Chapter 2
Indigenous Sacred Ways
Understanding indigenous sacred ways
Cultural diversity
The circle of right relationships
Spiritual specialists
Group observances
Contemporary issues
Professor D'Ascoli
Key terms
cosmogony
Dreaming (Dream Time)
indigenous
lifeway
medicine person
orisa
shaman
vision quest
Professor D'Ascoli
“All animals have power, because the Great Spirit dwells in
all of them, even a tiny ant, a butterfly, a tree, a flower, a
rock. The modern, white man’s way keeps that power from
us, dilutes it. To come to nature, feel its power, let it help
you, one needs time and patience for that....You have so little
time for contemplation....It lessens a person’s life, all that
grind, that hurrying and scurrying about.
Lame Deer, Lakota nation
Professor D'Ascoli
“The wicasa wakan [holy man] wants to be by himself. He
wants to be away from the crowd, from everyday matters.
He likes to meditate, leaning against a tree or rock, feeling
the earth move beneath him, feeling the weight of that big
flaming sky upon him....Closing his eyes, he sees many
things clearly. What you see with your eyes shut is what
counts....”
Lame Deer, Lakota nation
Professor D'Ascoli
Approximate distribution of indigenous groups in this chapter.
Professor D'Ascoli
Understanding Indigenous Sacred Ways
 Have traditionally been little understood by
outsiders
 Many traditions have been practiced in secret—
hidden from outsiders—hindering scholarly study
 May be seen as a lifeway - an approach to all aspects
of life
 Common ground between these religions and those
on the outside is emerging
Emerging ideas on indigenous religion
 First, some traditional elders are beginning to share their
core values regarding reverence for the earth with others
because of their concerns about current ecological
developments
 Second, members of global religions (and others) are
coming to a new appreciation for the profundity and value
embedded in indigenous sacred ways, particularly with
respect to the environment
 Third, some members of global faiths are being attracted
to the spirituality and practices of indigenous religions
 However, some indigenous leaders fear that their spiritual
traditions are being trivialized and/or exploited
Cultural Diversity
 Although focus is on common characteristics of
indigenous religions, these religions are quite distinct
 As a whole, indigenous forms of spirituality exhibit
traditions that developed within a spectrum of
cultural, religious, and material diversity
 Some indigenous cultures have been highly developed
whereas others still embody a basic strategy of survival
(e.g., Australian Aborigines).
Uluru (Ayers Rock) is sacred to Australian aborigines.
Professor D'Ascoli
Cultural Diversity
 Groups whose material culture is simple nonetheless
may have highly complex cosmogonies or models of
the origins of the universe and their purpose in it
 Such groups may live in somewhat sheltered ancestral
enclosures or large contemporary urban areas
 They also vary in the degree of adaptation to and
absorption of the dominant religions in their regions
(e.g. indigenous African religious traditions fused with
Christianity in the context of slavery, such as Vodou
and Santeria).
The Circle of Right Relationships
 For many indigenous peoples, everything in the
cosmos is intimately interrelated
 Sometime represented as a circle, which has no
beginning, no end
 Cosmos is thought to contain divinities, spirits, and
ancestors
 All aspects of the tangible world are imbued with spirit
 Common theme in indigenous lifeways is developing an
appropriate relationship with spiritual energy
Efe children in Democratic Republic of Congo play “circle game.”
Professor D'Ascoli
Navajo sand-painting
shows Father Sky with
constellations and the
Milky Way forming his
body and Mother Earth
with the four sacred
plants, squash, beans,
tobacco, and corn
forming hers.
