[Introduction][Gods in Hinduism][Hindu Mysticism][Summary of Hindu Beliefs]
[Five Obligations of All Hindus][Witnessing to the Hindus]

Introduction

There are approximately 700 million Hindus, mainly in India and Nepal.  Hinduism is in some respect similar to Christianity in that there is a belief in an after-life, belief that death is not the end of existence, belief in the philosophy that service to others is better than serving oneself.  But, Hinduism is also very different  from Christianity, for there is belief in reincarnation, belief in multiple gods, idol worship, and most importantly belief that salvation can be achieved through one's own efforts without the need for a Savior.  A good introduction to beliefs in Hinduism can be found here, with an explanation contained below.

Hindu Scriptures are broadly classified into Shruti (meaning 'heard'), Smriti (meaning 'remembered') and nyaya (meaning 'logic') based upon the mode of origin.  Thus, shruti scripture comes from that which was heard directly from the gods by the sages, whereas smriti refers to that which was written down and remembered.  Naturally, Shruti is considered more authoritative than smriti as the former is believed to have been directly expressed to people from god and thus does not require interpretation.  Vedas constitute shruti whereas the rest are known a smriti.

The Vedas are shruti and stem from the ancient spiritual experiences of the ancient seers.  Vedas are believed to be timeless and eternal wisdom for all peoples in all ages.  There are four vedas; Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva.  Each veda consists of sections; namely, Samhita (the hymns), Brahmana (significance of the humns), Aranyakas (interpretations), and Vedanta (upanishads which are metaphysical dialogs).  Upanishads are called Vedanta as they expound upon the spiritual essence of the Vedas.  Generally, they are found at the end of the Vedas and they represent a philosophical understand of what occurred earlier.  There are 1180 upanishads, and 108 of them are considered genuine, while 11 of them are the most significant or "major" upanishads.  Upanishads mean "to sit down near" because they were explained to students at the feet of their teachers.

Vedanta, the basis of Hinduism, assert that Brahman - the 'impersonal' god - and the universal soul, is the Absolute Truth.  Brahman is the creator, the maintainer, and the destroyer of all things.  This can be viewed as the origin of the trinity of gods; Brahma (creator), Vishnu (sustainer), and Shiva) destroyer).  Vedanta states that the individual human soul (jita-atman) originates and will eventually merge with Brahman.  An understanding of the practice of vendanta in daily life can be found here.  The vedanta philosophy is based upon two assumptions.  First, that the real human nature is divine, and second that the purpose of human life is to discover this divinity within oneself.  The vedantist would say that to an ordinary person who has not realized his destiny, his perception of the world is not real - not correct.  The world that we perceive through our corrupted senses is not the real world of the divine.  The only thing that is truly real is that which is supreme, called Brahman.  Brahman is beyond the senses, and hence not detectable by any scientific means.   Within every person is an essential divine nature - Atman, or "God Immanent", and it is our primary goal in life according to this philosophy to realize this inate divinity.  But in order to realize this destiny of our divine nature - that we are all divine - we are all part of a greater whole and not separate individuals.  This is at the core of Hinduism; that we lose our individual consciousness (ego), aspirations, goals, and even identity and instead realize that our destiny is to be at one with God.  Thus, it is through repudiation of the world and all its distractions for the realization and cultivation of our inner divinity that we become separate from the world and united with God through our own divinity.  To the Hindu, every action must be judged as to whether it will help one become freer, less egoistic (individual), and more in connection with one's inner divinity; or whether the action would instead make us more worldly and less cognizant of our inner divinity.  Happiness cannot be gained through our own individual actions in this world.  Failures certainly bring sufferings, but also successes it is argued also bring suffering as each success only leads to more struggles.  The vedantic would argue that only through repudiation of the concept of "success" and "failure" is it possible to achieve true inner happiness by connecting with our own alleged inner divinity.  There is a mystic group in Christianity which attempts to align their lives rigorously with the perceived will of God by denying everything that is physical or carnal.  This might be called a "mystic union" to the Christian, or "Samadhi" to the Hindu.  Once this mystical union has been obtained, then all questions become answered.

