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So, does anyone know of a good site that gives an overview of Hinduism for the person who knows little about it?
I can offer my overview of what is essentially the Belief of Brahmanism, MQ, although it is obviously biased by my views. Brahmanism is the root belief of most eastern and oriental religions. There are numerous sects that are interrelated with this basic system, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Lamaism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Eckankar, and so on. I will only briefly discuss four of the major offshoots. The basic tenet holds that the soul of man must become free of all guilt. It must alter its character (Karma) before it can be merged with the perfect being from whom it comes.
Unfortunately, the human soul is unable to achieve this purification in the brief life allotted to us. Therefore, it must pass through as many successive reincarnations as is necessary to eliminate all the imperfections which prevent it from being absorbed into the Supreme Soul. This cycle of births and deaths is called Samsara. When the purified soul has eliminated all imperfections Samsara is annihilated and ultimate union is achieved.
The four Brahmanic versions differ from Brahmanism in their principle of universal charity gained from the Tao, or the "power that was given it." As with most religions, the specifics of each version are different and they contain varying amounts of hocus pocus and ritual in many forms. True to the bent of human ignorance, the most popular versions are the ones that stress ritualism or magic or both.
Hinduism. The least popular version of Hinduism, elaborated on by Sankara Acharaya, maintains that reality is Brahman, or absolute being, with which the purified soul is identical. The ritualism of popular worship has no importance for that purified soul. This doctrine tended to subvert established religious authority. (Little wonder it was less popular.)
Sankara's version is based on the pure Vedanta Upanishads, one of many classes of the Vedic Scriptures which are concerned with the study of the Supreme Spirit of the universe and the relation of Atman to that being. Atman means "breath, self, or the individual soul."
Atman is philologically related (in the world soul form: Atmanbrahma) to the Hebrew word Adamah. Adamah is the source for the name Adam in Genesis and is the term for the being that was created, or our soul. This philological correlation lends credence to the idea that it was a soul that was created, not a body.
Atman is identical with the Supreme Soul and, according to Sankara, emanates from the Supreme Being like a spark from a fire. However, due to its ignorance this soul is under the illusion that it has a separate existence from that being. This is engendered by its isolation in an animal body. The individual soul frees itself from that error by understanding that its successive development through transmigration does not represent absolute truth.
When all ignorance is eliminated, the soul ceases to be incarnated and becomes united with the Supreme Soul. This is like the process a bubble goes through to become part of the atmosphere. It bursts the film of water that keeps it separate from the atmosphere. For the Atman, that film is the ignorance wrought by the sensory apparatus of the body.
As I stated, this is NOT the popular version of Hinduism.
The popular version stresses vainglorious ceremonialism and mundane involvements having very little connection to the Vedic scriptures from which it purports to be inspired. In opposition to the monistic idealism of Vedanta, it seeks to exalt one of two other gods in the Vedic pantheon, Vishnu or Siva, as the "boss" god who dictates the punishment required for each soul to atone for its errors. (Punishment rears its evil head once again.) Brahman was too abstract a god for the masses.
Buddhism was founded in the 6th century B.C. in a region west of what is now Bengal, India. Buddhism was eventually supplanted in India by Hinduism, But it and its offshoots, Lamaism and Taoism, spread in the oriental and himalayan nations where they predominate. The followers of Buddha, despite their admiration, never made a god of him. He was a man who represents the ideal of what any man can become. The goal of Buddhism is to keep this ideal in the minds of believers.
The idea of a god creating or ruling the world is completely absent from Buddhism. God is not denied, He is simply not known or recognized in that sense. Buddhism does not conceive of any god or gods as being pleased or displeased by the activities of the individual souls and dispensing either reward or punishment in accord with those activities. It is the activities themselves which determine the fate of the individual souls.
When a man dies, he is automatically born again, or appears in a new shape, consistent with the merit or lack thereof that he achieved in his life. These forms range from the most despicable inanimate object to being a veritable god. He could be born in any of 136 hells in the interior of the earth, or in a happy position on earth, or as a spirit in one of many heavens. There is never any end to these rebirths because no matter what form you end up in, it has a limited life span, though it may be billions of years.
The only salvation from this perpetuity is the development of the proper frame of mind, and this represents Gautama's special "tour de force." In one stroke, he becomes noncommittal on the existence of Brahman and avoids considering Atman, while retaining Karma as some cosmic quality akin to gravity or magnetism, which ceases to be only when it stops wanting or needing to exist. This is Nirvana, the end of all desire.