Professor D'Ascoli
Spiritual Specialists
 In hunting and gathering tribes religion is private;
individuals have direct access to the unseen
 However, the world of the spirit is thought to be
dangerous
 Interacting with spirit world best left to those specially
trained for it
Storytellers
 Common role because traditions are oral rather than
written
 What is held in memory cannot be physically destroyed
but if all the storytellers die the knowledge is lost
 In Africa poets are considered “technicians of the sacred”
 Other roles: drummers, tricksters, sacred clowns, secret
societies, priests/priestesses
Mystical Intermediaries
 Shaman is a generic term used by scholars for
those who offer themselves as mystical
intermediaries
 Shamanic methods are extremely ancient
 The shaman is often a healer or a helper to society
 May be hereditary or recognized as a special gift
Group Observances
 Humans can help maintain the natural harmony
of the world by practicing ritual observances
 These rituals are community-centered
 Some follow the major points of passage in the
human life cycle
 Birth
 Naming
 Puberty
Marriage
Death
Prayer cloths on a sacred tree at a Sun Dance in Mexico.
Professor D'Ascoli
Individual Observance
 Balances the communal dimension of ritual
observance
 Important for individuals to experience a personal
connection with the realm of the spirits
 Undergoing a vision quest (usually at puberty) is a
common means of access to the other world
The gods
and the spirits
of the dead
appear in
costumed
initiates in
West Africa.
Professor D'Ascoli
Contemporary Issues
 Central concern: the near obliteration of these responses to
the sacred world
 Many indigenous people have been displaced by
development
 Indigenous world view that reveres all creation, recognizes
the circle of life, and honors the human relationship with
mother earth may be necessary to stop the present
ecological destruction of the planet
Anthropology of Primitive Religions
Animism
 Tylor first studied religion anthropologically and
developed a taxonomy of religions.
 Animism was seen as the most primitive and is defined
as a belief in souls that derives from the first attempt
to explain dreams and like phenomena.
Mana and Taboo
 Mana is defined as belief in an immanent supernatural
domain or life-force, potentially subject to human
manipulation.
 The Polynesian and Melanesian concepts of mana are
contrasted.
 Melanesian mana is defined as a sacred impersonal force
that is much like the Western concept of luck.
 Polynesian mana and the related concept of taboo are
related to the more hierarchical nature of Polynesian
society.
Magic and Religion
 Magic refers to supernatural techniques intended to
accomplish specific aims.
 Magic may be imitative (as with voodoo dolls) or
contagious (accomplished through contact).
Anxiety, Control, Solace
 Magic is an instrument of control, but religion serves
to provide stability when no control or understanding
is possible.
 Malinowski saw tribal religions as being focused on
life crises.
Rituals
 Rituals are formal, performed in sacred contexts.
 Rituals convey information about the culture of the
participants and, hence, the participants themselves.
 Rituals are inherently social, and participation in them
necessarily implies social commitment.
Rites of Passage
 Rites of passage are religious rituals which mark and facilitate a
person's movement from one (social) state of being to another (e.g.,
Plains Indians’ vision quests).
 Rites of passage have three phases:
 Separation – the participant(s) withdraws from the group and begins
moving from one place to another.
 Liminality – the period between states, during which the participant(s)
has left one place but has not yet entered the next.
 Incorporation – the participant(s) reenters society with a new status
having completed the rite.
 Liminality is part of every rite of passage and involves the temporary
suspension and even reversal of everyday social distinctions.
 Communitas refers to collective liminality, characterized by enhanced
feelings of social solidarity and minimized distinctions.
Totemism
Rituals play an important role in creating and maintaining group

solidarity.
 In totemic societies, each descent group has an animal, plant, or
geographical feature from which they claim descent.
 Totems are the apical ancestor of clans.
 The members of a clan did not kill or eat their totem, except once a
year when the members of the clan gathered for ceremonies
dedicated to the totem.
 Totemism is a religion in which elements of nature act as sacred
templates for society by means of symbolic association.
 Totemism uses nature as a model for society.
 Each descent group has a totem, which occupies a specific niche in
nature.
 Social differences mirror the natural order of the environment.
 The unity of the human social order is enhanced by symbolic
association with and imitation of the natural order.
Religion and Cultural Ecology:
Sacred Cattle in India
 Ahimsa is the Hindu doctrine of nonviolence that forbids the killing of
animals.
