Central to Hinduism: Divinity ☼

Key concepts

Here is a survey of features common to many sorts of Hinduism, which is also called Sanatan Dharma, or Eternal and Righteous Deals, or Eternal Religion, Eternal Law of Order, Eternal Justice - since dharma embodies righteousness, justice, order, law, and religion. Humans and whole societies that do not turn away from that deep balancing, don't turn away from living in harmony with what is proper, fit or beneficial, are not all wrong . . .

Dharma (right and proper doings) is concerned with fares that are more or less in accord with Eternal Law - that order which makes life and universe possible, and so Sanatan Dharma includes duties, rights, laws, conduct, virtues and proper ways of living. Thus, Hinduism is of regulations in life, and there are books and scriptures about rather many sides to it, and many key concepts to ponder. [Cf. WP, "Dharma"]

Dharma (doing right) is a central idea in it; it connotes "ideas of 'truth', 'duty', 'ethics', 'law', and even 'natural law'. It is that power which upholds or supports society and the cosmos", a great power that takes part in forming things and goings too. (Gavin Flood 1996:11)

Governed, or lorded over

When we speak of Dharma as Law, there is a deep, inward Essence that metes it out, allowing leeways too. And then there are laws formulated to regulate societies - different laws too. Some of them are not aligned to one another. There are lots of human imperfections too - and the vast amount of laws to govern human conduct is an indication of it, in its way. The growing child is governed by outward rules and regulations. The grown-up is governed by heart-felt convictions, ideals and marriage partners - or conscience. A mature moral is more inward-turned than steered from outside, although it can incorporate outer rules and laws it finds to be OK, such as moral guidelines for yogis. Living is a balancing act in very many ways. Some laws are good, some deep feelings tend to be for good too - but not all of them. Judiciousness is indeed called for.

In a wider perspective

Hinduism is linking up to ways to regulate one's life to what is thought of as the greatest advantages. One takes to heart the important sides to proper, good living that sustain Dharma and are sustained by Dharma, the Eternal Laws, so as not to violate it much and grossly throughout life. It is good to seek to promote a really good life according to one's circumstances or one's measure. To cooperate willingly with it as one makes haste to improve oneself and rise toward the bright side of life and "things", that is a large and central part of what many-sided Hinduism really is about.

1. What celestial beings a Hindu believes in, is not as vital as becoming one oneself, and then go beyond that, by methods, paths and help from beneficial Gurus

Reckon with life stages and life goals

In actual practice, what a Hindu does is more important than what a Hindu believes. Gavin Flood: "Hinduism is not credal." (1996:12)

Yet a Hindu reckons with four main life goals goals to fulfil to one's ability, proclivities - either or both. Artha (wealth), kama (lust, passions), dharma (doing right, duty), and moksha (freedom) are employed in a very wide scheme for regulating the ongoing life through its postulated stages. Some may easily be linked to fit and fair id development (Cf. Erikson)

Angelic beings

Hindu scriptures describe and relate to celestial entities "shining ones", that is "gods", "goddesses", or "heavenly beings".

Means and methods

There are several methods (yogas) that sages have taught for reaching the goal above or beyond angels, devas. They put Self-knowledge - it is linked to moksha (freedom) - as the End Goal for life forms and all sorts of living. Texts dedicated to Yoga include the Bhagavad Gita, the Yoga Sutras, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, and, as their philosophical and historical basis, the Upanishads.

Paths, margas, toward the end goal of life (moksha, samadhi or nirvana) had better be founded on deep meditation with auxilliaries that go well together.

Using sounds to meditate and the like

Mantras help beginners especially. Many adopt mental mantra repetition, japa, as their key spiritual practice. (2)

2. Brahman (God) at the centre

Smartism

Smartism (the Smarta Tradition), from Sanskrit 'smarta', refers to Hindus who follow the Vedas and shastras (core Hindu scriptures). It accepts all the major Hindu deities as forms of the one Brahman. Advaita Vedanta Hinduism is Smartism that is rooted in the Upanishads.

The Umbrella

Hinduism is rather an umbrella term for a traditional way of life with a wide range of traditions and ideas covered by it. Faith has no central role of it. It is also a most diverse religious tradition and the most complex of all the living, historical world religions, as well as the oldest living major tradition on earth.

The value of ahimsa and its turns

Hindus advocate the practice of ahimsa (non-violence), of not inflicting harm and doing less harm to life than one otherwise would. If possible, the first side to it. Second, reduce or minimise the harm. Ahimsa is a basic in fine yoga, as shown in the Patanjali's Yoga Sutras. To embrace vegetarianism for the sake of favouring higher forms of life is good in this light, if nutritients are not lacking in one's diet. Many in India are lacto-vegetarians, so they drink milk and eat cheese and other milk products. And Hindus who eat meat almost always abstain from beef, cow's meat, or veal. The cow in Hindu society is traditionally honoured for sustenance it gives. Cow-slaughter is legally banned in almost all states of India. and most Hindus abhor animal sacrifice.

