HINDUISM Hinduism, may or may not fit seamlessly when

applied to the period earlier than their

Before we start discussing Hinduism, let us first legitimization, e.g., if one of the partners starts
clarify some misconceptions about the term and invoking their label after figuring out that
place ourselves into the right mindset. To his/her partner was having an affair with
properly understand this complex and highly someone before the label happened.
diverse religion, the first thing we need to do is
to deconstruct our prior knowledge that prevents Furthermore, since we are going to discuss
us from understanding the concept because it religions that find their origins in India in this
puts us in the wrong context.  module and in the next one, it is important that
you get properly oriented with their
Hinduism does not strictly speak of one religion. philosophical dispositions. If we are studying
It is a modern term that was first used in the religions, then why do we need to study their
latter half of the 18th century, although its philosophy? The simple answer to this is that
traditions are ancient. The term does not even religion and philosophy will always be
have an obvious equivalent in the Indic intertwined. These religions are not divorced
languages. Hinduism, simply put, refers to from their philosophical references. Therefore,
different religions and spiritual philosophies that to fully understand Hinduism and even
have their origin within the Indian subcontinent. Buddhism in the next module, their
Thus, the term Hinduism somehow philosophical contexts must be discussed first.
encapsulated different religions and traditions of
Indian civilization. Interpreting the Indian thinking is predominantly theocentric –
term Hinduism became a general name for the god-centered, anthropocentric, and man-
rich and diverse traditions existing in the Indus centered.
region.
This means that religion and self-discovery
So, does this mean that there is no such thing as play crucial roles in the way Indians think and
Hinduism before the second half of the 18th conduct their actions. According to Alfredo Co,
century? The short answer to this is no. the question that would best characterize Indian
civilization would be “Who am I? (Sino
Most modern scholars nowadays have agreed ako?)” How does this question then relate to
that the term Hinduism may still be applied to theocentrism? Indian philosophy is always in a
the time before its invention. However, since quest of knowing the Ultimate Truth, which
Hinduism did not exist before the 18th they call Brahman (considered as the creator of
century, it is unavoidable to encounter some everything). According to their beliefs, the best
problems when the term is applied to the period way to know the Ultimate Truth is through
before its creation. A good analogy for what I self-discovery.
am trying to say here is the concept of labels in
relationships. When romantic partners decide to As a result, they pay much attention to self-
make their “thing” official, it does not mean that discovery to be able to align themselves in the
what they felt before giving their relationship a cosmic order, which is their access to Brahman.
proper label is invalid or non-existent – i.e., you This also stems from the idea that there is a part
were already in love or had feelings for each of Brahman in all of us. Their traditional
other even before the label. The label just greeting “namaste” means “the Brahman in
affirms and validates something which was me greets the Brahman in you.” This may be
already existing. This is also true in Hinduism. difficult to understand for now, but as we move
along this module, let us try our best to give this
The beliefs and practices were already there concept a bit of clarity.
even before the term was created and used. Also,
labels just provide clarity to what the With all these in mind, we are now ready to
relationship is and is not. However, labels, like explore Hinduism.
 found to support the claim that the traditions of
Hinduism really stemmed out from the Indus
Hinduism: Did You Know? Valley civilization. These pieces of evidence
that they have found relate to the emphasis on
In India, despite the reality of hunger, cows are ritual bathing, goddess worship, and sacrifice,
left wandering around villages. This practice is which were later practiced in Hinduism.
not just a product of arbitrary thinking but is
also included in their religious beliefs. In fact, Hence, whether these artifacts are really traces
the veneration of cows is also part of bhakti of the early civilization of Hinduism, it is clear
yoga. This practice is at the heart of Hinduism that the earliest Hindus were nomadic herding
people who identified themselves as Aryans,
for symbolic and practical reasons. Hindus
which means “noble ones.” These people spoke
believe that COWS represent all non-human
Sanskrit and scholars believe that they came
life. Therefore, to respect a cow is equivalent to from Turkey. There are two theories
paying respect and recognizing the dependence surrounding the development of the Aryan
of humans on the non-human world. In addition, tradition. The first theory would be that the
the practical reason why cows are not being Aryans coming from Central Asia invaded the
slaughtered is because of its attitude of inhabitants of the Indus Valley and established
showering people with blessings. Cows in India the dominant culture. The
are a source of fertilizer, disinfectants, and cow
second theory is that the Aryans just
dung functions as fuel. Therefore, people in
developed the existing culture of the original
India keep in their minds that killing a cow will
inhabitants of the Indus Valley. Because of the
only feed a few mouths but allowing them to lack of artifacts, there is very little certain
roam freely will give access to different information about the background of the Aryans
products. who were the first believers of Hinduism.

