All three are aspects of Brahman. Time is not a straight line. Instead there are eternal cycles with universes being created, existing and dying, followed by recreation, existence and death. There is no beginning and no end. This is mirrored in the belief in reincarnation. Creation stories - continued What accounts of the origins of the universe are found in Hinduism? Brahma separated the flower into three parts - the heavens, the Earth and the sky.
Hinduism is a religion with various Gods and Goddesses. According to Hinduism, three Gods rule the world. Brahma: the creator; Vishnu: the preserver and Shiva: the destroyer. Lord Vishnu did his job of preserving the world by incarnating himself in different forms at times of crisis.
The three Lords that rule the world have consorts and they are goddesses too. Consort of Brahma is Sarasvati; goddess of learning. Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi; goddess of wealth and prosperity. Shiva's consort is Parvati who is worshipped as Kali or Durga. Besides these Gods and Goddesses there are a number of other Gods and Goddesses.
The Hindus call their Goddesses 'Ma' meaning mother. Some gods have more than one name. Shiva is also known as Shankar, Mahadev, Natraj, Mahesh and many other names. Ganesh is also called Ganpati.
God Vishnu incarnated 9 times to do his job and in his every appearance he had a different form which are also worshipped as Gods. Krishna also has different names, Gopal; Kishan; Shyam and other names. He also has other titles with meanings like 'Basuri Wala' which means the flute musician and 'Makhan Chor' which means the butter stealer.
There are also Gods who can change their forms, for example: Parvati can change into Kali or Durga. Not all of these Gods are worshiped by all Hindus. Some Hindus worship only Vishnu. Others worship only Shiva. Others worship only the Goddesses and call these Goddesses collectively as Shakti meaning strength.
Many of these Goddess worshipers worship Parvati in her images as Kali or Durga. People who worship Shiva or Vishnu also worship characters and images connected with these Gods. Vishnu worshipers Vaishnaites also worship his appearances. Shiva's worshipers Shaivites also worship images of bull called Nandi, who was Shiva's carrier and a unique stone design connected to Shiva. There are also Hindus who worship all the Gods.
There are some Gods who are worshiped all over India like Rama and Krishna and other Gods who are worshiped more in one region than the other like Ganesh who is worshiped mainly in west India. Hindus also worship Gods according to their personal needs. People who engage in wrestling, body building and other physical sports worship Hanuman, who in Hindu legends was an ape with lot of physical strength. Businessmen worship Lakshmi, Goddess of wealth. Though these Hindus worship different idols, there are many Hindus who believe in one God and perceive in these different Gods and Goddesses as different images of the same one God.
According to their beliefs idolatry is the wrong interpretation of Hinduism. Hindus believe in reincarnation. The basic belief is that a person's fate is determined according to his deeds.
These deeds in Hinduism are called 'Karma'. A soul who does good Karma in this life will be awarded with a better life in the next incarnation. Souls who do bad Karma will be punished for their sins, if not in this incarnation then in the next incarnation and will continue to be born in this world again and again. The good souls will be liberated from the circle of rebirth and get redemption which is called 'Moksha' meaning freedom. Hindus normally cremate their dead ones, so that the soul of the dead would go to heaven, except in a few cases of Hindu saints, who are believed to have attained 'Moksha'.
The main Hindu books are the four Vedas. The concluding portions of the Vedas are called Upanisads. There are also other holy books like Puranas, Ramayana, Mahabharta etc. The different Gods and Goddesses in the Hindu mythology are derived from these books. Ramayana and Mahabharta are the most popular Hindu books.
The main story of Ramayana is the story of Lord Rama. Rama was born in a royal family and was suppose to be the king, but because of his step- mother, he was forced to exile from his kingdom for fourteen years. During this period his consort Sita was kidnapped by a demon called Ravan, who was king of Lanka.
Rama with the help of his brother, Lakshman, and an army of monkeys under the leadership of Hanuman, rescued Sita. Many Indians believe that the present day Sri Lanka was then the kingdom of Lanka. Mahabharta is a family epic. In this epic the Pandva family and the Kaurav family who are cousins fight with each other for the control over a kingdom.
