What Do Hindus Believe?

Though Islam spread through conflict, Hinduism has spread through its ability to absorb, integrate, and assimilate other gods.  Jesus Christ is even accepted by some Hindus as the tenth incarnation of Vishnu.

Hinduism is the oldest of the organized religions and it is far from dead.  It has some 550 million devotes in India, and somewhere between 2-3 million followers in the United States.  For each of the 550 million devotees there is a god.  Jesus Christ is considered to be just one of the many gods of Hinduism.

The unique factor of Hinduism is that there is no founder, no creed, and no final revelation.  The number of people in the United States who actually integrate and practice aspects of Hinduism is probably somewhere in the millions also.  Most of the people in the latter group are those who are involved in the New Age Movement.  In fact, the Eastern religion of Hinduism is at the root of much New Age teaching in America.  Hinduism is a worldview that has “many similarities to the Western evolutionary humanism that people had previously tried.”1

Hinduism has its own array of fundamental assumptions, that is, the worldview upon which it is based.  It is this worldview that influences the Hindu system of faith.  The Hindu worldview includes ideas and presuppositions that are assumed even though they cannot be subject to empirical analysis and may not be accepted by anyone apart from Hindu devotees.

Assumptions of Hinduism

One of the basic assumptions of Hinduism is the identification of the nature of the human experience.  The identification is found in the concept of samsara that is the interrelatedness of all forms of reality.  In other words, all things stream together.  Within this Hindu concept are three assumptions that the majority of Americans are unaware.

This first assumption is in regards the form of the world.  The world is believed to have a mystifying “sea-like” foundation that makes the interrelations between various forms of reality quite flexible.  The idea is that humans and gods, the earth and sky, plants and animals, color and light all makes up various forms of reality.  These many forms of reality stream together, or influence each other, in the total process of representing the world.  Based on this assumption, all things are viewed as united.

Gods and humans, the earth and sky, plants and animals, fire and water, etc. share the dimension in which people live.  Transformations from one form to another are frequent, however all of these forms of reality share the same central surroundings.  Therefore, it can be said that the universe, in a sense, is closed.  A common Hindu image is that of a closed garden representing all of life.  All matter and energy are sealed even though they are constantly being recast into a variety of new forms.

The Hindu concept of the interrelatedness of life occurs not only in space to include various forms of reality but also occurs in time to include an entire series of lives that people as living beings are passing through.  Herein lies the concept of reincarnation.  Hinduism assumes that all living beings are constantly being reborn in entirely new forms.  There is an interrelatedness between creatures at a particular time that are interrelated with other forms in a complex manner that has been possessed in the past and will eventually possess in the future.

Therefore, the specific answer as to the nature of human experience is found in the concept of duhkha (bad experience).  The premise of duhkha is that when one’s human consciousness feels pain at this point the self is becoming aware of the transience (impermanence) of each and every thing in life.  Some Hindus believe that duhkha is the collective problem of being cognizant of human experience.  It is in this sense that “the concept of duhkha is a religious concept which is the first stage in the new awareness of an awakened soul” and “from this perspective of the road to salvation, human beings seek the whole world of samsara as an experience of duhkha, or pain, from which they must somehow gain release.”2

Another main assumption of Hinduism seeks to answer the question as to the nature of ultimate reality.  The common answer given by Hindus is that the answer lies in the concept of dharma (“teaching or religion” or “honor or status”).  Dharma is the array that gives structure and purpose to the universe.  The relationship of a creature to this array is understood to be the individual’s dharma, or responsibility.  An individual, the world, and society are all directed by the principle of dharma.  The gods are also subject to the principle of dharma, since they are segments of the many forms of reality.  Therefore, the gods in Hinduism are not creators or lawgivers.  In contrast to the God of Christianity, the Hindu gods do not exist outside of time and space.  The gods are actually within life itself.  It is only because of dharma that the actions of the gods can be witnessed to have any sense of meaning or purpose.

The concept of Brahman (the absolute, the fullness, or ultimate reality) is the specific answer to the question of ultimate reality.  Brahman is beyond the world and is literally the absolute, unknowable, and ultimate Reality that is manifested in the gods of human experience.  The Upanishads (vedic philosophical texts) are considered to be among the most sacred of Hindu writings.  According to these texts, the preferred methodology for discovering Brahman is by the eradication of the self that is one’s consciousness.  The consciousness is believed to be multi-layered.  It is for this reason that “the Upanishadic teachers…argue that there is a…deeper consciousness which is our true self—a self, or atman [the divine self], which is identical with a universal Atman.  This Atman, if truly the universal Self, can be nothing but Brahman itself.  The many gods and goddesses in Hindu religion are in some way or another manifestations of Brahman.”3   Therefore, meditation is quite prominent in Hinduism since this practice bypasses the mental facilities.  Meditation is supposed to make it possible for a person to achieve a higher level or more intense state of spiritual awareness.

