WHAT IS HINDUISM by Ed Viswanathan

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WHAT IS HINDUISM?

 

It is the true culture of Indians in India. Many call it A WAY OF LIFE. It is not an organized religion like Christianity or Islam. It has no founder. It has no Pope. It has no hierarchy. Just a lot of scriptures. In Hindu scriptures, you are actually studying about the HISTORY AND CULTURE OF INDIA, like in 66 books of the Holy Bible you are actually studying about the CULTURE AND HISTORY OF JEWS. As far as I know, HINDUISM AND JUDAISM are mothers of all modern religions in the world. JAINISM, BUDDHISM, ZOROASTRIANISM etc came from Hinduism. ISLAM and CHRISTIANITY came Judaism.

 

WHO IS ITS FOUNDER?

 

No body in particular. It is the research output of countless learned men called RISHIS who were Christ like masters.

 

WHEN DID HINDUISM TAKE BIRTH?

 

Nobody knows. If you go by Hindu mythological stories, Hinduism is trillions of years old. If you go by Max Muller, the German philosopher, it is at least 8000 to 9000 years old. Hinduism might have started as Dravidian civilization and later merged with civilization. Studying the relics of Mohenjadaro and Harappa excavations that what I conclude.

 

Hinduism has the strange capability to ABSORB AND GROW FROM ALL QUARTERS and that is why in it you can see relics of all other civilizations like Egyptian, Celtic, Mayan, Greek, Roman etc. To me it does not matter the exact date it was born, since nobody can prove or disprove the exact date. I am more concerned about what it has to give to the world.

 

WHAT WAS THE ORIGINAL NAME OF HINDUISM?

 

SANATHANA DHARMA or RIGHTEOUSNESS FOREVER was the original name of Hinduism. It was Persians who invaded India during 6th century B.C. who gave the name HINDUISM meaning the RELIGION OF PEOPLE LIVING NEAR RIVER INDUS. In Persian the letter H and S are pronounced almost the same so they mistook the word SIND [ Sanskrit name for Indus] to H and then started calling HINDUS and HINDUISM.

 

WHAT IS THE LANGUAGE IN WHICH THE HINDU SCRIPTURES WERE WRITTEN?

 

SANSKRIT older than Hebrew and Latin. The first words in English language came from Sanskrit. The word MOTHER came from SANSKRIT word MATA and FATHER came from SANSKRIT word PITA as per the PBS video THE STORY OF ENGLISH.

 

WHO IS A HINDU?

 

Hindus believe anyone who search after truth is a Hindu. There is ONE AND ONLY GOD and ONE TRUTH. The very first book of Hindus named RIGVEDA proclaim, " EKAM SAT, VIPRAH BAHUDHA VADANTI" ( There is only one truth, only men describe it in different ways). So a Jew or a Christian or a Moslem who is in search after truth is automatically a Hindu.

 

WHAT ATTRACTS ONE TO HINDUISM?

 

The concepts of UTMOST FREEDOM OF THOUGHTS And ACTIONS. That what attracts many to Hinduism.

 

WHAT IS THE HINDU CONCEPT OF GOD?

 

Hindus believe in ONE AND ONLY GOD BRAHMAN which expresses itself in millions of forms. Hindus do not believe God has human form or any other form. God is nameless and timeless. But there is nothing wrong to worship a God with name and form [nama-roopa], since man cannot conceive anything without any name and form.

 

IF THERE IS ONLY ONE GOD, WHY HINDUS WORSHIP MANY GODS?

 

To begin with Hinduism is a very ancient CULTURE and it never ever had a house cleaning in its entire history. Almost everything that came was written in scriptures since it is birth unlike in other religions they have thrown out many beliefs calling Council time and time again. Believe it or not there is no word TRINITY in the entire Bible and it originated only after emperor Constantine became a Christian.

 

Now coming back to Hinduism, Hindus believe that BY WORSHIPING GOD BY ANY NAME, YOU ARE ACTUALLY WORSHIPING ONE AND ONLY GOD BRAHMAN and that is why they have no problem even worshiping Buddha or Jesus Christ. So a Hindu believes by worshiping any form of God, you are indeed worshiping the ALMIGHTY. The Gita said: CALL HIM BY WHATEVER NAME YOU LIKE, WORSHIP HIM IN ANY FORM YOU LIKE, IT ALL GOES TO THAT ONE ULTIMATE, INFINITE, SUPREME REALITY.

 

Coming back to Trinity doctrine....Only mention of TRINITY concept of God in the Bible, is in the St. Matthew's account of Christ's last command to the apostles, GO THEREFORE, AND MAKE DISCIPLES OF ALL NATIONS, BAPTIZING THEM IN THE NAME OF FATHER, AND THE SON, AND OF THE HOLY SPIRIT [MAT 28:19]

 

According to SCHAFF-HERZOG ENCYCLOPEDIA, TRINITY doctrine was not established until 363 A.D. It says that TRINITY is the result of three or four centuries of theological development. The New Catholic Encyclopedia also states that devotion to Trinity had begun in monasteries at Aniane and Tours, during 8th century.

