Look unto me, and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth. Isaiah 45:22
"Hinduism (also known as Brahmanism in older writings and as a stage in the development of Hinduism) has ancient roots. It is unquestionably the oldest living major religious tradition not connected to the Bible. The Vedas were oral traditions eventually written in ancient Sanskrit language and viewed as the most authoritative sacred texts. The Upanishadas, also called Vedanta (“final knowledge”), are philosophical discussions.
Karma simply means good or bad deeds considered as one of the paths to earn salvation. It broadly describes the universal law of cause and effect.
The worldview of a Hindu is based on the concept of
The concept of three worlds is popular. It includes the world of the living, of the dead, and of the
spirits (supernatural).
The cosmological concept includes that nature is filled with spiritual beings and life forces that are all part of the universal force of Brahman
The concept of time is cyclical in nature. Everything is repeated age after age like seasons.
Man is brought into existence as atman, a spiritual emanation from Brahman. The atman is the essence of the individual, yet is part of the Divine. The self must experience the law of karma and come to realize that it is divine. In this sense, each person is divine and must recognize that the atman and Brahman are one. Reality as we know it is actually a form of illusion because we draw distinctions when there are no distinctions since all is one.
The Brahman, who is without attributes (nirguna), cannot be known by man. This naturally begs us to ask the question how it is possible for man to know that Brahman, the Impersonal Spirit, even exists!
Brahman, veiled with mysterious cosmic creative power known as maya, caused the material creation to come into existence. The whole of creation, which actually includes multiple universes, emanates from Brahman as the web that a spider weaves, and returns back into Brahman. Brahman exists in everything and everything exists in Brahman, making Hinduism a pantheistic worldview.
There are many different incarnations (avataras) of Vishnu. Avatara is a Sanskrit word that refers to a divine incarnation that literally means “one who descends.” Every Hindu believes in ten incarnations of the god Vishnu, of which nine avataras are already manifested and one more avatara is yet to come. The term avatara refers to a male or female person having divine powers. The term means an incarnation or appearance of a supernatural being or an illusion of that being.
According to the Bhagavad Gita, whenever there is a decline of virtue and religious practice, Vishnu himself descends on earth to destroy evil and to uphold or re-establish righteousness. The most popular incarnations are Rama and Krishna. The final incarnation, Kalki, is yet to come into the world.
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Romans 1:23
The ten avataras of Vishnu assume a prominent place in the Epics (the Hindu mythologies) and more so in the Puranas (a series of texts that describe specific gods).
The first three have a cosmic character and are foreshadowed in the hymns of the Vedas: Matsya (fish), Kurma (tortoise), and Varaha (boar).
The fourth incarnation belongs to a later age when the worship of Vishnu had become established: Narsimha (man-lion).
The fifth incarnation, Vamana (dwarf ), whose three strides deprived the asuras of the domination of heaven and earth, follows the fourth avatara, and the three strides are attributed to Vishnu in the Vedic text as Urukrama.
The next three incarnations, Parasurama, Ramchandra, and Krishna, are mortal heroes whose exploits are celebrated in poems so fervently as to raise the heroes to the rank of gods.
The ninth avatara is the deification of any great teacher, known as Buddha. This is not a specific name, but a title. Most know this as the title taken by Siddhartha Gautama who achieved enlightenment and was known as Gautama Buddha. He is now a revered figure in Buddhism and various forms of Hinduism. According to the theory of the avataras, the Buddha himself was adopted as an avatara.
The final avatara is Kalki, who is yet to come and whose arrival will signal the end of the present age before the universe is annihilated and reborn.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
Exodus 20:3-5
Every Hindu family is supposed to have a family god or a personal deity to whom they show strong
allegiance and worship by observing correct rituals, prayers, and festivals. The deities can be worshiped in public temples or shrines installed in homes. Certain sacred persons, living or dead, can be accepted as divine due to the miracles attributed to them before or after death.