Kaurav family, which consisted of brothers rule an empire. The five Pandva brothers ask for a small kingdom which belongs to them. The Kauravs refuse to give the Pandvas the kingdom so there is a war between the Pandvas and the Kauravs in which it is believed that all the kingdoms of that period in India took part. In this war the Pandvas, with the help of Lord Krishna win the war. Before the commencement of the war, while the two armies are facing each other, one of the Pandva brothers Arjun gets depressed.
Arjun is depressed because he has to fight against people whom he knows, loves and respects. At this point Krishna, who was also a king of a kingdom, and participated in this war only as the chariot driver for Arjun convinces Arjun to fight. Krishna lectures Arjun about life, human beings and their religious duties.
He explains to Arjun that he belongs to a warrior caste and he has to fight for that's his destination in this incarnation. Those chapters in the Mahabharta which are Krishna's discourses on religious philosophy are called Bhagvad Gita. Because of it's importance the Bhagvad Gita is considered as a separate holy book. In the wars that occur in the holy books, as in Mahabharta, the different sides had different war weapons which had characters similar to modern day war weapons.
In some stories the traveling vehicles were normally birds and animals. But these animals and birds had features similar to modern day aircrafts. There were even aircrafts with over velocity of light. The main war weapons were bows and arrows. But these arrows were more like modern missiles than simple arrows. These arrows were capable of carrying bombs with destructive power similar to modern day chemical, biological or even atom bombs. Other arrows could be targeted on specific human beings.
There were even arrows capable of neutralizing other arrows, similar to modern day anti-missiles. Hindus have many holy places. Badrinath, Puri, Dwarkha and Rameshwaram are four holiest places for the Hindus.
Some rivers are also holy to them. Another holy river is Sarasvati and it is invisible. Hindus also worship and respect some animals and birds like cobra, apes, peacocks and cow. Hindus also respect some trees and bush trees.
The famous and the most respected bush tree is Tulsi. Some of the Hindu customs, which exist or existed, do not have their bearing in Hindu scriptures but became part of Hinduism in different ways and fashion. For example, the Hindus see in cow a sacred animal. Religiously there is no reason to see cow as sacred and it is believed that cows were made 'sacred' to prevent their slaughter during periods of droughts and hunger.
Cobra worship also is not found in Hindu scripts. This custom became part of Hinduism when some Indian tribes who use to worship cobra adopted Hinduism.
Burning of the widow on the dead husband's pyre also has no religious justification. This custom, outlawed in , was probably brought to India by the Scythians invaders of India. Among the Scythians it was a custom to bury the dead king with his mistresses or wives, servants and other things so that they could continue to serve him in the next world. When these Scythians arrived in India, they adopted the Indian system of funeral, which was cremating the dead.
And so instead of burying their kings and his servers they started cremating their dead with his surviving lovers. The Scythians were warrior tribes and they were given a status of warrior castes in Hindu religious hierarchy.
The different castes who claimed warrior status or higher also adopted this custom. There are four castes in Hindu religion arranged in a hierarchy. The highest caste is Brahman, and they are the priest caste of Hinduism. After them are the Kshatria, who are the warrior castes. After them are the Vaishya caste , who are business people.
And after them are the Sudra, who are the common peasants and workers. Below these four castes there are casteless, the untouchables. The four castes were not allowed to have any physical contact with the untouchables. Each caste is divided into many sub-castes.
The religious word for caste is Varna and for sub-caste Jat or Jati. But sometimes in English the term caste is used in both cases. Religiously, people are born in a caste and it cannot be changed. There are 2 other terms — Dharma and Adharma; Punya and Paapa.
Core tenets I see are: 1. Brahman is absolute truth and it forms an absolute derivative of itself, called Atma Not strictly the same idea as Soul.