Discussion on Indus Valley https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QUng-

iHhSzU
Civilization
Indus Valley Civilization Discussion on Many Gods, One
Essence; Caste System
Scholars say that the origin of Hinduism dates
back to around 2000 BCE in the Indus Valley. MANY GODS, ONE ESSENCE
Just like other ancient civilizations, the Indus
Valley is situated near a river called the Indus The Hindus, arguably, may have the most
River. It is through this river that the inhabitants complex concept of the sacred. Hinduism is
of the Indus Valley are sustained. From this, theistic and monistic at the same time. It is
theistic because the Hindus have a concept of
two major cities – Harappa and Mohenjo-daro
deities.
were developed. This civilization was marked by
a uniformity of culture, specifically in terms of Whereas, it is monistic because of their belief
engineering and architecture. that everything goes back to one ultimate
Moreover, there are still a lot of mysteries source.
pertaining to this civilization because only a few This means that Hinduism is monotheistic.
pieces of evidence were left. However, there
However, its monotheism is often questioned
were artifacts that link the Indus Valley
because of their practice of worshipping
civilization and present-day Hinduism. The
great bath, the suspected early figurine of the different deities. To show you the complexity
Hindu deity Shiva, and the artifacts that portray of this Hindu concept, let me tell you a story.
animal sacrifice are only some of the proofs There was a man who traveled through India
and documented all the deities he encountered These scriptures talk about the singular God as
on his way. At the end of his journey, the man, the only one, without a second, without parents
now aged 93, returned home and listed 330 or lords, and without likeness to anyone or
million deities. If this was the case, it is then anything that cannot be seen. Brahman is
more proper to consider Hinduism as a considered as unchanging and infinite and
polytheistic religion rather than a immanent and transcendent.
monotheistic one. But the confusing part is that
Brahman is the divine ground of all matter in
at the bottom of the list, the man wrote as a total
the universe and beyond.
“one.”
Brahman is the Supreme Force and the
Again, this is a misconception about Hindu
Absolute Reality – omnipresent, omnipotent,
worship. It is true that Hindus worship 330
omniscient, and indescribable.
million gods. However, they only consider one
supreme God – Brahman. How is this Brahman is also genderless. This is how
possible? Hinduism allows its believers to Brahman is described in their sacred
worship Brahman in many different forms and scriptures.
persons called avatars. They recognize the fact
that there is only one God, but it is conveyed in As I mentioned, Hindus worship Brahman in
many different faces. These forms, known as many different forms. According to ancient
devas and deities are not supposed to be Hindu tales, the Puranas, Brahman created
confused with one god – Brahman. Shiva. After this, following the creation of
different
deities, Shiva then created Vishnu. Then, from
This perspective is also reflected in their view of a lotus flower associated with the
reality. They believe that there is one reality,
but we see it in different forms. To give an navel of Vishnu came Brahma (note that
analogy of what this means, think of another Brahman and Brahma are not the same). These
person in front of you and a box separating the three deities emerged as the supreme divinity of
two of you. Both of you know that there is a Hinduism known as the Trimurti, which means
box. However, you see the same box differently. trinity. The Trimurti is the cosmic function of
It is because you have your side of the box, creation, maintenance, and destruction
which only you can see and which the other personified.
person cannot. Likewise, there is also a side that
the other person can see which you cannot. And
there is also the side of the box which both of
you cannot see, the inside of the box. As you can
imagine, there is only one box but it has CASTE SYSTEM
different sides. This is how Hindus and even the Maybe in your Araling Panlipunan or Social
Indian culture see reality – one reality but Studies class back in high school, you have
many sides and forms. already encountered the concept of the caste
system.

