Due partially to request and partially because I feel that few people truly understand my religion, I decided to let people discuss and questions freely by laying out the basics.

Hinduism is not the true word for it, but is derived from a Persian word. The true word for Hinduism in the extinct language of Sanskrit is "sanatana dharma" meaning "eternal truth".

Gods and Mythology
1. The three main gods are known as "The Trinity" consisting of Brahma, the creator, Shiva, the destroyer, and Vishnu, the sustainer.

2. Even though Hinduism has mythology which deals with thousands of gods, they are all simply facets of one true supreme being known as Brahman or translated from Sanskrit (think the Indian Latin...), "Truth".

Sacred Texts
1. Bhagavad Gita - A conversation between God reincarted as a man, Krishna, who tells Arjuna, a warrior who refuses to fight, the meaning of life, how to live life, etc.

2. Mahabharata - A retelling of the feud between the Pandava princes and their jealous cousins the Kauravas, which includes the Bhagawad Gita.

3. Ramayana - A story dealing with another avatar (Sanskrit: reincaration) of Vishnu, the sustainer, who comes down as Rama, a prince who sets off to save his wife from the evil Rakshasa (Sanskrit: Demon), Ravana. Sets up the basic principles of the roles of men and women in society.

Death and the Afterlife

1. Death is seen as the shedding of old clothes, as the soul, the true essence of a human being, leaves the shell of a body and enters another, unless it is a realized soul, in which it will ascend into heaven.

2. If a soul still contains desires at the end of its mortal life, it will enter another body to fulfill that desire, and continue to do so until it is cleansed and has become a realized soul.

3. Karma, though thought of as a cumulative standing of good and bad deeds, this is not the case. It is true that what goes around comes around, but there other aspects involved.
Law of Destiny: Whatever you do comes back to you. Good deeds performed equal good deeds performed unto us and vice versa.
Law of Karma: Since Hindus believe in several lives, you are accountable for all past sins regardless of which birth it is in. The way to escape that is inevitable, because you cannot, but you can approach the problem in the correct way in the present so it does not reoccur in your next life.

4. Dharma - Your duty as a human being. Technically, this changes from caste to caste, but as the caste system is essentially out of practical use in society, dharma is based on your gender as a man or a women. However, even this is being integrated into one, as the roles of women and men are slowly integrating (i.e. Men are always responsible for children, women can fight too, etc.).

Meditation

1. Even though we use symbols, pictures, and statues for worship, idol worhsip is essentially atomic worship. We worship what they stand for, which is what Jesus Christ or whoever generated the rule in Christianity, Islam, and Judaism concerning that. The main reason for the pictures and symbols is for meditation, when we clear our minds, and keep one thing in mind - God.

Other essentials:

1. There is no Church of Hinduism, no one way to God, as in the religion's eyes, everyone potentially has that power.

2. There is no single practice or way of doing religious rites, bowing, praying, etc. in Hinduism, but they are all essentially the same.

3. Hinduism does not deny Jesus Christ' existence but in some cases believe he was an avatar of our Hindu god, Vishnu.

Read this great article for comparisons between Christianity and Hinduism:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/hi...yes/index.shtml

I will continue to add more when I can but I simply cannot think of any more to write. Please ask questions! This way I can generate information much more quickly.

What do Hindus see as heaven? As in, once you reach that state, what is it supposed to be like?

Do you have Temples or places of worship? And, are their any requirements to become a Hindu? Such as preforming certain rights, or reading certain text?

What is Hinduism's teaching on other famous religious leaders, such as Mohammed and Buddha?

To answer Delta's question:

Mythology sets it up as essentially "The Kingdom of Heaven". Temples with maidens, the devas (heavenly beings), Gods, Godesses, and the like all pervade in this area. But to me, having studied moral Hinduism (Hinduism removing the ritual aspect), I can only imagine Heaven as a swirling mass of souls in euphoria. Other than that, there are no real descriptions of Heaven. The only reason you would want to go there is because its much better than here.

When we refer to our Gods, at least the trinity, we refer to them as the rulers of the three worlds, thus referring to Heaven, the middle kingdom, and Hell. But unlike Christianity, the Trinity presides over everything, there is no Devil or creature that rules over Hell. To go to Heaven does not mean that you have committed no sin, it just means that you have reached englightenment. It is said that even if you are a good soul, you have to pay for your sins by spending some small amount of time in hell first, and then going to heaven for eternity.

To answer Nevin's question:

Hinduism does not acknowledge Muhammad to my knowledge, but is considered by some to another avatar (reincarnation) of Vishnu (the sustainer). I for one don't believe in this because accounts of Buddha having acting like a mortal, with many flaws, which I don't think would be present in God. Another reason they say this was because during the time of Siddhartha Gautama (who would become Buddha) Hinduism supposedly had become extremely ritualistic, atomic worship had taken over, priests and the like were corrupted, people practiced many animal sacrifices, and it had become a shadow of what it once was. By saying that Buddha is an avatar of Vishnu, religious scholars say that he came to put back the meaning and moral of the religion instead of the facade and farce that was going on at the time.

