Hinduism - the only Sanatan Dharma

"...हिंदू धर्म दुनिया में सबसे प्राचीन धर्म है. यह सनातन धर्म के रूप में भी जाना जाता है, जिसका मतलब है 'सत्य का अनन्त पथ' । वास्तव में यह दुनिया का एकमात्र धर्म है, जो धर्मान्तरण को बाध्य नहीं करता ।

यह एक धर्म से अधिक है, यह जीवन का एक रास्ता है । यह धर्म किसी इंसान द्वारा बनाया नहीं गया , किसी नबी द्वारा स्थापित नहीं किया गया ।इसका तो कोई मूल और कोई अंत नहीं है । यह स्वतंत्रता का धर्म है और अधिकांश अन्य धर्मों के विपरीत, यह विश्वास और पूजा की विधा की पूर्ण स्वतंत्रता की अनुमति देता है । वास्तव में, यह दुनिया में एक मात्र धर्म है, जो मनुष्य द्वारा अपनी इच्छा एवं विधि से सर्वशक्तिमान की अराधना के अधिकार को सम्मान देता है ।

हिंदू धर्म के इतिहास से साबित कर दिया है कि यह एक जीवंत शक्ति है । शत्रुतापूर्ण शासकों और विदेशी हमलावरों के प्रयत्नों के बाद भी यह निर्वासित नहीं है क्योंकि यह आत्म-अनुभव और आत्म - बोध का धर्म है । यह किसी भी हठधर्मिता अथवा नियमावली पे अंधविश्वास करने पर आधारित नहीं है अतः इसमें आस्तिकता को भी स्वीकार किया गया है । इसके बाद भी सनातन धर्म में सर्वशक्तिमान परमेश्वर की करीबी समझ और संबंध हैं ।.."
-डॉ सुब्रमनियन स्वामी , हिन्दू एकता दिवस , न्यू जर्सी

(Hinduism is the most Ancient religion in the world. It is also known as Sanatan Dharma, which means the eternal right path. In fact it is the only religion in the world, which does not encourage conversion.

It is more than a religion; it is a way of life. It is not a man made religion, founded or created by any prophet. It has no origin and no end. It is a religion of freedom and, unlike most other religions; it allows absolute freedom of one's faith and mode of worship. Indeed, it is the only religion in the world, which respects the right of people to realize the Almighty by their own free will.

The history of Hinduism has proved that it is a living force. Both hostile rulers and foreign aggressors could not banish it because it is a religion of self-experience and self-realization. It is not based on any dogmas or set of rules to be accepted with blind faith which is why atheism is accepted in it. Yet, Hinduism has a very close understanding of and relationship with the Almighty God."
_Dr. Subramanian Swamy , Hindu Unity Day, New Jersey)

(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwnZZlt7C_M)

Hindu concepts - Karma and Samsara

Karma and Samsara

Karma is a Sanskrit word whose literal meaning is 'action'. 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, will have good reactions or responses and bad actions, actions against dharma, will have the opposite effect.

In Hinduism karma operates not only in this lifetime but across lifetimes: the results of an action might only be experienced after the present life in a new life.

Hindus believe that human beings can create good or bad consequences for their actions and might reap the rewards of action in this life, in a future human rebirth or reap the rewards of action in a heavenly or hell realm in which the self is reborn for a period of time.

This process of reincarnation is called samsara, a continuous cycle in which the soul is reborn over and over again according to the law of action and reaction. At death many Hindus believe the soul is carried by a subtle body into a new physical body which can be a human or non-human form (an animal or divine being). The goal of liberation (moksha) is to make us free from this cycle of action and reaction, and from rebirth.