Atma has consciousness and Brahman has universal consciousness no space-time-context limitation. Atma takes the body to enhance its limited consciousness towards the eternal Atma Gyana. In this process, the Atma takes many births with a material body to achieve divinity. The universe is driven by this.
Every life form is mandated to Karma tasks to survive and to enhance its consciousness. Sinful actions eg. Every life form Atma has an equal and voluntary capacity to attain Brahman. There are no special people in Hinduism. A free-will determines what everyone chooses to do with their life. Karmic theory determines where the move to. Krishna was questioned in his lifetime and continues to be interrogated today.
Numerous examples showcase this eg Kabir, Surdas, Sankaracharya, Valmiki, etc. Humans are given choice to determine their path of enhancement. There are no wrong or right approaches. That is why there are so many diverse religions embedded within Hinduism. So many Gods and rituals. I started reading this article followed by comments of different people to know the answer for the basic questions.
The motionless things are perceived to be dead. Can life be categorised as Active or inactive or there is a different meaning of life in spiritual and religious terms. LIFE — even after the creation of synthetic life forms, is undefined. It is cyclically described. Life is consciousness — Then the problem shifts to what is consciousness There are two other terms defying definitions or evidence in modern science.
Dark Matter, Dark Energy are these. We are told to believe that these two dominate the universe and determines past, present, and future the buildup of the Universe. What am I without my memory? Everything from my identity, capability, beliefs, relations are all memory-based. As there is no proof of any consciousness after death, life is memory and ends with death. I have been studying and practicing hinduism for the past 3 years now.
Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada Bhagavad-gita, and suggest that you read them as well as they are highly informative. He taught Kriya Yoga. Seeking kama is also one of the four aspects in hinduism its same as you enjoy a ride on your bicycle early morning,going out for a long journey or sitting at home bieng happy and having fun about it last but not the least kama means enjoyment without replacing moral values i could use that.
Diwali is a festival, a celebration for a great harvest, just enjoy it. Hindus follow the essence of Sanatan Dharma which is not a religion as most people would like to understand it. The idea of dharma is to seek the truth, the ultimate truth which should lead an individual to moksha, or an end to the cycle of birth and death.
Hindus believe in karma and reincarnation which means that unless you reach the point of moksha you are recycled to put it very simply. This creates hatred instead of unity To a Hindu the body is just a shell, a vehicle to contain the self, the jiva atma. The mind is not the self because it only directs the body to carry out functions as it wishes. The mind needs control and supervision at all times or it easily gets diverted to outward senses like sight, sound, taste and touch.
By awareness of looking inwards a degree of control is slowly achieved, a certain amount of self enlightenment may happen and may progressively grow. You could then be on the path of moksha.
Moksha is through Jesus christ. He laid his life on cross so that we may have moksha through him. Try reading bible your eyes will be opened. Sorry, Sir. I wish it were so easy.
Nor do we need any book, for that matter. On the contrary, it is the books that get in the way…. What we need is silence, silence completely free of books or gods or dictates of sutras or endless chapter and verse….
It is the Atma or the soul that is within us is through god. When you feel your breath while sitting in silence is the energy of GOD. Why do people meditate? To find inner peace and knowledge. Inner peace is once self connecting to god. That is where true happiness comes from. I can figure out you are still on the way of learning about moksha.
Humans so far have tried to picture God in their own way without actually knowing who he really is. Miss Savita may be you have tried a lot of books, scriptures and never found what Moksha really is.. I suggest you please give a try to Bible once try to understand what it says i assure that you will be satisfied reading it..
May God reveal himself to you… wish you all the best. Hello Enosh… I said nothing about not needing God — whatever God means. I said I do not need the Bible, nor any other book, to reach silence. Nor do we need Jesus Christ. There is a massive gulch between a book and God. Do not worry about whether I have read the Bible. I come from a Christian culture and the Bible is in my bones. I would not recommend Leviticus for a smooth read, however!