The doctrine of “many gods but one essence” This system provides a social stratification
is also present in the Vedas (knowledge) and among Hindus. Simply put, it classifies people
Upanishads (to sit nearby), which are two of in terms of their roles which gives them their
the many sacred scriptures of Hinduism. status in society. But unaware as we are, this
social stratification is not just politically and
economically determined, but also has a  The bottom class of the original caste
religious implication. This kind of social system would be the shudras or the
stratification is found in the teachings of the Rig servants. Hindu teachings believe in
Veda and the laws of Manu, a collection of the idea that the cosmos follows a
ethical and religious guidelines for certain order.
individuals and societies. These writings stand
at the heart of the Hindu caste system. To achieve that order, everything must be put
into their proper place that includes the social
The history of the caste system goes back system, which sets people into their proper
during the time of the Aryans. Over the next places in a society. This system carried an
years, the Aryans extended their area of inherent religious hierarchy – the higher your
control eastwards to the Ganges River where social class, the closer you are to the gods, the
there were more fertile plains. more purposeful your life is.
The pre-existing civilization around the Ganges After some years with the caste system in place,
River is relatively more urbanized, politically jati, which is also called birth groups or
centralized, and economically developed than occupational groups, began to develop within
that of the Aryans. These features greatly the varna system.
influenced Hinduism. Because of these
attributes, Hindu societies became stratified Preserving the family occupation was the
wherein people were identified based on their driving force that developed the jati. This
occupations. emphasized the hereditary nature of labor,
e.g., if your father was a carpenter, then you
The word caste came from the Portuguese word would also be a carpenter. In the rural parts of
casta, which means “pure.” It came only in the India today, jati is the basis for the presence of
16th century during the Portuguese the multi-level and sub-caste system. The
occupation in India. Casta refers to the
brahmins who are the scholars of society
importance of not mixing colors. On the other
created laws in the implementation of the
hand, the varna, which means color, is the
detailed caste system. One of the laws they had
Sanskrit word used to refer to this kind of
created is the prohibition of social interaction
stratification. Varna, later on, evolved in
and marriage among the different social
meaning from “color” to “class” to refer to the
classes.
social stratification system’s early stages, and
then “caste” for what the system later evolved Socialization was limited to the same jati
into. because interacting or touching, even if
accidental, is considered ritual impurity,
There are four classes in society according to
especially to the person who has a higher
the Rig Veda.
status. However, because of the jati, the caste
 The first and highest class would be system did not stay significant because of its
brahmins. The priests and the sages effects.
make up this social class. Because of the lack of social mobility and
 Next in line would be the kshatriyas narrow occupational specialization, it was
which are the warriors of the society. necessary to disregard the practice. In short, the
 The third in the caste system are the practice declined because it was an
vaishyas. This group is in charge of impediment to progress.
producing goods in society, e.g.,
bankers, merchants, and farmers. At some point, the jati were thought to be so
polluting to society. An example of the
problems it has caused to society is the teaching 6 to 11-year-old students’ yoga
emergence of the “untouchables,” or today because
known as the dalits, or oppressed.
according to the complainants, yoga is a
Mahatma Gandhi called them harijan, which religious activity that is prohibited in public
means “children of God.” These people were schools.  
excluded from the society because of the nature Furthermore, the kind of yoga that a common
of their works, which are most prone to ritual person knows is just one aspect of it. The
impurity. exercise involving complex contortions and
postures of the body is known as hatha
Over time, the brahmins formulated laws to yoga. The Sanskrit term yoga, which means
preserve the caste system for future “to yoke or to join,”
generations. They invoked the Upanishads to
declare that attempting to change one’s social refers to the union of the atman, the individual
class will result in bad karma and possibly a soul, the Brahman, the ultimate soul, and the
reincarnation to an even worse life. Thus, attainment of liberation from the cycle of
there is an inflexible social stratification that rebirth. To explain further, the atman and
exists in most Indian societies today. One’s the Brahman cannot reconnect with each
other because the former is clouded by anger,
social, economic, and religious future is
envy, fear, and other negative things. The
determined as early as birth. In Filipino, “kung Hindu believes that the goal of
ipinanganak ka nang ganyan ay ganyan ka na rin practicing yoga is to help
mamamatay.” Many scholars blame this system the atman reconnect with the Brahman. The
to India’s continuing demise as a third world other term for yoga that Hindus sometimes use
country. is marga, which means path.

