beliefs and teachings

beliefs and teachings

1. the divine

   • non-personal God, Brahman
     • nirguna Brahman
       • om/aum
     • existing everywhere
     • "in truth Brahman is all." - unpanishad
     • "invisible, intangible, having neither family nor caste" - unpanishad
   • in the heart,antaryami, atman
     • story of salt and water
       • There was a boy called Svetaketu who went away from home to study all about Brahman in the Vedas. When he returned home, his father was disappointed that his son had not understood the real nature of Brahman, so he tried to explain it to him. He asked Svetaketu to put a lump of salt in a bowl of water and to leave it overnight. In the morning, he asked Svetaketu where the salt was, but Svetaketu could not find it in the water. It had dissolved. His father then asked him to take a sip of water from one side of the bowl and tell him what it tasted like. Svetaketu said it was salty. Then his father asked him to sip the water from the other side. That also tasted salty. Then he sipped from the middle, which was also salty. But still, the salt could not be seen. His father said,' in the same way ,o my son, you cannot see tha atman. uBt in truth he i here.' Brahman, or the spirit of the whole universe, is like 'an invisible and subtle essence.'
     • 'real and inner self'
     • story explaining reincarnation
       • After the universe was created, atman was created. Atman travelled through the universe and came to planet earth; there, atman helped to bring alive new beings. As these beings were part of earth, their bodies died but their atman remained.
   • personal God, Bhagavan
     • deities
       • "three and three hundred, and three and three thousand"
         • "yes, of course, he said ,'but really Yajnavakya, hoe many gods are there?"
         • "thirty-three"
           • "yes, of course, he said ,'but really Yajnavakya, hoe many gods are there?"
             • "six"
               • "yes, of course, he said ,'but really Yajnavakya, hoe many gods are there?"
                 • "three"
                   • "yes, of course, he said ,'but really Yajnavakya, hoe many gods are there?"
                     • "two"
                       • "yes, of course, he said ,'but really Yajnavakya, hoe many gods are there?"
                         • "one"
                           • - unpanishad
       • Saraswati
         • consort of Brahma
       • Lakshmi
         • consort of Vishnu
       • Shakti
         • consort of Shiva
         • Parvati
         • Durga
         • Kali
     • avatars
       • Rama
       • Ganesha
       • Hanuman
       • Krishna
     • tri-murti
       • Brahma
         • the creator
         • less important?
           • his work is done now, therefore worship is not needed
           • Brahma created a female deity called Shatarupa and immediately fell in love with her. As she moved to escape his gaze, he developed new heads so that he could watch her wherever she went. Shiva thought Brahma's obsession with Shatarupa was wrong so, to punish him, ordered that he should no longer be worshipped as other gods.
           • Once, when a great fire-sacrifice ceremony was being organised, the high priest set out to find the greatest of the tri-murti to lead this worship. Brahma was too busy listening to the music of Saraswati to pay attention to him, so he was punished.
             • Another version of this story is that Saraswati was late for the ceremony, so Brahma created a substitute wife, which made her very angry so she cursed him
         • "Brahma was [...] the creator of all" - unpanishad
       • Vishnu
         • the preserver
         • Vaishnavism
         • story of Prahlada
           • Prahlada was the son of a powerful demon king who considered himself the greatest. When his father had found out Prahlada had learned at school that Vishnu was the greatest god, he was veryangry and jealous, but he could not shake his son's belief. So he decided to kill his son. He tried drowning him, poisoning him, throwing him from high cliffs, but still Prahlada survived. In desperation, the father drew his sword against his son and shouted that Vishnu would not be able to save his son now. But of course, Vishnu appeared just in time, as half-man, half-lion, and saved Prahlada who had remained devoted to Vishnu despite his father's evil actions against him. Thus Prahlada was rewarded for his devotion by having eternal bliss in heaven.
         • story of the three great strides
           • Bali, a demon world-ruler, invited gods and kings to celebrate a great sacrifice. Every one of the guests could express a wish that the host would instantly fulfil. Vishnu, who had appeared as a dwarf, only asked for a small piece of land - as much as he could cover with three strides. Bali encouraged him to ask for a larger gift, something worthy of a world ruler. The dwarf insisted on his wish. Bali gave in. And before his eyes, the dwarf began to grow in huge dimensions. His first step covered the entire earth. The second step covered the sky, and there was no more room for a third step. So Bali offered his head for Vishnu's foot to rest on, thus acknowledging Vishnu's supremacy as a god.
       • Shiva
         • the destroyer
         • shaivism
     • saguna Brahman