 Western economic development experts often use this principle as an
example of how religion can stand in the way of development.
 Hindus seem to irrationally ignore a valuable food source (beef).
 Hindus also raise scraggly and thin cows, unlike the bigger cattle of
Europe and the U.S.
 These views are ethnocentric and wrong as cattle play an important
adaptive role in an Indian ecosystem that has evolved over thousands of
years
 Hindus use cattle for transportation, traction, and manure.
 Bigger cattle eat more, making them more expensive to keep.
Social Control
 The power of religion affects action.
 Religion can be used to mobilize large segments of society
through systems of real and perceived rewards and
punishments.
 Witch hunts play an important role in limiting social
deviancy in addition to functioning as leveling
mechanisms to reduce differences in wealth and status
between members of society.
 Many religions have a formal code of ethics that prohibit
certain behavior while promoting other kinds of behavior.
 Religions also maintain social control by stressing the
fleeting nature of life.
Kinds of Religion
 Religious forms vary from culture to culture, but there are correlations between
political organization and religious type.
 Religious Practitioners and Types
 Wallace defined religion as consisting of all a society’s cult institutions (rituals
and associated beliefs) and developed four categories from this.
 In Shamanic religions, shamans are part-time religious intermediaries who may
act as curers--these religions are most characteristic of foragers.
 Communal religions have shamans, community rituals, multiple nature gods,
and are more characteristic of food producers than foragers.
 Olympian religions first appeared with states, have full-time religious specialists
whose organization may mimic the states, and have potent anthropomorphic
gods who may exist as a pantheon.
 Monotheistic religions have all the attributes of Olympian religions, except that
the pantheon of gods is subsumed under a single eternal, omniscient,
omnipotent, and omnipresent being.
Christian Values
 Max Weber linked the spread of capitalism to the
values central to the Protestant faith: independent,
entrepreneurial, hard working, future-oriented, and
free thinking.
 The emphasis Catholics placed on immediate
happiness and security, and the notion that salvation
was attainable only when a priest mediated on one’s
behalf, did not fit well with capitalism.
World Religions
 In the U.S. Protestants outnumber Catholics, but in
Canada the reverse is true.
 Religious affiliation in North America varies with
ethnic background, age, and geography.
Revitalization Movements
 Religious movements that act as mediums for social
change are called revitalization movements.
 The colonial-era Iroquois reformation led by
Handsome Lake is an example of a revitalization
movement.
Syncretisms
 A syncretism is a cultural mix, including religious blends,
that emerge when two or more cultural traditions come
into contact.
 Examples include voodoo, santeria, and candomlé.
 The cargo cults of Melanesia and Papua New Guinea are
syncretisms of Christian doctrine with aboriginal
beliefs.
 Syncretisms often emerge when traditional, non-Western
societies have regular contact with industrialized societies.
 Syncretisms attempt to explain European domination and
wealth and to achieve similar success magically by
mimicking European behavior and symbols.
A New Age
 Since the 1960s, there has been a decline in formal
organized religions.
 New Age religions have appropriated ideas, themes,
symbols, and ways of life from the religious practices
of Native Americans, Australian Aborigines, and east
Asian religions.
Recognizing Religion
 It is difficult to distinguish between sacred and secular
rituals as behavior can simultaneously have sacred and
secular aspects.
 Americans try to maintain a strict division between the
sacred and the profane, but many other societies like
the Betsileo do not.
A Pilgrimage to Walt Disney World
 Walt Disney World functions much like a sacred shrine that is a major
pilgrimage destination
 It has an inner, sacred center surrounded by an outer more secular
domain.
 Parking lot designations are distinguished with totemlike images of the
Disney cast of characters.
 The monorail provides travelers with a brief liminal period as they
cross between the outer, secular world into the inner, sacred center of
the Magic Kingdom.
 Within the Magic Kingdom
 Spending time in the Magic Kingdom reaffirms, maintains, and
solidifies the world of Disney as all of the pilgrims share a common
status as visitors while experiencing the same adventures.