Where do Hindus stand on social issues? Let's start with a few:
1. War
2. Birth control / Pre-marital sex
3. Gay Marriage

I imagine various groups of Hindus will have various answers (and individual answers would vary even further). But is there a general sense of a position on these issues? Or what do the more dominant divisions of Hindus believe on these issues?

Ahh, Hinduism. I'm extremely interested in this religion/philosophy, as well as Buddhism and may very well convert to one or both to some degree in the near future.

Also, what about the Upanishads? I thought that was one of the sacred texts in Hinduism (I have a friend who is Hindu and she says it is one) so did you just put it under a different name or what?

So yah, perhaps I can learn much on Hinduism from you.

Edit: actually, add Taoism to that small list. Yah, I'm an Eastern religion dork. B)

To answer Kirtar's question:
Yes, the Upanishads are important, but I would have to say they are less important than the scripts I mentioned for the sole fact that more people read and understand the Bhagavad Gita (essentially the Bible) than they do the Upanishads.

The Upanishads, as I studed in Mythology class, deal more with the creation of the universe, and the "mythology" behind Hinduism rather than morals.

Another set of scriptures that both you're friend and I left out are the Vedas, which are the counterpart to the Upanishads. They are the moral side of it all.

To answer Psycholopher:
1. War, by the words of the Bhagavad Gita should be abstained from unless it has a moral cause that cannot be solved by words (i.e. a last resort). Obviously, this is not one of the more established rules (i.e Kashmir). Aside from that, India has never engaged in war of conquest and fought only to defend itself, which it did poorly. An army who rarely fights cannot fight when it needs to.

2. Birth control. For several years now, politicians have been trying to find a way, perhaps to emulate the Chinese method of halting the exploding population rate. However, this issue was addressed horribly under the Indira Gandhi's leadership. Apparently, the issue had been brought up, and a scientist or leader decided he would show progress on the topic and had scientist round up many groups of people and neuter them. Once word spread of this, nobody is willing to bring up the subject. This is utterly ridiculous, but it will take time I suppose.

Pre-marital sex is an absolute no-no. You can imagine what people would think, especially with a saying that "your first girlfriend is the one you marry". Remember, that over thousands of years, where a massive population follows one religion, religion essentially becomes the culture. And so the idea of an arranged marriage is rooted in Hinduism. I'll answer the question of an arranged marriage in a later post.

3. Gay marriage. Being a strict, conservative, religion, you can guess where most Hindu's stand on the issue. When you ask sages, they will tell you that since the main purpose of marriage is for reproduction, a person who gets married because of it, doesn't deserve to be married. Outside relationships of marriage, people tend to look down upon people who date/have relationships that do not relate to marriage. I've talked to my parents and my friends have told me their parents also follow the same idea of no homosexuality (yes, it goes deeper than marriage...). Their answers, however, were not nearly as intellectual as it is an attitude bred by society, rather than having any religious background.

On a side note:
Hindus for the majority fall into one big clump. Before the British invasion, many sects of Hinduism had larger followings, but after and during the British occupation most of them faded away. Basically, everyone follows the teachings of Swami Chinmayananda and his contemporaries.

Quick note on christianity:
Satan doesn't really "rule" hell. Jesus "has the keys to death, hell, and the grave". He doesn't really own his own territory, but at one time he had a possition of authority over some things (but he had to go to God before he did anything).

Hindu gods:
Could there be some new one today or is that like a final thing? Why thousands? and How?

Question for you personally:
Do you believe in every teaching of this religion?

1.) There cannot be new Hindu gods. I'm afraid there is very little to say about it. The reason, however, behind it is that, after thousands of years, Hinduism has stuck with its original views of polytheism. I couldn't give you a straight answer on that question. Sorry about that.

2.) This isn't a question for me personally as it is for Hinduism itself. Hinduism, in the religious texts of the Upanishads, says that for man to be man of wisdom must study all the religions in the world to realize that they are all the same.

Mind you, this is my religion speaking. My religion is telling me that all other religions are true. I hope I haven't come off as odd, but I'd venture to say that Hinduism is one of the few that actually states that in its religous texts (which were written in the B.C. time period)

I as well believe that they are many ways of reaching God besides my religion.
As Gandhi said,
"If we everyone acted like Christ, we'd all be Christian."

Unfortunately, that isn't the case, so that's why we break up into many groups. .

I found this great link about the Upanishads to enlighten those who are unfamiliar with these religious scriptures:
http://sanatan.intnet.mu/

Well you seem to be a little more knowledgable than my friend. She said when she asked her grandma about her religion she started talking about a woman in village mysteriously became pregnant and gave birth, after the villagers beat her with sticks, to a big black ball, which they cut up, and each piece grew into a god....or something like that. She really doesn't understand her religion. She does know that the drawings of the gods are representative she tells me. Like if you want to show their supernatural strenth you draw six arms and I think blue represents purity. She did know the main gods are Brahma, Shiva, and Vishnu. But these gods have other names too along with other gods so it gets really complicated to follow.

