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VM Home > 'Hinduism' Section Home |
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Welcome to the Home Page
of the ‘Hinduism Section’ of vmission.org.in site. On this Page we
endeavor to present very briefly the basics of
Sanatan Dharma or commonly known as Hindu
Religion.
If Vedanta stands for the
'science' of life, then Hinduism stands for 'technology'
to help assimilate & live the profound truths revealed
by Vedanta. Hinduism is one of the most ancient living
religions of the world. It has its roots in Vedas, and
is rightly compared to an ageless banyan tree, whose
roots have sprung all over - with so many apparently
different sects, yet all drawing inspiration from one
basic source - the Vedas. Another name for Hinduism is
'Sanatan Dharma', which means a way of life based on
eternal principles of life.
A Hindu aims & prays for a
dynamic, inspired & holistic life. For him divinity is
all-pervasive and inherent in one & all. One just needs
to awake to it. Our goal of life is to awake to this
divinity within and thus revel in utter fulfillment, and
exude selfless love outside through all our actions. As
everyone is already 'that', we believe that everyone,
irrespective of their caste or creed, can be helped to
awake to this divinity - so that all can live a truly
blessed life. Yes, we dont have one set of rules for
all. This is comparable to the prescription of a
specialist, which is patient-specific, and not the quack-like generalized common prescription for one & all.
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Philosophy without religion is idealism; Religion
without philosophy is superstition.
Swami Vivekananda
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In all there are eight sub-sections in this Vedanta
Section. Their
contents are:
Hindu Gods :
The Vedas declare that the truth is one,
and the wise call it by different names. It appears
strange to a non-hindu that while on one hand the
scriptures of this land unequivocally reveal ‘one’ God,
still we hear about so ‘many’ Gods. This is no
contradiction, because these so called many Gods are
just different 'manifestations' of one divinity.
However, please understand that God is always considered
one here, but we have many devatas. Devatas are
instruments of God to handle & run the powers of the
nature. Read a brief introduction of some of our main
gods on this godly page.
Hindu Festivals
:
It wont be an
exaggeration to say that Hindu’s look for an excuse to
celebrate & sing the glories of God at every turn of
event. Such is the degree of faith & devotion in the
masses that every significant astrological change,
seasonal change, or stage in life etc. brings about a
reason to remember God in a special way. So we have lots
of festivals. Holi, Diwali, Ram Navami, Navratra,
Mahashivratri, Guru Poornima, Sri Krishna Janmashtami,
Makar Sankranti, etc. Please check out the details of
the following festivals by clicking on the links.
Mahashivratri; Makar Sankranti; Diwali. Read more on the
our Festival Page.
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Short Hinduism
Course
We have introduced
a new and first-ever comprehensive short Hinduism
Course, which shall give an overview of the
traditions, culture, religion and philosophy of
Hinduism. This ten days course will be organized
2-3 times a year in different locales. This will
be an English language course aimed at people who
need a valid yet brief overview of Hinduism, and
wish to practice spirituality as per the tenets of
Vedanta. The course will be conducted by Poojya
Guruji Sri Swami Atmanandaji. Please check out the
details of the course by clicking
HERE.
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Samskaras :
Samskaras are deliberately
inculcated positive impressions in a person. Creation of
good person is no accident, but a science. All
educationists know this. The Rishis planned sixteen such
samskaras in a life of a person, the first of which
starts before the ‘birth’ of a person, and the last is
after his or her ‘death’. A genetic engineering of a
very high order, which the people of India live even
today.
No wonder the people of this land excel in all knowledge
fields. Some of the important samskaras are: Garbhadan,
Jatakarma, Nama-karana, Annaprashana, Upanayan,
Samavartan, Vivaha, Vanprastha, Sanyas, and Antyeshthi.
Pilgrimages :
Pilgrimages have a very
important role to play in bringing about greater
devotion towards God, getting satsang of various saints,
interaction with other devotees, purity of mind,
integration of society, and bringing about greater
proximity with nature etc. There are pilgrim centers of
every deity. Most of the pilgrim centers were in remote
places, so that a devotee had to really believe in God
to go there. Going there itself was a great tapasya. The
three great sadhanas of Yagna, Dana & Tapasya were
integrated into this package. Earlier, in the Teertha
Yatra, the yatra was important sadhana, now it is just
the place which has become more important. The
government too, wants to just encash the tourist
potential of the place, and thus lots of facilities &
commercial development has taken place in all these
places. So because of ignorance the original objective &
spirit is very rarely seen.
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Three Manifestations of One God: |
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Brahma-Creator |
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Vishnu-Sustainer |
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Mahesh-Destroyer |
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Main Festivals: |
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Makar Sankranti |
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Mahashivratri |
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Holi |
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Guru Poornima |
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Janmashtami |
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Ganesh Chaturthi |
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Navratra |
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Diwali |
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Main Samskaras: |
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Garbhadan |
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Jatakarma |
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Nama-karana |
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Annaprashana |
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Upanayan |
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Vivaha |
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Vanaprastha |
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Sanyas |
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Antyeshthi |
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The Four Ashram's |
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Brahmacharya |
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Gruhasta |
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Vanprastha |
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Sanyas |
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The Four Varna's |
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Brahmin |
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Kshatriya |
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Vaishya |
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Shudra |
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