HINDUISM PRESENTED BY SEAN JORDAN, MAX FISCHER, ADAM ZIELINSKI, JUSTIN MCCARTHY 19 OCTOBER, 2017 2017
BASIC HINDU BELIEFS
SIX BASIC BELIEFS Aatma Karma Reincarnation Brahma(Creator) Vishnu(Preserver) Shiva(Destroyer)
AATMA Each being has a soul, and all these souls are part of a supreme soul called Paramta Because of this, each animal has the same soul as a human This means the ultimate aim of human life is to be one with the supreme soul, this is called Nirvana or Moksha Before entering a human body, the soul travels through 84 million species
KARMA Karma is the belief that doing good deeds will result in good things happening to you, while bad deeds results in negative things happening to you These effects aren't immediate, but can be revisited in another life, such as fortune or misfortune in another life One s karma can also affect where their soul goes
REINCARNATION Hindus strive for moksha, or a place where they do not want to be rebirthed or want anything else The reincarnation (Samsara) is when the soul transfers from one being to the next This is a prime belief of every sect of Hinduism Reincarnation is dependent on your karma which can make you be rebirthed as a human or as another species To achieve moksha, you must not want anything, including moksha itself
BRAHMA Brahma is the creator of the universe Some Hindus believe in separate forms of Brahma He is not worshipped as much as his role of making the universe has come to an end
VISHNU He is the preserver of the universe He balances out the world s good and evil He has been incarnated 9 times and is said to be formed one more time near the end of the world Vishnu's worshippers, usually called Vaishnava, consider him the greatest god. They regard the other gods as lesser or demi gods. Vaishnava worship only Vishnu. Vishnu monotheism is called Vaishnavism.
SHIVA Shiva's role is to destroy the universe in order to re-create it. He is regarded as both good and evil People believe that his destruction is constructive
HISTORY OF HINDUISM
PREVEDIC RELIGIONS (C. 1500 BCE) The Dravidian Religon was a Non-Vedic form of Hinduism. Lived in present day Agamic Agamas are a non-text origin and are dated as a Pre-Vedic composition. The agama texts describes cosmology (science of the origin of the universe), epistemology (the theory of knowledge), had philosophical doctrines, percepts on meditation and practices, four kinds of yoga, mantras, temple construction, deity worship and ways to attain sixfold desires
VEDIC PERIOD (C. 1500 600 BCE) A.K.A. The Vedic Age Lasted about 900 years Within this time, the oldest sacred texts of Hinduism were being composed, known as the Vedas The four Vedas are: Rig-Veda focuses on the Praise of Knowledge The Sama-Veda focuses on the Knowledge of Melody Yajur-Veda focuses on Knowledge of Prose Mantra (written meditation) Atharva-Veda focuses on the knowledge and procedures of everyday life
SECOND URBANIZATION (C. 600 200 BCE) Centered in the Ganga Valley; several factors account for the growth of urban centers or towns in here. Improved knowledge and use of improved implements led to a surplus of crops which were essential for the growth of towns Use of iron also came in use. The Indians were now able to clear the deep forests making more space for towns and cities Growth of towns is also associated with the large use of coins which was essential for trade.
CLASSICAL HINDUISM (200 BCE 1200 CE) From 500 CE we have the rise of devotion (bhakti) to the major deities, particularly Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. With the collapse of the Gupta empire, regional kingdoms developed which patronized different religions. For example, the Cholas in the South supported Shaivism. Temples had major deities installed and were centers of religious and political power. Shankara travelled widely defeating scholars and re-establishing Hindu dominance.
MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN PERIODS (1200 1850 CE) As Arab trade began to spread in the Indian subcontinent around the 7 th century, the religions present there began to be altered around the 10 th century. Buddhism lost favor very quickly while those who practiced Hinduism dealt with religious persecution Many Hindus were converted to Islam by force, raided, enslaved, and/or sold into different societies Akbar, the third Mughal Emperor, recognized Hinduism and prohibited this religious persecution; However, other rulers before and after Akbar did the opposite by destroying temples and continuing persecution
MEDIEVAL AND EARLY MODERN PERIOD (CONT.) When the Vijayanagar Empire fell to Muslim leaders in 1646, Hinduism was eradicated in central India Hinduism made a comeback by taking over parts of the Mughal Empire (1526 1827) by creating the Maratha Empire (1674 1818) Hinduism was still prohibited by the Mughal Empire, especially under the rule of Babur and Humanyun At some points during the Mughal Empire, the people had the liberty to practice their own religion, though non-muslim men had to pay a tax that went directly to protecting non-muslims
MODERN HINDUISM (1850 THE PRESENT) Portuguese missionaries had arrived in the Malabar Coast by the end of the 1400s They met with St. Thomas Christians in Kerala (pictured) and began to introduce the Latin Rite to the native population These Portuguese missionaries began to convert many people to Christianity; they also formed a group of Latin Catholics in Kerala A Christian Inquisition was established in the city of Goa In the year 1560. It sought to convert Hindus especially, and operated until 1774. Meanwhile, India itself began to collapse into multiple kingdoms between the years 1760 and 1860 The British Empire slowly took a greater and greater hold on the region