Those who are Hindu would argue that out inability to achieve this mystical union with God is due to our own ego - or "pride" to frame in Christian terminology.  We don't pursue the reality of our inherent need for this union and so we don't find it.  Rather, Western man is accused of looking in the wrong places for satisfaction; to learning, degrees, temporal success, etc.  What we have discovered is that these worldly affairs do not lead to happiness; rather, they lead to exactly the opposite - a feeling of being defeated and unfulfilled.  We are ignorant of our own real destiny to find this reunion because we reflect the society in which we live.  Our own ego and familiarity with things of this world impede our progress toward God.  If one fails to achieve samadhi in this life, then a person is reborn (reincarnated) back into this world in a form based upon the fruits of the actions in his previous birth.  Thus, if you were virtuous (yet failed to achieve samadhi), then your rebirth might be to a noble family or circumstances.  Otherwise, if your life was marked by cruelty and ignorance, then your rebirth might be to a lower human circumstance - or even worse, to another animal entirely.  Your rebirth state depends upon your karma - or your personal balance sheet of good and evil.  In some respects, this concept is similar to the Christian idea of the harvest: you reap what you sow.  However, tot he Hindu, your rewards are not meted out in heaven, but rather in the state of your next birth.  Unfortunately, this concept can lead to a kin of social Darwinism, whereby poor people in difficult circumstances deserve to be there because of what they might have done in a previous life.  Alternatively, those with wealth, power, and prestige probably are inherently deserving of their situation because of the good deeds they have done previously.  Finally, it is possible to escape this endless cycle of death and rebirths by achieving samadhi.  Once this is achieved, then you have achieved union with the Creator and escape rebirth.

The Hindu view of "sin" is also fundamentally different from that held by the Christian.  Sin for the Christian is any act which leads us away from God.  To the Hindu vedantist, sin is that which results in an alienation of the reality within us - from our eventual union with God.  The Christian has only this one lifetime to find God; otherwise, he is under eternal condemnation.  According to the Hindu, placing so much importance upon the concept of sin by relating it to the Eternal Father, may lead to self loathing and despair.  The Hindu concept that sin is that which alienates us from samadhi or knowledge of and commune with the divine within us may not induce the believer to live virtuously since he has millions of reincarnations in the future - future chances to achieve samadhi.  But, both religions agree that sin is fundamentally an alienation from reality; they only differ as to the nature of this reality.

To the Hindu, reality is within; it is separate from the world for the world's pleasures and riches are only an illusion.  They would argue, as would most Christians, that it is better to be at one with God than to have all the riches of the world.  To the Hindu, however, achieving this oneness with God is done through escaping the "false" reality of this world and all its distractions.  Thus, he would denounce physical pleasures as distractions from his main goal in life to achieve this unity.  In order to achieve this union, the Hindu must separate himself from the world.  In order to realize your "real" self, you must discard your perceived self - the ego.  This requires much effort because our possessive attitudes toward ourselves need to be overcome.  You must stop taking credit for successes as well as bemoan the failures to be freed from the false "highs and lows" of life.  The Hindu would say that you must work as a service to others, and think of the mind and body as an instrument toward this end.  Work then becomes an act of worship, and the motive for worship is love.  In order to achieve this end and come to terms with this philosophy, it is necessary to meditate upon your inner self and upon these "truths." - all attachments which bind you to the world should be dropped, and every thought and every action must be judged from the standpoint as to whether this thought or action will help make you freer, less egoistic, and more aware of the inner reality.  The Vedantist would argue that all our actions become more "pure" as there is nothing to be gained or lost from these actions for the individual, but rather they become an act of worship.

It is the primary challenge of our existence to realize this samadhi.  If this cannot be achieved during life, the vedantist says that a a person is then reborn (reincarnated) in this world into a position that is based upon the fruits of his actions in his previous birth.  In this philosophy, every action that you do in this life makes an impression on our minds (called samskaras), and this action then is repeated, form habits, and finally our character.  Karms is from the sanskrit word, "kri" meaning 'to do'.  Karma is an action, work, or deed; but no only physical actions, but also mental actions, both conscious and subconscious actions.  Karma is of three types: Sanchita (karma from our past lives), prarabdha (karma resulting from our past actions or karma in motin), and akamya (karma generated from current actions and thoughts.  This last karma represents "free will" since while we cannot change our past actions or the fruits we might have resulting from these actions, we can change our current actions.  When the state of samadhi is achieved, there is no karma, and a person who achieves this state incurs no karma and no future births.  It is within all of our abilities to achieve this state, to be freed from the eternal cycle of rebirths; otherwise, our current deeds (and misdeeds) will be carried over into the next life.  To avoid karma and hence continuous rebirths, one has to perform actions selflessly without worrying about the fruits of these actions, and doing this in the service of the Divine.  The person who fails to achieve this selfless behavior may become rich and successful in this life, but the reward is just material, impermanent, and separates them from realizing the true reality.

