Hinduism
By Charlie H. Campbell
This evening we are going to take a look at one of the world’s oldest and perhaps most complex religions. The religion of Hinduism
Number
of adherents
Hinduism today is the world’s third largest religion, right after Christianity and Islam.
Today, there are approximately 900 million Hindus worldwide.
In fact, more one out of every 10 people alive [13%] considers themselves a Hindu.
Who
founded Hinduism?
Unlike...
--Buddhism
--Islam
--Judaism
--Christianity
...Hinduism does not look back to a human founder.
Nor does Hinduism, like many religious movements, have a central religious organization, or holy place.
Where
did Hinduism originate?
Where did Hinduism originate?
If
you look there on YOUR MAP, you’ll see that the
That is where Hinduism evolved.
--Right there in that ancient civilization that resided in the
The word “Hindu” is a Persian word that means:
“the people
and culture of the
So, it was there, in modern day
History
of Hinduism
It would be impossible…
--to recount to you a history of Hinduism,
--or put together a timeline of important events in Hindu history
that would allow us to put together any kind of a timeline of historic events.
The people in the Hindu culture were not that concerned about chronology, or dating, so there is a real lack of reliable historical data
The
Influence of Hinduism in the West
Despite the fact that Hinduism is the world’s third largest religion, for many in the west, Hinduism is somewhat of a mysterious religion.
As
mysterious as Hinduism is in the west, Hinduism has greatly influenced our
culture in all sorts of ways.
Q. How many of you here know of somebody that...
PRACTICES:
--yoga
--or meditation?
BELIEVES
Q. How many of you here know of somebody that believes in…
--reincarnation
--that all paths lead to God
--that man is basically good and full of unlimited potential
--that contradicting truth claims can all be true for different individuals
--that harming or killing all living creatures is wrong
(Perhaps it has led them to be a vegan or a vegetarian)
--that they are one with God
Most of you!!
Well most, if not all, of these beliefs and practices found their way into the west as a result of the spread of Hinduism.
Of course this doesn’t mean that your friend is a Hindu but it may mean that they have (whether they realize it or not) been influenced by Hinduism.
The
spread of Hinduism in the west
Hinduism was widely introduced to thousands of young people in the
--
--
--and
...in the 60’s.
It was then, during the sixties that the Beatles were influenced by a Hindu spiritual guru by the name of Maharishi Mahesh Yogi (1918 - ).
The Beatles went on to become Hinduism’s most famous spokespersons.
They appeared with Maharishi...
--on the news,
--at conferences (Transcendental Meditation conferences)
--seminars
--and lectures
--They
even went to
in the late 60’s.
From then on, there was a surge of interest in the West in:
--meditation
--yoga
--and eastern philosophy
That interest continues to this day.
I was just in Barnes & Noble a few days ago and was amazed to see a prominent display when I walked in the door, with dozens of different books on yoga, meditation and other Hinduistic themes.
Including
books by Hinduism’s most popular spokesperson in
Q. How many of you have heard of him?
He is…
--a doctor
--a counselor
--a spiritual counselor to movie stars
--a number one selling author
--and
a HUGE hit here in
Time Magazine heralded Deepak as one of the top 100 heroes and icons of the last century.
Some of his books include:
--“The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success:
A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your
Dreams”
and
--"How to Know God” (among others).
He’s very, very popular, and leading multitudes into a Hinduistic / New Age view of God and reality.
Hindu
Scriptures
The Hindus do, like many religions, have sacred writings that they look to for guidance.
Most authoritative among their scriptures are the…
1.
The Vedas
The word veda literally means: “knowledge” or “wisdom.”
The Vedas were composed over a period of 1,000 years between about
1500B.C. and 500 B.C. and are considered by Hindus to be divinely inspired.
The author and dates of the Vedas are unknown.
The Vedas are mostly a collection of ritualistic hymns to various Hindu gods.
Another revered Hindu writing is...
2.
The Mahabharata.
“Mahabharata” literally means the “Great Epic of India.”
The Mahabharata was written down over a period of 800 years (beginning about 400 B.C.), and is the longest poem ever written:
...approximately 100,000 verses!
To get a grasp of it’s size, the entire Bible, OT & NT together,
has 41,173 verses.
So the Mahabharata is more than double the size of the Bible.
Within
this enormous work (the Mahabharata) is the most
sacred and popular of all Hindu texts, and that is...
3.
The Bhagavad-Gita
Bhagavad-Gita
literally means: “The Lord's Song.”
The Bhagavad-Gita is another poem.
It purports to be a dialogue between a warrior
prince (Arjuna) and his friend
It was added to the Mahabharata
sometime in the 1st century AD, and consists of just 700 verses
divided into 18 chapters.
