Schouler - The Everything Hinduism Book: Learn the traditions and rituals of the religion of peace.

THE
EVERYTHING
Hinduism
Book

Dear Reader,

My introduction to Hinduism came through the music of The Beatles, and one Beatle in particularGeorge Harrison. It didnt require much spiritual advancement to figure out that songs such as My Sweet Lord, Within You Without You, Beware of Darkness, Awaiting on You All, and others Dear Reader, were the product of a soul-searching man with a genuine yearning to know and seek union with God. Even the title of Harrisons master piece, All Things Must Pass, (by the way, the only three-record set by a single artist in rock history) implied that even before the age of thirty he understood a central tenet of Hindu thought: All the proces sed and material things of this world will perish, so we should not get too attached to them.

I became more familiar with Hinduism in another indirect manner. I wrote a stor y about a group of devotees in the Hare Krishna movement who took up residence in my hometown on Long Island for the local newspaper. From there, I moved into their temple on West 54th Street in Manhattan and commuted to my job in lower Manhattan. I occasionally wrote and edited for them.

Later, as a professor of philosophy, I studied and taught more about the histor y and central metaphysical, theological, and moral ideas. Hinduism is the oldest of the major religions, I learned, dating back over 3,500 years. It offers up a vast landscape of histor y, myth, religion, and philosophy. If you dont like the taste of one item on the spiritual smorgasbord, you will probably savor another. I learned about the beginnings of the religion in ancient India and the practical, life-oriented philosophy that it serves up as a plan for living.

Welcome to the EVERYTHING Series!

These handy, accessible books give you all you need to tackle a difficult project, gain a new hobby, comprehend a fascinating topic, prepare for an exam, or even brush up on something you learned back in school but have since forgotten.

You can choose to read an Everything book from cover to cover or just pick out the information you want from our four useful boxes: e-questions, e-facts, e-alerts, and e-ssentials. We give you everything you need to know on the subject, but throw in a lot of fun stuff along the way, too.

We now have more than 400 Everything books in print, spanning such wide-ranging categories as weddings, pregnancy, cooking, music instruction, foreign language, crafts, pets, New Age, and so much more. When youre done reading them all, you can finally say you know Everything!

Answers to
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Important snippets
of information

A revealing look at
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Quick
handy tips

PUBLISHER Karen Cooper

DIRECTOR OF ACQUISITIONS AND INNOVATION Paula Munier

MANAGING EDITOR, EVERYTHING SERIES Lisa Laing

COPY CHIEF Casey Ebert

ACQUISITIONS EDITOR Lisa Laing

DEVELOPMENT EDITOR Elizabeth Kassab

EDITORIAL ASSISTANT Hillary Thompson

Visit the entire Everything series at www.everything.com

THE
EVERYTHING
Hinduism
Book

Learn the traditions and rituals
of the religion of peace

Kenneth Shouler, Ph.D. and Susai Anthony

Copyright 2009 by F+W Media, Inc. All rights reserved.
This book, or parts thereof, may not be reproduced
in any form without permission from the publisher; exceptions
are made for brief excerpts used in published reviews.

An Everything Series Book.
Everything and everything.com are registered trademarks of F+W Media, Inc.

Published by Adams Media, an F+W Media Company
57 Littlefield Street, Avon, MA 02322 U.S.A.
www.adamsmedia.com

ISBN 10: 1-59869-862-1
ISBN 13: 978-1-59869-862-6
eISBN: 978-1-60550-750-7

Printed in the United States of America.

J I H G F E D C B A

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
is available from the publisher.

This publication is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information with regard to the subject matter covered. It is sold with the understanding that the publisher is not engaged in rendering legal, accounting, or other professional advice. If legal advice or other expert assistance is required, the services of a competent professional person should be sought.

From a Declaration of Principles jointly adopted by a Committee of the
American Bar Association and a Committee of Publishers and Associations

Many of the designations used by manufacturers and sellers to distinguish their products are claimed as trademarks. Where those designations appear in this book and Adams Media was aware of a trademark claim, the designations have been printed with initial capital letters.

Unless otherwise indicated, translations of scriptural writings
come from the following sources:
De Bary, William Theodore. Sources of Indian Tradition. New York:
Columbia University Press, 1958.
Doniger OFlaherty, Wendy, tr. The Rig Veda. New York: Penguin, 1981.
Easwaran, Eknath, tr. The Upanishads. Tomales, California: 2007.
Klostermaier, Kalus K. A Survey of Hinduism. New York: State of New York Press, 1989.
Mascaro, Juan, ed. The Bhagavad Gita. New York: Penguin Classic, 1962.
Mascaro, Juan, tr. The Dhammapada. New York: Penguin Classics, 1973.
Muller, Max, tr. The Upanishads, Parts 1 and 2. Mineola, New York: Dover Publications, 1962.
Sattar, Arshia, tr. The Ramayana by Valmiki. New York: Penguin Books, 1996.

This book is available at quantity discounts for bulk purchases.
For information, please call 1-800-289-0963.

For my mother and father, who made everything possible.

Contents

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to Fr. Paul John, a Catholic priest who was born in India and knows so much about the culture and ideas, present and past. My conversations with him have been invaluable. I am very fortunate to have known him for these last six years. I have also benefited from exchanging ideas with my coauthor (and an author in his own right), Susai Anthony, who sees Hinduism clearly for what it is, not romantically for what some would turn it into.

Finally, I appreciate the patience and equanimity of my editor Lisa Laing, who gave me the time I needed to learn what I know about this ancient way of life.

Top Ten Quotes about Hinduism

The lower animals are our brethren. I include among them the lion and the tiger. We do not know how to live with these carnivorous beasts and poisonous reptiles because of our ignorance.Mohandas K. Gandhi