Hindu???

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Hinduism is one of the world’s biggest religions. It is unique in that it does not, as the other world religions do, have one founder. There is no Abraham, no Jesus, no Muhammed, etc. Instead, it was thought to be the general influence of Aryan invaders into the Indian sub-continent that over the course of time created the tenants of Hindusim.

Depending on who you ask, Hinduism is either a polytheistic or monotheistic religion. Those who claim polytheistic point to the pantheon of Hindu dieties (Vishnu, Ganesha, Kali,Krishna, etc.). Those who claim monotheistic status point that all these dieties are, ultimately, expressions of Brahma, the ultimate source.

Hinduism believes in reincarnation (the movement of the soul from one body to another body after death) among other things.

It is the predominant religion of India, and shares many tenants in common with Buddhism.

Cheers,
Cari
 
What Cari posted is a good in-a-nutshell explanation, if you want to know more the link I posted goes deeper and has links to Hindu sites -

Sorry for the corny joke:blush:

PAX
 
Cari said:
Hinduism is one of the world’s biggest religions. It is unique in that it does not, as the other world religions do, have one founder. There is no Abraham, no Jesus, no Muhammed, etc.
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It depends upon which Hindu sampradaya, or lineage, you’re referring to. For Vaishnavas, Krishna is the founder, or Sri Chaitanya; for Shaivas, Shiva. For monks of the Ramakrishna Order, it’s Ramakrishna. For the Smartas, Adi Shankara.
 
Ahimsa said:
It depends upon which Hindu sampradaya, or lineage, you’re referring to. For Vaishnavas, Krishna is the founder, or Sri Chaitanya; for Shaivas, Shiva. For monks of the Ramakrishna Order, it’s Ramakrishna. For the Smartas, Adi Shankara.
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Then all those years I taught about India in 7th grade in a small northern Michigan town both I and the textbook were wrong. We stand corrected. Those poor legions of Michiganian children…😉
 
Ahimsa said:
It depends upon which Hindu sampradaya, or lineage, you’re referring to. For Vaishnavas, Krishna is the founder, or Sri Chaitanya; for Shaivas, Shiva. For monks of the Ramakrishna Order, it’s Ramakrishna. For the Smartas, Adi Shankara.
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Those are not founders of Hinduism, but founders of sects/traditions within Hinduism, like Maritn Luther is the founder (unknowingly) of Lutheranism not the founder of Christianity:cool:
 
Cari said:
Then all those years I taught about India in 7th grade in a small northern Michigan town both I and the textbook were wrong. We stand corrected. Those poor legions of Michiganian children…😉
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Don’t worry. I’m sure they’ve come to terms with what happened to them in school, after years of psychotherapy.😃
 
s4angel said:
ok I am completely in the dark here. What is Hindu??
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Hinduism is just another garden-variety form of paganism. It has nothing to teach Christians who possess the fullness of God’s Divine Revelation.
 
Bennie_P said:
Those are not founders of Hinduism, but founders of sects/traditions within Hinduism, like Maritn Luther is the founder (unknowingly) of Lutheranism not the founder of Christianity:cool:
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I think you’re assuming that “Hinduism” is “one” religion, in the same sense that Christianity is “one” religion; which is not the case. Hinduism is comprised of many sampradayas, or lineages; and each of these sampradayas has a founder who is considered someone to whom Divinity has spoken, or who has encountered Divinity, or who has realized Divinity within him/her, or who is considered to be Divinity in human form.
 
ok, this is confusing me more so than the link I went to. What is hindu?? so there is more than one Hindu??
 
s4angel said:
ok, this is confusing me more so than the link I went to. What is hindu?? so there is more than one Hindu??
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It can be confusing. It’s actually more useful to see that the label “Hinduism” contains a very diverse group of religions, containing religions that are as different from each other, as Judaism is different from Christianity, or Christianity from Islam.

There are four main “Hindu” traditions. But, actually, each of these can be seen as a separate (but connected) religion in its own right: (1) Shaivas, who worship Shiva; (2) Vaishnavas, who worship Vishnu; (3) Shaktas, who worship Shakti (God the Mother); and (4) Smartas, who worship God in Five Forms.
 
Ahimsa said:
It can be confusing. It’s actually more useful to see that the label “Hinduism” contains a very diverse group of religions, containing religions that are as different from each other, as Judaism is different from Christianity, or Christianity from Islam.

There are four main “Hindu” traditions. But, actually, each of these can be seen as a separate (but connected) religion in its own right: (1) Shaivas, who worship Shiva; (2) Vaishnavas, who worship Vishnu; (3) Shaktas, who worship Shakti (God the Mother); and (4) Smartas, who worship God in Five Forms.
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It is really more complicated then that for Hindu is more a way to identify a group or groups of people of a region and thier multitude of religous practices;
The roots of Hinduism have been traced back to the Indus Valley Civilization and the Indo-Aryan culture. Indo-Europeans extended the name of the province of Sindh to the whole country lying across the Indus river. The inhabitants were simply called Hindus, Persian for “sindh” and their religion was thus called Hinduism.
Hinduism does not owe its existence to any single historic event. Rather, it is a complex religion that has continually evolved and transformed over the course of milleniums. Because the Indus Valley practiced a religion possessing several features common with modern Hinduism, the beginnings of Hinduism has been dated back to the time in which the civilization flourished,approximately 2500 B.C more
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It is made up many polytheist groups and would be more in comparison of the multitude of pagan religions outside of what we historically know that are off shoots the monotheism of Abraham such as Judism, Christianity and Islam. People of the Book.

Don’t be fooled though, I figure most of our experts here that claim to be Hindus are not practicing what a Indian Hindu would practice but an Americanized version of Hinduism of thier own design.
In the past 150 years, Hinduism has increasingly become integrated into American society. In the first 100 years of Hinduism in the United States, followers of the Hindu tradition were primarily involved in organizations promoting self-help practices such as yoga and meditation. Recently, during the last 30 years, organizations have developed that encourage a more formalritual worship by means of Hindu temples. Whereas followers of self-help in the initial period of Hinduism in America were Americans, the path of rital worship is primarily followed by Hindu Indians in America.
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IMHO- many Americans that pick Hinduism that were raised as Christians do so in order they can pick and choose the parts they like and discard the parts they don’t.:rolleyes: ,It is easy do that with a belief system that is that varies so much in belief and has no authoritive structure.🤷
I know quite a few Indians myself, but they are all Catholic.🙂 including a few Sisters of the Missionaries of Charity that help teach PRE in my parish.

http://home.comcast.net/~motherteresasite/motherchild.jpg

“My prayer for you is that you come to understand and have the courage to answer Jesus’ call to you with the simple word ‘yes’.” - Mother Teresa
 
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