In sum, God is not known; only the character of what we term soul is considered; belief in immortality is treated as a mistake, and the hope of it a sin by virtue of the fact that it represents the existence of desire; prayer is eliminated; and lastly, men must look to their own efforts to end this miserable and meaningless existence by refusing to want it (or anything else for that matter!).
Amazingly enough, with all this apathy and elimination of desire going on, love is the cardinal virtue of Buddhism, with charity and benevolence the most characteristic manifestation of that virtue. It is a charity that extends to all life without undue preference for one object over another. This love is called Maitri. It, along with purity, patience, courage, contemplation, and knowledge are the methods of perfection that tend directly to "conduct to the other shore." In his perfect peace of mind, the enlightened man is indifferent to the pain and pleasure of this world.
In the final analysis, the end described by Gautama and the end described by Sankara are identical. The specifics of getting there and what comprises the intervening states are the points on which they differ. Sankara claims that the freed individual Atman will lose itself in the universal Brahman with a cessation of all desire. Gautama contends that it, whatever it is that constitutes Karma, diffuses and loses the characteristics of desire and activity that constitute its separate existence. These are two ways of saying the very same thing.
In reality, probably the only reason Gautama had for ignoring Brahman, or the existence of a permanent entity, is the fact that an admission that any permanent substance whatever exists as an entity contains the implicit danger that things could conceivably start all over again, even after Nirvana, and this prospect was unacceptable. In short, Gautama sought to annihilate any chance of permanent existence because he didn't trust God.
Lamaism is Buddhism plus magic, plus Taoist philosophy. It is the more popular version of Buddhist belief, naturally. You can't beat the selling power of magic with a lot of abstract nonsense. Lamaism, like the Roman Catholic church, ascribes worldly power to high dignitaries of the system. The Taoist influence permeates all the Brahmanic religions and is what probably accounts for the principle of universal charity, which was not present in pure Brahmanism. However, Lamaism incorporates most of the specific concepts of Lao Tzu, who is the man responsible for rekindling the Taoist philosophy, that are not in the other Brahmanic offshoots.
Taoism as a religion should not be confused with the Taoist philosophy which antedates all known oriental philosophies. The religion, as it is practiced, is a wholesale imitation of Buddhism, with a sufficiently saleable amount of magical elements and ritual. As Gerald Berry describes it,
. . . The disciples who followed [after Lao Tzu] made it a ritual only, and used the Tao Te Ching as a source book of magic . . . Modern Taoism is a system of unreasoning credulity based on superstition, a foolish idolatry served by an ignorant and venal priesthood.
Unlike the religion, the Taoist philosophy is extremely enlightened and Christian doctrine bears so strong a resemblance to it as to make any differences meaningless. The origin of the Tao, the way of life, is unknown, but it seems to come from the earliest stages of man's existence. The key concept stresses universal charity and includes "love thy enemies and do good to them" which should be familiar to any Christian.
So, does anyone know of a good site that gives an overview of Hinduism for the person who knows little about it?
A few days ago I looked over the Wikipedia page on it. I thought it did a reasonable job, had almost countless footnotes and sources for those who want to delve deeper...and if anything told me more than I wanted to know.
It does pop up repeatedly but not so much as to make a separate forum seem a thing to do. A dedicated thread might show whether the interest is enough to merit a separate forum later on.
I can't remember the last time I nagged anyone to tell me about their religion...
You lose. I just posted a couple of things I had in mind and will hand it over to you.
I was talking about nagging them until they gave in a made a Hinduism sub...
It does pop up repeatedly but not so much as to make a separate forum seem a thing to do. A dedicated thread might show whether the interest is enough to merit a separate forum later on.
I can't remember the last time I nagged anyone to tell me about their religion...
You lose. I just posted a couple of things I had in mind and will hand it over to you.
man, I remember who you reacted when I said you lose ....
Actually there are several threads on Hinduism except they may not have Hinduism on the title. You can do a search. There is even a thread called, the Thread About Hinduism, strangely enough. Some of the threads include Non_Dualism, Advaita, What is Karma, Origin of the universe in Hinduism, Big Band and Big Crunch, and several older threads. These threads have many views and posts which seems to me an indication of lot of interest. For some reason it seems not to interest the owner.