Or the God herself himself or itself is a non interfering observer. He the process owner of these creation and possible empowered the life to seek the wisdom on its own. I learnt about it as Sakshi — witnesses or scrupulous observer. Hinduism is not Theism no one doctrine binds it. It is a continuum of learning experiencing and elevating.
Possibly Jesus is one who achieved such wisdom consciousness. Buddha is another such. But each of other humans have to discover their own path of salvation. If you need to elevate yourself to God means, is this an effort of yourself or combined effort of God and you? Why do you need to elevate to God? There is no strict direction to this path! From primitive life to forms of present day humans , a hidden conjecture of some advancement is embedded.
There may be really no evidence or measure for such. New research on how many bacteria cells exist on human body, point to the earth being ruled by bacteria? The quest is to attain that. May be it can surely come closer to the seeker! God he, she or it is seen as non interfering observer. Therefore, there is no clear response of it he or she to get closer or farther. Death is not moksha.
Death is only for the body which is bound by law of physics on earth such as gravity, growth and decay. Bible is all about fear so that humble people follow the book, get converted and empower Christianity. The essence of humanity is within you and has to be revealed not by another but yourself. Look within. If you think heaven is a better place to be you should hurry up and go there. Every moment of your life is wasted on earth as you delay. Others would be happy here without you.
Yes we have intelligence, and that intelligence is to choose between good and bad. The road to heaven is very narrow and perhaps only a few reach it in first shot. To me that would mean using a book like Bible is only an aid to open up your mind so that you may look beyond a book.
Lets not forget if the Bible or for that matter any religious book that claims to be written by god himself can only be a hollow claim as the Bible has so many versions and gets revised much too frequently. Does god do that or is it someone feeling a little uncomfortable about the older version.
Friends the mind is god made, the Bible is not. Religion only divides humanity with hatred for those who do not subscribe to THE one exclusive faith.
Conversion is for the power hungry and a convenient excuse to eliminate unbelievers one way or another. Christianity and Islam the religions that convert have used this method and fine tuned it to dominate the world. I understand conversion as the greatest sin. Live in the present not the past or dream of the future. Be open to what this wonderful world has to offer in so many ways. That all is also created by god. Totally agree, Brahm Mishra.
All texts, be they Bhagavad Gita, the Vedas or the Bible, are there to point beyond themselves. There is a problem with the Bible though…. Then, gone is the moon! Now we are stuck with the finger. Its an endless search.
The search is for oneness and unity with all there is. Its is called yoga. We must rely, therefore, upon men who are fully fluent in English and Greek to translate. It is one bible translated in different languages. Its a bread of life to those who hunger for life. The most wonderful part of bible is its says about past, about our present, and the future, future of humankind is written in the bible, You are absolutely wrong if u think i m introducing a religion, no i m not interested in religion either, I m interested in having a relationship, relationship with GOD who created everything and the relationship is through Jesus christ.
Topic was on Moksha salvation and yes i m interest on that, the ultimate peace. Jesus is the prince of peace. All the thoughts of human mind, all the ideas, languages will fade away, But the word of God will stand forever.
Have a great day. These versions are merely different, often updated, translations. So, quick! Better hunker down and believe in this Jesus guy, just in case I miss out on eternal life! If there is such a thing as eternal life, it does not come through any person other than oneself — no Jesus, no personal God, but something called moksha, the original topic of this thread. Hi Savita, Eternal life that comes from Jesus is different from Moksa that you want to attain.
You believe that your God has called you for Moksa after your physical death. But Christians believe the eternal life starts from the moment they receive Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior right down on this earth. Bible says that everyone will be resurrected. For Christians that will be a moment to see whom they believed before their physical death is true God and for everyone who did not believe in Jesus is to know that Jesus is the true God!
Because Jesus the God of Bible cares for all whether Christians or non Christians and tells the remedy to see the true God. In deed He claims that He is the only true God. But do the Hindu Gods cares about the after life of non Hindus?. If so what is the remedy do they have for non Hindus? Hinduism worships cow as one of their Deities but Christ calls His worshippers to worship Him alone. Molly, All you are saying is that belief is essential and without it nothing happens.