Goals of Hinduism

Hinduism has specific goals for those who embrace its worldview.  The immediate and ultimate goal of Hinduism is to provide answers as to how to achieve salvation (or release).  Salvation is to seek release from samsara (the constant rebirth of the world).  According to the concept of samsara, the stream of reality possesses the souls of those who are constantly dying and being reborn.  Therefore, the goal of Hinduism is to escape this cyclical process.

Salvation, in Hinduism, may take millions of lifetimes to achieve. Hinduism does not teach the reality of sin or existence of evil since salvation entails working off karma (law of cause and effect).  Enlightenment is salvation. The problem is that people are living in a delusion as to the nature of ultimate reality.  Unenlightenment leads to greater karma that must be worked off in order to attain salvation.  Therefore, “what spurs people on to seek salvation is not a sense of sin and guilt—a particular aspect of life which needs correction—but the awareness of duhkha, or of the inevitable painfulness of all experience when seen from the vantage point of consciousness.  Life is painful because consciousness has gotten itself entangled in transience, and it is to the disentangling of those two unsuitable partners that the search for Ultimate Reality and the paths of salvation address themselves.”4

The goal of Hindu salvation is to deny reality and embrace a spiritual reality that is defined by Hinduism.  Maya (“illusion”) is non-reality and includes the physical, material world.  True reality is the belief that “all is God.”  To go beyond maya, one must transcend into the One, or ultimate Reality.

Salvation, in Hinduism, is inseparable from a fundamental belief in karma and reincarnation.  In order to obtain salvation, one must improve their karma.  By getting rid of bad karma then one can transcend to a higher future existence.  Once this higher level has been reached then salvation becomes a state of existence wherein one does not experience samsara, that is, the constant rebirth in time and space.  According to the Upanishads, there is a relationship between the spirit of man and the universal spirit so that salvation consists in an instinctive consciousness of this reality.  Once this knowledge is attained man will understand his true nature realizing that “all is God.”5

To a Hindu, the goal of Hinduism can be achieved through the practice of yoga.  Yoga (techniques of developing and integrating energy) is literally “yoking” or “union” with the one divine Reality.  There are eight stages to yoga:  moral restraint (yama), self-culture (miyama), posture (asana), breath control (pranayama), control of the senses (pratyahara), concentration (dharana), meditation (dyhana), and a state of elevated consciousness (samadhi).6  This Hindu discipline allows one to find release from the cyclical process of reincarnation.  It is a technique of Hindu worship.

The Bhagavad Gita (Hindu scripture of the avatar Krishna) teaches that there are many different types of yogas.  A yogi is a practitioner of yoga.  The Yoga Sutras is the classical text of Patanjali on Yoga.  It is not uncommon for a teacher of yoga to incorporate the title Yogi into his name.  Each yoga technique allows a devotee to utilize the energy and power of the world, “and that a part of the search for salvation which each individual undertakes will involve the discovery of the yoga most appropriate to that individual.”7

According to Hinduism, there are many paths that one can take in order to achieve oneness or union of the soul with ultimate Reality.  Four paths to this reconciliation, or margas, are equally valid and equally beneficial.  There is a distinct type of yoga that is suitable for different personalities.  There are those who are reflective, emotional, active, and experimental.  These pursuits of liberation (moksha) from samsara are the yogas.  According to the Bhagavad Gita there are four major yogas.  Each of the yogas require action, devotion, knowledge, and mental concentration.

Hatha is the yoga of the physical body or mental concentration.  Hatha Yoga involves three main disciplines:  mastery of the body, breathing, and mind.  In order to gain control over the mind there must be control over the body.  Control of the body begins with postures (asanas), which are physical exercises.  The mastery of the body and breathing then allows for the mastery of the mind.  Mental concentration is achieved as one is able to meditate on pure spirit in its true reality.  Advanced devotees of hatha yoga follow exceptional breathing methods wherein the breath or life force of the body (prana) streams through nerve channels.  This stream of energy arouses a “serpent energy,” or power of subtle body, called kundalini that is coiled at the base of the spine.  This current of energy is induced to stream up the spine through seven charkas (nerve centers of the subtle body) to a subtle point in the head that will result in an ecstatic experience.  This transcendental experience is believed to be a powerful manifestation of a divine encounter.

