“Understanding Hinduism”                                 January 2, 2011

Ephesians 2: 1–10                                             The Rev. Dr. Beth Braxton

Introduction to scripture: The scripture reading this morning is from Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus about salvation obtained by grace, a basic Christian concept. Listen to the Word of God.

Religion lies at the heart of the human experience. The great faiths – Hinduism, Buddhism, Judaism, Christianity, Islam, account for up to six billion of the world’s nearly seven billion people. For all the differences between their beliefs, all faiths seek the same fulfillment from their religious experience that could be summed up as a feeling of connection with the universe, and understanding of purpose, a moral code, a sense of community and a sense of the supernatural. There is purpose, discipline and fulfillment described in all religions.

When I was growing up in Atlanta Georgia in the 50’s, I knew no Hindu, Buddhist, Muslim, or Jew in my high school. I did not really know any Catholics or Orthodox Christians either. There were churches on each corner – Baptist, Baptist on that corner, Baptist, Methodist, Baptist!! Today as noted in your bulletin there are over 130 different nationalities in our Fairfax Public School system, and many religions that these ethnic groups represent. It is my stance that the world would be a much more peaceful place if we understood and respected each others’ belief systems. It is our faith more than politics that separates us and causes conflict. Rabbi Jonathan Sacks in his new book, The Dignity of Difference, asks this question of all of us: “Do we see ‘the other’ as a threat to our beliefs, and way of life, or as an enrichment of the collective heritage of humankind?”

I hope these next few Sundays will afford you the opportunity to gain some knowledge and understanding and therefore respect for what others believe, and where their truth claims parallel Christianity and where they contradict it. And I hope the messages and discussions will clarify and deepen what you believe as a Christian.

It is appropriate to begin this sermon series on world religions on Epiphany Sunday when we celebrate the three wise men’s visit to the Christ Child, because these magi were of different religions. They were not Jewish. They were from the East, probably Persia or modern day Iran. Other faiths came seeking. Epiphany means “manifestation;” we understand as Christians that this event represents the manifestation of Christ to the WHOLEworld, not just the Jews.

Okay, here you hear my bias. Yes I see the world and understand truth through the lens of Christianity. I must also give this disclaimer as I begin this sermon series. Though I have spent hours reading about other’s faith, attending their worship services, reading their holy scriptures and interviewing their leaders, I am by far not an expert. I probably have just enough knowledge to be dangerous (or be confused!). Our quality time will be as we engage during our educational hour following the worship service with one of their leaders.

Today we begin with Hinduism; there are about 900 million in the world making up 13% of the world’s population. Hinduism is the oldest of world religions; it was not started by a person, but grew out of the ancient Vedic hymns extolling the gods for all of nature passed down for centuries by the pastoral people known as Aryans. So from the ancient Sanskrit chants emerged the central ideas of Hinduism in India. It goes back 1200 years before Abraham.

There are a number of books that constitute their Bible, many more books than we use. The Vedas were composed about 900 B.C. after being passed down orally for hundreds of years. They are believed to be given directly by God to Vedic sages. There are four Vedas – the Rig-Veda is the oldest written sacred book. Then there are the Upanishads which are the commentaries on the Vedas and written from 800 B.C. to after the time of Christ. The last is the Mahab-harata which is three times as long as our Bible and contains many passages of profound philosophical poetry. One of the epic poems in the Mahab-harata is the Bhagavad-Gita, which is universally acknowledged as one of the world’s literary and spiritual masterpieces. Every Hindu home has a Gita, as it is referred to. Some of the passages in the Gita sound like some of the things Jesus said. For example: “But those who worship me live within me and I live in them.” (Gita 9.31)

And Jesus said, “Abide in me as I abide in you.” (John 15:4)

Now let’s look at the Hindu’s concept of God. Here is where I was surprised: I had read that there are as many as 330 million deities in the Hindu religion. I always believed Hindus were polytheist with a pantheon of gods. Actually they believe there is one true god who is Brahman; all the other gods are manifestations of him! The manifestations take on different forms of animals or human beings. There are stories, myths and characters of these deities, all to give a picture of the one true god.

But listen how Pandith Bhatta, one of the priests of the Durga Temple here in Fairfax Station, describes the concept of God.

God doesn’t have any form and he doesn’t have to. It can be a dog. It can be anything. In other words it can be nothing and it can be everything. Any human being can experience the God as he wants. Like he can give or he can expect that God or he can bring that power energy, the divine energy into the any mind and he can make that experience to others or he can experience himself as, and when, however he wants.

Then Suchria adds,

Effectively the God is this universal energy and which is what is being referenced as Brahman. And that energy, the experience that Pandith, what he was trying to put forward was, you can visualize that in any form that you want, and in that particular form for that person at that time and space, so you know, it will appear in that form. So that’s why when we say you have manifestations, so you can—it doesn’t have to be a human form.