The
Bhagavad-Gita is so popular because it lays out instruction on how a Hindu can
reach the Hinduism’s highest goal: Moksha (which
we’ll talk about more in a minute).
What
do Hindus believe?
There
are a wide range of diverse beliefs in Hinduism, and even different sects, but
typically most Hindus do hold to 5 main beliefs.
1.
Belief in Brahman
Brahman is the name of God or the supreme deity talked about in the Vedas.
Hindus believe that the entire universe and all that is in it, is one divine entity, called Brahman.
According to Hinduism, Brahman alone is all that exists.
Everything else is ultimately an illusion, or what the Hindus call maya.
Hinduism is, what we call, a pantheistic religion.
Most religions can be categorized into one of three religions.
1. Monotheism (belief in one God): Judaism, Christianity, Islam, Bahai.
2. Polytheism (belief in many gods): Mormonism, The Masonic Lodge, Many of the world’s primitive religions.
3. Pantheism:
The word pantheism comes from the word “pan” meaning
“everything” and “theos,” meaning “God.”
Pantheistic religions believe that all is God and
God is all.
According to pantheism,
God did not
create the world; God is the
world, along with everything in it.
Other pantheistic religions
include:
--The New Age Movement
--Christian Science
(Founder: Mary Baker Eddy—1821-1910—man is a
part of God)
--Scientology
(Founder: L. Ron Hubbard – 1911-1986—man is
divine)
--Wicca
(No particular founder—all is God)
--Unity School of
Christianity
(A new age cult.
Founder: Charles Fillmore 1854-1948 – We are all God)
What
is Brahman like?
What is Brahman
like?
That’s hard to
answer.
Hinduism teaches
that Brahman is totally impersonal,
indefinable and indescribable.
To the Hindu, Brahman is beyond all
distinctions.
A Hindu cannot describe Brahman as loving, or merciful, or just, or caring, or mighty, because Brahman is beyond all personal and moral description.
Nothing can be truly said or thought of Brahman.
330
Million Gods?
Although Hinduism adheres to the view that there is only one supreme God, called Brahman, Hinduism is a religion that acknowledges and permits the worship of one of some 330 million lesser gods called avatars.
Hindus believe that avatars (A Hindu word meaning “descent”) are manifestations or incarnations of Braham.
Of course the pantheistic, Hindu view of God contradicts the Bible doesn’t it?
In what ways?
[Discussion]
1. God is personal.
The Bible teaches that God is personal and describes Him as having personal attributes. The Bible regularly describes God in ways used to describe human personality. God talks, rebukes, feels, becomes angry, is jealous, laughs, loves, and even has a personal name (Gen. 1:3; 6:6, 12; Ex. 3:15; 16:12; 20:5; Lev. 20:23; Deut. 5:9; 1 Sam. 26:19; Ps. 2:4; 59:9; Hos. 1:8–9; Amos 9:4; Zeph. 3:17).
2. God is knowable.
Jeremiah 9:24
“but let him who boasts boast of this, that he understands and knows Me, that I am the LORD who exercises lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness on earth; for I delight in these things,” declares the LORD. NASB
There are also some other problems the Hindu view.
3. The Bible declares that all is not God.
Rather than God being all that there is, the Bible says that God created all that there is.
In the beginning God created that which was not God (Gen. 1:1ff; Heb 11:3).
God is present in His creation but He is not to be confused with it.
In fact, the Bible issues strong warnings to those who confuse God with His creation in Romans 1:22–23.
The second belief
common to Hinduism is…
2.
Man is One with God
Hindus believe that we are an extensions of Brahman, that we are one with, Brahman.
In other words, Hinduism teaches that we are God.
Deepak Chopra (whom I referred
to earlier) said this in his book, The
Seven Spiritual Laws of Success…
“...we remain unfulfilled unless we nurture the seeds of divinity inside us. In reality we are divinity in disguise, and the gods and goddesses in embryo that are contained within us seek to be fully materialized” (p. 3) [Emphasis mine]
Hinduism teaches, that just as the air inside an open jar is identical to the air surrounding that jar, so to our essence is identical to that of the essence of Brahman.
Just like a drop in the ocean is exactly like that which makes the up the whole ocean, so we are a part of Brahman.
There’s of course some problems with this view of man.
1. It contradicts the Bible.
The Bible says that God created man.
This view of man is also, number two…
2. It is self-defeating.
This view is self-defeating.
According to Hinduism…
1. Brahman is absolutely changeless.
Then Hinduism asserts that…
2. We are one with Brahman.
Then Hinduism teaches (as we’ll see in a minute) that…
3. Man must become enlightened to this reality.
In other words, Hinduism says that we must go through a process of change.