Popular Hindu deities include children of the major deities such as Ganapati (the elephant-headed god also known as Ganesha), who is a son of Shiva and Parvati. Ganapati is considered the god of knowledge and the obstacle remover.
Hanuman or Maruti (the monkey-headed god), an associate of Rama, is believed to give health and strength.
For the living know that they shall die:
but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward;
Ecclesiastes 9:5
Demons and ghosts are believed to be living in abandoned houses, cemetery objects, trees, mountains, rivers, or strange places. Protection from these forces is sought from family gods, diviners, gurus, rituals, and magic.
I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. Acts 17:22
Nature worship includes totem spirits of sacred trees, animals, birds, and imagined creatures. The cow is often considered the most sacred animal in the Hindu mythology. The Western expression “holy cow” comes from this bovine veneration.
.....because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
Gurus (spiritual teachers or masters) is also like a medium, a medicine man, an arbitrator, and a diviner.
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood... Revelation 1:5
The largest human gathering on earth, called the Kumbha Mela (“pot festival”), happens every 12 years at Prayag (“the place of sacrifice”) near modern Allahabad at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the invisible Saraswati rivers. It is believed that immortal nectar (amrita) drips from a pot carried by Vishnu at each of these locations. About 30 million Hindu pilgrims gather to bathe ritually during Kumbha Mela time. This act of bathing in the river is believed to wash away the person’s sins.
Other aspects of worship are the various yogas (“yoking”) or margas (“paths”) that an individual may perform.
The most popular Hindu festival is Diwali or the Festival of Lights. It is one of the most colorful and is a week-long community event. Families light earthen lamps throughout their homes, keeping them burning day and night. They put on new clothes and visit their extended families sharing sweets and gifts. Families pray to family deities at home or in temples and especially worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, in hope of a prosperous year to come.
Christ is the true answer to the fervent prayer of Hindus as expressed in the Vedas:
"Hinduism (also known as Brahmanism in older writings and as a stage in the development of Hinduism) has ancient roots. It is unquestionably the oldest living major religious tradition not connected to the Bible. The Vedas were oral traditions eventually written in ancient Sanskrit language and viewed as the most authoritative sacred texts. The Upanishadas, also called Vedanta (“final knowledge”), are philosophical discussions.
Karma simply means good or bad deeds considered as one of the paths to earn salvation. It broadly describes the universal law of cause and effect.
The worldview of a Hindu is based on the concept of
karma,
reincarnation, and
caste.
The concept of three worlds is popular. It includes the world of the living, of the dead, and of the
The cosmological concept includes that nature is filled with spiritual beings and life forces that are all part of the universal force of Brahman
The concept of time is cyclical in nature. Everything is repeated age after age like seasons.
Man is brought into existence as atman, a spiritual emanation from Brahman. The atman is the essence of the individual, yet is part of the Divine. The self must experience the law of karma and come to realize that it is divine. In this sense, each person is divine and must recognize that the atman and Brahman are one. Reality as we know it is actually a form of illusion because we draw distinctions when there are no distinctions since all is one.
The Brahman, who is without attributes (nirguna), cannot be known by man. This naturally begs us to ask the question how it is possible for man to know that Brahman, the Impersonal Spirit, even exists!
Brahman, veiled with mysterious cosmic creative power known as maya, caused the material creation to come into existence. The whole of creation, which actually includes multiple universes, emanates from Brahman as the web that a spider weaves, and returns back into Brahman. Brahman exists in everything and everything exists in Brahman, making Hinduism a pantheistic worldview.
There are many different incarnations (avataras) of Vishnu. Avatara is a Sanskrit word that refers to a divine incarnation that literally means “one who descends.” Every Hindu believes in ten incarnations of the god Vishnu, of which nine avataras are already manifested and one more avatara is yet to come. The term avatara refers to a male or female person having divine powers. The term means an incarnation or appearance of a supernatural being or an illusion of that being.