 Most of the structures and attractions at the Magic Kingdom are
designed to reaffirm and recall a traditional set of American values.
Myths, Legends, Folk Tales
myths, legends and folktales
 Storytelling is common to every culture. Most
people enjoy listening to stories. Storytellers have
catered to the need for a 'good story' since the
beginning of civilization.
 Most people have their own favorite story from
childhood and, often, these tales are both
fascinating and frightening. These stories include
legends, myths and folktales.
What are legends?
 A legend is a semi-true story, which has been passed
on from person-to-person and has important meaning
or symbolism for the culture in which it originates. A
legend usually includes an element of truth, or is
based on historic facts, but with 'mythical qualities'.
Legends usually involve heroic characters or fantastic
places and often encompass the spiritual beliefs of the
culture in which they originate.
What are myths?
A myth is a story based on tradition or legend, which
has a deep symbolic meaning. A myth 'conveys a truth'
to those who tell it and hear it, rather than necessarily
recording a true event. Although some myths can be
accounts of actual events, they have become
transformed by symbolic meaning or shifted in time or
place. Myths are often used to explain universal and
local beginnings and involve supernatural beings. The
great power of the meaning of these stories, to the
culture in which they developed, is a major reason why
they survive as long as they do - sometimes for
thousands of years.
What are folktales?
 A folktale is a popular story that was passed on in spoken form, from
one generation to the next. Usually the author is unknown and there
are often many versions of the tale. Folktales comprise fables, fairy
tales, old legends and even 'urban legends'. Again, some tales may have
been based on a partial truth that has been lost or hidden over time. It
is difficult to categorize folktales precisely because they fit into many
categories. Folk tales are often referred to as Tall Tales.
What is the difference
between legends, myths and
folktales?
 Myths, legends and folktales are hard to classify and
often overlap. Imagine a line (or continuum) as
illustrated below, with an historical account based on
facts at one end and myths or cultural folktales at the
other; as you progress towards the mythical/folktale end
of the line, what an event symbolizes to people, or what
they feel about it, becomes of greater historical
significance than the facts, which become less
important. By the time you reach the far end of the
spectrum, the story has taken on a life of its own and the
facts of the original event, if there ever was one, have
become almost irrelevant. It is the message that is
important.
Why were the stories told?
As well as making fascinating reading, these stories also tell us a
great deal about how people in the past saw, and understood, the
world around them.
There are many reasons why stories are told and passed down the
generations. Here are just a few of them:
 To strengthen a community and provide a common
understanding. Stories often reflect the beliefs of the people who
tell them. The popularity of any story depends on whether those
listening approve of the values underlying it. By telling and
listening to stories, people confirmed their ideas about the world
around them. Things that people found scary, infuriating, or
desirable all found their way into the stories and they were
passed on, because people wanted to be assured that other
people around them were thinking along the same lines.
Continued
 As a way of providing moral guidance and showing people how
they should conduct themselves, including the consequences of
not doing so. Myths and legends, like any good stories, often
include a moral. Within the myth, the hurt or embarrassment
experienced by people is often due to their own stupidity, greed,
dishonesty or negligence.
 To explain how the world works, for example why the seasons
change, and to explain strange happenings or phenomena such
as eclipses - the reasons for which were unknown in early times.
 For entertainment purposes. Stories were told to amuse and
enthrall an audience in the days before TV and other forms of
mass entertainment.
Continued
 To pass on history and knowledge, such as the outcome of battles and tales
of courage, in ages when many people could not read or write. Many myths
have an element of truth that has been built upon and embellished over
the years.
 For fame, money or recognition - as in all areas of life, not all stories were
told for good reasons. For example, stories of bravery in battle could
enhance the status of an individual or a group or, in later centuries, a good
ghost story could be sold for money. The truth was not always the most
important consideration.
