By Dr.Radhe Shyam Kumar (Executive Editor)
Monday, March 14, 2011
Part 1 ( Introduction To Hinduism)
Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world and is followed by 1 billion Hindus worldwide. Hinduism is not a monolithic tradition, there isn’t one Hindu opinion on things and there is no single spiritual authority to define matters for the faith. There are several different denominations, the four largest being: Vaishnavism, Saivism, Shaktism and Smartism. Further, there are numberless schools of thought or sampradayas, expressed in tens of thousands of guru lineages or paramparas. Each is typically independent and self-contained in its authority.
The Basic Principles of Hinduism:
>> Karma: Karma literally means deed or act and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction, which governs all life. Karma is the natural law of the mind, just as gravity is a law of matter. Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will, creating his own destiny. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and the concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our future.
>> Reincarnation: A natural process of birth, death and rebirth. At death, we drop off the physical body and continue evolving in the inner worlds in our subtle bodies, until we again enter into birth. Through the ages, reincarnation has been the great consoling element within Hinduism, eliminating the fear of death. The actions set in motion in previous lives form the tendencies and conditions for the next.
>> All Pervasive Divinity: As a family of faiths, Hinduism upholds a wide array of perspectives on the Divine, yet all worship the One, All Pervasive Supreme Being, hailed in the Upanishads.
>> Dharma: Dharma is God’s Divine Law, prevailing on every level of existence, from the sustaining cosmic order to religious and moral laws which bind us in harmony with that order in relation to the soul, dharma is a mode of conduct most conducive to spiritual advancement, the right and the righteous path.
>> Hindu Scriptures: The holiest and most revered Hindu scriptures are the Vedas and Agamas, revealed by God to illumined sages centuries and millennia ago. The most widely known part of the Vedas are the Upanishads which form the more general philosophical foundations of the faith. The era of secondary scripture of which are the Itihasas, specifically the Ramayana and Mahabharata and the Puranas. The ever-popular Bhagavad Gita is a small portion of the Mahabharata.
Part 2 ( The Nature of God in Hinduism)
A common misconception is in the idea that Hindus worship a trinity of Gods: Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; and Siva, the Destroyer. To the Hindu, these three are aspects of the one Supreme Being. Indeed, with its vast array of Divinities, Hinduism may, to an outsider, appear polytheistic. Depending on which of the four major denominations (Saivism, Shaktism, Smartism or Vaishnavism) a Hindu follows, he may refer to God as Siva, or perhaps Devi, maybe Vishnu or one of His earthly incarnations, Rama or Krishna.
Some venerate God as male, others as female, while still others hold that God is not limited by gender. This freedom makes for the richest understanding of God.
God is unimaginably transcendent yet ubiquitously immanent in all things. He is the creator and He is the creation. He is farther away than the farthest star and closer than our breath.
If His presence were to be removed from any one thing, that thing would cease to exist.
A crucial point is that having one Supreme God does not repudiate the existence of lesser Divinities. Each denomination worships the Supreme God and its own pantheon of divine beings. The elephant-faced Lord Ganesha is among the most popular and is perhaps the only Deity worshiped by Hindus of all denominations. There are Gods and Goddesses of strength, yoga, learning, art, music, wealth and culture.
There are also minor divinities, village Gods and Goddesses, who are invoked for protection, health and such earthy matters as a fruitful harvest.
Part 3 ( The nature of the soul)
A common misconception is in the idea that Hindus worship a trinity of Gods: Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; and Siva, the Destroyer. To the Hindu, these three are aspects of the one Supreme Being. Indeed, with its vast array of Divinities, Hinduism may, to an outsider, appear polytheistic. Depending on which of the four major denominations (Saivism, Shaktism, Smartism or Vaishnavism) a Hindu follows, he may refer to God as Siva, or perhaps Devi, maybe Vishnu or one of His earthly incarnations, Rama or Krishna.
Some venerate God as male, others as female, while still others hold that God is not limited by gender. This freedom makes for the richest understanding of God.
God is unimaginably transcendent yet ubiquitously immanent in all things. He is the creator and He is the creation. He is farther away than the farthest star and closer than our breath.
If His presence were to be removed from any one thing, that thing would cease to exist.
A crucial point is that having one Supreme God does not repudiate the existence of lesser Divinities. Each denomination worships the Supreme God and its own pantheon of divine beings. The elephant-faced Lord Ganesha is among the most popular and is perhaps the only Deity worshiped by Hindus of all denominations. There are Gods and Goddesses of strength, yoga, learning, art, music, wealth and culture.
There are also minor divinities, village Gods and Goddesses, who are invoked for protection, health and such earthy matters as a fruitful harvest.
Source: Hinduism Today, www.hinduismtoday.com
NOTE : Patel is a member of the Council of Trustees at HAWT and has been a practicing internal medicine physician in Midland for 11 years. Nowhere on Earth have religions thrived in such close proximity as in India. For thousands of years, India has been home to followers of virtually every major world religion, the exemplar of tolerance toward all paths.