 

WHY HINDUS WORSHIP IDOLS?

 

Show me any person, who does not believe in an idol, image, or symbol and I will show you the greatest liar on earth. All religions have some concept of God with name and form, but Hindus alone have the courage to admit that fact. The Cross in the Christian church, the picture of Jesus Christ, the statue of Mary, statues of patron saints are all idols. If anyone bow in front of any of them, they are breaking laws of Old Testament [LED . . . 26:1, and EX 20:2-5.] Idol worship is every where and I never ever met a man who does not worship something or someone. In fact, the first sculpture of Christ was in the form of a small boy holding on to a sheep. Now, everywhere in the world, people have pictures of Christ according their culture. A loving young white man in USA, a tough man looking like a judge in Russia, a nice black man in Africa and a man looking like a typical man from China with a sheepish beard in China. I RESPECT ALL THOSE PICTURES. Believe it or not, ALL OF THEM ARE IDOL WORSHIPS.

 

Once again, God is spirit...NO WORD OR IMAGE CAN DESCRIBE OR DEPICT GOD OR CAN ENCOMP THE GREATNESS OF GOD. God is neither the father nor the mother. But since man cannot conceive anything without NAME AND FORM, man has the right to worship God with a form.

 

HOW WAS HINDUISM STARTED?

 

According to Hindu scriptures it started as SRUTI---THAT WHICH IS HEARD. The great seers of ancient times called RISHIS who had perfected themselves have heard in their hearts, eternal truths and they taught those truths to disciples by telepathy and later they wrote them in books. VEDAS and UPANISHADS are known as SRUTI literature rest is called SMRITI [ THAT WHAT IS REMEMBERED ] literature.

 

All Hindu scriptures were considered as revealed truths of God. In fact Hindu scriptures say that ALL HINDU SCRIPTURES WERE WRITTEN BY GOD. According Christian theologians Holy Bible is considered to be HOLY SPIRIT INSPIRED BOOK. According to Mimamsa school of thought, all sruti literature existed all through eternity in the form of sounds. Therefore those sounds of words of Vedas and Upanishads are very important to Hindus.

 

WHAT ARE THE SACRED BOOKS OF HINDUISM?

 

The very first sacred books of Hinduism is called VEDAS. VEDAS means KNOWLEDGE. There are four VEDAS and they claim to teach men the highest aspects of truths which can lead them to God. Vedas and Upanishads are SRUTI scriptures. The word VEDA came from the root word "vid" meaning "to know". Vedas are the very first scriptures of Hinduism. Vedas as per scriptures was written by God. Vedas state "SELF REALIZATION" is one and the goal of human life. Vedas also discuss in detail rituals and ceremonies to attain self-realization. There are 4 Vedas. The first Vedas are known as the TRIPLE VEDAS.

They are:

 

RIG VEDA------- KNOWLEDGE OF HYMNS --10589 verses

YAJUR VEDA--- KNOWLEDGE OF LITURGY -3988 verses

SAMA VEDA--- KNOWLEDGE OF MUSIC ---1549 verses

ATHARVA VEDA- KNOWLEDGE GIVEN BY SAGE ATHARVA---6000 verses

 

 

WHAT EACH VEDA CONSISTS OF?

 

A---SAMHITAS----basic texts for hymns to deities, formulas and chants. The Sankrit word SAMHITA means "put togther".

 

B---BRAHMANAS--description as well as directions for performance of rituals. The word orginated from the word Brahmins. Brahmins are the original Hindu priests and they follow Brahmans to conduct rituals.

 

C---AKAS--contains Mantras interpretations of rituals--This book also known as "the forest books" since book is used by saints who meditate in the forests.

 

D---UPANISHADS--texts revealing ultimate truths by different saints. Upanishads teach men that there is ONE AND ONLY thing and that is BRAHMAN. You and I just reflections of Brahman. Or we are indeed God... Upanishads teach us "Tat tvam Asi" —— THAT THOU ART. In fact, the word UPANISHAD can be broken down as UPA [near] NI [down] SHAD [sit] meaning that teachings of Upanishads were conveyed from masters to students when students sat very next to masters and nobody overheard those teachings.

 

TOTAL 108 UPANISHADS . Principle ones 13. Some of the Upanishads are named after the sages who answered all questions. Some as per the first word in the Upanishad. [ I shall write details separately]

 

1. ISA UPANISHAD- 2. KENA UPANISHAD 3. KATHA UPANISHAD 4. PRASNA UPANISHAD 5. MUNDAKA UPANISHAD 6. MANDUKYA UPANISHAD 7. AITAREYA UPANISHAD 8. TAITTIRYA UPANISHAD 9. CHANDOGYA UPANISHAD 10. BRIHAD-ARANYAKA UPANISHAD 11 KAUSHIITAKI UPANISHAD 12. SHVETASHVATARA UPANISHAD 13 MAITRI UPANISHAD