eastern religions hinduism 2: vedic hinduism · eastern religions hinduism 2: vedic hinduism 1....
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Eastern Religions
Hinduism 2:
Vedic Hinduism
1. Indus Valley Civilization2. Vedic Basics: Orality3. Sacred Places4. The Eternal and Creation Stories5. Mono-, Poly-, and Henotheism
Gold and White
Rewriting History: The Indus Valley Civilization
5
Indus Valley Civilization along the Indus River2500-1750 BC
discovered when British werebuilding railroads
Harappa
Mohenjo Daro
ritual purificationby water
•Running Water•Below-ground Sewer system
Seals
Swastika Symbol of the Radiance of the Sun
The Sanskrit word Swastika means “Well- Being”or in some contexts “It is good,” or “Let the Good Prevail”
Ancient Iranian necklace
Nazi misuse of the symbol:Sacred Spiritual Symbol of peace and the blessings of Nature became symbol of racism and World War.
From the Hopi Prophecy Rock
A Common World Archetype
Native American blanket
The Swastika is often worn or displayed as a Good Luck Charm.
Shiva
In Modern Hinduism,there are 2 main gods:
SHIVAand
VISHNU Andsome people
are devoted tovarious forms of
THEGODDESS
Proto Shiva
phallus(creativepower)
buffalohorns
(controlledpower)
Symbols of POWER
elephant(controlled
power)
tiger(uncontrolled flowing
power)
Modern Hindu worship of Shiva is probably partly derived from Dravidian worship of
ThePashupati
Seal
The Mother Goddess
Elamite goddess
IVC Mother Goddess
dancing girl
Modern Hindu worship of the Goddess is probably largely derived from Dravidian worship of
REVIEW A
2 Phases of Hindu History
1.Vedic Hinduism (Vedism)
2.Vedantic Hinduism(Vedanta)
vedic basics: orality
1
Vedas (Knowledge)
‘Vid’ (Sanskrit) is the verb ‘to see’vision visorvideo adviser
visual
PIE: ueid (to know)Greek: eidos (idea)English: wit
The 7 Rishisthe writers of the Vedas
Related to the Sanskrit word rish, “to flow,”the Rishis are sages who possess inner sight
into the Sanatana Dharma
The ones through whomthe sacred sounds flow.
Rishikesh, India
ancient oral texts not written down until around 200 BC to 200 AD
4 Vedas
The Rig Vedathe main source for the stories of the gods
1. Rigveda kn. of praise2. Yajurveda kn. of sacrifice3. Samaveda kn. of melody4. Atharvaveda practical kn.
(includingAyurveda)
Samhitas: Collections
Ayurveda Introduction
Ayurveda (Life Science)Hindu Medicine
some basic understanding of germs
first known use of antibiotics
In the 4th Veda(Atharvaveda)PRACTICAL KNOWLEDGE, including
REVIEW B
sacred places
2
Mt. MeruAxis Mundi
Image of Mt. Kenya in Africa
“672k miles high” : )
The Home of the Gods
Mt. Everest is less than
6 miles high
Avg.distance
to the moon?239kmiles
Mt. MeruAxis Mundi
Mt. Kanchenjunga in India, almost as tall as Everest
Mandala (Circle)
Sacred Circle Representing the Order of the Cosmos
medieval Europeanmandala
Aborigines of Australia Native American Chinese
Celtic Aztec Star of David
Christian Labyrinth
Tibetan Sand Mandala
Hindu Mandala
Sometimes called a yantra
Hindu Temples with Mandala Design
the center of the
mandalais a
bindu, and
representsMt. Meru
Angkor Watin Cambodia
Angkor Wat in Cambodia
Sarasvati River
Saraswati RV 7:95THIS stream Sarasvati with fostering current comes forth, our sure defense, our fort of iron.As on a car, the flood flows on, surpassing in majesty and might all other waters. Pure in her course from mountains to the ocean, alone of streams Sarasvati hath listened.
