INTRODUCTION TO HINDUISM

There are over six thousand million people and the prediction says in five years, there will over twelve thousand million people in the world, in which we are living today. This is an extremely large number. You know one thing. If you try to count all the people of this world, one by one, one every second, without stopping even for a moment, it will take you over ninety-five years to count everyone-if you manage to live so long.

India itself has over one thousand million people. You know, of course, that we have our roots in India-it is the land of our forefathers, and we revere it greatly as our motherland. Out of a total population of over thirty million in South Africa, we, the South African Indians, make up about one million.

Our fore fathers came from different parts of India; from the north came the Hindi-speaking people; from the south came the Tahitians; from the central provinces came the Telling people; from Gujarat came the Gujaratis; and from the Punjab and the north-west of India came the Urdu-speaking Muslims. So you see why the present South African Indian community still has all these language groups.

The Indians of South Africa have three principal religions; Hinduism, Islam and Christianity. By far the majority of them are Hindus, that is, they have Hinduism as their religion. One thing we must understand straightaway is that there is no Hindi religion, or Tamil religion, or Gujarati religion. Even though we speak these different languages in our homes, yet our religion is common-Hinduism-and we are all known as Hindus.

SRI SWAMI SHIVANANDA  (1887—1963)

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ONE GOD MANY NAMES

Within Hinduism there are many sects. The three major sects are Shaivism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism. Thus you will find that there are many Deities in Hindu homes. We have Lord Shiva, Lord Vishnu, Lord Krishna, Lord Rama,Sri Hanuman, Lord Muruga, Lord Ganesha, Mother Saraswathi, and Mother Laxmi, to name but a few. In Shaivism, Lord Shiva is the fore most deity. In Vaishnavism, We have lord Vishnu, Lord Rama and Lord Krishna.Amongst the Shakthi worshipers we have the numerous aspects of the divine mother, for example, Mother Saraswathy and Mother Laxmi.

You will learn much more of all these Deities in the lessons that follow. One thing has to be said now: that Hindus believe in one God, but we can call him and worship him by any names and any aspect that suits us best. As God is one only, and as he is all-powerful, all-knowing and present everywhere, he can have countless names and aspects. Water can be called by many different names, but it is all the same. Similarly, we can invoke god by any name and form we like, but it is the one god that we call upon. He can come to us as beauty, as wisdom, as Knowledge, as learning, and as other aspect we choose. In order that we might think of him easily and worship Him according to our different tastes and desires, God came to our wise Rishis in the form of the different Deities, as mentioned above. When we grow in wisdom and knowledge and purity, and when we finally get the vision of God, we will know that all these Deities are not different from each other. They merge in the ones nameless and formless God. It is difficult to worship God in the beginning without having some sort of name and form in our minds. Have you understood this point clearly? If you have not, then do not hesitate to write to us for more clarification.

You may think of Hinduism in an other way. Hinduism is like a school and all the different sects are like class rooms. The child who sits in the class room labeled “Shaivism” worshipped lord Shiva, while the child who sits in the classroom labeled “Vaishnavism” worships Lord Vishnu. These children may be in different class room but they are in the same school. In the assembly and in the sports ground they are all united. Some children may have to go to more than one class to take their lesson.
Swami Sivananda, for example, took his lessons in nearly all; his educations in the school of Hinduism were quite complete.   

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QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1) WHO IS THE REAL HINDU?

THE REAL HINDU IS NOT THE ONE WHO REGULARLY GOES TO TEMPLE, ONE WHO HAS LEARNED THE VEDAS & PURANAS, ONE WHO  PRAYS LORD RAM OR LORD KRISHNA, AND ONE WHO OBSERVES ALL RITUALS. THE REAL HINDU IS ONE WHO STRONGLY BELIEVES IN HINDU DHARM,  ONE WHO IS READY TO MAKE SACRIFICE  TO PROTECT THE HINDU DHARM.

2) WHAT IS THE DIFEERECE BETWEEN THE GOD AND THE TRUTH?

THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE GOD & THE TRUTH. BOTH ARE JUST TWO SIDE OF THE SAME COIN.

3) ACCORDING TO THE HINDU MYTHOLOGY, WHEN DID THE GOD APPEAR IN HUMAN FORM AND WHAT WAS HIS NAME?

THE GOD APPEARED ABOUT 55,000 THOUSANS YEAR AGO AND  THE NAME OF THE GOD “ MAHA VISHNU”.

4) WHEN  DIS LORD RAM RULED BHARAT AND FREED LANKA FROM MIGHTY WARRIOR RAWAN.

ABOUT SEVEN HUNDRED THOUSANDS YEARS AGO LORD RAM FOUGHT WITH RAWAN TO FREE LANKA.

5) WHEN DID LORD KRISHNA COME TO THIS WORLD TO LEAD MAHABHARAT WAR AND REVEAL THE GITA TO HIS FAVARORITE FRIEND ARUJUN?

IT WAS AROUND FIVE THOUSANDS YEARS AGO,  LORD KRISHNA LED THE MAHA BHARAT WAR AND REVEALED  THE HOLY BOOK GITA TO ARUJUN.

6) WHO WAS LORD BHUDDHA AND WHEN DID HE LIVE IN INDIA?

LORD BHUDDHA WAS THE INCARNATION OF LORD VISHNU AND HE  TAUGHT THE TRUTH TO ENTIRE WORLD.

7) IN INDIA, WHY ARE THER MORE TEMPLES FEDICATED TO HANUMAN THAN TO LORD RAM?

HANUMAN WAS NOT ONLY THE DEVOTEE OF LORD RAM, BUT HE WAS ALSO THE ELEVENTH REINCARNATION OF LORD SHIVA. HE CAME TO HELP LORD RAM TO FIGHT AGAINST RAWAN.

8) WHEN WAS LORD SHIVA ON THE FACE OF THIS EARTH?

LORD SHIVA IS EMBODIMENT OF THE TRUTH. HIS BRILLIACE WAS STRONGER THAN THOUSANDS SUNS IN THE SKY. HIS EXISTENCE HAS NO BEGINING OR END. HE IS OMINIPRESENT IN THE UNIVERSE . HE IS BEYOND DISCRIPTION. HIS GLORY CAN NOT BE DEFINED IN ANY HUMAN LANGUAGE.

9) WHAT IS GURU AND WHY PEOPLE LOOKING FOR GURU, SPECIALLY IN INDIA?

GURU MEANS THE ONE WHO CAN BRINGS YOU FROM THE DARKNESS  TO LIGHT. THE GURU IS JUST
LIKE THE MIRROR. HE CAN SHOW YOU WHO YOU ARE. WITHOUT GURU, YOU NEVER COME TO KNOW WHO YOU ARE. UNLESS YOU  KNOW WHO YOU ARE, YOU DON’T KNOW WHAT DO YOU WANT IN YOUR LIFE AND YOU MISS THE WHOLE WORLD, EVEN IF YOU HAVE EVERYTHING IN YOUR LIFE.