I understand the many dieties as different expressions of god. I get the ideas of reincarnation and karma.
I don't get the general tenets or what the scriptures of Hinduism are.
I'd appreciate any input anyone can give me, Thanks.
2007-06-30 21:02:29 · 6 answers · asked by sweets 6 in Society & Culture ➔ Religion & Spirituality
The hindu scriptures are very very ancient and vast-they contain many many gems or tenets as you call them-since the rishis-(the sages who withdrew from all material things and concentrated on only spiritual matters for many years in a very focused manner) are so many,you have many inputs from so many rishis-we have mantras-mantras are energized vibrations floating in space which are divined by rishis-they are not invented by the rishis but discovered while in deep meditation.since the rishis were selfles,ego less souls,they gave it freely to benefit mankind and did not attach their names to them.
the scriptures in the form of poetry,stories etc have rules/advice on how to conduct oneself in every aspect of human life.
treat your teacher as your god
treat your mother and father as god
treat your guest as god
is one of the favourite hindu tenets.
there are other tenets like-all living creatures have a soul and each soul is on its way to becomign evolved adn finally merge into god or attain moksha.
the manu shashtra -it speaks of earnign wealth,multiplyig it and sharing it-it is never a good thing ot hoard wealth.
the bhagvad gita contains the entire wealth of hinduism-it explains the nature of the mind,how to control it, and how to use it for the benefit of society.a person has the right only to do his duty but never to the result of the work.if everyone worked in such a manner,imagine how the world would be-utterly peaceful and prosperous.
there are other books on how to conduct rituals to attain wealth,how to attain health and also hwo to live in complete devotion to god.
the hindus believe that the paramatman is one-the supreme god but he can be seen in many diff ways-just as so many rivers join the one ocean,so many paths or beliefs all lead to the one god.
since it caters to people of different emotional and intellectual capacities,it is in different layers which could be confusing to a non hindu but a hindu always respects and accepts other religions because he believes all are one.this is the reason why in india,you have so many religions-the jews were welcomed adn lived peacefully in india when they were persecuted all over europe.
i hope i have given you a small peep into hinduism-if you can read teh bhagvad gita ,it will tell you everything about hinduism.Another good book is the Ramayana- it is the story of rama who was the ideal king who showed teh world how to live righteously,the hindus believe-it is teh most ancient epic-much older than homer's.again,ramayana also could be compared to ur own minds-the anatoginst,ravana who steals rama;s wife is our own ego-he is shown as havign 10 heads and 20 arms-if we let our ego take over,it will multiply and like the 20 arms,our actions will be manifold in a wrong direction.
the bhagvad gita is a discourse given on the battlefield by lord krishna to his disciple arjuna.It is from another epic the mahabharatha.
arjuna has to fight a war against his cousins who were unjust.in that war,arjuna;s teacher ,grandfather etc are on the opposing side-altho arjuna was waitng all his life for this war ,once he sees his dear guru and gr fr on the other side,he tells krishna he doesnt want to fight adn kill his own relatives for some material gain.
krishna tells him to do his duty-to fight injustice.a person is not the body but the soul and a soul never dies.etc etc.
the battle field and the warring sides are all allegorical,some say.
our mind is a battlefield and we have both arjuna and his cousins-good and bad thoughts going on-we have to fight the bad thoughts adn let good prevail,no matter at what cost.
hope this helps
ramaa
2007-07-01 14:13:29 · answer #1 · answered by ? 1 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Hinduism is a lot like Christianity. Just google the scriptures and read the books.
2007-07-01 06:54:32 · answer #2 · answered by gemini221 2 · 0⤊ 1⤋
Get a copy of the Bhagavad Gita and check out the seven deadly sins for starters . And possibly autobiography of a yogi. there is a plethora of spiritual literature in this field.
for a simplified view I would google it and look for wikipedia .
2007-07-01 04:15:47 · answer #3 · answered by dogpatch USA 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
The Bhagavad Gita is one of the main scriptures.
The Hindus believe God is infinite and when you worship God you worship one of the many forms of God.
Hindus make great food. I encourage you to visit your local Indian restaurant.
2007-07-01 04:08:14 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
check out http://www.gitananda.org/faq/why-are-there-so-many-gods-in-hinduism.html for answers to common questions about hinduism. (Click on the FAQ tab)
2007-07-02 12:17:37 · answer #5 · answered by anon 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
all religions are confusing. They're man made
2007-07-01 04:05:24 · answer #6 · answered by science rules! 3 · 0⤊ 1⤋