Hinduism

Background
Hinduism is one of the worlds’ major religions. It is also one of the most ancient religions in the world. There’re over 720 million Hindus today. Most live in India, although a sizable population live in Nepal, Mauritius, Fiji, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Guyana, Indonesia (Bali) and a few other countries.
The ancient sages of India who discovered the spiritual truth s that constitute the basic Scriptures of Hinduism preferred to remain anonymous. Therefore Hinduism does not have a known founder. Those Scriptures are called the Vedas, which means knowledge.

Scope for Reason and Faith in Hinduism
Hindus are allowed to ask sincere questions or make honest inquiries about their religion. If they’ve doubts, they can express them without any fear. Such questioning is never considered sacrilegious.
All honest and sincere questions are addressed by Hinduism and rational answers given.
From this rational inquiry, Hinduism has been able to develop and accommodate init 6 major systems of philosophy.
While Hinduism encourages faith in its Holy Scriptures, it also gives full scope to reason out the truths contained in them

Importance of Spiritual Experience
Knowledge derived from genuine spiritual experience is given the utmost importance.
-One scripture says that immortality, the ultimate Spiritual goal of Hinduism, cannot be achieved by studying the Scriptures alone. – It has to be experienced.
-Experiential spiritual knowledge is given much more importance than mere theoretical knowledge

Six Major Systems of Philosophy
-There’re 6 major systems of Hindu philosophy.
-Sankhya
-Yoga
-Nyaya
-Vaisheshika
-Mimamsa
-Vedanta

GOD Hinduism believes in one God.

-It also accommodates the ideas of personal and impersonal god. They ‘re different aspects or expressions of the same Divine Reality.
-God in His impersonal aspect is called Nirguna Brahman, and in His personal aspect, He is called Saguna Brahman
-Saguna Brahman, who is the creator of this world, is omnipresent, all-knowing and all-powerful.
-Saguna Brahman, even though sexless, can be addressed and adored by Hindus as both Mother and Father.
-Creation, preservation, and destruction go hand- in-hand in this world.
-Saguna Brahman is not just the creator, but the preserver and destroyer also.
-The creator aspect of Saguna Brahman is called Brahma; the preserver aspect, Vishu; and the destroyer aspect Shiva or Maheshwara
-These 3 form the so-called Hindu Trinity.
-Different powers or glories of God are personified through imagination and called Dieties in Hinduism.
-Deities are not so many gods – they’re personified expressions of the different powers and glories of the one and only God.
-Hinduism believes that out of compassion for His creatures, God incarnates on earth in tangible form and becomes part of history.
-A Divine Incarnation is called an Avatara.
-In Hinduism there can be many divine Incarnations.
-Whenever virtue declines an irreligion prevails. God incarnates on earth to revitalize religion and save the righteous.
-Some Hindus worship God through images.
-As God is intangible, tangible symbols of god, or images, are used by Hindus to establish mental communion with God.
-A Hindu who adores and worships God through images is fully aware that the images are not God Himself.
-They’re only aids to God realization

There are nine basic requirements

nThere are nine basic requirements that a Hindu should be aware of and follow. Personal discipline, good conduct, self-inquiry and meditation are important. Here briefly are the nine beliefs of Hinduism.
n(Source: From ‘Dancing with Siva’, by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami)
1.Belief in the divinity of Vedas.
2.The Supreme Being is both immanent and transcendent, thus both a Creator and Un-manifest Reality.
3.The universe is in an endless cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution.
4.One creates his own destiny by his thoughts, deeds and words. This law of cause and effect is called the Karma.
5. Every soul evolves through a series of births and deaths (janma and punar-janma) until all karmas have been resolved. The cycle of many births (samsara) is the opportunity to shed the effects of karma in order to attain liberation (moksha) form the eternal cycle. Not a single soul is deprived of this destiny.
6. Belief in the existence of divine beings in unseen worlds. Temple worship, rituals, sacraments as well as personal devotions create a communion with the devas and God.
7. A master or a guru is essential to follow the right path to know the Transcendent Absolute.
8. All forms of life are sacred and are to be loved and revered. All must follow the practice of ‘non-injury’ or ahimsa.
9. No one particular religion teaches the ‘only pathway’ to salvation. All genuine religious paths are facets of God’s Light and Love, deserving tolerance and understanding.