Namaste
Ganesh
Indus Valley Civilization [ BCE] Key web site:
Hydraulic civilization based on agriculture and trade that reached Persia and the Mediterranean
Himalayan Note: Based on analysis of stone beads traded, recent research has discovered that trade in the Indus Valley Civilization stretched up into the western Himalayas and the Hindu Kush.
Vedic Civilization ≠Invasion Slow waves of migration by horse/chariot using nomadic peoples Early and profoundly significant interactions with already settled peoples
Hinduism I: Hinduism I: Vedic Ritualism
Zeus and Indra: warrior gods who are thunderbolt-wielders
Agni: the fire god who “marches ahead” of Aryan warriors, clearing the forest for settlement Later Hindu holy men also perform this service for humanity.
Beyond Ritual Manipulation of gods and cosmos, new Spiritual Experiments: Psychotropic Plants, Upanishads, Asceticism, Yoga
800 BCE: The Rise of Sanyassins, Sadhus: Wandering ascetics
A traditional religious role that continues until today
Microcosm ≈ Macrocosm
Hinduism II: Mysticism and YOGA Yoking the energies of the body to realize ultimate truth
Normal Waking Consciousness
Samadhi: the goal of Yoga spiritual attainment [“trance”] Direct, clear, awareness of divine within: ATMAN = BRAHMAN [Tat Tvam Asi]
key primordial sound that opens the mind to spiritual understanding. OM/ AUM:
KARMA Deed Effect of deed, a natural law of cause and effect Deposited in the soul [atman], leading to future fruition: good→good, bad→bad This life and future lifetimes….
CASTE [varna and jati] The most notable example of karma fruition is in next life rebirth and in those conditions…. This spiritual understanding of soul, rebirth, retribution in karma formed the foundation of and justification for a hierarchical social order
DHARMA A human’s birth-defined caste and gender-defined “DUTY”
An individual who does his/her proper duty creates the karma to move up in the varna system Eventually reaching moksha “release” MOKSHA Atman merges with brahman
PHASE III. BHAKTI Devotional refuge in the gods [devata]
Bhakti principle of ista deva [personal god] Matched to individual’s karma
The great gods have the power to add karmic grace, and change individual destiny
Vishnu or Narayan
Vishnu Avatara theology [incarnation]
Rama
Krishna avatara
Krishna as divine child
Krishna as divine lover
Krishna as Sage-Hero of Mahabharata, second great Hindu epic
Speaks to Arjuna when he loses faith in doing his dharma and reveals ultimate reality of multiple forms of yoga, and his own divinity:
DEVI: The Goddess
Lakshmi and Sarasvati Wealth Learning and arts
Devi incarnations as Personifications of Woman’s virtue
Durga and Kali: Incarnation of Feminine Power [shakti]
Hinduism in Practice: Bhakti ritual [PUJA]
Darshan
Prostration
Puja
Tilaka/tika
Prasad: Material Blessing infused with divine power
Temples
Festivals
The Himalayas in the Indic Imagination