HINDUISM NOTES Monday Jan 13th 2003 ~~ by Kira Davis
Posted on 1/17/03 for Religions of India class.

Hinduism stems from the Persian meaning 'Indian Religion.' There are no founders.


A little history...

EARLY HINDUISM

2500 BCE in the Indus River Valley there lived the Harappan Civilization. These people were dark skinned and had very sophisticated city-states set up ("modern" if you will) and socialized with Ritual Purification in Urban Centers with huge Communal Baths. Writing has been found in an old discovered Harappan city but no one has been able to decipher it.
These peoples believed very strongly in Fertility Rites- that which makes things grow.
· more babies = more citizens.
· more citizens = more crops and therefore more food.
Who is responsible for making the crops grow? Earth Mother & Storm God engage in "Cosmic Sex" to make crops grow. The Earth Mother is commonly much more important in this process, the Storm God is just there to provide his seed.
Shiva and the symbol of the Lingum also began as fertility God.

1500 BCE the Harappan's were invaded by the Aryans, also known as the 'noble ones'.
This light skinned race often sported blonde hair and blues eyes as opposed to the dark skinned dark hair Harappans. The Aryans were a group of Nomadic Warriors who worshipped a Sky/Storm/Funeral God, Indra who accepted animal sacrifices and a Fire God, Agni who had the image of a big-ass warrior who gets in fights a lot and drinks Soma (a hallucinogenic drink). The Aryans noticed and worshipped mostly Male Dieties. They had a very strong War mentality and weren't so hot on fertility rites. They were more puritanical- sex was okay but within certain confines. The Aryans also invented the Caste system. A caste system is a division of social roles according to birth or bloodline.
( If you are born and your father's a soldier, you will become a soldier as well.)
4 Castes Plus 1.
· Warrior Caste
· Priest Caste
· Worker Caste
· Servant Caste
· Untouchable Caste
After a while priesthood became more important and moved up to number one and bumped warriors down to number two.

Hinduism involves Vedic Gods (from the Vedas)= earliest text in Hinduism, 1200-800 BCE. There are 4 Vedas.

This is a simple polytheistic religion with the major gods at the top and then the lesser one ranking on a downward scale. As far a sacrifice went, the bigger and better the animal the more meaningful the sacrifice. A lot of soma was consumed and the basic idea was to live a good life, have faith in the gods and then you would go to heaven… there is no reincarnation.

After a while there was a Transitional Phase in which Priests started asking: What is the real reason for sacrifice? What is the hidden symbolic meaning behind rituals? Where did the gods come from? How are they related and Which is best to worship?
This is when BRAHMAN came on the scene; he was a sort of a Super God.
The Ultimate Reality was beginning to form and meditation developed. The idea of becoming a Hermit, quitting you day job and spending time on study to get going on the path to enlightenment became very popular.

This is when Reincarnation & Karma enter the scene.
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LATER HINDUISM

Brahman is now a fully developed idea.
It = Human souls, Gods & the Physical World.
Nothing is really physically real b/c everything comes from the Brahman. "God is everything and everything is God." "Atman is Brahman" "The self soul is God."
Once you realize that everything is God, you will become one w/ him/her/them.


Note: on tests the teacher will specify with instructions as to answer the question in his opinion or with Smith's.

KARMA & REINCARNATION

Reincarnation is NOT a good thing. If one gets reincarnated then it's bad b/c you get sent back to try all over again and get postponed once again from becoming one with perfectness!!! Samsara = the wheel or cycle or reincarnation which = bad.


Later Hinduism in essence is Other World Oriented. More focused on the individual than on the group. Groups branched off and stopped doing dances together, such as the rain dance. They started believing that by caring if it rained or not meant the you are attached to this world.

The is a Mystical element to this all in trying to understand the oneness of things by Meditating and having other mystical experiences.


3 YOGAS (paths or disciplines)

1) The Path of Knowledge (Jnana Yoga)
· the study of text and under a Guru (teacher)
· philosophical thinking and dialogue
· intellectual knowledge
· meditation (later becomes separate as raja yoga)
2) The Path of Works/Deeds (Karma Yoga)
· acting with detachment
· good deeds
· doing your duty
· acting w/out thinking of yourself
3) The Path of Devotion (Bhakti Yoga)
· devote oneself to the worship of a god
· pick one of many gods
· the Hari Krishna's stem from here

None of these are exclusive paths, one may pick and choose from the 3 depending on what one feels moved to do. These are all ways in which one can lose the self. The object here is to try and realize your oneness w/ the universe and lose you ego b/c it is not fundamentally real. Also it is a practice in helping others and in the devotion to a god.
The Text form of yoga proves to be the least important b/c you can't find god in a book or on a page.


ASSIGNMENT FOR MONDAY JANUARY 27TH 2003.
Read the Bhagavad-Gita


REMEMBER NO CLASS MONDAY 1/20/03!!!!s