Concepts of Hinduism

Matthew Armstrong and Tessa Hughes

Atman
Atman, another word for eternal self,
refers to the real self beyond ego or false
self. Atman is often recognized as spirit
or soul due to its indication of ones
true essence.
There are two understandings of the
idea of self: eternal and spiritual. If one
believes they are eternal they support the
beliefs of reincarnation and that one
eternal being can inhabit temporary
bodies. If one believes in spirituality, they
believe in separating themselves from
materialistic items and values. A spiritual
being most closely relates to an atman
and it is said that a spiritual being has a
human experience as oppose to a human
being having a spiritual experience.

Dharma
Dharma, a significant term in Indian religions, can
possess multiple meanings, some of which are: duty,
morality, religion, and virtue. In Hinduism dharma
primarily means universal law and supports the belief
that dharma is the power that makes the grass grow, the
sun shine, and gives people the chance to be virtuous.
While Dharma is universal it is also specific to each
individual, thus each person contains their own dharma,
a sva-dharma.
SVA-Dharma originated from the story of
Mahabharata, a hero who must fight in a great battle but
is conflicted on whether it is righteous for him to kill
other peoples loved ones. Mahabharatas dharma was to
fight because he was a warrior, so he must fight with
detachment. If one acts against their dharma it is
considered wrong and known as adharma. Acting in
accordance with ones dharma is considered a service to
humanity and to god, and is linked to an attitude of
eternal service to a personal deity.

Varna
Varna relates to the idea that dharma refers to the
responsibility held in their class (varna) and stage of life
(ashrama). The class system is an ideal for social order,
the classes are: Brahmans, Kshatriya, Vaishyas, and
Shudras. Members of the top three classes are known as
twice borns since they have been born from the womb
and through the initiation process acknowledging their
high status.
Twice borns go through four stages in life: the
Brahmacarya (a stage where one learns the veda),
grihastha (a time where one can undergo human
experiences such as responsibility, wealth, and sexual
pleasure), vanaprastha (a time where one retires from
life and takes a pilgrimage with their partner), and
samnyasa (the final stage where one gives up the world
to seek liberation and develop devotion). Acting along
with ones class and dharma is considered a service to
humanity and god.

Karma and Samsara

Karma, a words that means action, references a
law in which every action has an equal reaction at
some time in the future. Good actions, in
accordance with dharma, will have good
reactions. Bad actions, against dharma, will have
bad reactions. It is a hinduism belief that karma
can be spread out throughout multiple lifetimes,
so an action in a previous life time might have
reaction in a present lifetime.
This journey is a form of reincarnation known as
samsara, a constant cycle of soul dying and being
reborn due to action and reaction. Liberation is the
only way out of the cycle and a goal in Hinduism.

Purushartha
Purushartha is a principle that every person has different
goals for themselves depending on what stage of life they
are in. There are four common life goals, the original goals
being virtuous living, worldly success, and pleasure. The
fourth goal is liberation but that was added later. There is
an understanding in Hinduism that each individual has
different desires and purposes in life.
Over the course of hundreds of years it has been
discussed about which original goal is the most important,
most believe it is virtuous living, but it has also been said
that desire is only path to liberation: the ultimate goal. This
topics proves the complexity and variety of human
purposes.

Brahman and God

Brahman is a sanskrit word that can be translated to mean god,
but the two are not entirely the same. A brahman is known as the
power that upholds and supports everything and is held at the
highest honor in Hinduism, but he is not worshipped. God is
worshipped and is an indicate of an absolute reality as someone
who creates, sustains, a destroys the universe multiple times. God
is considered unlimited and can take many forms real or desired.
There are two concepts of god relating to Bhagavan: one is
impersonal and cannot portray the idea of reality and one is the
idea that god is the supreme person with love and compassion.
Within Hinduism there are three denominations with different
views on god: Vishnu, Shiva, and Lakshmi. Those who view god
as Vishnu believe god takes many forms to help reform dharma.
Those who view god as Shiva believe god performs five acts and
then reveals himself through grace. Those who believe god is
Lakshmi believe in a goddess who take gentle and ferocious
forms.

Guru
A guru is a teacher who teaches through example
and spreads his knowledge and wisdom to his students.
Then students can become teachers in order to pass
down the wisdom. Gurus maintain a high standard in
Hindu culture and become a focus of devotion. Since
gurus are held at such high standards when one passes
away they have a successor to take his place, this
creates a multiplication of traditions throughout
Hinduism.

Works Cited
Flood, Gavin. "Hindu Concepts." BBC. BBC, 24 Aug. 2009. Web. 28 Mar. 2016. N.p., n.d. Web.