles of creation of vast
  time durations (4,321,000,000 years)
• Human being on the basis of past karma, people
  are reborn into a particular caste. A person is
  (truly) an Atman having a body of three threads
  or gunas (qualities) sattva or intelligibility
  or brightness rajas or activity or passion
  tamas (dullness or inertia).
• Human plight entrapment in a body (repeated
  rebirth into this samsaric world). Failure to
  observe the dharma associated with ones given
  caste.
• Salvation Predominantly, realization of the
  Brahman/Atman. There are four paths to salvation,
  designed for different kinds of people. A person
  may follow more than one
• Conduct One should follow the dharma of ones
  class. Bhaktas serve their Lord through loving
  devotion.
• Destiny Predominantly, union with the One
  (Brahman), once rebirth is no longer necessary.
  No clear description of the eternal state of the
  Atman, however
• History is cyclical, ever recurring, playing
  over and over again, unless ultimate release