Gods in Hinduism

There are three main gods in Hinduism; Lord Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva.  Brahma is not worshipped and there are very few temples in India in his honor.  Vishnu (and the incarnations of him - Rama and Krishna), Shiva (and his various forms) and their wives are honored by temples. The wives of Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva are Saraswati, Laxmi, and Parvati respectively.  Collectively, they are sometimes referred to as the "Divine Mother").  Two of Parvati's fierce and very powerful forms are Durga and Kali.  The sons of Shiva, Ganesha and Kartikeya (or Muruga) are also widely worshipped.

The above deities are worshipped (Puja), represented by an idol of gold, silver, bronze, or clay.  Those who canont afford these idols might worship a pictorial representation  Before the puja, the worshipper bathes to signify outer purification.  Mantras are recited for inner purification, and generally flowers are used.  Flowers smell - called vasaana.  Vasaana is another name for the imprintes in the jiba, or the flavor/smell of our own personality, habits, etc.  Flowers are picked up with the right hand and the fingers are pointed downward so the flowers will fall at the feet of the idol.  The five fingers represent the five senses; the senses which are normally used for pleasure, are now symbolically surrendered to the feet of the god being worshipped.  Thus, for the Hindu offering flowers, one symbolically is saying, 'I am offering to you my senses, attributes, character.'

Hindu Mysticism

The Hindu believes that current reality is in fact an illusion.  It is impossible to achieve oneness with the Creator by clinging on to the world.  Rather, one must achieve union by letting go of one's thoughts and redirecting you attention inward.  You can then become transformed by being reborn into a union with the Creator thereby escaping the endless cycles of death and reincarnation.

These concepts are illustrated through sacred Hindu writings as indicated below:

a.    There is a reality beyond the current, physical world that;

    i.    Is uncreated,

"...the beginningless Brahman ... can be called neither being nor nonbeing.  It is both near and far, both within and without every creature; it moves and is unmoving.  In its subtlety it is beyond comprehension.  it is indivisible, yet appears divided in separate creatures.  Know it to be the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer.  Dwelling in every heart, it is beyond darkness.  It is called the light of lights, the object and goal of knowledge, and knowledge itself."  (Bhagavad Gita 13:12).

"Just as a reservoir is of little use when the whole countryside is flooded, scriptures are of little use to the illuminated man or woman who sees the Lord everywhere."  (BG 2:46).
"After many births the wise seek refuge in me, seeing me everywhere and in everything.  Such great souls are very rare." (BG 7:19)

"The ignorant think the self can be known by the intellect, but the illuminated know he is beyond the duality of the knower and the known." (Kena Up. 2:3).

"Bright but hidden, the Self dwells in the heart.  Everything that moves, breathes, opens, and closes lives in the Self.  He is the source of love and may be known through love but not through thought.  He is the goal of life.  Attain this goal!" (Mundaka Up. Part 2, 2:1).

    i.    Distinguishing your True Self from your Ego (your worldly self),

"In this world there are two orders of being: the perishable, separate create and the changeless spirit.  But beyond these there is another, the supreme Self, the eternal Lord, who enters into the entire cosmos and supports it from within.

I am that supreme Self, praised by the scriptures as beyond the changing and the changeless.  Those who see in me that supreme Self see truly.  They have found the source of all wisdom ... and they worship me with all their heart."  (BG 15:18-19)

"...knowledge is hidden by selfish desire - hidden by this unquenchable fire for self-satisfaction." (BG 43:38-9).

"They are forever free who renounce all selfish desires and break away form the ego-cage of "i", "me", and "mine" to be united with the Lord.  This is the supreme state.  Attain to this, and pass from death to immortality."  (BG 2:71).

"In the secret cave of the heart, two are seated by life's fountain,
The separate ego drinks of the sweet and bitter stuff,
Liking the sweet, disliking the bitter,
While the supreme Self drinks sweet and bitter,
Neither liking this nor disliking that.
The ego gropes in darkness, while the Self lives in light."  (Katha Up. Part 1, 3:1).

