AgDragon's Hinduism Page

Hinduism is an ancient world religion, predating the birth of Christ by many thousands of years (>3000 years). There is no creed, no centralized hierarchy (like the Paupism). In general, most Hindus do believe a number of things:

The divinity of the Vedas-- a Hindu religious text.
The existance of a Divine being, although the Divine can be manifest differently.
The Universe and everything within goes through cycles of life, death, and rebirth.
Karma-- the belief that all actions have cause and effect.
All life is sacred.
No particular religion is the way.

(Modified from Dancing with Siva by Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami)

Holy Texts

There are many holy texts for a religion as large as this.

The Rig Veda is a divinely-inspired text of hymns. It is also the oldest religious literature in the world. There are other Vedas which include explanations of the hymns, their mythology, and ritual applications.
The Upanishads are teachings from a Guru, and there are 108 of these books.
Many more religious writings are found (as might be expected for a religion this diverse and long-lasted), but the book that might be considered the "bible" of Hinduism for many Hindus is the Bhagavad Gita. This is basically the essence of the Upanishads and is in the form of a conversation between warrior and Lord Krishna.

The Yogas

There are six doctrinal systems which lead to release from the Wheel. These six include Nyaya (logic), Vaisheskika (understanding nature), Sankhya (isolating matter from soul), Yoga (practice of moral code), Mimamsa, and Vedanta. Yoga is probably the one system most Westerners are familiar with.

Bhakti Yoga: attachment/devotion to God. This yoga emphasises the total self-surrender to God. (This has been popularized by Hare Krishnas.)
Karma Yoga: actions. This yoga is emphasises freedom through selfless actions. An adherent to Karma Yoga does not necessarily have to believe in the Divine.
Raja Yoga: union with the devine. This is the Yoga that most Westerners are familiar with. It entails meditation, breath control, and other practices which remove one from the day-to-day life and concentrates one's mind towards union with the Divine.

Where to go from here?

Now that you are probably more confused than ever, I'll leave you with a list of links that may help clear things up. Please remember that it is difficult to boil a large religion down to one page.

Overview of Hinduism is a much better introduction to Hinduism than I can give.
The Hindu Universe: An excellent source for all types of Hindu information.
How to become a Hindu: Where to get more information.
What every Hindu ought to know by a Hindu monk.
Life Force News Magazine is a publication about Yoga, Vegetarianism, and the like.
And the list goes on...

Back to AgDragon's Survey of World Religions.

"The views and opinions expressed in this page are strictly those of the page author. The contents of this page have not been reviewed or approved by The University of Alabama"