I understand that belief is essential for the simple minded, not for others who wish to search for a better answer to human life. You can fool people one time but to fool them all the time should not work. If you get blindfolded its one thing but to blindfold yourself is foolish. Hi Bramh, Jesus tells all humans are sinners by birth, in a way blindfolded to Truth. So knowing Him as our Savoir is to remove that blindfold but not the other way!
Your perception that Conversion is for the power hungry and a convenient excuse to eliminate unbelievers one way or another. Christianity and Islam the religions that convert have used this method and fine tuned it to dominate the world, needs correction.
The religion of Christ Peace be upon him became a political power only when it was embraced by the Roman Emperor and his people. Until then it was religion of poor and oppressed people. How do you believe that poor and oppressed Christians could have applied power of intimidation on such mighty Roman empire to make it convert to Christianity? In fact the religion of Christ peace be upon him had in that era an intrinsic force of appeal that worked on Roman Empire.
Now, while hundreds of churches are closing down in transatlantic nations, Islam is the fast expanding religion. Again Islam in Transatlantic nations is religion of poor Muslim immigrants, who accounti for only 2, 3 , or 5 percent of native population and have no power of intimidation to apply. Yet native Christians are embracing Islam. Again it is the intrinsic force of appeal that is working. Unlike Hinduism that divides humanity in four vertical classes of honour and rights, Islam says Man is vicegerent of Allah on this Earth, and so every human being is entitled to same honour and rights.
Being vicegerent of Allah means the purpose of human life is to worship and obey Allah in all walks of life, to take care of himself,his family,his clan, his neighbourhood, and humanity according to the will and dictates of Allah.
Spread all what is good and stop all what is evil. So with intrinsic force of appeal has always been working behind conversions. It is not the work of power hungry people. Dr Tahir talks about Allah and all that and claims he knows better.
Dr Tahir please try to understand what you say is just a simple and innocent belief. Nothing more. Religions direct one to ONLY believe. Your mind is the greatest gift of the Creator bestowed on you. Forget the word God which is an invention by religions.
Why is there inner fighting in Islam today when it is suppose be a religion of peace? What peace when masses were converted or killed? Nowadays social networks and instant messaging dominated the world communication system.
HMU meaning on FB. I have read various scriptures of Hinduism as Srimad Bhagawadam, Bhagawad Gita from various authors and the original ones. I have also gone through innumerable websites of Hinduism spiritual teachings. In more simple words, we all human beings may it be Hindu, Muslim, Christians, Sikhs, Isaiah etc are born for the sole purpose of attaining the Almighty God God hear means the one and only one God which we call by various names as Allah, Krishna, Rama, Rahim, Kali, Jesus etc.
Now you may be confused what does attaining God means, in broader terms it is difficult to explain in this simpler platform. But in brief words, to attain god means to realize the temporary nature of material pleasures and ask and attain the unlimited bliss or ananda or happiness from the spiritual world by associating with our true nature.
Our true nature is bliss or unlimited ananda or unlimited happiness that cannot be comprehended by the material senses. This happens by realization of soul and meaning of life according to Hinduism means to get freedom from unlimited cycle of birth and death and go back to the realm of God and remain with him eternally where there is no sickness, no death, no birth, no lusty desires, no competition; only service to the Allmight lord Krishna Narayan and getting immense pleasures by serving the Lord.
Religion is not meant to be studied from a book, i agree it is a good starting point. This world is a maya, an illusion made possible by the all powerful mother Vishnu and father Vishnu. You can experience that realization by direct practice in kundalini yoga under the guidence of a competent guru who has been through it. In conclusion, at the end of the journey to awaken the kundalini, you will see the light at the end of the tunnel. I promise you that my friends.
You do not have to retreat in the Himalayas to find this teacher, just close your eyes while sitting in a quiet room, focus on your breath, and the sound of OM.
The teacher resides within you. Search my friends inside your self , and you will find your god, your Krishna, allah, or Jesus.
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