"You have the right to work, but never to the fruit of the work.  You should never engage in action for the sake of reward, nor should you long for inaction."  (BG 2:47).

"...Those who are motivated only by desire for the fruits of action are miserable, for they are constantly anxious about the results of what they do."  (BG 2:49).

"Whatever you do, make it an offering to me - the food you eat, the sacrifices you make, the help you give, even your sufferings.  In this way you will be freed form the bondage of karma, and from its results both pleasant and painful.  Then, firm in renunciation and yoga, with your heart free, you will come to me."  (BG 9:27-28).

"Realizing that from which all words turn back and thoughts can never reach, one knows the bliss of Brahmana and fears no more."  (Taittiriya Up. 2:4:1).

"Brahman is beyond all duality, beyond the reach of thinker and thought."  (Tajabindu Up. 6).

"Make your mind one-pointed in meditation, and your heart will be purified...With all fears dissolved in the peace of the Self and all desires dedicated to Brahman, controlling the mind and fixing it on me (God), sit in meditation with me as your only goal.  With senses and mind constantly controlled through meditation, united with the Self within, an aspirant attains nirvana, the state of abiding joy and peace in me."  (BG 6:12-15).

"Those who set their hearts on me and worship me with unfailing devotion and faith are more established in yoga.

As for those who seek the transcendental Reality, without name, without form, contemplating the Unmanifested, beyond the reach of thought and of feeling, with their senses subdued and mind serene and striving for the good of all beings, they too will verily come unto me.

Yet hazardous and slow is the path to the Unrevealed, difficult for physical man to tread.  But they for whom I am the supreme goal, who do all work renouncing self for me and meditate on me with single-hearted devotion, these I will swiftly rescue from the fragment's cycle of birth and death, for their consciousness has entered into me."  (BG 12:1-7).

"I got this today," they say; "tomorrow I shall get that.  this wealth is mine, and that will be mine too.  I have destroyed my enemies.  I shall destroy others too!  Am I not like God?  I enjoy what I want.  I am successful.  I am powerful.  I am happy.  I am rich and well-born.  Who is equal to me? I will perform sacrifices and give gifts, and rejoice in my own generosity."  This is how they go on, deluded by ignorance.  Bound by their greed and entangled in a web of delusion, whirled about by a fragmented mine, they fall into a dark hell.

Self-important, obstinate, swept away by the pride of wealth, they ostentatiously perform sacrifices without any regard for their purpose.  Egotistical, violent, arrogant, lustful, angry, envious of everyone, they abuse my presence within their own bodies and in the bodies of others."  (BG 16:13-18).

"The mantram is the bow, the aspirant is the arrow, and the Lord the target.  Now draw the bowstring of meditation, and hitting the target be one with him."  (Mundaka Up, Part 2, 2:4).

"When the whole mantram ... goes on reverberating in the mind, One is freed from fear, awake or asleep ... Established in this cosmic vibration, the sage goes beyond fear, decay, and death to enter into infinite peace."  (Prashna Up. Question 5: 6-7).

"Once consciousness has been successfully doubled back upon itself, this power begins to operate and leads the [spiritual aspirant] toward the Ultimate.  When the [spiritual aspirant] has reached this stage, he has become a vira, a spiritual hero, who is able to unite with the Goddess.  He is the one who is able to surrender gracefully, completely, and effortlessly to that [inward] motion of the Heart, the gravitational pull of consciousness on itself, which plunges him back into the depths of the ocean of consciousness."  (Abhinavagupta p. 174).

a.  Hindus believe in the divinity of the Vedas; the world's most ancient scripture, as well as the Agamas, primordial hymns.  The eternal Hindu religion has neither beginning nor end.
b.  Hindus believe in a one, all-pervasive Supreme Being who is both immanent and transcendent, both Creator and Unmanifest Reality.
c.  Hindus believe that the universe undergoes endless cycles of creation, preservation, and dissolution.
d.  Hindus believe in karma, the law of cause and effect by which each individual creates his own destiny by his thoughts, words, and deeds.
e.  Hindus believe that the soul reincarnates, evolving through many births until all karmas have been resolved, and moksha, spiritual knowledge and liberation from the cycle of rebirth, is attained.  Not a single soul will be eternally deprived of this destiny.
f.  Hindus believe that divine beings exist in unseen worlds and that temple worship, rituals, sacraments, as well as personal devotionals create a communion with these devas and Gods.
g.  Hindus believe that a spiritually awakened master, or satguru, is essential to know the Transcendent Absolute, as are personal discipline, good conduct, purification, pilgrimage, self-inquiry, and meditation.
h.  Hindus believe that all life is sacred, to be loved and revered, and therefore practice ahimsa, "noninjury."
i.  Hindus believe that no particular religion teaches the only way to salvation above all others, but that all genuine religious paths are facets of God's Pure Love and Light, deserving tolerance and understanding.