KINGDOMS AND THE INVASION OF THE BRITISH These kingdoms included: the Kingdom of Mysore, the Rajput Kingdoms, Himalayan states, Maratha Confederacy, and many more From the end of the 18 th century to the mid 19 th, the largest stable empire was the Sikh Empire, which had a population of Hindus and Muslims living in peace The death of Maharaja Ranjit Singh in the 1830s threw the Sikh Empire into chaos The Indian subcontinent was ruled by the British shortly after this, directly following the Indian Rebellion of 1857
THE HINDU RENAISSANCE With the British colonization of India underway, a Hindu renaissance that changed the religion appeared in the 19 th century This renaissance was spurred by European movements such as Romanticism, nationalism and others At the same time, cultural icons like Hindu architecture combined with the Neo- Classical styles found in Britain (pictured) Around 1800, Swaminarayan created the Muslim sect known as Swaminarayan Sampraday, which was based on beliefs found in the Vedas It encouraged a strong belief of God, saying that He is completely independent. It also says that the souls of the dead never become part of God, but are always subservient of Him The perfect follower of the Swaminarayan meditates when they wake up, lives their life honestly, and donates time to help others. The point of the Swaminarayan Sampraday is to create a perfect cycle of life and death
REFORM OF HINDUISM Dayanada Sarasvati led the Arya Samaj movement in 1875 Dayanada Sarasvati believed the Vedas were the ultimate truth of the universe, and based his reforms around them. He believed strongly in karma, reincarnation and chastity Dayanada was quoted as saying that he wants to make the whole world Aryan by reforming Hinduism based on the Vedas. To do so, he led the Shuddhi movement in the early 1900s to target ex-hindus who had been converted to Islam and Christianity. The Shuddhi movement s influences still exist to this day. His objective was to remove the opposing beliefs surrounding Hinduism, and his efforts led to Indian pride and Hindu missionary movements Vivekananda believed in, and worked towards, unity of all religions, and ultimately unity of India Gandhi was an important figure in creating an India independent from Britain Assassinated in 1948, Gandhi led other people to ahimsa (which is nonviolence) and eventually achieved his dream India officially split from Britain in 1947, with the ensuing fight labelling India as a "Hindu country" and Hinduism as an "Indian religion"
HINDUISM TODAY 01 02 03 The Hindutva movement, which encouraged Indian and Hindu nationalism, was created in the 1920s and continues to thrive to this day. The Hindutva movement also led to the formation of different political parties such as the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Congress Party A spread of Hinduism in Indonesia has hit the entire country; first originating in the early 1970s, it has since spread across the country. Smartism (which I ll get to later) has also been influential, thanks again to Vivekananda and his Neo-Vedanta, which advocates for religious unity.
HINDUISM THEN VS NOW Then Used to be widespread in mainly India Religious persecution used to target Hindus Hindus had to pay a tax to be protected Has spread across the globe It is a widely accepted religion That tax no longer exists Now
THE HINDU SECTS
Smartism Shaktism Shaivism Vaishnavism THE MAIN DENOMINATIONS HINDUISM HAS FOUR MAJOR DENOMINATIONS THESE ARE CENTERED ON SPECIFIC GODS AND GODDESSES THE FOUR MAIN ONES ARE:
SHAIVISM (AKA ŚAIVISM) Shaivism follows three main principles: Pati: The lord, Shiva Pashu: The individual soul Pasha: The bonds that keep the soul on earth The goal of one's soul is to destroy its bonds to get Shivatva (aka the nature of Shiva) To do so, one must do all four of the following: charya (external acts of worship) Kriya (acts of servitude to god) Yoga (meditation and exercise) Jnana (knowledge)
Shaktism relies on the Hindu belief known as Tantra, which deals with practices regarding worship of the mother god Shakti, as well as strengthening the mind and the body SHAKTISM Shaktism is a sect that focuses on energy, power, and multiple goddesses such as: Durga, Goddess of War Kali, Goddess of Time, Creation, Destruction and Power Lakshmi, Goddess of Wealth, Fortune and Prosperity Parvati/Uma, the Goddess of Fertility, Love, Devotion, Power and Religious Strength
SMARTISM Followers of smartism tend to comply with the sutra texts and its rituals and beliefs Smarta comes from Sanskrit Smriti, which is a group of texts that appear to be written by man Smartism was created by Shankara, a philosopher in the 700s He founded a monastery in Sringeri ; that monastery is still the center of Smartism Smartas consider their beliefs "orthodox" and traditional They believe that smartism upholds the "normal" Hinduistic values
VAISHNAVISM The final major sect in Hinduism is Vaishnavism where Vishnu, or one of his reincarnations, is worshipped as the supreme God The origin of Vaishnavism is unknown; a lot of the evidence contradicts each other Vaishnavas believe that Brahma (reality itself) exists in the god Vishnu Vishnu has many different reincarnations, all of which he uses to uphold dharma As Adam said earlier, the point of Vaishnavism is to become free of the endless cycle of life and death (moksha)
S.O.A.P.S. TONE #1:
SPEAKER/OCCASION Speaker The Vaishnavas, the followers of Vaishnavism Occasion To Worship Vishnu, the god who can restore peace and happiness
AUDIENCE/PURPOSE Audience Vishnu, the god in the Hinduistic belief Purpose To praise the Lord Vishnu and all of his reincarnation
SUBJECT/TONE Subject Religion or religious beliefs Tone Joyous, celebratory and rejoice ful tone
S.O.A.P.S TONE #2:
SPEAKER/OCCASION Speaker: Pandita Ramabai Occasion Time and place is in India in the late 1800s and early 1900s
AUDIENCE/PURPOSE Audience The audience is to other women and to higher class men. Purpose The purpose is to try to protest with other women and try to get noticed and get more acknowledgement for what they do.
SUBJECT/TONE Subject The belief and characteristics of women rights Tone The tone is angry, frustration, and serious.
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