HINDUISM
by Pravin K. Shah
Founded:
Hinduism is the world's oldest religion. It has no beginning as it predates recorded history.
Founder:
Hinduism has no human founder.
Major Scriptures:
The Vedas, the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutra, the Bhagavad Gita, the Agamas, and the Puranas.
Sects:
There are four main denominations: Saivism, Saktism, Vaisnavism, and liberalism (non‑sectarian forms).
Adherents:
Over 800 million; mostly in India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Malaysia, Indonesia, Mauritius, Africa, Europe and North and South America.
Goals:
The ultimate goal of Hinduism is Moksha or liberation (total freedom). This is the personal and direct realization of one's true, divine self, which grants permanent liberation from the cycles of rebirth, or Samsara. This realization is termed Nirvikalpa Samadhi and is the totally transcendent culmination of yoga. For monists, this means total merger in oneness and identity. For dualists it means a loving, blessed union with God in which the individuality of the soul is maintained.
Hindu philosophy is essentially a philosophy of values. The values are classified into four groups by Hindu sages. They are Kama (psycho physical values), Artha (economic values), Dharma (moral values), and Moksha (spiritual values). Moksha or liberation is the highest value of the human life. The final destiny of all souls is union with the Supreme, most widely revered as Shiva for Saivism, Sakti for Saktism, Vishnu for Vaisnavism, and Brahman for Liberalism.
In the process of spiritual uplift one conquers the state of ignorance (Avidya) which causes the world to appear as real. All illusion has vanished for the realized beings (Jivanmukta).
A secondary goal for the Saktism is to perform good work selflessly so that one may go to heaven after death and thereafter enjoy a good rebirth on earth, for heaven is also a transitory state. For Saktas God is both the formless Absolute (Shiva) and the manifest Divine (Sakti or Godess Durga Kali). However the importance is given to the feminine manifest by which the masculine unmanifest (Shiva) is ultimately reached.
A secondary goal of Vaisnavism is the experience of God's Grace which can be reached while yet embodied through taking refuge in God's unbounded love. Lord Vishnu is God, all pervasive consciousness and the soul of the universe.
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