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This text was compiled on 09/21/2021 TABLE OF CONTENTS 1: MAIN BODY 1.1: CHAPTER 1 2: SECTION 2: HINDUISM 2.1: HINDUISM: INTRODUCTION 2.2: FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 2.3: TEXTS 2.4: PHILOSOPHY 2.5: GODS 2.6: WORSHIP AND RITUAL 2.7: HISTORY 2.8: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 3: SECTION 3: JAINISM 3.1: JAINISM: INTRODUCTION 3.2: THE TEACHINGS OF MAHAVIRA 3.3: JINA AND THE SOUL 3.4: ORIGINS AND HISTORY 3.5: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 4: SECTION 4: BUDDHISM 4.1: BUDDHISM: INTRODUCTION 4.10: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 4.2: OVERVIEW 4.3: ORIGINS 4.4: BUDDHA’S TEACHINGS 4.5: EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF BUDDHISM 4.6: MAHAYANA AND TANTRISM 4.7: EXPANSION OF BUDDHISM 4.8: INSTITUTIONS AND PRACTICES 4.9: BUDDHISM TODAY 5: SECTION 5: CONFUCIANISM 5.1: CONFUCIANISM: INTRODUCTION 5.2: PRINCIPLES AND TEXTS 5.3: CONFUCIAN SCHOOLS OF THOUGHT 5.4: NEO-CONFUCIANISM 5.5: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 6: SECTION 6: TAOISM 6.1: TAOISM: INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY 6.2: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 7: SECTION 7: SHINTOISM 7.1: SHINTO: INTRODUCTION AND HISTORY 7.2: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 8: SECTION 8: JUDAISM 8.1: JUDAISM: INTRODUCTION 8.2: BASIC DOCTRINE AND SOURCES 1 9/21/2021 8.3: WORSHIP AND PRACTICES 8.4: HISTORY 8.5: JUDAISM IN AMERICA 8.6: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 9: SECTION 9: ZOROASTRIANISM 9.1: ZOROASTRIANISM: OVERVIEW 9.2: TENETS AND HISTORY 9.3: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 10: SECTION 10: CHRISTIANITY 10.1: CHRISTIANITY: INTRODUCTION 10.2: DOCTRINE AND PRACTICE 10.3: HISTORY: THE BEGINNINGS OF THE CHURCH 10.4: COUNCILS AND CREEDS, PERSECUTION, AND OFFICIAL ACCEPTANCE 10.5: EASTERN CHRISTIANITY AND WESTERN CHRISTIANITY 10.6: REFORMATION, COUNTER-REFORMATION, AND THE MODERN PERIOD 10.7: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 11: SECTION 11: ISLAM 11.1: ISLAM: INTRODUCTION 11.10: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 11.2: THE TEACHINGS OF MUHAMMAD 11.3: THE FIVE PILLARS 11.4: THE MOSQUE 11.5: THE GOD OF ISLAM 11.6: THE PROPHET MUHAMMAD 11.7: THE QUR’AN 11.8: HADITH 11.9: THE SPREAD OF ISLAM 12: SECTION 12: SIKHISM 12.1: SIKHISM: OVERVIEW 12.2: INTRODUCTION, BELIEFS AND PRACTICES, AND HISTORY 12.3: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS BACK MATTER INDEX GLOSSARY 2 9/21/2021 1: Main Body 1.1: Chapter 1 1.1 9/4/2021 https://human.libretexts.org/@go/page/23201 1.1: Chapter 1 This is the first chapter in the main body of the text. You can change the text, rename the chapter, add new chapters, and add new parts. 1.1.1 9/4/2021 https://human.libretexts.org/@go/page/23213 CHAPTER OVERVIEW 2: SECTION 2: HINDUISM 2.1: HINDUISM: INTRODUCTION 2.2: FUNDAMENTAL PRINCIPLES 2.3: TEXTS 2.4: PHILOSOPHY 2.5: GODS 2.6: WORSHIP AND RITUAL 2.7: HISTORY 2.8: LINKS AND ATTRIBUTIONS 1 9/21/2021 2.1: Hinduism: Introduction For those who wish to listen to information on the world’s religions here is a listing of PODCASTS on RELIGIONS by Cynthia Eller. If you have iTunes on your computer just click and you will be led to the listings. http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=117762189&s=143441 Here is a link to the site for the textbook REVEALING WORLD RELIGIONS related to which these podcasts were made. http://thinkingstrings.com/Product/WR/index.html ************************************************************ 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. To name a few of them, there is Ganesh; who has an elephant’s head and he is also a son of Shiva and Parvati, Hanuman; who is an ape, Surya; Lord of sun, Ganga Ma; Goddess of river Ganges; Samundra; Lord of the sea, Indra; king of the Gods ( but he isn’t an important God), Prithvi; Goddess of earth, Shakti; Goddess of strength. 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. Among his appearances, he appeared as Rama, Krishna, Narsimha, Parsuram and Buddha. 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’.