Hinduism Facts

Hinduism Facts about Karma, Reincanation, Dharma and Worship.

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Four Facts of Hinduism

About Karma, Reincarnation, Dharma and Worship.

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folk narratives: Community or village stories which are passed from generation to generation through verbal telling-often a mixture of fact and fiction, allegory and myth, legend and symbolism, conveying lessons about life, character and conduct.

The most extensive and influential of India's folk narratives are the Puranas. While these stories are broadly deemed to be scriptural fact, this contemporary Hindu catechism accepts them as important mythology-stories meant to capture the imagination of the common peoples and to teach them moral living.

See: fable, katha, mythology, Purana.

(See also: Folk narratives, Hinduism, Body Mind and Soul)

KARMA and REINCARNATION

The twin beliefs of karma and reincarnation are among Hinduism's many jewels of knowledge. Others include dharma or our pattern of religious conduct, worshipful communion with God and Gods, the necessary guidance of the Sat Guru, and finally enlightenment through personal realization of our identity in and with God. So the strong-shouldered and keen-minded rishis knew and stated in the Vedas.

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The chains that tie you to this wheel of Samsara or Bhava-Chakra or round of births and deaths, are your desires. So long as you desire objects of this world, you must come back to this world in order to possess and enjoy them. But, when all your desires for the mundane objects cease, then the chains are broken and you are free. You need not take any more births. You attain Moksha or the final emancipation.

You wander in this Samsara as you think that you are different from the Lord. If you unite yourself with Him through meditation and Yoga, you will obtain immortality and eternal bliss. Cut the bonds of Karma through Knowledge of the Eternal and enjoy the Supreme Peace of the Atman, thy innermost Self and Inner Ruler. You will be freed from the round of births and deaths. Freed from sin, freed from passion, you will become a Jivanmukta or liberated sage. You will see the Self in the self and see the Self as all.

Read more here: » Samsara: How To Break The Bond Of Samsara

Nine Questions About Hinduism

Prepared for the July 4th, 1990 meeting of the youth of the Hindu Temple of greater Chicago, by Gurudeva, Sivaya Subramuniyaswami

1) What is the Hindu definition of God-monotheistic or polytheistic?

2) Could you describe the process of reincarnation?

3) What is karma?

4) Why do Hindus regard the cow as sacred?

5) Are Hindus idol worshippers?

6) Is there a rule about Hindus eating meat?

7) Why do Hindu women wear the dot on the forehead?

8) Is the memorization of slokas and mantras essential to being a good Hindu?

9) How can we use scriptures and the Bhagavad Gita or religious books as a practical guide to growing up in the United States?

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The four main spiritual paths for God-realisation are Karma Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Raja Yoga and Jnana Yoga. Karma Yoga is suitable for a man of active temperament, Bhakti Yoga for a man of devotional temperament, Raja Yoga for a man of mystic temperament, and Jnana Yoga for a man of rational and philosophical temperament, or a man of enquiry.

Mantra Yoga, Laya Yoga or Kundalini Yoga, Lambika Yoga and Hatha Yoga, are other Yogas. Yoga, really, means union with God. The practice of Yoga leads to communion with the Lord. Whatever may be the starting point, the end reached is the same.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Yoga: The Four Paths of Hindu Yoga

Bells are rung in temples while doing Puja, to shut out the external sounds and to make the mind inward and concentrated. Lights are waved before the Deity. This denotes that the Lord is Jyotis-Svarupa. He is all-light. Dhupa or scented sticks are burnt before the Deity. The smoke spreads the whole room. It acts as a disinfectant. Burning of Dhupa denotes that the Lord is all-pervading and that He fills the whole universe by His living presence.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Incense Sticks: Hindu Symbols - Bells, Lights, Dhupa, Camphor And Sandal Paste

There are great truths behind the ancient mythology of Hinduism. You cannot ignore a thing simply because it has a garb of mythology. Do not argue. Shut up your mouth. Keep your intellect at a respectable distance when you study mythology. Intellect is a hindrance. It will delude you. Give up arrogance and vanity. Cultivate love for imagery. Sit like a child and open your heart freely. You will comprehend the great truths revealed by mythology. You will penetrate into the hearts of the Rishis and sages who wrote the mythology. You will really enjoy mythology now..

