Other holy scriptures in hinduism are called the upanisads, the smrutis, the puranas, the ramayana and the mahabharata. It is a polytheist anthropomorphic religion with a highly ritualized form of worship. The early buddhist texts nikaya sometimes talk in terms of the thousandfold. Hinduism a brief overview of the development of hinduism. So, on a nonphysical plane, you have much more freedom in manipulating energy. The causal plane is the world of light and blessedness, the highest of heavenly regions, extolled in the scriptures of all faiths. That all gods, all souls and all existence is an emanation from this one source. Theosophy, rosicrucian, thelema, hermeticism, surat shabda yoga, jainism, sufism, hinduism, buddhism, gnosticism, kabbalah, and fourth way. In this article, we detail the two different categories these texts are organized into, shruti and smriti, and overview the most popular of the hindu texts. Hinduism is a religion from the indian subcontinent.
At a much deeper level of understanding, hindu scriptures do not conclude. Prayer or worship is considered to be an integral part of the hindu religion. In hindu vedic religion there is only one supreme god which exist at two different levels of. Gods, continuing to exist on the spiritual plane, enjoying the bliss. The plurality of gods are perceived as divine creations of that one being. Planes of existence, summerland, and spirit guardians. The four vedas the rig veda, the sama veda, the yajur veda and the atharva veda are the authentic texts of hinduism and are comprised of hymns, incantations, rituals and the importance of practicing them in daily life. They have shared parallel beliefs that have existed side by side, but also pronounced differences. Rather, there is a huge array of different sacred texts. On a fundamental level, hinduism defines existence as being comprised of three worlds. The vedas are scriptures that the hindu people use as a guide to daily and religious life. Although, there are various gods in the various planes of existence, the underlying reality of all existence, sometimes referred to as brahman or ishvara, is that there is only a oneness. The most holy of the hindu books is written in sanskrit and is referred to as the vedas. Hinduism is widely practiced in south asia mainly in india and nepal.
Some of the other holy works and books of hinduism. The world is a place where fallen souls attempt to enjoy existence separately from god. As you will discover, as you delve further into the study of the planes, most occult teachings agree that there are seven basic planes or realms. Can someone learn about god by reading the book of mormon. These range from the extraordinarily dark, grim and painful hell realms all the way up to the most sublime, refined and exquisitely blissful heavenly realms. There is a wide spectrum of religious belief within hinduisms four major sects or denomina. The 31 planes of existence by suvanno mahathera describes the ancient buddhist concepts of planes in the context of karma, rebirth, samsara and meditation and realization. The universe consists of multiple worlds, layers and planes of existence, some known and some unknown, some within the field of awareness and sensory knowledge and some much beyond. In jain texts, the universe is referred to as loka. In this series we are today presenting the holy scriptures and books of hindu religion to free download hinduism vedas. Hindu concepts in the movies hindu concepts in the movies join our film festival as we explore hollywood movies based around some decidedly hindu.
Hinduism views existence as composed of three worlds. The puranas are holy books of hinduism that date back to gupta empire in ancient india. In hinduism, attaining the highest life is a process of removing the bodily distractions from life, allowing one to eventually understand the brahma nature within. You shall never be saved by anyone by just belonging to any religion, but by your karma, deep wish for salvation and the power of a true master sent by the creator of the creators who resides way above and beyond the trinity or 3 planes of existence. These texts are glorious tales of the hindu trinity brahma, vishnu and maheshwar shiva. In order therefore to protect myself against any misunderstanding i have said truth and nonviolence is my creed. Hinduism is a deep, free and inspiring way of life that does not disrupt you but helps you with your holy goals.
Hinduism comes from the sankrit name for the indus river. Are the various gods and goddesses in hinduism real or beings from other planes of existence. The master course trilogy path to siva slidespdf bodhinathas. The physical plane, or bhuloka, is the world of gross or material substance in which. If one has to prove that father of jesus or god of prophet mohammed exists, they cannot simply rely. This is the realm of the material world, beings on this plane have a gross body made up of solid, liquid, gaseous, plasmic and etheric matter. Hindu views on the nature of existence hinduism today. The scriptures of the vedas are meant to guide hindu believers in their daily lives. The adjacent picture represents the om sign, which is. It is the foundation of existence, the source of visions, the point of conception, the apex of creation. Learn about the buddhist concept of planes of existence. These books, written from around 1200 bce to 100 ce, began with four vedas, or mantras. According to a 2012 pew research study, there are roughly one billion hindus on earth todayroughly 15% of the population halverson writes, the vast majority of hindussome 700 million.
Many scholars liken hinduism to a family of religions, with all affiliated members bearing a family resemblance. The 31 planes of existence the 31 planes, as described in the suttas, are divided into three types of worlds. Visits to holy places of hinduism is some what a religious duty of every hindu, which they perform during the various span of their life it enunciates that when they grow older and attain the age of salvation, usually after 60 yrs of age, without any ifs and buts they start visiting various holy places. Pilgrimage is part and parcel of hindus cultural belief system. In hindu vedic religion there is only one supreme god which exist at two. Thus far no other religious teacher has been known. Creation heart of hinduism iskcon educational services. The holy book in the hindu religion is known as the vedas. According to hindu cosmology, the universe contains 7 upper and 7 lower planes of existence. Nigosian writes, the persians, who found it difficult to pronounce an initial s, called it hindu. Download the bible, the holy quran, the mahabharata and thousands of free pdf ebooks on buddhism, meditation etc. The 31 planes of existence categories buddhism tags buddhist concepts, karma, meditation, realization, rebirth, samsara, suvanno mahathera leave a comment post navigation wisdom and the seventythree kinds of mundane and supramundane knowledge.
