Hinduism

Largest religion of India

Over 80% of Indians follow Hinduism

Also found in South Asia

Third largest religion in the world

Over 915 million Hindus in the world

Around 1 million Hindus thought to be in the U.S., so there is purpose and reason to use learning about it

Richmond

Myth

They don’t pray to cows. They revere the cow as a symbol of life

Origins and Founder

There is no founder of Hinduism

Hinduism, having no set founder or structure of beliefs, has many, and I mean many different forms

So, there is no “set” belief, which makes it a little more tricky for us to know how to counter their faith when we aren’t entirely sure what each Hindu we encounter believes.

There are some set beliefs, but they are set very loosely.

It started around 4,000 years ago

What happened was Indo-European tribes invaded North India and brought with them the teachings of Vedism

Vedism is polytheistic, but didn’t focus too much on sacrifices, but worshiped nature. Vedism shaped much of the Hindu belief

So, you’ve got the Vedism religion mixing with the beliefs of the Indians leading to:

Reincarnation

Spiritual unity of humankind

Polytheism - many gods

Pantheism - god is everything and everything is a god

This belief system was passed down orally until it was finally written down in what is called “The Vedas”

The Vedas - written and composed between 1800 and 500 bc

Four sections or beliefs to the Vedas

Rigveda - hymns to various gods recited by priest

Samaveda - used for chants at the Soma sacrifice

Yajuraveda - book of sacrificial prayers and formulas

Artharaveda - Songs, spells, and incantations for healing disease and exorcising evil spirits.

The Upanishads

A collection of writings that marked a change to the ideas about humanity and existence.

Had a large influence on the founder of buddhism

The Ramayana

One of two epic tales about the life of Rama, who is believed to be an incarnation of the god Vishnu

The Mahabharata

Second epic tale about the deeds of the Aryan clans

The Bhagavad Gita

Most sacred, most widely read book that describes man’s duty and impacts the Hindu belief of bhakti, or devotion to a particular god as a means of salvation.

The caste system

Basically, a class of society

Born into a caste and can never leave that caste

Brahmans - include the priests, genealogists, astrologers and traditional physicians

Dalits (lowest) - “Untouchables” - have dirtiest filthiest jobs if they have any jobs at all

Who do Hindus worship?

There are over 300 million gods that Hindus worship

All these gods are thought to be re-incarnations of the “Supreme Being”, named Brahman

Brahman

created everything as an illusion with no beginning or end

Some believe that the different gods represent the different aspects of the One Divinity who is too large for humans to comprehend. Others see a singular god with millions of different forms. Still other traditions of Hinduism believe in a triune view of god with Brahma as the creator, Vishnu as the preserver, and Shiva as the destroyer.

Very individualist, not communal

Hindus practice their religion however they want, whenever they want, and to whatever degree they want.

Which makes sense, if you have no founder or guidelines to go by, you can just kind of make it up as you go

Like watching my kids play “spies” or some crazy game.

It never makes any sense to me, so when they ask if I want to play, I always want to say no because I like structure

How do they worship?

In temples. Temples everywhere. You get a temple, and you get a temple, and you get a temple

Temple in Richmond

people go in and out of temples at all times of day, no set service

filled with shrines to several gods with statues and places to leave offerings

feed their gods

clothe their gods

change their gods clothes

They also worship by prostrating on the floor, meditating in front of a statue, or walking around a shrine a certain number of times.

Most hindus also have a shrine, or shrines at home to whom they worship certain gods

Each family has specific gods that they worship in the form of idols

morning and evening worship each day

Yoga

a path of mental, physical and spiritual discipline that leads to moksha

Yoga is a Hindu practice which uses the body to clear the mind and connect to Brahman on the path to moksha

This smacks right in the face of the Gospel. The Bible never tells us to empty our minds, but instead to fill our minds with the truths of God’s Word.

Mantras

Prayers, chants, and utterances

Ritual bathings

Rivers with cleansing power

Kumbh Mela - Ganges river, millions flock to it each year to bathe in it to be made spiritually clean

What do they believe?

Two common beliefs

Reincarnation (samsara)

Cyclical - born, live, die, born again, live again, die again, etc

Past lives determine present lives and present lives determine future lives

Which is where the idea of KARMA comes from

Salvation (moksha)

Moksha is when you finally break free from samsara

How do they worship?

In temples. Temples everywhere. You get a temple, and you get a temple, and you get a temple

Temple in Richmond

people go in and out of temples at all times of day, no set service

filled with shrines to several gods with statues and places to leave offerings

feed their gods

There are three paths to achieving salvation

clothe their gods

change their gods clothes

They also worship by prostrating on the floor, meditating in front of a statue, or walking around a shrine a certain number of times.

Dharma - You do what’s right for your life and your family and your caste. As you do, your good dharma, your good works, create good karma. Good works in the present lead to good results in the future. What goes around comes around. So one path to moksha is dharma, the way of works.

Most hindus also have a shrine, or shrines at home to whom they worship certain gods

Each family has specific gods that they worship in the form of idols

Jnana - Jnana sees the human problem as being intellectual rather than moral. There’s one ultimate spiritual reality that exists, which is Brahman. Now, when you hear the word “Brahman,” think ultimate spiritual force and reality over everything. It’s similar to the concept of a supreme God

morning and evening worship each day

Jnana involves continual meditation and introspection, until we realize our soul is one with Brahman.

bhakti - the way of devotion, spiritual

Many different gods exist remember

One is Brahma, the creator of life.

A second is Vishnu, the sustainer and protector of life. Vishnu has many names and has appeared as many avatars, or incarnations, including Krishna and Rama. Vishnu is believed by many to have come to the earth at least nine times. One of those was Krishna, who is the hero of the Bhagavad-Gita.

Then the third major god is Shiva, the destroyer of life.

bhakti emphasizes love and devotion to a god or gods with a view toward moksha

When you put this path up against the other paths—like endless meditation and jnana—you begin to realize why bhakti is actually the most popular of all paths to moksha among Hindus

So, what do we do with this? How do we share the Gospel of Jesus Christ with a people who believe in millions of gods?

We pray for them

Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha

We talk about Jesus

Dharma means individual ethics, obligations, and duties. It is the moral code for living.

Ghandi himself, one of the most famous Hindus said this, “I shall say to the Hindus that your lives will be incomplete unless you reverently study the teachings of Jesus.”

Krishna was an incarnation of a god, so they would probably be willing to talk about Jesus with you

Artha is the gathering of wealth, which should be gathered to help others and remove barriers for dharmic living.

Share the true problem with humanity, sin

Karma is the cause and effect of actions.

Moksha refers to salvation by more than one path and freedom the cycle of death and rebirth.

Share the good news, salvation

Hindus believe that a person’s soul will continue to be reborn until it attains salvation. The ultimate goal of all Hindus is to become one with the Supreme Being and gain freedom from reincarnation and material existence. 

Actions determine one’s progress toward salvation. Actions of virtue get one closer to the goal, and evil actions add to the separation and show one’s lack of understanding.