Regardless of why they were told, many of the stories still remain popular
today and, although we no longer swap stories around the fireside, the
tradition of storytelling still continues in the form of urban legends. Many
older stories also live on in current day carnivals or festivals, which have
their roots in a very different past.
Features of Myths and Legends
 A re-telling
 The orientation is typically timeless e.g. ‘Long, long ago’
‘ Before animals walked the earth’
 A single animal is representative of all animals of that kind
 Natural forces like wind and fire are represented by gods or
god-like form
 The resolution of myths and legends explain why things are
the way we are
 A classic opening and\or closing (e.g. Once upon a time….,
And they all lived happily after)
A representative of good and
evil in characters
 Stereotypes e.g. Animals e.g. wolves are bad; rescuers
are male
 The representative of certain values, wealth=
happiness, beauty = happiness
 The involvement of supernatural forces, e.g. fairy
godmothers, creatures that can talk
 Tales are based around themes like trickery and
foolishness
summarizing the outcome of
the myth or legend
 ‘But still to this day…’
 ‘So every time you see…’
 These comments sum up how things came to be .
What makes a hero?
 A hero is someone who is distinguished for his or her
courage or ability. They are admired for brave deeds
and noble qualities. They may have performed heroic
acts. They may also be someone who is a model or an
ideal.
Folktales / Tall Tales
 A tall tale is a story that provides enjoyment to a wide
variety of audiences. Tall tales stretch the imagination
through colorful figurative language and
exaggerations.
 Tall tales are also known as lying tales; they are
humorous exaggerations.
 Tall tales may come from other countries but we
are most familiar with American ones.
Attributes of tall tales
 Tall tales are often about the frontier days in the United States. They
are an exaggeration of the hardships of frontier life.
 Tall tales may be about animals, weather,
everyday events, and ordinary people; but the more famous tales are
about heroes.
 Tall tales often feature over-sized people
and exaggerated deeds.
Chapter 3
Hinduism
Philosophical and metaphysical origins
Major philosophical systems
Religious foundations and theistic paths
The Hindu way of life
Hinduism in the modern world
Professor D'Ascoli
Key terms
ashram
atman
avatar
bhakti
Brahman
brahmin
caste
chakra
darsan
deva
dharma
guru
Kali Yuga
karma
moksha
prana
puja
reincarnation
rishi
Shaivite
Professor D'Ascoli
Shakta
samsara
sannyasin
Sanskrit
secularism
sutra
Tantra
Vaisnavite
yoga
“In the beginning there was Existence alone--One only, without a
second. He, the One, thought to himself: Let me be many, let me
grow forth. Thus out of himself he projected the universe, and
having projected out of himself the universe, he entered every
being. All that is has its self in him alone. Of all things he is the
subtle essence. He is the truth. He is the self. And that....THAT
ART THOU.”
Chandogya Upanishad
Professor D'Ascoli
“There is no truth superior to Me. Everything rests upon Me, as pearls
are strung on a thread....
I am the taste of water, the light of the sun and the moon, the syllable
om in Vedic mantras; I am the sound in ether and ability in man....
All states of being--goodness, passion, or ignorance--are manifested by
My energy. I am, in one sense, everything--but I am independent. I am
not under the modes of this material nature.”
Bhagavad Gita
Professor D'Ascoli
Timeline
c. 8000-6000 BCE
c. 2500-1500
c. 2000-900
c. 1500
c. 1000-500 BCE
c. 400 BCE-200 CE
c. 400 BCE-400 CE
200 BCE
100-300 CE
c. 600-1800
711
c. 788-820
1556-1707
1836-1886
1857-1947
Traditionally, Vedas heard by rishis
Indus Valley civilization
Supposed Aryan invasions of N. India
Early Vedas composed
Upanishads systematized by Vyasa
Ramayana (present form)
Mahabharata (present form)
Traditionally, Patanjali edits Yoga Sutras
Code of Manu compiled
Bhakti movement flourishes
Muslim invasions begin
Shankara reorganizes Vedanta
Mogul Empire
Life of Ramakrishna
British rule of India
Professor D'Ascoli
Professor D'Ascoli
Introduction
 Some scholars claim there is no central tradition
that can be identified as Hinduism, however, it can
be dated back over 5000 years.