Hindu weddings are Awesome! Women walk around with stacked bowls on their head. The bride and groom are lifted up and carried in. If you do anything you get money and you give money and there's all this money being passed around along with gold jewelry at the ceremony. The bride gets jewelry put on then different jewelry and is constantly redecorated. The groom's shoes get stolen and pays you for them back. Some girl has get whipped with silk though. The guy went a little too far. Triggered an asthma attack & she had to leave. He felt bad. He didn't realize he was hurting her cause she didn't scream or anything. He couldn't tell from behind her. The ceremony takes place in this square with 4 posts with flowers all around and a carpet. There's seats around if you want to watch but everyone walks around and talks as the ceremony goes on. Not like a christian church where everyone's quiet at all.The ceremony takes hours. Different parts of it occur in different places with different family members. The priest was surprising shabby, wearing literally, well, rags. There's incense and herbs and a rather smelly coconut that I was asked to hold briefly later. The bride wears red and the groom black. Even as the ceremony takes place there's dancing in the other room and music. Homage is paid to the grandparents. There's endless rituals and like stones are put on the bride's feet and a prayer to the effect of may she stay down and not rise above her husband and I forget what the watch was for. Lots of sweets. Sweets at the house. Sweets at the in-laws. Sweet mouths for everyone. Blessings with red stuff put on our forehead. I think they're officially married when the groom ties some silk around both of them and they walk around the fire. The bride's family cries and cries. In the ballroom everyone's dressed in all these swirling colors and dance various traditional dances. Some with sticks. Then when the bride and groom come and take their seats professional performers perform. Then later you keep getting shoved into dance circles by a Hindu grandma and mother who want you to have a good time even though you have no clue what your doing. The food is vegetarian and you have a choice of A)really, really hot, B)hot or C) very sweet. No alcohol. Everyone should attend at least one Hindu wedding in their lifetime. In India I understand the wedding can go on for a week with festivities. In NYC if your not invited they're kind of an annoying noise problem for the neighbors. Hindu marriages are arranged with the childrens consent here in America as I understand it.

Perhaps you could cite the text or explain creationism (which I think she was talking about) in Hindu terms. How exactly does it all begin in Hinduism?

When I originally posted in this forum, I was quite stupid about my religion. I would consider myself now, to be a bit more informed.

Zairik:
Why thousands? Simple. The spirit of God dwells in everything. Love. Spring. Creation. Destruction. These Gods, however, are facets of the one main God, Brahman, or Truth.

Yes, I do take all of it literally, but that doesn't mean much. All of the Eastern philosophies are Universalist.

Keys:
Marriage
Funny you should mention this. I have probably been to more cross-cultural weddings (Christian + Hindu) then I have full Hindu. Weddings in India vary enormously, due to culture differences between states. I wouldn't necessarily equate arranged marriages with Hinduism. Reading the Kama Sutra, a man is allowed to choose his wife. This changed, somehow. Believe it or not, they are many people who choose arrange marriages for many reasons (can't find a girlfriend, doesn't want to go through the hassle, tradition, etc.) Even in America itself, you do find second generation kids who marry through arranged marriages. It works much like E-harmony.com or such. Either word of mouth (my dad knows somebody who wants to get married) or the classifieds, Shaadi.com (Shaadi = Marriage in Hindi). You meet that person for a day if your interested and then you get married. For Indians, especially Hindus, marriage is seen as a stage of life, and children, a duty to society, more than personal choice (at least among conservatives, as per the four stages of Hindu life).

Creationism
No one believes in this. For Hindus, science and religion are essentially the same. Science will eventually prove religion, and to most Hindus, evolution is agreed upon. Also, there is possible evidence that supports evolution in our scriptures.

Here is the story, however. It's ridiculously long, part of the fundamental scriptures of Hinduism - The Vedas. Creation is described in the Rig Veda (3500 B.C.) I'll write more on this once I know more myself.

http://www.sacred-texts.com/hin/rigveda/

It should be noted, that the principle dieties change over time. Indra, the Asvins, and others fall back and Vishnu, Shiva, and Brahma take more importance. Even Brahma is not worshipped in present Hinduism for unknown reasons. It's mystery.

Why does this happen?

Excellent post Arya. I was just browswing through the InvisionFree Forum Directory and found this board. I checked the religion section, and read this post.

I myself am a Hindu (I'm Indian, and was born one) but I don't really know much about it. Over the past few monthes I have become very interested with it, and have tried to learn some on it. Your posts have helped me a ton.

Have you got AOL IM, or MSN?

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Oh yeah, I want to add one thing on death/reincarnation.

I read in a book that Hindu's once used to believe in Heaven/Hell but their belief's changed over time. I'm not sure if they believed in the devil/Satan.

BTW: Nice avatar/signature Deltasix. Stephen Colbert, and John Stewart are the greatest Americans. B)

Not in the Christian sense, no. There is evil spirits and forces, from what I understand, but not "Satan."