What is a good introduction to Hinduism? Books, Internet etc... and how would you define this religion?

Question

thanks

Answer 1

"The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hinduism" by Linda Johnsen is excellent! It is one of the best "Idiot's Guides" I've ever come across. I am a Hindu, and I learned a lot from it.

If you are interested in learning about popular Hinduism (the religion as it is practiced by the majority of lay people), then, "The Camphor Flame" by C. J. Fuller is quite good.

If you want a taste of Hindu philosophy, read the Upanishads or the Bhagavad Gita. These are actual Hindu Scriptures, and will help you get a firsthand look at Hindu thinking.

Hold on and I will get you some websites....

http://www.himalayanacademy.com/resources/books/wih/
This is a website which contains an online version of a book about Hinduism, complete with beautiful photography. It's a great introduction. It is put out by the publishers of Hinduism Today Magazine. If you check out the rest of the Himalayan Academy Website, you will find other online books (I read the one about Ganesha, which is awesome) and even online versions of the Magazine. It is mostly from a Shaivite perspective though. (Shaivite is a sect of Hinduism which focuses devotion on Lord Shiva).

I want to say that there is a lot of misinformation out there about Hinduism, so be careful about what you read. If the book is fairly recent, then it should be okay, but be careful about any book that is not recent, because the older books conveyed a lot of stereotypes and biases against Hindus.

I am working on my own webpage about Hinduism here:
http://www.pathsofdevotion.com/hinduism.html
I don't have much on it yet, but it does have a list of the most well-known Hindu Gods and Goddesses with a brief description.

Here is an excellent Hinduism website:
http://www.onlinedarshan.com/pg.asp#m
You have to have a membership though to get most of the info, but it's free, and I think it's worth it.

_________________________
How would I define Hinduism?

I would say it is the "Eternal Religion" (called Sanatana Dharma in Sanskrit). I say this because it is, it seems to me, the religion that is natural to humankind, and so it is the religion that humans naturally discover when they meditate and contemplate on the universe and the Self.
It is not one religion, but a group of religions practiced by people all over India, Nepal, and other places. So "Hinduism" is sort of a catch-all term to describe the many varied practices and beliefs of those people.
But what they mostly have in common is that they see oneness in all that diversity. Hindus are very tolerant of diversity, because Hinduism recognizes that different human beings require different methods to realize God, depending upon their make-up and their stage of spiritual development.
So one who worships Shiva does not look down upon one who worships Vishnu. They know that ultimately, they worship the same Supreme God, just in a different form, and by a different name.

A Hindu maxim states, "Truth is One, but the Sages call it by many Names." Hinduism accepts many ways of conceiving of Divinity and many paths to approaching God. This concept is, I believe, what unifies the diverse religions that come under the name of "Hinduism."

Answer 2

If it is for children then Amar Chitra Katha is the most
ideal. For adults books on Ramayan and Mahabharat
to start with. For couch potato - Aastha and Sanskar
TV ;channels. For computer savvy nothing like Wikipedia
and BBC home page for religions. For serious study
there is always Vedanta.
To define hinduism in one word or one sentence would
be tough. Still in short it is a religion which has no qualms
with other religion and that is why it has whole heartedly
accepted other bi or sub faith into it. It is accomodative
and vishaal i.e. huge and bold enought to accept others.
It is also eternal therefore it has survived onslaught by
other fanatical religious group. You can also say it is a
way of life with many. Cheers!

Answer 3

Strength of Hinduism is recognition of each and every path which is going towards god. 33 crore devi devtas is the evidence. Hinduism had well known that the only one philosophy will produce destruction because an ignorant person can't understand the idolless god.
A primary boy can't understand matter of college level, similarly direct approach to the god is not possible for a person. Hence Hinduism accepts this level difference and recognise all paths. Never objects any ideology about god. Idol less god and idol worship both r recognised in Hinduism there is no contradiction.
This level difference is the proud and strenghth of Hinduism.

Answer 4

Namaskar,

I am going to post few links here, but I must warn you the views posted in these links are not run of the mill **** which you would come across so often in your journey to discover Hinduism. I urge you to devotr some time to go through the works of Shri Koenraad Elst, if you keep an open mind you would be able to interpret Hinduism the way most Hindus wouldn't ever be able to do so. You can download, print, save, email these books and articles for free. These are nothing short of literal gold mines.


http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/

http://koenraadelst.bharatvani.org/books/wiah/index.htm

http://hinduism.about.com/od/basics/a/whois.htm

http://hinduism.about.com/od/hinduismforkids/a/forparents.htm

Answer 5

Hinduism is called as SANATHANA DHARMA, founded by not man & contributors like saints, sages & yogis are many.
Vedas, Upanishads, Baghavad Gita, Ramayana, Mahabharatha are major scriptures. Internet sites are many for instant reference.