The Ganges River
Ganges Riverhas its origins in the heavens
Milky Way
REVIEW C
the eternal and creation stories
3
The Tao of Physics
Fritjof Capra
Compares the findings in ModernQuantum Physics to Eastern Religions
Science and Hindu Literature
Quoted the Bhagavad Gita: "Death I am, cause of destruction of the worlds..."
"The Vedas are the greatest privilege of this century.“
—J. Robert Oppenheimer
"Vedanta is the most impressive metaphysics the human mind has
conceived.“—A.N. Whitehead
Om (Aum) Sacred Sound of the Universe
Creation Stories*
out of which all else flows
“In the beginning was the Word…”–John 1:1
String Theory in Physics
The Universe as a Concert
“And just as a violin stringcan vibrate in different patterns, each of which produces a different musical tone, the filamentsof superstring theory can also vibrate in different patterns.”—Brian Greene,The Fabric of the Cosmos
String theory is an attempt to unify relativity theory and quantum theory into a TOE.‘TOE’ stands for ‘Theory of Everything’
Planetary nebula called a Cosmic Egg
The Cosmic Egg
The Big Bang
The god Yahweh as depicted by Michelangeloon the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel
Genesis 1 says “Yahweh created man in his own image. In Yahweh's image he created him; male and female he created them.”
Michelangelo
Rubens’Adam and Evein the Garden
Genesis: Man Created in God’s Image
The Creative Principle w/a Personality…a SELF,an agent
Self-Sacrifice of Purushato Create the World
Purusha is the Cosmic Man (Being)
Purusha is the Consciousness of the Universe
Head Heavens
Torso Atmosphere
Lower Body Earth
REVIEW D
Creation of the Social Orderby the self-sacrifice of Purusha
+ UNTOUCHABLES/OUTCASTES
4 Varnas or Castes(The Caste System)
Mouth Priests(Brahmins)
Arms Warriors
Thighs/GenitalsProducers
Feet Servants
Outside of this caste system—lower than the lowest:
Harijan: children ofGod
Dalits (oppressed)
Gandhi embraced untouchables and called them
The Caste system is illegal today in India, but continues on through customs or habit.
Hymn to Purusha (Cosmic Man)
“A thousand heads hath Purusha, a thousand eyes, and a thousand feet.Covering the world all around, he yet exceeds it on all sides.This Purusha is all that hath been and all that is to be;The lord of immortality as well as of creatures who grow by food.So mighty is his greatness; yea, greater than all creation is Purusha.”
by Valérie Trotin
Purusha: Cosmic Man
Many Arms represent Omnipotence
Many Eyes/Heads represent Omniscience
The SELF behind all creation
art as“spiritual technology”
Purusha and Prakriti
Later Hinduism: Shiva-ShaktiBuddhism: Yab Yum
The unionof male and
female isthe Hindu
equivalent to
The Tai Chi
Consciousness and its field of Material Energy
REVIEW E
monotheism, polytheism,and henotheism
4
Kali Ganesh
Vishnu, Lakshmi,and Garuda
Surya
Ravana(Asura, demon)
Deva (God) Devi (Goddess)The Devas and Devis are Cosmic Powers, like the Kami in Japan
‘Div’ means ‘to shine’ divine, divinity
DYAUS ZEUS THEOS THEOLOGYDYAUS PITR ZEU PATER JUPITER God The study of God
(Sky Father, whose mate is Prithvi Matr/Mother Earth)
(one god in principle, many gods in practice)
vs. Monotheism (belief in one god)or Polytheism (belief in many gods)
330 Million Gods
3 kinds:celestialatmosphericearth
Hinduism is a form of Henotheism
One God
“Sages (learned Priests) call one God by many names.” [Rig Veda 1:164:46]
"O friends, do not worship anybody but Him, the Divine One. Praise Him alone." [Rig Veda 8:1:1]
"Verily, great is the glory of the Divine Creator."[Rig Veda 5:1:81]
Walter BurkertUniversity of Zurich
Theory of Epithets
In sacred literature, ‘epithets’ were used to describe the role and attributes of the divine, and the epithets themselves were later personified and myths
were created to explain their roles.
Epithets are attributes that distinguish a character.
Example:Alexander‘The Great’
REVIEW F