Discussion on Yoga A person who practices yoga is called a yogi.

The three widely recognized practices
Probably most of you know yoga. It is
of yoga are as follows:
commonly understood as a physical activity
which one does inside the gym or even in the 1. Karma Yoga (the way of action) - It is
comfort of one’s own home. the most common path for the Hindus.
It is duty-based. It is living in
It is also the activity of conscious stretching
accordance with the proper order of
that is accompanied by mindful breathing. An
things that is determined by gender,
even worse perception would be that it is an
caste, and stage of life. According to
activity only performed by a person wearing
the traditionalists, to be able to practice
spandex on top of their colorful yoga mat.
karma yoga, the practitioner needs to
This is how most of us know yoga. But it is sad
follow the Laws of Manu wherein
to break it to you that the idea of yoga you know
everything is prescribed. Also,
is the commercialized version.
according to the Bhagavad Gita,
Capitalism has notoriously bastardized this
practitioners of this form of yoga must
unique culture to gain profit out of it.
always keep in mind that everything they
However, there is more to yoga than stretching
do is a form of sacrifice to God. This is
your arms and legs to maintain good health
considered the easiest yoga to perform.
and well-being.
2. Bhakti Yoga (the way of devotion) -
Yoga is a spiritual activity and even a major This kind of yoga is a worship of a
school of thought in Hinduism. A public- personal deity, but the believer has the
school district in California was sued for
 freedom to choose which deity they saying, “naniniwala rin ako sa karma na kung
want to worship. Unlike most religions, ano mang ibigay mo sa kalawakan ay siyang
babalik sayo na may interes pang
Hinduism does not have a specific day in a kasama.” Simply put, karma is just basically
week when to worship. The expression of like this. 
devotion is considered a daily activity. Also,
each deity has a temple where devotees make But how do Hindus use this concept?
pilgrimages.
Before we explain karma in its real essence, let
3. Jnana Yoga (the way of knowledge) - us first understand what atman  is.
This form of yoga gives emphasis on
knowledge as a way to reconnect with Hinduism teaches that the true nature of the
the Ultimate Reality. human person is the eternal and unchanging
soul known as the atman or the individual soul
Meditation is the tool of the practitioners where that we mentioned previously. Every living
they engage in a strict physical, spiritual, being has an atman, including plants and
mental, and moral discipline. It also involves insects. What this means is that Hindus believe
the repetition of mantras and a sacred word. that every living being has a soul and a body.
Our physical body is the house of
The Om is the most famous mantra and is the the atman. The physical body is not eternal
representation of Brahma through sound. because it is subjected to death. Whereas,
the atman is eternal and unchanging. In short,
Discussion on Dharma, Karma, the physical body dies, but the atman stays. The
Samsara and Moksha question now is what happens to the atman after
the physical body dies? This is where the
Dharma concept of karma comes in.
A while ago, we were talking about the belief of Hindus believe that in every living being’s
Hindus that there is a cosmic order that must lifetime, he, she, and it acquire karma. To
be followed and that everything must be put provide an analogy, think of your grades in
into their proper places. It is like believing that school. Politics aside, you get high grades when
there is a natural flow of things. That belief is you perform well. You are rewarded with good
called dharma, which means “duty.” grades when you do your duties as students.
Similarly, you get low or failing grades if you do
According to Hindu belief, not do your role as a student. In this
this dharma determines people’s role in life sense, karma is like the grades that a student
and society. The dharma of a person is gets from school. Both are like merit and
determined by birth and by caste. When demerit systems. Karma is like the law of
the dharma is not observed, chaos ensues. cause and effect. In Filipino, this is what we
Karma refer to when we say “kung ano ang itinanim ay
siya rin ang aanihin.” The Hindus do not just
Probably most of you thought that Karma has a see karma as something negative in their
Filipino origin. Who would not? We always hear lives. For them, it can be both positive and
it when someone is angry, e.g., “makakarma ka negative depending on the action of a person.
rin” or “ang bilis talaga ng karma.” But then Therefore, there is good karma and bad karma.