Monday, March 14, 2011
Part 1 ( Introduction To Hinduism)
Hinduism is one of the oldest religions in the world and is followed by 1 billion Hindus worldwide. Hinduism is not a monolithic tradition, there isn’t one Hindu opinion on things and there is no single spiritual authority to define matters for the faith. There are several different denominations, the four largest being: Vaishnavism, Saivism, Shaktism and Smartism. Further, there are numberless schools of thought or sampradayas, expressed in tens of thousands of guru lineages or paramparas. Each is typically independent and self-contained in its authority.
The Basic Principles of Hinduism:
>> Karma: Karma literally means deed or act and more broadly names the universal principle of cause and effect, action and reaction, which governs all life. Karma is the natural law of the mind, just as gravity is a law of matter. Karma is not fate, for man acts with free will, creating his own destiny. Karma refers to the totality of our actions and the concomitant reactions in this and previous lives, all of which determines our future.
>> Reincarnation: A natural process of birth, death and rebirth. At death, we drop off the physical body and continue evolving in the inner worlds in our subtle bodies, until we again enter into birth. Through the ages, reincarnation has been the great consoling element within Hinduism, eliminating the fear of death. The actions set in motion in previous lives form the tendencies and conditions for the next.
>> All Pervasive Divinity: As a family of faiths, Hinduism upholds a wide array of perspectives on the Divine, yet all worship the One, All Pervasive Supreme Being, hailed in the Upanishads.
>> Dharma: Dharma is God’s Divine Law, prevailing on every level of existence, from the sustaining cosmic order to religious and moral laws which bind us in harmony with that order in relation to the soul, dharma is a mode of conduct most conducive to spiritual advancement, the right and the righteous path.
>> Hindu Scriptures: The holiest and most revered Hindu scriptures are the Vedas and Agamas, revealed by God to illumined sages centuries and millennia ago. The most widely known part of the Vedas are the Upanishads which form the more general philosophical foundations of the faith. The era of secondary scripture of which are the Itihasas, specifically the Ramayana and Mahabharata and the Puranas. The ever-popular Bhagavad Gita is a small portion of the Mahabharata.
Part 2 ( The Nature of God in Hinduism)
A common misconception is in the idea that Hindus worship a trinity of Gods: Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; and Siva, the Destroyer. To the Hindu, these three are aspects of the one Supreme Being. Indeed, with its vast array of Divinities, Hinduism may, to an outsider, appear polytheistic. Depending on which of the four major denominations (Saivism, Shaktism, Smartism or Vaishnavism) a Hindu follows, he may refer to God as Siva, or perhaps Devi, maybe Vishnu or one of His earthly incarnations, Rama or Krishna.
Some venerate God as male, others as female, while still others hold that God is not limited by gender. This freedom makes for the richest understanding of God.
God is unimaginably transcendent yet ubiquitously immanent in all things. He is the creator and He is the creation. He is farther away than the farthest star and closer than our breath.
If His presence were to be removed from any one thing, that thing would cease to exist.
A crucial point is that having one Supreme God does not repudiate the existence of lesser Divinities. Each denomination worships the Supreme God and its own pantheon of divine beings. The elephant-faced Lord Ganesha is among the most popular and is perhaps the only Deity worshiped by Hindus of all denominations. There are Gods and Goddesses of strength, yoga, learning, art, music, wealth and culture.
There are also minor divinities, village Gods and Goddesses, who are invoked for protection, health and such earthy matters as a fruitful harvest.
Part 3 ( The nature of the soul)
A common misconception is in the idea that Hindus worship a trinity of Gods: Brahma, the Creator; Vishnu, the Preserver; and Siva, the Destroyer. To the Hindu, these three are aspects of the one Supreme Being. Indeed, with its vast array of Divinities, Hinduism may, to an outsider, appear polytheistic. Depending on which of the four major denominations (Saivism, Shaktism, Smartism or Vaishnavism) a Hindu follows, he may refer to God as Siva, or perhaps Devi, maybe Vishnu or one of His earthly incarnations, Rama or Krishna.
Some venerate God as male, others as female, while still others hold that God is not limited by gender. This freedom makes for the richest understanding of God.
God is unimaginably transcendent yet ubiquitously immanent in all things. He is the creator and He is the creation. He is farther away than the farthest star and closer than our breath.
If His presence were to be removed from any one thing, that thing would cease to exist.
A crucial point is that having one Supreme God does not repudiate the existence of lesser Divinities. Each denomination worships the Supreme God and its own pantheon of divine beings. The elephant-faced Lord Ganesha is among the most popular and is perhaps the only Deity worshiped by Hindus of all denominations. There are Gods and Goddesses of strength, yoga, learning, art, music, wealth and culture.
There are also minor divinities, village Gods and Goddesses, who are invoked for protection, health and such earthy matters as a fruitful harvest.
Source: Hinduism Today, www.hinduismtoday.com
NOTE : Patel is a member of the Council of Trustees at HAWT and has been a practicing internal medicine physician in Midland for 11 years. Nowhere on Earth have religions thrived in such close proximity as in India. For thousands of years, India has been home to followers of virtually every major world religion, the exemplar of tolerance toward all paths.
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