Thank you the effort MQ.
I may do some searching and see if it would be appropriate to any or all into one thread along with the thread Miss Hepburn recommended.
I can offer my overview of what is essentially the Belief of Brahmanism, MQ, although it is obviously biased by my views. Brahmanism is the root belief of most eastern and oriental religions. There are numerous sects that are interrelated with this basic system, such as Hinduism, Buddhism, Lamaism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism, Jainism, Eckankar, and so on. I will only briefly discuss four of the major offshoots. The basic tenet holds that the soul of man must become free of all guilt. It must alter its character (Karma) before it can be merged with the perfect being from whom it comes.
Unfortunately, the human soul is unable to achieve this purification in the brief life allotted to us. Therefore, it must pass through as many successive reincarnations as is necessary to eliminate all the imperfections which prevent it from being absorbed into the Supreme Soul. This cycle of births and deaths is called Samsara. When the purified soul has eliminated all imperfections Samsara is annihilated and ultimate union is achieved.
The four Brahmanic versions differ from Brahmanism in their principle of universal charity gained from the Tao, or the "power that was given it." As with most religions, the specifics of each version are different and they contain varying amounts of hocus pocus and ritual in many forms. True to the bent of human ignorance, the most popular versions are the ones that stress ritualism or magic or both.
Hinduism. The least popular version of Hinduism, elaborated on by Sankara Acharaya, maintains that reality is Brahman, or absolute being, with which the purified soul is identical. The ritualism of popular worship has no importance for that purified soul. This doctrine tended to subvert established religious authority. (Little wonder it was less popular.)
Sankara's version is based on the pure Vedanta Upanishads, one of many classes of the Vedic Scriptures which are concerned with the study of the Supreme Spirit of the universe and the relation of Atman to that being. Atman means "breath, self, or the individual soul."
Atman is philologically related (in the world soul form: Atmanbrahma) to the Hebrew word Adamah. Adamah is the source for the name Adam in Genesis and is the term for the being that was created, or our soul. This philological correlation lends credence to the idea that it was a soul that was created, not a body.
Atman is identical with the Supreme Soul and, according to Sankara, emanates from the Supreme Being like a spark from a fire. However, due to its ignorance this soul is under the illusion that it has a separate existence from that being. This is engendered by its isolation in an animal body. The individual soul frees itself from that error by understanding that its successive development through transmigration does not represent absolute truth.
When all ignorance is eliminated, the soul ceases to be incarnated and becomes united with the Supreme Soul. This is like the process a bubble goes through to become part of the atmosphere. It bursts the film of water that keeps it separate from the atmosphere. For the Atman, that film is the ignorance wrought by the sensory apparatus of the body.
As I stated, this is NOT the popular version of Hinduism.
The popular version stresses vainglorious ceremonialism and mundane involvements having very little connection to the Vedic scriptures from which it purports to be inspired. In opposition to the monistic idealism of Vedanta, it seeks to exalt one of two other gods in the Vedic pantheon, Vishnu or Siva, as the "boss" god who dictates the punishment required for each soul to atone for its errors. (Punishment rears its evil head once again.) Brahman was too abstract a god for the masses.
Buddhism was founded in the 6th century B.C. in a region west of what is now Bengal, India. Buddhism was eventually supplanted in India by Hinduism, But it and its offshoots, Lamaism and Taoism, spread in the oriental and himalayan nations where they predominate. The followers of Buddha, despite their admiration, never made a god of him. He was a man who represents the ideal of what any man can become. The goal of Buddhism is to keep this ideal in the minds of believers.
The idea of a god creating or ruling the world is completely absent from Buddhism. God is not denied, He is simply not known or recognized in that sense. Buddhism does not conceive of any god or gods as being pleased or displeased by the activities of the individual souls and dispensing either reward or punishment in accord with those activities. It is the activities themselves which determine the fate of the individual souls.
When a man dies, he is automatically born again, or appears in a new shape, consistent with the merit or lack thereof that he achieved in his life. These forms range from the most despicable inanimate object to being a veritable god. He could be born in any of 136 hells in the interior of the earth, or in a happy position on earth, or as a spirit in one of many heavens. There is never any end to these rebirths because no matter what form you end up in, it has a limited life span, though it may be billions of years.