2. cosmology

   • cycle of four ages
     • four very long ages called epochs or yugas
       • each gets shorter and more corrupt
       • yuga of gold, silver, copper, iron
         • currently in iron
     • at the end of the yuga of iron the tenth avatar of Vishnu will appear as Kalki, riding a white horse. He will kill off the remaining evil and evil-doers in the world and bring about the birth of a new golden age, and so a new cycle of time will start
   • universe
     • it is like clusters of bubbles floating in space created from Vishnu's breath.
     • in each universe there is an upper realm of heavenly planets, an earthly ream familiar to humans, and a lower world full of less pleasant beings
       • every form of creation has its place within these universes
       • the cycle of life means that, in a new creation, humans might move to a different realm
   • matter
     • world is made of spirit (purusa) which cannot be seen or touched, and matter (prakriti) which can be seen and touched.
       • some Hindus think the two realities exist separately and that spirit must conquer matter
       • other Hindus think that spirit and matter are needed together for the universe to be complete and creation fulfilled
     • when an individual reaches enlightenment, the world no longer has any substance - it is shown to be an illusion (maya).
       • Hindus use the image of a coiled rope being mistaken for a snake and therefore filling a person with fear, to show how worrying about material things which are temporary is a waste of energy
     • matter goes through three stages creation, maintenance and destruction
       • tri-murti
       • three stages , called the tri-guna
         • seen in human life as goodness, passion and ignorance
         • said to explain the way humans behave, due to the balance of gunas in their personality
           • a balanced person will show serenity, contentment, knowledge, honesty, generosity and self-control.
           • balance is upset by desire, ambition and wanting to control; qualities such as laziness, hopelessness, thoughtlessness and intoxication can seriously damage a person
         • often linked to three primary colours: red, yellow, blue, which provide the complete spectrum
   • "the gods are later than this world's production. who knows then whence it first came into being" - rig veda

3. life

   • aims of human life
     • dharma
       • sanatana dharma
         • always considering what is right and wrong about any action
         • remembering god in your heart and mind
         • learning more about god and dharma from holy scriptures
         • trying to reach moksha
         • offering worship to god either in the temple or at home
         • feeding animals and birds, and caring for plants and trees
         • showing respect to elders and caring for the needy
         • 'eternal truth'
         • "be friendly and compassionate released from ego selfishness, patient, hate not any being, the same in pain and happiness." - bhagavad gita
       • varnashrama dharma
         • varnas
           • original system allowed for people to move between social groups, and it was based on suitability for doing certain types of work
             • over time, some groups insisted that the system was hereditary and it evolved to what it is now called the 'caste system'
               • this system is more rigid and does not encourage movement between social groups
               • it also names some people as 'outcastes' not belonging to any social group. Outcastes were often treated badly.
                 • today, discrimination against lower social classes is forbidden in India.
               • the Hindu caste system in the past produced a very unequal society, even though it was well organised
                 • many modern Hindus disagree with caste practices, and sometimes even the original system of the four varnas
           • when Hindus first organised their society, it was based on everyone having a role to play, and everyone being dependent on everyone else to make life run more smoothly.
           • the brahmins were the priests and it was their job to interpret the scriptures for people and to perform sacrifices. Traditionally, this included teachers, thinkers and doctors
           • the kshatriyas were the warrior varna. it was their job to defend people by fighting if necessary. it also included those who governed the people and kept law and order.
           • the vaishyas were the business people, those who made money, kept the economy going, owned land and used it for the good of all
           • the shudras were people not in the other groups and employed by others, such as craftsmen, artists and musicians, who had a vital role in society as supporters of other groups
     • moksha
       • breaking of continuous cycle of birth, death and rebirth - samsara
         • transmigrating atman and reincarnating into a new body
         • some believe that the spirit is the same as Brahman because Brahman is all-powerful and able to be everywhere at the same time
         • some believe that the atman contains only part of Brahman because if it was exactly the same as Brahman then he would not be supreme
       • story of holy man's blessing
         • A Hindu holy man and his disciples were strolling through a city and met four different people who asked for the holy man's blessing. The first was the crown prince of the kingdom seated on a white horse. The holy man offered him a blessing and said ,'may you live for ever'. The second was a celibate student collecting money to help a teacher who was poor. The holy man gave his blessing and said to him,' may you die immediately'. The third was a butcher. After his blessing, the holy man said,' may you neither live nor die'. The fourth was a female devotee in a temple, praying to god. After blessing her, the holy man said,' may you live or may you die'.
           • The disciples of the holy man were very puzzled by his different blessings, so he explained: the crown prince led a life of luxury and thoughtlessness for which he will suffer in the next world, so it is better he lives forever to avoid this; the student was performing a holy task, so it was better he died at this stage in his life before he could sin again; the butcher's life was hellish, killing animals and having no chance of escaping from it if he lived and if he died he would be reborn as an animal and continue to suffer a hellish life, so it made no difference what happened to him; the worshipper in the temple will serve god wether she is in this life or the next one, so it makes no difference to her.
     • artha
     • kama
     • karma
       • all actions have consequences
       • may be referred to as destiny
   • free will
     • to decide path in life
       • "the wise man chooses the path of joy; the fool takes the path of pleasure" - unpanishad
   • suffering
     • Hindu's think that suffering occurs due to sum of all bad karma in previous lives.
     • another type of suffering is due to the actions of others(moral evil)
     • Hindu's try to break free from this suffering and reach moksha where there is no suffering
     • believe part of dharma to relieve suffering of others