Freedom, called moksha

What exactly is meant by moksha differs among the various Hindu schools of thought. For example, non-dualistic Advaita Vedanta holds that after attaining moksha an atman (a spirit) no longer identifies itself with a person, but that it is now Brahman in every way. The followers of dualistic (Dvaita) schools identify themselves as parts of Brahman. I would say Nimbarka's Vedanta school bridges those main schools.

In Hinduism, Jainism and Sikhism, the concept of moksha is akin to that of Buddhism's nirvana, and also Christianity's doctrine of salvation.

Iconography, symbolism

Hinduism has a developed system of symbolism and iconography to represent the sacred in art, architecture, literature and worship. Hinduism is laden with symbolism. Symbols illustrate deeper meanings from scriptures, mythology, or cultural traditions.

To remain in tune with the Real should work very well

As the All, Brahman (ultimate Reality, eternal Truth, etc.,) expresses as the universe and how the cosmos is naturally ordered by Law, Brahman is likewise reckoned with as a "hidden substance" of beings that emanate from itself and are in tune also.

The Great Goal of Awakening into Great Freedom

The ultimate goal of life, referred to as moksha, nirvana or samadhi, is understood in several different ways: as the realisation of one's union with God; as the realisation of one's eternal relationship with God; realisation of the unity of all existence, and more. The unifying idea is that soul-and-jiva-realisation liberates one from samsara and thus ends the cycle of rebirth.

Moreover, from ancient times Hinduism has set up four head goals in life. They are Dharma ("righteousness"), Artha ("livelihood, wealth"), Kama ("sensual pleasure") and Moksha ("liberation, freedom (from samsara)") sort of dances with the other three. (4)

Four classes and Untouchables

Hindu society is presently categorized into four classes, called varnas (Sanskrit: "colour, form, appearance"). Outcastes, also known as Untouchables, form a very large group outside of the Hindu castes, and are now formally referred to as the Scheduled Castes. There are over 160 million Untouchables today. The four Hindu castes:

1. the Sudras: servants and labourers.
2. the Vaishyas: farmers, merchants, and businessmen;
3. the Kshatriyas: warriors, nobles, and kings;
4. the Brahmins: teachers and priests;

3. No single founder, a large body of instructive texts, and ways of coping within one's good heritage or Dharma

In for Spirit or Soul

Smartas, like many Saivites and Vaishnavites, consider Surya, the Sun, to be a side to God, and that the spirit or soul - the true "self" of every person, called the atman - is eternal. Waking up to it � getting Enlightened � is the goal of good yogis. The goal of life, according to Advaita, is to realise one's atman - and how All-Atman is the same as Brahman. Upanishads state that whoever becomes fully aware of the atman as the innermost core of one's own self, realises identity with Brahman and thereby wins moksha (liberation or freedom, a state of great bliss).

There is no single founder of Hinduism. A large body of texts is classified as Hindu - divided into "revealed" and "remembered" texts. In some you get wide views like these:

You go downward when you get depraved

Samsara, the world with its rounds of births and deaths, provides temporary delights, whereas transcending the world of samsara and thereby gain moksha is believed to ensure lasting happiness and peace as Cosmic Spirit - Brahman/Paramatman. However, making the mistake of being worldly you have to fall again and again - and that includes such as falling into the rounds of perhaps untimely deaths and births, and even going downwards into lower forms of life - if you succumb to wicked ways and get skilled in wickedness to such a degree that you are turned into a creep of low existence, suffering hells in between births on earth. That is a general understanding of the dangers of rebirths where depravity and wickedness get you if you are not utterly on your guard. Compare Buddha's graphic doctrines on rebirths and karma: [Buddha on being born again and again]

Hindu hells, no places to stay . . .

But Buddhism, Hinduism and Christianity differ on fundamental beliefs on heaven, hell and reincarnation. From the Hindu and Buddhist perspectives, heaven and hell are only temporary. There is not any concept of a permanent hell. Permanent heaven or bliss on the other hand is "Moksha", Liberation in Self-Realisation.

A vast flood

Hinduism is a a conglomerate of ideas and issues of monotheism, polytheism, panentheism, pantheism, monism, atheism, agnosticism and gnosticism among others, integrating a variety of elements. As a religion, Hinduism is a composite of diverse doctrines, cults, and ways of life. Further, Hinduism has religious, social, economic, literary, and artistic sides to it. [WP, s.v. "Hinduism"].