 The term Hinduism did not become common until
the 19th century
 A range of practices that vary according to region,
caste, gender, and education
 The philosophic Brahmanic tradition often
referred to as Hinduism is but one aspect of a
larger tradition
Professor D'Ascoli
HINDUISM
 A label that includes a wide range of:
 Religious practices
 Customs
 Beliefs
 Sacred places
 Deities
 Hinduism is tolerant of this variety and does not
condemn certain religious practices or beliefs as evil
Background
 Hindu derives from Sanskrit word for Indus River
 Hindu worship focuses on a pantheon of gods who
personify the forces of nature (not an historical person
or prophet)
 At the center of the Hindu religion is the idea of
Brahman – the indivisible essence of all spiritual
reality, the divine source of all being
Brahman: Essence of Reality
He is not ultimate reality
because he can be visualized.
Brahma’s life span = each day is
1000 times the whole of human
history.
The world will end with the
appearance of Vishnu is about
4000 years from now.
Basic Beliefs
 Brahman’s 3 functions are divided into 3 gods:
 (1) Brahma – the creator – not the same as Brahman;
 (2) Vishnu – the preserver; and
 (3) Shiva – the destroyer.
 Brahman is the supreme reality
 Brahman has two aspects, transcendent (impersonal and unknowable)
and immanent (personal and knowable)
 In the impersonal aspect, Brahman lies outside the realm of human
description and can only be sensed as a presence within oneself and the
rest of the universe
 God is “immanent,” the universe is the manifestation rather than
the creation of God
 In the personal aspect, Brahman can be known in various forms—the
many Hindu deities and the rest of creation

Philosophical and Metaphysical
Origins
 Brahmanic tradition traces back to the Vedic age,
thousands of years ago
 The Vedas
 Foundation of upper-caste Brahmanic Hinduism
 Revered collection of ancient sacred hymns
 The Rig Veda is the first & oldest of 4 collections
(earliest copy we have dates from 1200BCE – making it
the earliest Indo-European document in history)
Professor D'Ascoli
Major Philosophical Systems
Share
 Roots in the vedas
 Direct personal experience of truth thru
meditation
 Ethics as necessary to orderly social life (related to
karma)
 Suffering is due to ignorance of the eternal self
Professor D'Ascoli
Kharma and the soul
 The idea of kharma is also central to Hindi thought
 Kharma means action, however the concept of kharma




involves moral cause and effect (you get what you put out)
People’s accumulation of these moral actions will
determine the form in which he or she will reincarnate
Because of this people’s current condition (poor, deformed,
etc) is believed to have been caused by your previous
misuse of your earlier existence
Ancient Hindu society reflects these religious beliefs in
their caste system.
All have an atman or soul which can never be destroyed.
Five Major Doctrines
 Truth is one, Sages call it by different names
 Rig Veda, 1.164.46
 All Mankind is One Family
 Hitopadesha, Subhashita Ratna Bhandagare
 Law of Karma - As you sow, so shall you reap
 Mahabharata, Shantiparva 299.42; BG 18.60
 That mode of living which is founded upon total harmlessness
towards all creatures or [in case of genuine necessity] upon a
minimum of such harm, is the highest morality
 Mahabharata, Shantiparva 262.5-6
 Whenever there is a decline of virtue, God incarnates Himself on earth
to uphold righteousness
 Bhagavad Gita 4.7, 4.8
Major Philosophical Systems
(continued)
 Samkhya: Two states of reality
 Purusha, the Self
 Prakriti, the cause of the material universe
 Advaita Vedanta
 Monistic
 Based on the Upanishads
 Yoga: raja, jnana, karma, bhakti
 Union with the true Self
Professor D'Ascoli
Religious Foundations and
Theistic Paths
Three major groupings of deities worshipped by Hindus
 Shaktas: worship a Mother Goddess
 Shaivites: worship the god Shiva
 Vaishnavites: worship the god Vishnu
THE TWO MOST POPULAR GODS
SHIVA
VISHNU
Avatars of Vishnu
Krishna
Rama
Goddesses
Lakshmi
Saraswati
Kali
 Wife of Shiva
Black in color & wearing a
necklace of skulls.