Hindu concepts - Varna

Varna

An important idea that developed in classical Hinduism is that dharma refers especially to a person's responsibility regarding class (varna) and stage of life (ashrama). This is called varnashrama-dharma. In Hindu history the highest class, the Brahmins, adhered to this doctrine. The class system is a model or ideal of social order that first occurs in the oldest Hindu text, the Rig Veda and the present-day caste (jati) system may be rooted in this. The four classes are:

• Brahmans or Brahmins - the intellectuals and the priestly class who perform religious rituals
• Kshatriya (nobles or warriors) - who traditionally had power
• Vaishyas (commoners or merchants) - ordinary people who produce, farm, trade and earn a living
• Shudras (workers) - who traditionally served the higher classes, including labourers, artists, musicians, and clerks

People in the top three classes are known as 'twice born' because they have been born from the womb and secondly through initiation in which boys receive a sacred thread as a symbol of their high status. Although usually considered an initiation for males it must be noted that there are examples of exceptions to this rule, where females receive this initiation.

The twice born traditionally could go through four stages of life or ashramas. The ashrama system is as follows:

• Brahmacarya - 'celibate student' stage in which males learned the Veda
• grihastha - 'householder' in which the twice born male can experience the human purposes (purushartha) of responsibility, wealth, and sexual pleasure
• Vanaprastha - 'hermit' or 'wilderness dweller' in which the twice born male retires from life in the world to take up pilgrimage and religious observances along with his wife
• Samnyasa - 'renunciation' in which the twice born gives up the world, takes on a saffron robe or, in some sects, goes naked, with a bowl and a staff to seek moksha (liberation) or develop devotion

Correct action in accordance with dharma is also understood as service to humanity and to God. The idea of what has become known as sanatana dharma can be traced back to the puranas. Those who adhere to this idea, addressing one’s eternal dharma or constitution, claim that it transcends other mundane dharmas – that it is the para dharma, the ultimate dharma. It is often associated with bhakti movements, who propose that we are all eternal servants of a personal Deity, thus advocating each act, word, and deed to be acts of devotion. In the 19th Century the concept of sanatana dharma was used by some groups to advocate a unified view of Hinduism.

Hindu concepts - Dharma

Dharma

Dharma is an important term in Indian religions. In Hinduism it means 'duty', 'virtue', 'morality', even 'religion' and it refers to the power which upholds the universe and society. Hindus generally believe that dharma was revealed in the Vedas although a more common word there for 'universal law' or 'righteousness' is rita. Dharma is the power that maintains society, it makes the grass grow, the sun shine, and makes us moral people or rather gives humans the opportunity to act virtuously.

But acting virtuously does not mean precisely the same for everyone; different people have different obligations and duties according to their age, gender, and social position. Dharma is universal but it is also particular and operates within concrete circumstances. Each person therefore has their own dharma known as sva-dharma. What is correct for a woman might not be for a man or what is correct for an adult might not be for a child.

The importance of sva-dharma is illustrated well by the Bhagavad Gita. This text, set before the great battle of the Mahabharata, depicts the hero Arjuna riding in his chariot driven by his charioteer Krishna between the great armies. The warrior Arjuna questions Krishna about why he should fight in the battle. Surely, he asks, killing one's relatives and teachers is wrong and so he refuses to fight.

Krishna assures him that this particular battle is righteous and he must fight as his duty or dharma as a warrior. Arjuna's sva-dharma was to fight in the battle because he was a warrior, but he must fight with detachment from the results of his actions and within the rules of the warriors' dharma. Indeed, not to act according to one's own dharma is wrong and called adharma.

Correct action in accordance with dharma is also understood as service to humanity and to God. The idea of what has become known as sanatana dharma can be traced back to the puranas - texts of antiquity. Those who adhere to this idea of one's eternal dharma or constitution, claim that it transcends other mundane dharmas - that it is the para dharma, the ultimate dharma of the self. It is often associated with bhakti movements, who link an attitude of eternal service to a personal deity.

Hindu concepts - Atman

1. Atman

Atman means 'eternal self'. The atman refers to the real self beyond ego or false self. It is often referred to as 'spirit' or 'soul' and indicates our true self or essence which underlies our existence.

