Figure 1.--This photograph taken in Chennai (Tamil Nadu, Southern India) shows two Brahmin boys. In the temple Brahmins wear only the lungi or the dhoti. In India bare feet are mandatory not only in Hindu temples, but in all religions sites. |
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There are some 700 million Hindus, mostly located in India. The only other countries with large numbers of Hindus are Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia (Bali).
Hindus refer to their faith as Sanatana Dharma, the eternal faith. Hinduism is seen by some as not precisely a religion. Rather it is a code of living based on the practice of Dharma. Veda provides an elaborate explanation of Hindu beliefs. Unlike other major religions, there is no known founder of Hinduism. There is no elaboracte ceremony in becoming a Hindu. Anyone who practices Dharma can call himself a Hindu. Also unlike many other religions, there is no sin of heresy. Any Hindu can question the authority of any Hindu scriptureand even the existence the divinity. A Hindu as he matures in his relgious understanding moves from ignorance to Truth. The teachings of the seers give the Hindu the basis and a path for spirituality. Hinduism appears to be the oldest of the world's great religious traditions. Even so, the truth realized by the seers are seen as beyond time. The Hindu principal Hindu scriptures are the Shruti (meaning 'heard'), Smriti (meaning 'remembered') and nyaya (meaning 'logic'). These apelages are based on the origins of the scriptures. The shruti means that the sages heard it directly from the Gods. In contrast smriti refers to a text that was written down and remembered. Shruti is the most authoritative scripture as it came directly from the deity. The Shruti is composed of Vedas. Vedanta-sutras (vedanta aphorisms) are lnown as Nyaya. Other religious texts are known as smriti. Nyaya always agrees with shruti.
There are some 700 million Hindus.
Most Hindus live in India. The only other countries with large numbers of Hindus are Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia (Bali). While only a small proprtion of Indonesians are Hundus, about 90 percent of the people on Bali are Hindu. There are relatively small Hindu populations in a mumber of other countries, including the United states and Britain.
Hindus refer to their faith as Sanatana Dharma, the eternal faith. Hinduism is seen by some as not precisely a religion. Rather it is a code of living based on the practice of Dharma.
The Hindu principal Hindu scriptures are the Shruti (meaning 'heard'), Smriti (meaning 'remembered') and nyaya (meaning 'logic'). These apelages are based on the origins of the scriptures. The shruti means that the sages heard it directly from the Gods. In contrast smriti refers to a text that was written down and remembered. Shruti is the most authoritative scripture as it came directly from the deity. The Shruti is composed of Vedas. Vedanta-sutras (vedanta aphorisms) are lnown as Nyaya. Other religious texts are known as smriti. Nyaya always agrees with shruti. Veda provides an elaborate explanation of Hindu beliefs.
Hinduism appears to be the oldest of the world's great religious traditions. Unlike other major religions, there is no known founder of Hinduism.
There is no elaboracte ceremony in becoming a Hindu. Anyone who practices Dharma can call himself a Hindu.
Also unlike many other religions, there is no sin of heresy. Any Hindu can question the authority of any Hindu scriptureand even the existence the divinity.
A Hindu as he matures in his relgious understanding moves from ignorance to Truth. The teachings of the seers give the Hindu the basis and a path for spirituality.
The truth realized by the seers are seen as beyond time.
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