Five Obligations of all Hindus

a.  Worship (upasana).  Young Hindus are taught daily worship in the family shrine room - rituals, disciplines, chants, yogas, and religious study.
b.  Holy days (utsava).  Young Hindus are taught to participate in Hindu festivals and holy days in the home and temple.  They learn to be happy through sweet communion with God at such celebrations.  Utsava includes fasting and attending the temple on Monday or Friday, as well as on other holy days.
c.  Virtuous living (dharma).  Young Hindus are taught to live a life of duty and good conduct.  They learn to be selfless by thinking of others first, being respectful of parents, elders, and swamis.
d.  Pilgrimage (tirthayatra).  Young Hindus are taught the value of pilgrimage and are taken at least once a year for darnana of holy persons, temples, and places, near or far.  They learn to be detached by setting aside worldly affairs and making God, Gods, and gurus life's singular focus during these journeys.
e.  Rites of passage (samskara).  Young Hindus are taught to observe the many sacraments which mark and sanctify their passages through life.  These rites are: birth, name-giving, head-shaving, first feeding, ear-piercing, first learning, coming of age, marriage, and death.

Witnessing to Hindus

Witnessing to the Hindu can be very difficult since the average American has so little understanding of the Hindu faith.  Also, Hinduism is very diverse with many Hindus having different customs and even beliefs.  As with any witnessing effort, however, the first arguments have to be about the historicity of the Bible; once that has been established, then it is possible to discuss individual doctrines of Christianity as they are found in the Scriptures.  Hindus generally believe that there are many paths back to God, one of them being through Christianity.  Jesus was a great teacher, but was not divine in the sense that Christians believe.  Additionally, Hindus believe in reincarnation, and generally reject the concept of the Resurrection.  Finally, it is important to recognize that there is a subset of Hinduism which is very fundamentalist which regards Christianity as an enemy to their faith.

Hinduism is another works based religion, believing that ultimately the responsibility for achieving union with the inner Reality is through the works of the individual.  It is up to each person, possibly with the help of a guru or master, to achieve their personal "salvation" through identification with their inner Reality. Hinduism believes that man is basically good if only they can discard their ego self and recognize their ultimate potential.  There is no real need for the intervention of deity in this quest as success is primarily the responsibility of man.  Purification can be ultimately achieved, although it may take many - perhaps even millions - of lives.  Creation to the Hindu has had no beginning - it is infinitely old.  Our own personal Universe might have an age, but there have been an infinite number of such Universes dating back an infinite period of time.  There is ample time for purification of man's soul as there are an infinite number of Universes yet to be created and destroyed.

For the Hindu, there is no absolute right or wrong.  Each person's dharma is different and is to be discovered through a mystical journey of self-discovery and mystical journey of union with Brahman - the universal soul.  In contrast, Christ claimed to be the 'light of the world' (John 8:12) whose life exposed the evil of mankind.  For the Hindu, heaven is a mystical state of oneness between their own Atman [individual soul] with the Universal Soul.  Christ taught that being in heaven is to dwell forever in His Father's house of 'many mansions' - we will not be all amalgamated together into one large Universal Soul and lose our own individual identity.

Personal experience and the experience of history shows, however, that mankind is not intrinsically good - rather, we all have an evil core.  As the Bible says, the heart of man is desperately wicked, and our best intentions and thoughts are as filthy rags before Almighty God.  It is only through the purification of our souls with the imputed righteousness of Christ that we can achieve salvation and return to God.  The acceptance of the gift of salvation that God has given us through the death, burial and resurrection of Christ through no work of our own, is the greatest gift possible that we could never hope to earn through any work of our own.

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