She is a bloodthirsty
goddess.
A violent destroyer of her
enemies
affectionate and caring for
her devotees.
.
The Ganges River
Falling from
its source of
Vishnu’s feet
onto Shiva’s
head and out
from his hair,
the water of
the Ganges is
sacred enough
to purify all
sins.
Banaras - Hindu’s Holy City
Pilgrims come from all over to
bathe in the Ganges.
Countless Hindus come to
Banaras to die.
It has 1500 temples, most of
them devoted to Shiva.
It is a gathering place for the
religiously learned and their
disciples.
Yogi meditating in the Himalaya
Mountains near the home of
Shiva at the source of the
Ganges River.
Professor D'Ascoli
The Epics and Puranas
 Ilustrate trend toward personal love for a deity
 Two major epics
 Ramayana
 Mahabharata (includes the Bhagavad-Gita
 The Puranas
 Poetic Sanskrit texts that narrate the myths of
ancient times
Professor D'Ascoli
Caste System
 Indian society is divided into 4 distinct classes or castes:
 (1) Brahmins – priests, leaders, seers and religious
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authorities;
(2) Kshatriyas – originally the kings and warriors of the
ancient past, now they are the administrators, politicians
and civil authorities;
(3) Vaishyas – businessmen, merchants, traders, doctors,
lawyers, teachers, etc.; and
(4) Shudras – they are the laborers, the servant class.
However, even beneath the Shudras are the Outcastes –
called the ‘untouchables’ – these are members of Indian
society who fall outside of any of the castes and are
therefore avoided by members of the other classes
completely
The Hindu Way of Life
 Ritual: central to Hinduism
 Castes, duties, and life goals
 4 occupational groups: Brahmins, Kshatriayas, Vaishyas,
Shudras
 Untouchables lay outside the sysem
 4 major goals for a good life: dharma, artha, kama,
moksha
Professor D'Ascoli
The Hindu Way of Life (continued)
 Life stages: student, householder,
meditation/study, renunciation
 The guru: spiritual leader
 Women’s duties: dharma, marital wealth, sensual
pleasure
 Fasts, prayers, and auspicious designs: determined
by a complex lunar or solar calendar
Professor D'Ascoli
The Hindu Way of Life (continued)
 Reverence of trees and rivers
 Pilgrimages
 Festivals
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The 2001 Kumbha Mela was the largest ever gathering of people.
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Hinduism in the Modern World
 Hinduism has been influenced by contact with
Buddhism, Jainism, and later Islam, and Christianity
 Modern movements: currently being challenged by
social reform movements
 Global Hinduism: Has spread through immigration
and conversion
Professor D'Ascoli
Hinduism in the Modern World
(continued)
 Hindu identity
 Some link Hinduism with nationalism
 India’s constitution enshrines secularism
 According to the Indian Supreme Court, to be Hindu
means [next slide]
Professor D'Ascoli
Hindu Identity (continued)
 Acceptance and reverence for the Vedas as the foundation of Hindu
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philosophy;
A spirit of tolerance, and willingness to understand and appreciate
others’ points of view, recognizing that truth has many sides;
Acceptance of the belief that vast cosmic periods of creation,
maintenance, and dissolution continuously recur;
Acceptance of belief in reincarnation;
Recognition that paths to salvation and truth are many;
Recognition that there may be numerous gods and goddesses to
worship, without necessarily believing in worship through idols;
Unlike other religions, absence of belief in a specific set of
philosophic concepts.
Professor D'Ascoli