Jnana is the yoga of knowledge.  Swami Krishnananda explains:

You are not the world that is seen and the world which is seen is not yourself.  Such being the case, how would you bring together in a state of harmony the seer and the seen?  Who is to work out this mystery?  This deep analytical process, which will stun the mind of any person and debar anyone from even approaching it; this wonderful self-identical means of knowing Brahman is called ‘Jnana’, which cannot be translated into English language easily.  People say ‘Jnana’ means knowledge, wisdom, but they are all inadequate expressions of the operation that is taking place when Brahman is known.8

Jnana yoga is the way of instinctive knowledge and involves an intellectual search that will lead to an instinctive recognizing or understanding of ultimate Reality.  This is the way of the intellect and, therefore, believes the greatest hindrance to moksha to be lack of knowledge concerning the true reality of the soul.  The method of jnana yoga involves the discipline of the moral and intellectual nature by renouncing any indulgences (self-renunciation).  The Upanishads must be studied and meditated upon.  It is believed that through deep meditation there will follow the instinctive experience of identity with Brahman, the ultimate Reality.

Bhakti is the yoga of devotion or selfless love.  It is the most popular way to find God in India.  It is geared toward the emotional person.  It is described as “one of the many forms of devotion in which, through ritual and devotion to a chosen deity, a person becomes one with the Lord [e.g. Krishna, eighth avatar of Vishnu] and, through him, with the highest Brahman.”9  A verse from chapter 18 of the Bhagavad Gita reads, “Abandoning all (other) duties; go to Me as thy sole refuge; From all evils I thee shall rescue:  be not grieved!”10  Complete love for Krishna will open the way for entrance into Brahman, or enduring in moksha.

Karma is the yoga of work or service.  This is the way of the active person through work.  A verse from chapter 6 of the Bhagavad Gita reads, “One who performs the prescribed duty without seeking its fruit (for personal enjoyment) is a renunciant (Samnyaasi) and a Karma Yogi.”11  In karma yoga the devotee performs a lifetime of daily work that is dedicated to the ultimate Reality.

According to some disciplines of Hinduism there is a fifth type of yoga called raja, the royal yoga path of Patanjali (main teacher of classical yoga system).  It is geared toward the scientific involving mental exercises that are believed to guide one to a direct exclusive encounter of “the beyond that is within.”  Sometimes raja yoga is used in the same manner as hatha yoga.  In other instances, raja yoga is taught to be a specialized discipline of hatha yoga.

The Hindu worldview is that all is one.  The relationship to the divine is impersonal and includes many different forms.  History is meaningless to Hindus since it is cyclical.  The future life is a hope in reincarnation wherein one will be absorbed into the one ultimate Reality.  Yoga is a process of self-salvation that involves “yoking” oneself to the divine.

Conclusion

Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world.  It follows a caste system that creates a barrier among the classes of people.  The religious system of Hinduism is so structured that it can incorporate all gods and religions.  When Christianity came to India, its greatest appeal was to the lower castes.  When they were born again by the glorious gospel of grace, they became ardent followers of Jesus Christ.

Four major barriers exist between the teachings of Hinduism and Christianity.  First, Hindus are syncretistic, believing that all religions lead to God.  Second, Hindus vary in their perception of sin, believing either that sin does not exist, or that it is just bad karma.  Third, Hindus believe in the doctrine of karma which means that past behavior determines present fate and that present fate determines the future.  Lastly, Hindus believe that salvation is liberation from rebirth based upon the belief in karma.

1 Ron Carlson and Ed Decker, Fast Facts on False Teachings (Eugene:  Harvest House, 1994), p. 89.

2 Paul and Susanna Younger, Hinduism (Niles:  Argus Communications, 1978), p. 36.

3 Ibid., p. 39.

4 Ibid., p. 36.

5 http://www.comparativereligion.com/salvation.html

6 Frank Gaynor, “Yoga,” The Dictionary of Mysticism (New York:  Citadel Press, 1968), p. 206.

7 Younger, Hinduism, p. 43.

8 http://www.swami-krishnananda.org/brahma/brahma_01.html

9 Younger, Hinduism, p. 43.

10 http://www.gita4free.com/english_completegita18.html

11 http://www.gita4free.com/english_completegita6.html