Hinduism

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 Hinduism
 The History of Hinduism
 Brahman, Atman and Maya
 Karma, Samsara and Moksha
 The Search of Atman
 Fulfilling One’s Dharma
 Devotion and Salvation
 The History of Hinduism
 The Indus Valley Civilization
 The Aryan Culture and Religion
 The Vedic period
 The Upanishads
 The Ramayana and Mahabharata
 A Turning Point in Hinduism
 During the Upanishads period, Hindus began to search for the
deeper meaning of sacrificial rituals.
 Hindus came to realize that presenting offerings to deities
and asking favors in return are self-serving.
 The focus gradually shifted from the ritual to the sacrificed.
 The sacrificed represents the willingness to die for the well-
being of others and thus becomes the symbol of love.
 Brahman, Atman and Maya
 These three terms are essential in understanding the Hindu
view of reality—
 Brahman—that which is
 Atman—what each maya truly is
 Maya—all the phenomena in the cosmos
A Religion as a World View
Theology / Metaphysics
(Ontology, Cosmology)

Way(s) of Life
Moral Teaching
Religious Institutions
 Brahman—that which is
 Brahman is that which is.
 Brahman appears as phenomena (maya) in the universe.
 Brahman always exists and has no beginning or end.
 Two Levels of Knowing Brahman
 According to Hindu philosopher Shankara, there are two levels
of truth about Brahman:
 the lower level—the formed Brahman
 the higher level—the formless Brahman
 The Formed Brahman
 The Formed Brahman
 saguna Brahman (the Brahman with qualities)
 the Creative Power of the Universe
 the foundation of the phenomenal world
 personified as deity
 personal
 the object of worship
 The Formless Brahman
 The Formless Brahman
 nirguna Brahman (the Brahman without qualities)
 neti, neti (not this, not this)
 impersonal
 free from all limiting conditions
 neither good nor evil
 Maya—the World of Phenomena
 Maya is the phenomena that constitute the world as we perceive
and know it.
 Everything we perceive is just an appearance or a manifestation
of Brahman.
 Since everything we perceive comes and goes, it is only an
illusion.
 The cosmos, being the appearance of Brahman, goes through
endless cycles of creation and destruction.
 Atman—the True Self
 “Atman” is just a term used to designate that which a maya truly
is.
 “my Atman” = “what I truly am”
 Just like every phenomenon in the universe, a person is a
manifestation of Brahman.
 “I am Brahman” means “Brahman is what I truly am.”
 This is the Hindu answer to the question “Who am I?”
 That art Thou
 Brahman is what each phenomenon truly is.
 Each person is really Brahman.
 This is the most important teaching from the Upanishads.

The Brahman and

Atman Diagram
illustrates that we
are one but
appear as many.
 Atman and Human Soul
 In western religions, it is commonly believed that each of us has
an individual and different soul.
 Some textbooks use “soul” as the translation of “atman.” But
this is not accurate and misleading.
 The phrase “my atman”should be read as meaning “what I truly
am.”
 Since Brahman is what each of us truly is, we do not have
individual and separate self.
 If Brahman is like beauty, then each of us is like a beautiful
phenomenon. Beauty is what each beautiful phenomenon really
is.
 A Manifestation of Brahman
 A person is a manifestation (appearance) of Brahman.
 An analogy: A beautiful phenomenon is a manifestation of
beauty.
 This means that at the deepest level, we are Brahman, and not
individuals. This provides a ground for universal love in
Hinduism.
 A person’s atman, namely, Brahman, always exists, and has no
beginning or end.
 When Brahman appears in a certain way, a person is born. When
Brahman ceases to appear in that way, the person passes away.
As such, a life cycle is completed.