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Hinduism * Part 2 (some points from Robert Elwood’s text Many Peoples, Many Faiths )

Hinduism * Part 2 (some points from Robert Elwood’s text Many Peoples, Many Faiths ). Soma p.59. Soma was an intoxicating drink used in religious ceremonies and believed to be drunk by the gods, especially Indra .

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Hinduism * Part 2 (some points from Robert Elwood’s text Many Peoples, Many Faiths )

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  1. Hinduism * Part 2(some points from Robert Elwood’s text Many Peoples, Many Faiths)

  2. Soma p.59 • Soma was an intoxicating drink used in religious ceremonies and believed to be drunk by the gods, especially Indra. • No one knows today its composition (speculation – fly agaric mushroom a.k.aamaritamuscaria – still used today by central Asian shamans) • In contemporary Hinduism, Soma is a god associated with the moon.

  3. Rig Veda Hymns, On Soma • Book 10, Chapter 116 Indra DRINK soma juice for mighty power and vigour, Drink, Strongest One, that you may smite down Vritra. Drink you, invoked, for strength, and riches: drink you your fill of meath and pour it down, Indra. Drink of the foodful juice stirred into motion, drink what you choose of the flowing Soma. Giver of weal, be joyful in your spirit, and turn you hereward to bless and prosper. Let heavenly Soma gladden you, Indra, let that effused among mankind delight you.

  4. RigVeda 10:119 Indra THIS, even this was my resolve, to win a cow, to win a steed: Have I not drunk soma ? [1] Like violent gusts of wind, the draughts that I have drunk have lifted me Have I not drunk soma ? [2] The draughts I drank have borne me up, as fleet-foot horses draw a car: Have I not drunk soma? [3] ………. The heavens and earth themselves have not grown equal to one half of me Have I not drunk soma ? [7] I in my grandeur have surpassed the heavens and all this spacious earth Have I not drunk soma ? [8]

  5. Mantras • Chants. Example…. Om (aum) • Not just the power of the words, but the actual sounds are thought to resonate with the gods and the universeitself. • Rituals keep the worldon course and help tune the human lives of the people involved with the workings of brahman.

  6. The Yoga Sutras (300 A.D) Pages 69-73 • Haitha yoga is a collection of teachings on the physical (biological, psychosomatic) techniques to relax the mind and body to achieve new states of consciousness. • Withdraw from distractions and illusions to explore an inner world (spiritual) • Techniques posture control= asana breath control = pranayama • A yogi is someone who practices yoga

  7. Other yogas • Karma yoga: selfless action, charity, bravery (emphasized in the BhagavadGita), selfless acceptance of one’s fate (caste). • Bhakti yoga: emotional, mystical experience of love and devotion to a particular god. (statues, images, chants).

  8. Tantrismbegins around 1000 A.D.Radical ways to transform consciousness. Tantrism started a reaction against conventional practices of brahmins, rulers and Buddhist monks in India: • Challenges conventional moral norms and manners. • Encourages out-of-caste behavior. • The Shiva –Shakti sexual relationship is acted out symbolically or actually. • Powerful initiation ceremonies meant to give a sudden “shock therapy” approach to spiritual transformation.

  9. Hinduism interacts with foreign influences By1211 A.D. Muslim sultanate begins in New Dehli. * Conservative reactions to the foreign religion which is a threat to traditional values: Hindus become even more Hindu. • Islam spread out of Arabia and reached India in first throuight trade in the 600s and then through conquest over the next few centuries. • Liberal reaction: 1470 A.D. Guru Nanak begins the new Sikh religion that accommodates traditions from Islam and Hinduism (8 million people). • England’s East India Company begins taking over via trade beginning in the 1600s, the British crown took over in 1857. • Ghandi leads religiously inspired independence movement in the 1930s -1940s. • Pakistan broke off from India upon independence in 1947 as a separate Muslim state.

  10. Sacred Cows • Cows were originally sacrificed in the Vedas. Beef was eaten. • Vegetarianism grows over time in India, especially among Buddhists and Jains. • The cow provided an abundance of important products, including milk, ghee, browned butter for lamps, and fuel from dried dungthat make the cow more valuable alive than as a source of meat.

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