A troubling thought for the Hindu is this:
“If humanity must go through a process of change in order to become aware of the fact that we are God, how can we be God when God does not change?”
That is a troubling question for the Hindu.
The third belief
common to the Hinduism is…
3.
Humanity’s primary problem is ignorance.
Hinduism teaches that humanity’s main problem is the mistaken belief that we are individuals and not one with the ultimate divine reality, Brahman.
Ignorance, Hinduism says, gives rise to our bad actions, which results in bad karma, which traps a person in the cycle of life, death and rebirth (which we’ll talk more about in a second).
What we need Hinduism says is “enlightenment” or “self realization”
Enlightenment or the realization that we are one with Brahman.
What is man’s biggest problem according to the Bible?
We would obviously disagree with Hinduism’s position wouldn’t we (that man’s biggest problem is ignorance of divinity).
[Discussion]
The answer: Sin. Mankind’s rebellion against God.
Q. Is God’s solution for us to just realize that we are God?
A. Not at all.
In fact, the idea that we are God sounds like what the serpent told Eve in the garden…
Genesis 3:4-5
4 “And the serpent said unto the woman, Ye shall not surely die: 5 For God doth know that in the day ye eat thereof, then your eyes shall be opened, and ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4-5 KJV)
How has, or is, God remedying man’s sin?
1. He sent His Son into the world to die on the cross for mankind’s sins.
2. He’s gives us His Holy Spirit that empowers us to live holy lives.
2. He will ultimately judge sin and create a new heavens and earth.
So, we belief, number one…
1. Belief in Brahman
2. Man is One with God
3. Humanity’s primary problem is ignorance.
The fourth belief
common to Hinduism is…
4.
We are reaping in this lifetime the consequences of the actions we committed in
previous lifetimes.
Hinduism teaches that all of humanity is on a ever-revolving wheel of life, death, and reincarnation or rebirth.
This cycle of life, death and rebirth is called samsara.
Q. Why is man stuck in this wheel, this cycle?
Well, according to Hinduism, it is our ignorance that leads to bad karma.
A. Because of his karma.
Karma means “action.”
According to Hinduism, every thought and action results in certain consequences.
And since it is impossible that all of one's karma or consequences be experienced in one lifetime, the Hindu scriptures state that after death individual souls will be “reborn” or reincarnated, in this world, into another body –human or otherwise.
For the Hindu, a person’s actions in this life, sins or even acts of ignorance, determine the kind of body into which he or she will be reincarnated in the next lifetime.
It could be an insect, animal, or a human.
(Most commonly, humans are considered the highest level of incarnation.).
Each individual is wholly responsible for his or her present condition and will have exactly the future he or she is now creating.
This worldview has led to horrible living conditions in India!!!
Many Hindus will not seek to help out the downtrodden, or the hungry, or the poor.
Why? Well, the teachings of Hinduism tell them that the reason a person is suffering is a result of their bad karma, their actions of a past life.
So to step in and give them a blanket, or a meal, is only going to prolong their suffering!!
Tragic!!
The Hindu believes that everything that comes one’s way is exactly
what they deserve.
Closely associated with the doctrine of reincarnation is the teaching of ahimsa. Because Hindus believe that life is ultimately divine most feel very strongly about not injuring living things.
This is why many Hindus are vegetarian and pro-environment.
Q. How might you demonstrate to a Hindu from the Bible that reincarnation
is not true?
The Bible says...
Hebrews 9:27
“And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment” (NKJV)
Since we die only once, reincarnation cannot be true.
Q. Any other ideas?
Luke 23:43
Philippians 1:18-23
2 Corinthians 5:8
The fifth belief
common to the Hindu is this:
5.
The goal of existence is escaping the cycle of life, death and rebirth (samsara).
This breaking free is called “moksha.”
Moksha is a word that means “liberation.”
To achieve moksha is to experience liberation from the karma that has kept one in the cycle of samsara.
The person who breaks free from the cycle of death and
rebirth becomes:
--free from his/her earthly existence,
--free from pain and suffering.
According to Hinduism the person who is liberated finally achieves the highest state of existence: absorption in to Brahman.
(I thought we were already part of Brahman??)
In Hinduism there is no heaven,--only losing one's identity in the universal oneness.
How
does a Hindu Achieve Moksha?
The Bhagavad-Gita (which I previously mentioned)
tells us that there are 3 ways.
1. The Way of Works
This is a very popular way of salvation and lays
emphasis on the idea that liberation may be obtained by fulfilling specific
social and religious obligations.
Once that happens, the Hindu reaches moksha and is
liberated from samsara.
2.
The Way of Devotion
The second way of salvation is the way of devotion.
This is the way most popular with most Hindus.
It satisfies the longing for a more emotional and personal approach to religion.
