Web links www.hindunet.org/ http://adaniel.tripod.com/hinduism.htm www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduindex.htm http://isdl.org/html/hinduism.html http://www.religioustolerance.org/hinduism.html http://www.sivanandadlshq.org/download/hinduismbk.htm http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduintrod1.htm http://www.hindumythology.com/hindu.htm http://www.friesian.com/caste.htm http://www.hinduwebsite.com/onegod.htm http://www.hinduwebsite.com/devas.htm http://www.hinduwebsite.com/conceptofkarma.htm http://www.hinduwebsite.com/brahmanaspects.htm http://www.hinduwebsite.com/idols.htm http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduwaymain2.htm http://www.hinduwebsite.com/beliefinsoul.htm PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. 6: SELF AND INNER GROWTH Know_more MODULE No.23 : Hindu Practices http://www.hinduwebsite.com/reincarnation.htm http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/contents.html Suggested Readings Roeser, R.W. (2005). An introduction to Hindu India’s contemplative psychological perspectives on motivation, self, and development. In M.L. Maehr & S. Karabenick (Eds.), Advances in Motivation and Achievement, Volume 14: Religion and Motivation (pp. 297-345). Amsterdam: Elsevier. Eliade, M. (1969). Yoga: Immortality and freedom. Princeton, NJ. Princeton University Press. Dasgupta, S.N. (1975). A history of Indian philosophy (Indian ed., Vols. 1–5). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. (Originally published 1922). Radha Swami. (1978). Kundalini: Yoga for the West. Spokane, WA: Timeless Books. Yogananda, P (1972). The autobiography of a yogi. Los Angeles:Self realization Fellowship. Kuppuswamy, B. (1985). Elements of ancient Indian psychology. Delhi: Konark. Manu. (1971). The laws of Manu (G. Bühler, Trans.). Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. (Translation first published 1886; date of original work Manu Smrti unknown) Paranjpe, A.C. (2008). Sri Raman.a Maharshi: A case study in Self-realization. In Ramakrishna Rao, K., Paranjpe, A.C., & Dalal, A.K. (Eds), Handbook of Indian Psychology (pp. 564–576). New Delhi: Cambridge University Press India. Paranjpe, A.C. (2010). Theories of Self and Cognition: Indian Psychological Perspectives. Psychology Developing Societies, 22:5 Sinha, Jadunath. (1961) Indian Psychology Vol: 2 Emotions and Will. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass. PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. 6: SELF AND INNER GROWTH Know_more MODULE No.23 : Hindu Practices Value Additions Glossary Brahmanic A kind of Sanskritic Hinduism: a polytheistic, ritualistic, priestly religion that centers on extended-family domestic and sacrificial rituals and appeals to a corpus of Vedic texts as an authority. Spiritualism: It is essentially intellectual religiosity, aimed at individual liberation, often under guidance of a guru. It is characteristic of Advaita Vedanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Shaiva Siddhanta, Neo-Vedanta, modern esoteric Guruism, and some sorts of Tantrism. This is the classical jnana-marga. Devotionalism A mystical worship of a God, as in bhakti and Krishnaism. This is the classical bhakti-marga. Heroism A polytheistic form of religiosity rooted in militaristic traditions, such as Ramaism and parts of political Hindusim. This is also called virya-marga. Yagna Yajna is an ancient ritual of offering and sublimating the havana sámagri (herbal preparations) in the fire. Smriti Smriti means “remembered”. These texts consist of the philosophy, mythology, theology, Vedic Yagna, temple building etc. the major scriptures in Sruti as the Vedas and Upanishads. The major scriptures in Smriti are the Mahabharata, Ramayana, Bhagavad Gita, Manusmriti and Agamas. Shruti Śhruti is the body of sacred texts comprising the central canon of Hinduism and is one of the three main sources of dharma. These sacred works span much of the history of Hinduism, beginning with some of the earliest known Hindu texts and ending in the early modern period with the later Upanishads. Mantras Mantras are invocations, praise and prayers that through their meaning, sound, and chanting style help a devotee focus the mind on holy thoughts or express devotion to God/the deities. Hymns (Bhajans) A Bhajan is any type of devotional song. It has no fixed form: it may be as simple as a mantra or kirtan or as sophisticated as the dhrupad or kriti with music based on classical ragas and talas. It is normally lyrical, expressing love for the Divine. Pilgrimage Pilgrimages are voyages taken by Hindus to their deities temples which have historic significance in their scriptures. Mostly these are hard to reach places and required great physical and mental strength to accomplish the pilgrimage. Sat chit ananda Sat chit ananda is eternal happiness and illumination achieved through devotion. Self- realization can only occur when the mind is calm and concentrated, reflecting the qualities of self within. As the self is infinite, illumination is not a static or PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. 6: SELF AND INNER GROWTH Know_more MODULE No.23 : Hindu Practices final stage. Illumination includes a variety of states of consciousness. Karma Yoga Karma yoga is a spiritual practice of “no attachment” to the fruit of action, acting by offering the fruit of the action to God. In other words, the practice of wholesome actions, actions that are complete, that fulfill all aspects of the present moment, leaving one in a state of fulfillment, i.e. free from desire, until the next impulse arises. Raja yoga Patanjali’s raja yoga has also been called as psychological yoga. It involves Psychic control or one pointed meditation that first focuses thought onto one point and then stops thought leaving only the underlying awareness. Jnana yoga Jnana yoga is reasoning the mind from gross most to subtle most state culminating in samadhi. Rather Jnana is discovering one's self and uncovering its mysteries through direct inner contemplation. Interesting Facts 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. 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'. Hinduism, also called Sanatana –Dharma is one of the oldest living religions of the world. It has one billion followers and is world’s third largest religion after Christianity and Islam. It is the most predominant religion found and followed in the Indian subcontinent. Various diverse traditions such as Shaivism, Vaishanavism and Shaktism are included under it. In Hinduism, yajña is a ritual of offerings accompanied by chanting of Vedic mantras (also "worship, prayer, praise, offering and oblation, sacrifice". Yajna is an ancient ritual of offering and sublimating the havana sámagri (herbal preparations) in the fire. The sublime meaning of the word yajna is derived from the Sanskrit verb yaj, which has a three-fold meaning of worship of deities (devapujana), unity (saògatikaraña) and charity (dána). Hindu practices include daily rituals such as puja (worship) and recitations, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages. Select group of ascetics leave the common world and engage in lifelong PSYCHOLOGY PAPER No. 6: SELF AND INNER GROWTH Know_more MODULE No.23 : Hindu Practices ascetic practices to achieve moksha. They also recite hymns, and go for pilgrimages to their temples and places of religious significance. Hinduism has a developed system of symbolism and iconography to represent the sacred in art, architecture, literature and worship. These symbols gain their meaning from the scriptures, mythology, or cultural traditions. These are Om, Tilak on forehead etc. Source: http://adaniel.tripod.com/hinduism.htm Common Misconceptions 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 1829, 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.