You shall never be saved by anyone by just belonging to any religion, but by your karma, deep wish for salvation and the power of a true master sent by the creator of the. More worrying is that there are ten different concepts or theories of the planes of existence. Hinduism is about understanding brahma, existence, from within the atman, which roughly means self or soul, whereas buddhism is about finding the anatman not soul or not self. During the vedic period of northern india, the cow was a symbol of wealth and prosperity, as well as one of the animals offered in ritual religious sacrifices. Thus any definition of hinduism is somewhat arbitrary and. However there is great variation between the different definitions. The chanting of mantras is the most popular form of worship in hinduism. Causal plane is a term used in neotheosophy, some contemporary vedanta, the new age, especially some channelled communications, and sometimes occultism, to describe a high spiritual plane of existence, i. The concept may be found in religious and esoteric teachingse.
Buddhism attained prominence in the indian subcontinent as it was supported by royal courts, but started to decline after the gupta era and. These worlds are inhabited and controlled by different powers. Anodea judiths classic introduction to the chakra system, which has sold over 200,000 copies, has been completely updated and expanded. The planes in theosophy were further systematized in the writings of c. An article on life after death, heaven and hell, karma, planes of existence and. The energy in the nonphysical universe is much less dense than in a physical universe. We experience the buddhaic plane just before fully refocusing our awareness in the tao. Those defending reincarnation bring in a hindu holy man to explain the concept and why hundreds of millions of indians believe in it. Hindus value many sacred writings as opposed to one holy book. Buddhism vs hinduism difference and comparison diffen. Seven holy places of hinduism that will actually make your. All these divine abodes are full of sensual pleasures and are fully enjoyed by the. The suttas described 31 distinct planes or realms of existence into which beings can be. Rare ancient hinduism books to download all pdf vedic.
There are thought to be seven planes of existence, at the very least thirtyone planes of existence in buddhism. Despite the broad spectrum of faith and practice, hinduism has several common cultural elements. Hinduism has been explained with its origins, beliefs, way of life, sacred texts, gods and goddesses, holiest things, interesting facts and. If we are going by population, the largest three religions are christianity, islam, and hinduism and therefore the three holy books would be the. Yoga and meditation are also considered as a form of devotional service towards the lord.
However, the puranas are supposed to be complied by muni vyasa. In esoteric cosmology, a plane is conceived as a subtle state, level, or region of reality, each plane corresponding to some type, kind, or category of being. If i were asked to define the hindu creed i should simply say. Sruti consists of four vedas, upanishads, brahmanas, aranyakas, and bhagavadgita while smriti consists of manu smriti, 18 puranas, ramayana, and mahabharata and other hindu holy books. In this cosmology, there are seven cosmic planes, three lower, corresponding to relative existence the physical, vital, and mental, and four higher, representing infinite divine reality life divine bk. Buddhism and hinduism have common origins in the ganges culture of northern india during the so called second urbanisation around 500 bce. If you feel you would like more, intensive study into the planes, we have posted a few books that may set you on the path. Hinduism is the oldest religion in the world, and hindus refer to it as sanatana dharma, the eternal tradition, or the eternal way, beyond human history. As stated before, in some upanishads we come across references to mainly four planes of existence namely bhur the earth or the mortal world, bhuva the mid world or celestialworld, suvah the gods world or indras heaven and maha the great world or the world of brahman.
World is the subtle astral or mental plane of existence in which the devas, angels and spirits live. The physical plane, physical word, or physical universe, in emanationist metaphysics taught in neoplatonism, hermeticism, hinduism and theosophy, refers to the visible reality of space and time, energy and matter. For example, the mental plane is the sum total of all the matter that is formed out of 3atoms. It is the good fortune or the misfortune of hinduism that it has no official creed. Holy books of hinduism include the rig veda, and the. The vedas, or books of knowledge, are the foremost sacred texts in hinduism. The infinite soul who incarnated as buddha taught from this plane. The ideal primer on world religions, exploring the major faiths is an introduction to the five most significant religious movements hinduism, judaism, buddhism, christianity, and islam. Atharvaved download part i download part ii rigved samved download yajurved download more variants. Buddhism attained prominence in the indian subcontinent as it was supported by royal courts, but started to decline after the gupta era and virtually. Hinduism simple english wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
We are going to look at the basic seven planes of existence. Smriti literature is considered less authoritative than sruti. As portals between the physical and spiritual planes, the chakras offer unparalleled opportunities for growth, healing, and transformation. The canon of books and poems that define hinduism were written in sanskrit and are of ancient origin.
The concept of hinduism being a single monolithic religion is recent, dating back only to the 19th century. It is perhaps the best book for someone who has no prior knowledge of the religion, a stable stepping stone for the student of religious studies, and an. You shall not find god without effort, toil and karma. The upanishads are also called as vedantas or the end of the vedas. Of all the basic books on hinduism, this rather thin volume of 160 pages is the most balanced introduction to the religion. The tao has created many universes, or overall experiments. The suttas described 31 distinct planes or realms of existence into which beings can be reborn during their long wandering through samsara. Scholars regard hinduism as a combination of different indian cultures and traditions, with diverse roots. The primary sacred texts, known as the vedas, were composed around 1500 b. This holy book is written in the sanskrit language. The 31 planes, as described in the suttas, are divided into three types of worlds.
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