Overview of Hinduism

Islam began with Muhammad. Christianity began with Jesus. Judaism began with Abraham. Buddhism began with Siddhartha Gautama (the Buddha). But Hinduism is so ancient that there is no record of a single starting point.

For thousands of years, different tribes moved south and mixed, and their beliefs also mixed. Hinduism began in India. But what we now call “Hinduism” is actually a mixture of many ancient religions.

Today, about 80% of India’s people are Hindu.

The Hindu scriptures are the Vedas.

But this is not one book. It is actually many different books collected over many centuries.

Hindus worship thousands of gods and goddesses. But educated Hindus will tell you that all the different gods & goddesses are really just different ways to understand the One Universal Divine Spirit.

The Blind Men and the Elephant A parable from India

Once upon a time, there lived six blind men in a village. One day the villagers told them, "Hey, there is an elephant in the village today."

They had no idea what an elephant was. They decided, "Even though we won’t be able to see it, lets go and touch it anyway." So all of them went where the elephant was. Every one of them touched the elephant.

"Hey, the elephant is a large tree," said the first man who touched his leg.

“It’s not like a tree! It’s like a rope," said the second man who touched the tail.

"Oh, no it’s not! it is like a long and winding snake," said the third man who touched the trunk of the elephant.

“You’re all wrong. It is like a big hand fan," said the fourth man who touched the ear of the elephant.

“Wait a minute. I know what it is. It feels like a huge wall," said the fifth man who touched the side of the elephant.

“No, no. It feels just like a solid spear," said the sixth man who touched the tusk of the elephant.

They began to argue about the elephant and every one of them insisted that he was right. They did not realize that each of them had only part of the truth about the elephant.

How does this story represent the Hindu understanding of God (Brahma)?

Hinduism teaches reincarnation. This is the belief that individuals are born again into another body after dying.

The basic idea is that we are on earth to become wise and good. If we do well, our soul returns in another birth, in a higher class, and we learn and grow even more.

But if we do NOT learn to be wise and good, we will be reincarnated in a lower form, and will be expected to try again to learn and grow before we can advance to a higher form.

This cycle continues until I learn to be fully holy. Only then can I become one with the Creator.

India’s traditional caste system is based in Hinduism. People are born into a high or low caste, based on how well the they lived in the previous life.

Out of respect for the souls of animals, many Hindus eat no meat. But this is not a rule for Hindus.

“Vegetarian or Western?”

Unlike Christians or Muslims, Hindus do not try to convert people to their religion. That’s because Hinduism teaches that there are many ways to understand God. It teaches people to respect those differences.

The overall purpose of Hinduism is to live a good life, learn wisdom, and follow the guidelines found in the Vedas. They believe this allows them to eventually move past reincarnation and that their soul can then become one with God.