The only salvation from this perpetuity is the development of the proper frame of mind, and this represents Gautama's special "tour de force." In one stroke, he becomes noncommittal on the existence of Brahman and avoids considering Atman, while retaining Karma as some cosmic quality akin to gravity or magnetism, which ceases to be only when it stops wanting or needing to exist. This is Nirvana, the end of all desire.
In sum, God is not known; only the character of what we term soul is considered; belief in immortality is treated as a mistake, and the hope of it a sin by virtue of the fact that it represents the existence of desire; prayer is eliminated; and lastly, men must look to their own efforts to end this miserable and meaningless existence by refusing to want it (or anything else for that matter!).
Amazingly enough, with all this apathy and elimination of desire going on, love is the cardinal virtue of Buddhism, with charity and benevolence the most characteristic manifestation of that virtue. It is a charity that extends to all life without undue preference for one object over another. This love is called Maitri. It, along with purity, patience, courage, contemplation, and knowledge are the methods of perfection that tend directly to "conduct to the other shore." In his perfect peace of mind, the enlightened man is indifferent to the pain and pleasure of this world.
In the final analysis, the end described by Gautama and the end described by Sankara are identical. The specifics of getting there and what comprises the intervening states are the points on which they differ. Sankara claims that the freed individual Atman will lose itself in the universal Brahman with a cessation of all desire. Gautama contends that it, whatever it is that constitutes Karma, diffuses and loses the characteristics of desire and activity that constitute its separate existence. These are two ways of saying the very same thing.
In reality, probably the only reason Gautama had for ignoring Brahman, or the existence of a permanent entity, is the fact that an admission that any permanent substance whatever exists as an entity contains the implicit danger that things could conceivably start all over again, even after Nirvana, and this prospect was unacceptable. In short, Gautama sought to annihilate any chance of permanent existence because he didn't trust God.
Lamaism is Buddhism plus magic, plus Taoist philosophy. It is the more popular version of Buddhist belief, naturally. You can't beat the selling power of magic with a lot of abstract nonsense. Lamaism, like the Roman Catholic church, ascribes worldly power to high dignitaries of the system. The Taoist influence permeates all the Brahmanic religions and is what probably accounts for the principle of universal charity, which was not present in pure Brahmanism. However, Lamaism incorporates most of the specific concepts of Lao Tzu, who is the man responsible for rekindling the Taoist philosophy, that are not in the other Brahmanic offshoots.
Taoism as a religion should not be confused with the Taoist philosophy which antedates all known oriental philosophies. The religion, as it is practiced, is a wholesale imitation of Buddhism, with a sufficiently saleable amount of magical elements and ritual. As Gerald Berry describes it,
. . . The disciples who followed [after Lao Tzu] made it a ritual only, and used the Tao Te Ching as a source book of magic . . . Modern Taoism is a system of unreasoning credulity based on superstition, a foolish idolatry served by an ignorant and venal priesthood.
Unlike the religion, the Taoist philosophy is extremely enlightened and Christian doctrine bears so strong a resemblance to it as to make any differences meaningless. The origin of the Tao, the way of life, is unknown, but it seems to come from the earliest stages of man's existence. The key concept stresses universal charity and includes "love thy enemies and do good to them" which should be familiar to any Christian.
Vedas are very important spiritual base. Language, Sanskrit , also was a base for many of our modern languages.
Vedas are very important spiritual base. Language, Sanskrit , also was a base for many of our modern languages.
All the sects of Hinduism are firmly based on the vedas (scriptures) and the upanishad (metaphysics). They are not distinct and separated, they just have different emphasis.
Understanding the scriptures is not hard, it is all about do this and not that, like this and not like that, and do this to get that, and this to not get that. These translate fine. They are also the knowledge base of healing, diets, arts, sculpture, mathamatics, astrology, astronomy, sex, law, magic, grammar, yoga, etc. The knowledge of god and the knowledge of the world are intimately intertwined.
But to get at the central meaning of the Upanishads, man, world, and the universal oneness, one needs to know Sanskrit, there is simply no way around it. English simply does not communicate the whole meaning of the words so there is a lot of reductive understanding and mis-understanding of what Hinduism is if you only know English. Most western scholars of Hinduism are Europeans who are also scholars of Sanskrit, particularly Germans. There are some similarities in the way the two languages function as well.
I believe American Buddhism suffers in the same way.
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Well, this is a good intro right here, quotes from the Gita:
