LEARNING OUTCOMES: At the end of the lesson, (90%) of the students
should be able to:
Discuss theories and perspectives on spirituality.
Describe the main ideas of a certain belief.
To be able to reflect on human being’s weakness and imperfections and how
to transcend one’s condition.
To reflect and explain their personal reflections regarding the role of
spirituality in their lives.
Topic Outline
Overview of Hinduism
Beliefs of Hinduism
Central Doctrines
HINDUISM AT A GLANCE
Hinduism is the religion of the majority of people in India
and Nepal. It also exists among significant populations outside of the subcontinent
and has over 900 million adherents. In some ways, Hinduism is the oldest living
religion in the world, and it is closely associated with other Indian religions, such
as Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. Unlike most other religions, Hinduism has no
single founder, no single scripture, and no commonly agreed set of teachings.
Throughout its extensive history, there have been many key figures teaching
different philosophies and writing numerous holy books. For these reasons, writers
and religious scholars often refer to Hinduism as a “way of life” or a “family of
religions” rather than a single religion.
The birthplace of Hinduism is Indus River Valley which runs
through northwest India into Pakistan. The Indus Valley civilization, or "Harappan
civilization" originated sometime around 4,500-5,000 B.C.E. and reached its zenith
between 2300 to 2000 BC. The word "Hindu" originates from the Sanskrit word
for river, sindhu. The Indus River running through northwest India into Pakistan
received its name from the Sanskrit term sindhu. The Persians designated the land
around the Indus River as Hindu, a mispronunciation of the Sanskrit sindhu.
Beliefs of Hinduism
Most forms of Hinduism are henotheistic, meaning they
worship a single deity known as Brahman but still recognizes other gods and
goddesses. Hinduism has a total of 33 million gods. However, among these gods,
there are only four considered by Hindus as major gods:
BRAHMAN
Brahman, in the Upanishads (Indian sacred writings), the supreme existence or
absolute reality. The Brahman is often seen in three forms or functions. Called
the Trimurti, these are creation, preservation, and destruction. These functions
are expressed in god forms, namely, Brahma (the creator); Vishnu (the
preserver); and Shiva (the destroyer). Brahman also possess the quality which the
God of the Christians have. (e.g. The Absolute Truth, Eternal, Omnipotence,
Omni present etc.)
HINDU SCRIPTURES: THE VEDAS
If Christians have a sacred scripture ( Bible) to read and hear the words of God,
Hindus also have their sacred text called, Vedas. These are the most ancient
religious texts which define truth for Hindus. They got their present form between
1200- 200 B.C.E. and were introduced to India by the Aryans-the early settlers of
India. Hindus believe that the texts were received by scholars direct from God
and passed on to the next generations by word of mouth. Vedic texts are
sometimes called ‘shruti’, which means ‘hearing’. For hundreds, or maybe even
thousands of years, the texts were passed on orally.
Contents of the Vedas
The Vedas are made up of four compositions, and each Veda in turn has four
parts which are arranged chronologically.
1. The Samhitas are the most ancient parts of the Vedas, consisting of hymns or
praise to God.
2. The Brahmanas are rituals and prayers to guide the priests in their duties.
3. The Aranyakas contain worship and meditation.
4. The Upanishads consists of the mystical and philosophical teachings of
Hinduism.
Central Doctrines
At the heart of Hinduism lies the idea of human beings'
quest for absolute truth, so that one's soul and the Brahman or Atman ( Absolute
soul) might become one. The Atman means soul or the universal self. The
concept of Atman includes the idea of the self as a spiritual rather than material
being and thus there is a strong dimension of Hinduism which emphasizes
detachment from worldly things or material world.
According to Hinduism, human beings have a dual nature:
one is the spiritual and immortal essence (soul) the other is empirical or bodily
life. Between the two natures, however, it is maintained that it is the soul that is
ultimately real. The existence of the body in fact is considered as nothing more
than an illusion or an obstacle towards the ultimate liberation and the realization of
one self.
Hinduism also holds that humanity's life is a continuous
cycle (Samsara). It means that every soul is trapped in a cycle of birth-death-
rebirth cycle and we want to break away from the cycle or the Samsara. Our soul
goes through a transmigratory series of birth and death. Transmigration
or metempsychosis is a doctrine that adheres to the belief that a person's soul passes
into some other creature, human or animal. If the person has led a good life, the
soul goes upward the scale. The soul of an evil person, on the other hand, may pass
into the body of an animal or a plant.
For the Hindus, the only way to break away from this
cycle is to achieve oneness with Brahma, which they call, Moskha. Moksha is the
merging of Individual soul ( Atman) with the Universal soul ( Brahman).
Reincarnation and Karma
Hindus believe that the soul passes through a cycle of
successive lives (Samsara) and its next incarnation is always dependent on how
the previous life was lived. ( Karma) Hindus believe in karma or intentional
action. Karma is a Hindu concept which etymologically means action (good or
bad) It refers to the law that every action has an equal reaction either immediately
or at some point in the future. Good or virtuous actions, actions in harmony
with dharma (moral duty ) , will have good reactions or responses and bad actions,
actions against dharma, will have the opposite effect. Many believe good or bad
actions in life leading to positive or negative merit, determines the atman's rebirth.
Everything in this life, according to the Hindus, is a consequence of actions
performed in previous existence.