There are many interesting perspectives on the self in Hinduism ranging from the self as eternal servant of God to the self as being identified with God. The understanding of the self as eternal supports the idea of reincarnation in that the same eternal being can inhabit temporary bodies.

The idea of atman entails the idea of the self as a spiritual rather than material being and thus there is a strong dimension of Hinduism which emphasises detachment from the material world and promotes practices such as asceticism. Thus it could be said that in this world, a spiritual being, the atman, has a human experience rather than a human being having a spiritual experience.

Hinduism - At a Glance

Introduction to Hinduism

Hinduism is the religion of the majority of people in India and Nepal. It also exists among significant populations outside of the sub continent and has over 900 million adherents worldwide.

In some ways Hinduism is the oldest living religion in the world, or at least elements within it stretch back many thousands of years. Yet Hinduism resists easy definition partly because of the vast array of practices and beliefs found within it. It is also closely associated conceptually and historically with the other Indian religions 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 often refer to Hinduism as 'a way of life' or 'a family of religions' rather than a single religion. 

Defining Hinduism

The term 'Hindu' was derived from the river or river complex of the northwest, the Sindhu. Sindhu is a Sanskrit word used by the inhabitants of the region, the Aryans in the second millennium BCE. Later migrants and invaders, the Persians in the sixth century BCE, the Greeks from the 4th century BCE, and the Muslims from the 8th century CE, used the name of this river in their own languages for the land and its people.

The term 'Hindu' itself probably does not go back before the 15th and 16th centuries when it was used by people to differentiate themselves from followers of other traditions, especially the Muslims (Yavannas), in Kashmir and Bengal. At that time the term may have simply indicated groups united by certain cultural practices such as cremation of the dead and styles of cuisine. The 'ism' was added to 'Hindu' only in the 19th century in the context of British colonialism and missionary activity.

The origins of the term 'hindu' are thus cultural, political and geographical. Now the term is widely accepted although any definition is subject to much debate. In some ways it is true to say that Hinduism is a religion of recent origin yet its roots and formation go back thousands of years.

Some claim that one is 'born a Hindu', but there are now many Hindus of non-Indian descent. Others claim that its core feature is belief in an impersonal Supreme, but important strands have long described and worshipped a personal God. Outsiders often criticise Hindus as being polytheistic, but many adherents claim to be monotheists.

Some Hindus define orthodoxy as compliance with the teachings of the Vedic texts (the four Vedas and their supplements). However, still others identify their tradition with 'Sanatana Dharma', the eternal order of conduct that transcends any specific body of sacred literature. Scholars sometimes draw attention to the caste system as a defining feature, but many Hindus view such practices as merely a social phenomenon or an aberration of their original teachings. Nor can we define Hinduism according to belief in concepts such as karma and samsara (reincarnation) because Jains, Sikhs, and Buddhists (in a qualified form) accept this teaching too.

Although it is not easy to define Hinduism, we can say that it is rooted in India, most Hindus revere a body of texts as sacred scripture known as the Veda, and most Hindus draw on a common system of values known as dharma.

• Hinduism originated around the Indus Valley near the River Indus in modern day Pakistan.
• About 80% of the Indian population regard themselves as Hindu.
• Most Hindus believe in a Supreme God, whose qualities and forms are represented by the multitude of deities which emanate from him.
• Hindus believe that existence is a cycle of birth, death, and rebirth, governed by Karma.
• Hindus believe that the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives and its next incarnation is always dependent on how the previous life was lived.
• The main Hindu texts are the Vedas and their supplements (books based on the Vedas). Veda is a Sanskrit word meaning 'knowledge'. These scriptures do not mention the word 'Hindu' but many scriptures discuss dharma, which can be rendered as 'code of conduct', 'law', or 'duty'
• Hindus celebrate many holy days, but the Festival of Lights, Diwali is the best known.
• The 2001 census recorded 559,000 Hindus in Britain, around 1% of the population.