Hinduism is both a civilization and a congregation of religious forms. Every attempt at a specific definition of Hinduism has proved unsatisfactory in one way or another. The finest scholars of Hinduism, including Hindus themselves, have emphasized different aspects of the whole.

Features

Hinduism has general features, and yet is like a wide flood with many currents in it. Yoga and Vedanta are thriving, appealing to lots of modern people. The main divisions of Hinduism today are Vaishnavism (Vishnuism), Shaivism ("Shiva-ism"), Smartism and Shaktism ("Prowess- ism"). There is also Folk Hinduism, Vedic Hinduism, Yogic Hinduism, especially that based on the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. "Dharmic (moral)" Hinduism of adjusting to explained laws of Karma.

Four life stages

Traditionally the life of a Hindu is divided into four phases or life stages.

• The first part of one's life, the stage as a student, is spent in building up knowledge.
• The householder's stage, in which one marries and satisfies the two life goals of lust and wealth in one's married and professional life. Moral obligations of a Hindu householder include supporting one's parents, children, guests and holy figures. It is considered a highly meritorious act for a householder to provide ascetics with food or other necessaries.
• The retirement stage is gradual detachment from the material world. This may involve giving over duties to one's children, spending more time in religious practices and choose to live more or less informally in a monastic setting of simplicity and deep meditation.
• The sanyasi (sanyasini), sadhu, or swami (ascetics and/or monks) Some live in monasteries, while others wander from place to place, quite indifferent to praise, among other things.

Revival

From the 1800s onwards, Hinduism was much revived through the efforts and teachings of individuals. Hindu philosophers, including Aurobindo and Prabhupada, translated, reformulated and presented versions of Hinduism's foundational texts for contemporary audiences. Others such as Vivekananda, have attracted awareness of Yoga and Vedanta in the West.

Festivals, pilgrimages

Hindus recognise several Indian holy cities. Pilgrimage is not mandatory in Hinduism. Hinduism has many festivals throughout the year. Hindu calendars prescribe their dates.

A variety of concepts

Hinduism is diverse, and its concepts of God and freedom (moksha) are many and complex and depends on the particular traditions and philosophies that use the concepts. (7)

Free from a lot, and free to a lot

A jivanmukti is said to be a free soul (liberated while in the body). Jiva-bliss is good if it serves the Self.

In Hindu dealings.

There is Supreme Brahman to reckon with in all one's dealings, also to oneself, but not everyone think of that.

Belief in retributions in life

Action, work, or deed, is essential, for it forms karma and the future fare, both in this life, the beyond, and in future lives - Karma as retributive influences involve the "law of cause and effect", and of redressing things too.

At bottom: the Vedas

The Rig Veda is one of the oldest religious texts, and the first and most important Veda. There are four Vedas.

What academics are up to: Categorise or classify

Academics categorize contemporary Hinduism into four major denominations: Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism � by the Smarta view. Denominations like Saura (Sun worship) are not so widespread.

(9) Gavin Flood says in An Introduction to Hinduism:

Hinduism is a term which denotes the religions of the majority of people in India and Nepal, and of some communities in other continents, who refer to themselves a 'Hindus' . . . the diversity of Hinduism is truly vast . . . Some might claim, both from within the tradition and from outside it, that because of this diversity there is 'no such thing as Hinduism', while others might claim that, in spite of its diversity, there is an 'essence' which structures or patterns its manifestations. The truth of the matter probably lies somewhere between these claims . . . and differences between Hindus might be as great as differences between Hindus and Buddhists or Christians (Flood 1996:5).

The view that Hinduism is hardly defined by certain properties, yet with prototypical forms of practice and beliefs without rigid boundaries. There are, rather, degrees of being a Hindu, and many forms of Hinduism, all of this with fuzzy edges. Some forms of religion are central to Hinduism, while others areless clearly central but still within the category, says Gavin Flood. (1996:6-7)

Flood also thinks that "what we understand by Hinduism as a religion partly depends on what we mean by 'religion'." In many world religions, the sacred regarded as divine power manifested in images, rituals, people, and temples, is part independently of conventional fervour in religion. According to Flood, the sacred in Hinduism is "mediated through innumerable, changings forms" (1996:8-9).

Up to the present

As for Hindus in Western countries, most Hindu sects do not seek converts.

And Hinduism has a history of co-existence with Buddhism and Jainism.

So -

Many rise by the art and craft of meditation and improve their living - To find yourself to be the Acme of all beings could be fully safe and decent: It is an old Upanishadic teaching. (Cf. Chandogya Upanishad)