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Mythology: Hinduism Mythology and Symbols

There is no reference to worship of idols in the Vedas. The Puranas and the Agamas give descriptions of idol-worship both in the houses and in the temples. Idol-worship is not peculiar to Hinduism. Christians worship the Cross. They have the image of the Cross in their mind. The Mohammedans keep the image of the Kaba stone when they kneel and do prayers. The people of the whole world, save a few Yogis and Vedantins, are all worshippers of idols. They keep some image or the other in the mind.

The mental image also is a form of idol. The difference is not one of kind, but only one of degree. All worshippers, however intellectual they may be, generate a form in the mind and make the mind dwell on that image.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Worship: The Philosophy And Significance Of Idol-Worship

Outward symbols are necessary and beneficial. When viewed from the right angle of vision, you will find that they play a very important part in your material as well as spiritual life. Though they may look very simple and unimportant, they are very scientific and effective.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Hindu Symbols: Symbols in Hinduism

What is Hinduism?

I will answer it simply, first by first asking if you ever heard of a religion called Jordanism? No, you haven't. But let us juxtapose it to Hinduism. Along the Jordan River Christianity, Islam and Judaism came up. Jordanism could become a modern word to name all three of these religions, which do have similar beliefs and practices. But, like the denominations now under the banner name of Hinduism, they are also three separate religions.

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Soma and Ananda

The Vedic ritual reaches its climax in the Soma offering, in which specially prepared plant juices are offered into the sacred fire (Agni) as the drink of the Gods. But this ancient ritual reflects a deeper internal ritual or alchemy of awareness that is its real import. In exploring this process, we will discover many secrets of the practice of Yoga, including the path of Self-inquiry or Jnana Yoga.

Read more here: » Soma and Ananda: The Flow of Soma

What is Dharma? Dharma is so called, because it holds; Dharma alone holds the people, etc. The word Dharma is derived from the root Dhr - to hold - and its etymological meaning is that which holds this world, or the people of the world, or the whole creation from the microcosm to the macrocosm.

Dharma is generally defined as righteousness or duty. Dharma is the principle of righteousness. It is the principle of holiness. It is also the principle of unity.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Dharma: Definition Of Dharma

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Asrama Dharma: Asrama Dharma Under Modern Conditions

In Satya-Yuga or the golden age there was a different set of Dharmas or laws; in Treta, they changed into another form; in Dvapara, the Dharmas were different from the Dharmas of other Yugas; and in Kali-Yuga, they assumed still another form. The Dharma changes according to the changes of the cycles. Man is undergoing change. His nature gets transformed through experiences. Hence, his external form of Dharmas also should change.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Dharma: Yuga Dharma

Grihastha or householder: The household stage is entered at marriage, when the student has completed his studentship and is ready to take up the duties and responsibilities of householder life. Of all the Asramas, this is the most important, because it supports all the others

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Sanatana Dharma: The Grihastha or the Householder in Sanatana Dharma

The third stage is that of the Varnaprastha. Brahmacharya is a preparation for the life of the householder. Even so, Vanaprastha is a preparation for the final stage of Sannyasa. After discharging all the duties of a householder, he should retire to the forest or a solitary country place and begin to meditate in solitude on higher spiritual things

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Sanatana Dharma: The Vanaprastha or the Recluse in Sanatana Dharma

The next stage is that of a Sannyasin. When a man becomes a Sannyasin, he renounces all possessions, all distinctions of caste, all rites and ceremonies and all attachments to any particular country, nation, or religion. He lives alone and spends his time in meditation. He lives on alms. When he attains the sublime state of deep meditation he rejoices in his own Self.

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Sanatana Dharma: The Sannyasin or the Renunciate in Sanatana Dharma

Truth must be observed in thought, word and deed. If you are established in truth, all other virtues will cling to you by themselves

Excerpt from All About Hinduism by Sri Swami Sivananda

Read more here: » Truth: Truth and Ahimsa