Understanding Hindu Beliefs: History, Practices, and Sacred Texts

1. What do Hindus Believe?

2. Introduction • It goes back at least 5000 years • Gradually developed over 1000 years • It’s a way of life, not just a religion: follows have a wide range of beliefs and ways of worshipping • Different Hindus believe different things, have different value positions

3. Where? • 800 million people in India are Hindu • It is one of the fastest growing religions in NZ: in 1996, there were 26,000 Hindus living in NZ In 2006, there were 64, 557 Hindus living in NZ

4. Monotheistic Religion • There is one Great Power, God, called Brahman • Brahman is in everywhere and in everything • Hindus worship Brahman through gods and goddesses: the Great Power can be seen most easily through gods and goddesses • Gods and goddesses are different ways of describing the Great Power, Brahman

5. Reincarnation • Belief in rebirth affects every part of a Hindu’s life: when you die your soul moves on to another body (can be person, animal or plant) • The soul in everything is the same • Where your soul goes depends on how you have lived your life • The aim is to break out of this cycle, so that when they die their soul can become part of Brahman, in a state of perfect happiness Moksha

6. The Caste System • The way Indian society has worked for hundreds of years: divides people into groups 4 groups (varnas) • Brahmins (priests) • Kshatriyas (soldiers, people who ruled the country) • Vaishyas (shop-keepers, traders, farmers) • Shudras (servants for other three varnas)

7. These varnas divided into smaller groups (jatis) • Historically, a person’s jati was decided by what job their family did – jobs were passed on in families • Today, people have more educational opportunities and freedom of choice, but they stay in the same jati

8. Harijans • Outside the 4 varnas, were the Harijans • Did the dirtiest jobs, like working with leather • Other Hindus would have nothing to do with them • Mahatma Gandhi, however, named them “children of God.”

9. The Caste System Today • In the past 50 years, things have changed • Rules cannot be kept so strictly because people travel away from home area to work, meet and talk to people from a different varna • Only Brahmins and Harijans know which varna they belong to, but most people know their jati • Indian law makes society more equal now, but in many villages the caste system is very strict Eg. People will not marry someone from a ‘lower’ jati and anything they eat must have been prepared by someone from their own or ‘higher’ jati

10. Sacred Texts of Hinduism • The Hindu holy books are divided into two main groups: shruti (which means ‘heard’): these words were heard by wise men in the early days Smriti (which means ‘remembered’): these words were handed down by word of mouth for hundreds of years

11. Shruti Vedas (means ‘wisdom’ or ‘knowledge’): • Oldest of the Hindu holy books • Contain basic truths which never change • Contain hymn or poems (called mantras) • Contain instructions about how worship should be carried out and descriptions of religious ceremonies

12. Smriti • Ordinary people found the Shruti difficult to understand, so the same teachings were made in the form of stories • The most important parts are two long poems: Mahabharata and Ramayana Mahabharata includes the BhagavadGita, the best-loved part of all the Hindu holy books. These teach lessons about the religion.

13. Worship