In the way of devotion the Hindu surrenders to one of the many personal gods or goddesses (avatars) of Hinduism.
Such devotion is expressed through acts of worship at:
--the temple,
--in the home,
--through participation in the many festivals in honor of such gods
--and through
pilgrimages to one of the numerous holy sites in
In the way of devotion, the focus is on obtaining the mercy and help of a god in finding release from the cycle of reincarnation.
3. The Way of Knowledge
This way of salvation is open to men only in the
highest castes.
In this way, the Hindu achieves moksha
(liberation) through attaining a state of consciousness in which he finally realizes
his identity with Brahman.
How
is this state of consciousness achieved?
Through deep meditation, often as a part of the discipline of Yoga.
So that summarizes the widespread general beliefs of
the Hindu.
Q. What does the Bible say about salvation by works?
Salvation is a gift from God through faith in Jesus
Christ (Eph. 2:8–10).
It is impossible to earn one’s salvation by good
works (Titus 3:1–7).
Religious deeds and exercises cannot save (Matt.
7:22–23; Rom 9:32; Gal. 2:16; Eph. 2:8–9).
So, praise God that through the Lord Jesus,
Christianity offers hope, forgiveness, grace, and a personal relationship with
a personal God in heaven. Jesus means there's a point to life.
Tips
on Witnessing to Hindus
A.
Love them.
Show them your Savior in the way that you treat them and love them. Of course you will want to be praying for them, and asking God to give you ideas on how you might do this.
B.
Find out what they believe & why. Ask Questions.
Ask them questions and discover what they believe. Their beliefs may be slightly different than those presented here. Find out if they are longing to one day reach moksha. Ask them why they want to be liberated.
What path are they on? The Way of Devotion? The Way of Works? The Way of knowledge? What will that be like? What about all their karma? How sure are they that they will achieve Moksha? Help them to feel the weight of guilt and the conviction of their own conscience and the Holy Spirit. This is good. This may help them to appreciate the good news! Ask them why they believe these things they’ve shared with you are true. This will be a great learning experience for you. As you relationship with them grows, look for opportunities to...
C. Share with them what You
Believe & why and how God has changed your life.
Tell them about the God of the Bible who offers...
I. A Better Future: HEAVEN
Tell them about the glorious future you are looking forward to. As a Christian I am looking forward to Heaven. In the presence of Jesus, and millions of others whom He has redeemed and the angels, etc. No more pain, or death. Fullness of joy.
But Christianity does not only offer a better future, it offers...
II. A Better Path:
JESUS
Bakht Singh, a convert from Hinduism and an Indian evangelist, once said, “I have never yet failed to get a hearing if I talk to [Hindus] about forgiveness of sins and peace and rest in your heart”
Rather than going down one of the paths of works, devotion, knowledge, God has provided a much easier path. Jesus said that He was the Path. (Jn. 14:6).
Through simple trust in Him, God says that we can have all of our sins forgiven, and that we can be with Him in heaven forever.
Point out to them that Jesus is not only a better path. He is the only path (Acts 4:12), WHY? Well, because He is God, the only God. To have a right relationship with God, we must return to the very one we have sinned against: Jesus. Not Allah, or Vishnu [a Hindu god], etc.
Point out that Salvation is not something we have to earn by finally living a sinless life (something that is impossible and unobtainable) but it is a free gift (Rom. 6:23)...
Ephesians 2:8-9 says...
“For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast.” NKJV
Titus 3:5-7 says...
5 “not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit, 6 whom He poured out on us abundantly through Jesus Christ our Savior, 7 that having been justified by His grace we should become heirs according to the hope of eternal life.” NKJV
The Bible makes it clear that man cannot “realize” salvation through
--any works,
--meditation,
--or worship of created images.
III. A Better Faith:
Verifiable
Unlike Hinduism (a faith who’s truth claims can only be verified through meditation and intuition) the Christian faith can be verified to be true with an examination of real evidence. The Bible, unlike the Vedas and the Bhagavad-Gita, not only claims to be the Word of God it proves itself to be that by fulfilled prophecy, archaeological verification, scientific insights and accuracy, internal consistency, manuscript evidence,etc. (something the Vedas lack). Evidence for Christ’s resurrection is also overwhelmingly strong, etc.
IV. A Better
Relationship: Personal
Unlike Brahman, the God of the Bible can be personally known and experienced. He hears prayer. He answers prayer. He knows me. He loves me.
ABOUT CHARLIE CAMPBELL
Charlie Campbell has been on staff as a pastor at Calvary
Chapel Vista in
BOOKING
If you would like to have Charlie Campbell speak at your church, conference, Christian school, or retreat please call 760-726-4224 or email him at CharlieCampbell@CalvaryChapel.com. References available.
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