According to the Bhagavad Gita, whenever there is a decline of virtue and religious practice, Vishnu himself descends on earth to destroy evil and to uphold or re-establish righteousness. The most popular incarnations are Rama and Krishna. The final incarnation, Kalki, is yet to come into the world.
And changed the glory of the uncorruptible God into an image made like to corruptible man, and to birds, and fourfooted beasts, and creeping things. Romans 1:23
The ten avataras of Vishnu assume a prominent place in the Epics (the Hindu mythologies) and more so in the Puranas (a series of texts that describe specific gods).
The fourth incarnation belongs to a later age when the worship of Vishnu had become established: Narsimha (man-lion).
The fifth incarnation, Vamana (dwarf ), whose three strides deprived the asuras of the domination of heaven and earth, follows the fourth avatara, and the three strides are attributed to Vishnu in the Vedic text as Urukrama.
The next three incarnations, Parasurama, Ramchandra, and Krishna, are mortal heroes whose exploits are celebrated in poems so fervently as to raise the heroes to the rank of gods.
The ninth avatara is the deification of any great teacher, known as Buddha. This is not a specific name, but a title. Most know this as the title taken by Siddhartha Gautama who achieved enlightenment and was known as Gautama Buddha. He is now a revered figure in Buddhism and various forms of Hinduism. According to the theory of the avataras, the Buddha himself was adopted as an avatara.
The final avatara is Kalki, who is yet to come and whose arrival will signal the end of the present age before the universe is annihilated and reborn.
Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image,
or any likeness of any thing that is in heaven above,
or that is in the earth beneath,
or that is in the water under the earth:
Thou shalt not bow down thyself to them, nor serve them:
Exodus 20:3-5
Every Hindu family is supposed to have a family god or a personal deity to whom they show strong
Popular Hindu deities include children of the major deities such as Ganapati (the elephant-headed god also known as Ganesha), who is a son of Shiva and Parvati. Ganapati is considered the god of knowledge and the obstacle remover.
Hanuman or Maruti (the monkey-headed god), an associate of Rama, is believed to give health and strength.
For the living know that they shall die:
but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward;
Ecclesiastes 9:5
Demons and ghosts are believed to be living in abandoned houses, cemetery objects, trees, mountains, rivers, or strange places. Protection from these forces is sought from family gods, diviners, gurus, rituals, and magic.
I perceive that in all things ye are too superstitious. Acts 17:22
Nature worship includes totem spirits of sacred trees, animals, birds, and imagined creatures. The cow is often considered the most sacred animal in the Hindu mythology. The Western expression “holy cow” comes from this bovine veneration.
.....because many false prophets are gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
Gurus (spiritual teachers or masters) is also like a medium, a medicine man, an arbitrator, and a diviner.
Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood... Revelation 1:5
The largest human gathering on earth, called the Kumbha Mela (“pot festival”), happens every 12 years at Prayag (“the place of sacrifice”) near modern Allahabad at the confluence of the Ganges, Yamuna, and the invisible Saraswati rivers. It is believed that immortal nectar (amrita) drips from a pot carried by Vishnu at each of these locations. About 30 million Hindu pilgrims gather to bathe ritually during Kumbha Mela time. This act of bathing in the river is believed to wash away the person’s sins.
Other aspects of worship are the various yogas (“yoking”) or margas (“paths”) that an individual may perform.
The most popular Hindu festival is Diwali or the Festival of Lights. It is one of the most colorful and is a week-long community event. Families light earthen lamps throughout their homes, keeping them burning day and night. They put on new clothes and visit their extended families sharing sweets and gifts. Families pray to family deities at home or in temples and especially worship Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth, in hope of a prosperous year to come.
Christ is the true answer to the fervent prayer of Hindus as expressed in the Vedas:
From untruth, lead me to the truth;Finally, Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of the noble aspirations of Hinduism. He says to the Hindus (John 14:6):
From darkness, lead me to light;
From death, lead me to immortality.
I am the Way
I am the Truth
I am the Life" AIG