Answer 6

click the link

this is the BBC home page for religions

it gives just a "fact sheet" type of approach to what a religion believes

read as many of the links or as few of the links you want under Hinduism

Answer 7

Hinduism has a long and complex history. It is a blend of ancient legends, beliefs and customs which has adapted, blended with, and spawned numerous creeds and practices.
Hindus recognise one God, Brahman, the eternal origin who is the cause and foundation of all existence.Hindus believe that the soul passes through a cycle of successive lives and its next incarnation is always dependent on how the previous life was lived.

These are the most ancient religious texts which define truth for Hindus.Vedic texts are sometimes called shruti, which means hearing and for hundreds, maybe even thousands of years, the texts were passed on orally.

The Vedas are made up of four compositions, and each veda in turn has four parts which are arranged chronologically.

* The Samhitas are the most ancient part of the Vedas, consisting of hymns of praise to God.
* The Brahmanas are rituals and prayers to guide the priests in their duties.
* The Aranyakas concern worship and meditation.
* The Upanishads consist of the mystical and philosophical teachings of Hinduism.

* Rig-Veda Samhita (c. 1200 BCE) is the oldest of the four vedas and consists of 1028 hymns praising the ancient gods.
* Yajur-Veda Samhita is used as a handbook by priests performing the vedic sacrifices.
* Sama-Veda Samhita consists of chants and tunes for singing at the sacrifices.
* Atharva-Veda Samhita (c. 900 BCE) preserves many traditions which pre-date the Aryan influence and consists of spells, charms and magical formulae.

The Upanishads

The Upanishads were so called because they were taught to those who sat down beside their teachers. (upa=near, ni=down, shad=sit).These texts developed from the Vedic tradition, but largely reshaped Hinduism by providing believers with philosophical knowledge.

The major Upanishads were largely composed between 800-200 BCE and are partly prose, partly verse.
Later Upanishads continued to be composed right down to the 16th century. Originally they were in oral form.
The early Upanishads are concerned with understanding the sacrificial rites. Central to the Upanishads is the concept of brahman; the sacred power which informs reality. Whilst the priests (brahmins) had previously been the ones who, through ritual and sacrifice, had restricted access to the divine, now the knowledge of the universe was open to those of the high and middle castes willing to learn from a teacher.

Bhagavad Gita
The Bhagavad Gita, or "Song of the Lord" is part of the sixth book of the Mahabharata, the world's longest poem. Composed between 500 BCE and 100 CE, the Mahabharata is an account of the wars of the house of Bharata.
It is one of the most popular Hindu texts and is known as a smriti text (the remembered tradition). This is considered by some to be of less importance than shruti (the heard text, such as the Vedas). It has, nevertheless, an important place within the Hindu tradition. The Bhagavad Gita takes the form of a dialogue between prince Arjuna and Krishna, his charioteer, an incarnation of the supreme God, Vishnu.
Arjuna is a warrior, about to join his brothers in a war between two branches of a royal family which would involve killing many of his friends and relatives. He wants to withdraw from the battle but Krishna teaches him that he, Arjuna, must do his duty in accordance with his class and he argues that death does not destroy the soul. Krishna points out that knowledge, work and devotion are all paths to salvation and that the central value in life is that of loyalty to God.

The Ramayana
Composed in the same period, the Ramayana is one of India's best known tales. It tells the story of Prince Rama who was sent into exile in the forest with his wife, Sita, and his brother, Lakshamana. Sita was abducted by the evil demon Ravana but ultimately rescued by Prince Rama with the help of the Monkey God, Hanuman. The story is written in 24,000 couplets. The symbolism of the story has been widely interpreted but basically is the story of good overcoming evil. Many people have said that it is a story about dharma or duty.

I think you can start knowing Hinduism first by learning from Internet and the following websites will be very much helpful to acheive this. On a later date you can go to books.-
http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/index.htm
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/hinduindex.asp
http://www.hinduweb.org/
http://www.hindunet.org/
http://www.hinduwebsite.com/
http://hinduism.about.com/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hinduism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hindu
http://vedabase.net/bg/
http://www.encyclopediaindica.com/index.php/Main_Page
http://www.hindubooks.org/sudheer_birodkar/hindu_history/freegraphics.html-

Answer 8

There are many websites but the two best ones are:

http://www.hinduwisdom.info
http://www.sanatansociety.org

In the first one, there is a section where there are recommendations of many excellent books that you can read.

Answer 9

Start at wikipedia. I'm hindu and ive checked it out its actually pretty good.

Answer 10

This is the only book you need

AM I A HINDU by Ed Viswanathan
http://www.amiahindu.com/