There are three main gods: Brahman, the creator; Vishnu, the maintainer; and Shiva, the destroyer. The idols we see when we go into their temples where offerings and prayers are given, function like icons do for the Christian Orthodox Church. An icon is a representative of some saint or sacred event painted usually on wood. Icons serve a many-fold purpose in the Orthodox Church. They help teach the faithful about God. The icons aid the faithful in prayer and meditation to focus on the person or the event depicted and the icon helps keep the mind from wandering as one prays. And so do the deities seen in Hindu temples.

How do Hindus see the human condition? They see humans as divinity, having part of the soul of Brahman. Your soul that they called atman, cannot be marred by sin. It is just ignorant. Your dharma or duty or attitude is to pursue spiritual knowledge. So you need many teachers. The elephant-headed god Ganesha is believed to bring wisdom and good luck; the monkey god Hanuman is associated with bravery and loyalty. Durga, which is the name of the Fairfax Station temple, is the manifestation of the divine mother, and the main deity of that temple.

Hindus believe that you go through many cycles of birth and death until you are set free when you arrive at Nirvana, the ultimate goal. I understand it is like a spiritual ladder. The idea is to build up enough good karma, or good deeds, so at the end of your life you will have built up more good karma than bad karma. Listen to how Pandith Bhatta ‘s wife, Suchira, explains it:

Yes, action is karma. It’s not just physical action; it can be mental; it can be physical; it’s something which, you know, so it’s not that you know you can only do – I didn’t do anything wrong but I was, you know, really trying – sending all my energies in a very negative manner toward something, that is also a Karma, because you have visualized something because again your energy is what did that job. So you have a balance of your Karma’s into your personal bank account, each being has that. Some of those may, depending on if it was a CD that was maturing in one month, or it was in their current account and is available right now. Or if it is in a fixed deposit that matures in X number of years, it may not even mature in this lifetime – it may mature in a future lifetime.

If you have more bad karma, you are sent back in another life to learn more lessons. Reincarnation is the belief that you have to go through several cycles of birth and death and hopefully your soul will gain enough spiritual knowledge (moksha) and you will be set free! Moksha means being released form a long series of incarnations. What you are thinking when you die makes a difference in what you evolve to in the next life. When your soul, the atman is released from your body and you are reunited with Brahman – that is Nirvana, your goal for life. It is like a drop of water uniting with the ocean; you are one.

Now what are some of the main differences between Christianity and Hinduism? The nature of Hinduism sees God in many forms in everything as Pandith Bhatta explained. In our Judeo-Christian understanding God is distinct from creation. God is creator and we are God’s handiwork. We are created in the image of God but distinct from God. God to the Hindus is impersonal and unknowable, whereas we see God as personal. Getting to know God personally through Jesus and being transformed by that knowledge and the experience of Christ’s love and forgiveness, is central to our understanding.

Another key difference is our understanding of sin or our separation from God. Hindus see their souls as a part of Brahman, God, perfect from birth; the problem with humanity for them is ignorance not sin. Yet we believe our souls are not God; we are made in the image of God; but as Paul says we “have all sinned and fallen short of the glory of God.” (Romans 3:23) We cannot remedy our own sin; we cannot mend the brokenness inside. We believe that what we need is not more knowledge, but a Savior.

I like the way Rev. Adam Hamilton in his series on World Religions describes it: Jesus dying on the cross took upon himself the bad karma, the sins of the human race. The revelation of Jesus as the Christ for us is that Jesus carries our sin; God did for us what we cannot do for ourselves. Jesus is the incarnation of God, is perfect and in his act of sacrifice accredits for us good karma. God gives to us what we could not do, create, purchase, win for ourselves. This is the Gospel! Jesus dies once and pays the price for us. We die once. We do not get multiple tries to get it right.

When we stand before the judgment of God, God asks what we did to deserve his love and we say “nothing;” we say, “O Lord, we relied on your mercy and grace. Your grace was sufficient.”

(“By grace are we saved through faith, it is not of our own doing; it is a gift from God.”Ephesians 2:8)

Then God says, “Welcome my child to the kingdom!”

Though we Christians definitely have differences with the Hindu religion, I have met Hindu persons who are kind and deeply spiritual people, with a real great reverence for all of life. Certainly the Nobel Prize laureate Mahatma Gandhi’s stance on non-violence has been very influential in Christianity and to me personally. The Hindus here at the Durga Temple! (Show inside of temple morning vespers–segment 59:55) have vespers every morning and every evening and people are coming with prayers and offerings each day, recognizing their need for God. Want a wonderful example. It is a gift to have Hindu neighbors.

At the beginning of this message we heard Rabbi Sacks’ question: “Do we see ‘the other’ as a threat to our beliefs, and way of life, or as enrichment?” His answer, “In our interconnected world, we must learn to feel enlarged not threatened by difference.”

Amen! Thanks be to God! [i]