What I have learnt about Hinduism

Speech Delivered by Rahul at the Hindu Worship Society Temple, Houston in 1999

Hello, my name is Rahul . Even though I was born in India, I have never lived in India. I have lived in Saudi Arabia, Canada and now the United States. I would like to tell you what I know about Hinduism.

Hinduism is the world's oldest religion. It was born around 5 thousand years ago by the people who lived in the land that is now known as India. Hinduism has no single founder, unlike Islam that was founded by Mohammed and Christianity that was founded by Jesus Christ.

Hinduism has many holy books. There is no one book that is most important. This is unlike Islam that has Koran as the single most important book, and Christianity that has the Bible as the most important book. The most important holy books of Hinduism are the following:

The Vedas,

The Upanishhats,

the Brahma Suutras,

The Ramayana,

The Mahabharatha, and

The Bhagawat Geeta,

The Vedas are the most important holy books but since they are written in Sanskrit few people can read them. These days people mostly read the Ramayana, the Mahabharatha and the Bhagwat Geeta.

Some opponents of Hinduism attack it by calling it polytheistic, meaning belief in many gods. This is not true! Hindus believe in one supreme God called Brahman. The other gods we worship are simply different forms of the same supreme God.

There is this idea of the Hindi trinity. We have a creator God, a protector God and a destroyer God. Lord Brahma is the creator. Vishnu is the protector and Shiva is the destroyer. Vishnu being the protector comes into the world in different forms whenever the world order is attacked by evil. Brahma and Shiva do not reincarnate. This is why Lord Rama and Lord Krishna are reincarnations of Lord Vishnu.

Creator Brahma's consort is Saraswati (the goddess of Speech and Learning), Protector Vishnu's consort is Lakshmi (the goddess of wealth and prosperity), and Shiva's consort is Shakti (the goddess of power).

Hindus believe in many ideas. One idea is that of reincarnation and Karma. This says that you will reap just as you sow. Karma means deeds. Reincarnation says that when you die you are born in a different form. So in this life if you do many bad deeds, when you die you may be born as a caterpillar. But if a dog does many good deeds, in its next life it may be born as a man in a rich family. Our aim is liberation from this cycle of births and deaths. This is called attaining Moksha, or Nirvana.

By the way many religions have common beliefs with Hinduism. Buddhism, Sikhism and Jainism share many beliefs with Hinduism. This is because Gautam Buddha who started Buddhism was born into a Hindu family as a prince. The Gurus who started Sikhism were Hindus themselves.

So Buddhism also believes in reincarnation and Nirvana. Sikhs worship Rama and Krishna.

Hindus believe that the four-fold goal of human life is the following:

In the pursuit of the first three one can be helped by others, but in the pursuit of Mokshha, one is essentially alone. That is why the wedding vow reads:

Dharme cha, Arthe cha, Kaame cha, Naaticharaami:"

This means," I shall abide by you in dharma, artha and kaama."

Hinduism says that the following values are of utmost importance:

Hindus believe in the four stages of life called Aashrama:

Some opponents of Hinduism say that Hinduism means caste system. This is not true. Hinduism never meant to classify some people as untouchables whom the higher caste people could oppress. It is the human beings who did this in their human failing. Mahatma Gandhi tried to end the caste system. He called the Sudras, the Harijans or the people of God. Hari means God and Jan means people. The Caste system should be abolished if Hinduism is to grow and prosper.

Respect for the elders is basic part of Hinduism. So as a child my duty is to respect and obey my parents and elders. I am in a stage of life called Brahmacharya where my duty is to learn and learn and learn. I must concentrate on learning. My next stage of life will me Grihastya when after attaining my advanced degrees, I will marry and start a family.

My many thanks to the temple mangement for giving me a chance to speak. May God bless all of you!

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