again, unaware as we are, the concept This karmic cycle will determine the fate of
of karma has its origin in Hinduism. However, the atman. 
our understanding of karma is not really far
from its real meaning. Have you watched the Samsara
spoken word video of Juan Miguel Severo The reason why being aware of the karmic
performing “Naniniwala Ako?” In one of his cycle is very important to the Hindus is
latter lines, he used karma as a reference
because of this concept of samsara, which another chance to live? The answer to this would
means “flowing on.” This is the concept of the bring us back to their ultimate goal of reuniting
cycle of rebirth or the afterlife of the Hindus. the atman with the Brahman. To better
This is also like the idea of heaven and hell of understand this situation, imagine that you are
the Christians. But the difference is that the view playing a video game. In every video game,
of Hindus of life is cyclical, which means that there is a possibility for a “game over” if the
you die only to be born again. Therefore, we mission or objective of the game is not met. As a
can say that Hinduism does not believe in the result, you get another chance to play the game
saying that you only live once because you will to complete the mission. The idea of rebirth for
continue to be reincarnated only in a the Hindus is also like this, in one way or
different physical form until you pass your another. A reincarnation means that you have
mission. failed to reunite with the Brahman. 

At the point of death, the consequences of one’s According to Hinduism, life has four
karma will be combined and the atman will aims: dharma, artha, which is material
receive a new body commensurate to the good gain, kama, which is sexual desire,
and bad karma in that person’s life. In other and moksha. Another misconception about
words, the karma that you had acquired in Hinduism is that it practices the extremes and
your previous life, whether good or bad, will denies its followers of the pleasures of the
determine the destiny of your atman in the world. This religion recognizes the human need
afterlife. For instance, you have been a for material and sexual pleasure as long as
murderer in your past life, it is possible that you they are in accordance with the dharma and
will become an ant or a cockroach in your practice at the right time and place. The
next life because the act of murder gives you a classical Hindu teachings prescribe that the
huge amount of bad karma. Hindus believe proper time and place for sexual pleasure and
that if you have been bad in your past life, there material gain is when a person is already
is a great possibility that you will be married and has familial responsibilities.
reincarnated into a lower form of being such However, artha and kama only rank
as insects, small animals, etc. The good or bad below moksha in terms of the hierarchy of life
life that you have right now may be the effect of goals. 
how good or bad you lived your past life. 
Maybe you are wondering why Hindus are
Hindus suggest that you should be cautious desperate to be with Brahman. Hindus believe
with all your actions because everything that that the only truth that is real is that
you do will surely have an equivalent reaction to of Brahman. Everything else in the universe is
your future life. Therefore, part of the reason false. Everything is just an illusion. What you
why Hindu teachings existed is for their see, hear, touch and feel are only illusions.
believers to have a good rebirth. However, this Therefore, in order to attain moksha, Hindus
does not mean that a good rebirth is the must renounce artha and kama by distancing
ultimate goal for Hindus. Rather, their ultimate themselves from the human world to be near
goal is to end the cycle of rebirth. This brings to the divine world. There is a challenge for
us to our next and last concept, which Hindus to stay away from karma by refusing
is moksha. desire. If an action is done without desire,
meaning they are not motivated by good or bad
Moksha intentions, no karma is created. Then,
the atman becomes one with the Brahman
Everything that we have discussed about – never to be reborn.
Hinduism all boils down to the concept
of moksha, which means “liberation.” Moksha
is the liberation from the endless cycle of
Summary and Conclusion 3
rebirth. For us non-Hindus, this may sound
undesirable. Who would not want to have
In this module, we have shed a newer light into
some concepts of Hinduism, which are
commonly misunderstood. Also, the general
ideas of this religion were discussed. However,
this lengthy discussion of Hinduism is even less
of the surface level of the knowledge that we
need to learn to really understand this complex
religion. This just goes to show the richness of
Hinduism in terms of its beliefs and traditions.
Perhaps, it would take a life-long journey if we
really intend to get a good grasp of what this
religion is all about. Nevertheless, even with the
basic knowledge that we have about this
religion, there is already much that we can learn
from it. Maybe we can apply their law
of karma in our daily lives or even their concept
of dharma, that a certain order in the universe
must be observed and respected.