What Are The Positive And Negative Benefits Of Worshipping Androgynous Gods?

The role of women in Hinduism is also a very contentious topic in the world today. Although women are gaining some freedom in society in India, it is known that females have a history of being oppressed in India. Women of the Hindu faith in particular have been viewed as the minority sex as Hinduism is predominantly a male dominated religion. As Hinduism has no set sacred text Hindus are free to follow whatever text they want and each text or set of teachings have different views about women. For the purpose of this essay, I will be discussing the view of women according to the Vedas. As young children girls are under the protection of their fathers and when they get married they are under the protection of their husbands. The Vedas, which

The Hindus call their supreme reality “Brahman,” a God of infinite being, infinite awareness, and infinite bliss. “Utter reality, utter consciousness, and utterly beyond all possibility of frustration is the basic Hindu view of God” (Smith 1991). Hinduism sees their God as an archetype of supremacy with the noblest crown, a parent, loving, merciful, almighty, eternal salvation, and an understanding companion. There is also a distinction between personal (ramanuja) and transpersonal (shankara) notions of God in Hinduism; “God so conceived is called Saguna Brahman, or God-with-attributes or God-without-attributes, Nirguna Brahman” (Smith, 1991). Also, it is important to realize that God’s relation in Hinduism varies on symbolism and what is embraced: the creator, the preserver, and the destroyer who resolves all finite forms of life. They view the world as “God-dependent.” A personalist in Hinduism “will see little religious availability in the idea od a God who is so far removed from our predicaments as to be unaware of our very existence” (Smith, 1991). Were as a transpersonalist sees God serving as a master in their life to guide them through their struggles and becomes possessed by this

Nonetheless, within the Hindu religion, women’s roles have evolved over time and women are going against the social norm of their tradition and their way of life in hopes of being treated in the same manner that Sikh women are within Sikhism (Desai, et al., 1995). Hindu women’s traditional roles in the household in India have changed over the past century. The influence of Western scholars as well as Sikhism views on women has brought change to the overall status and role of women in Hinduism so that Hindu women can be recognized in the same way that Sikhism women are. Western scholars who have studied Hinduism have written many books and articles on the sacred scriptures including reviews on the Vedas (hymns and ritual texts) and other religious scriptures that at one point were restricted from Hindu women.

The woman as a divine being and a consolidator of every belief that adheres to divinity is defined and explained in both Karen Christina Lang’s Images of Women in Early Buddhism and Christian Gnosticism and in Elaine Pagels’ The Gnostic Gospels. As analysis of religious beliefs, the works define the religious and cultural relevance of the woman in the origins of both Buddhism and Gnosticism, as well as the effects that the patriarchal society has changed in this original belief system. Both literatures assert that the role of the woman in religion serve the purpose of being the divine – or the evidence that Gnosticism is a symbol of the feminine, of celebrating the woman as the most significant element that created the world view as well as beliefs. The traditions set forth by both Buddhism and Christian Gnosticism all adhere to the celebration of the woman, her power, her purity, and her importance in shaping the world, and the men who have to purposely oblige to this belief and to create the tradition which the community should follow. Hence, both Lang and Pagels identified that woman, in her own vestal powers, is the main exhibitor of religious participation as well as the symbol of wisdom in humanity.

As the most complex deity within the Hindu pantheon, Shiva is an extraordinarily important god. Although equal to Vishnu and Brahman, Shiva is engulfed in an eternal paradox as a result of his diverse characteristics. Furthermore, Shiva represents a variety of spiritual and domestic aspects of Hindu culture. Importantly, Shiva embodies the energy of the universe as both creator and destroyer; he is the ultimate construction of non-duality. Further, Shiva’s power and significance demonstrates philosophical teachings as to the way in which certain aspects of Hindu life are constructed. To illustrate, the iconography of Shiva incorporates identifying characteristics that are necessary to understanding his relevance as a god, Shiva establishes

Hindu Gods: How Do They Treat Humans and Demons and Do They Really Treat Anyone Fairly? Intro: In this essay, the question that is being asked is what the relationships are between Hindu Gods and demons, as well as Hindu Gods and people. This will bring about more questions about the mistreatment of demons and why they are being treated this way. This essay will not be able to fully answer these questions but it will show how Gods and humans as well as gods and demons interact with one another.

The concept of the Hindu Goddess has maintained scholar’s curiosity for many years. As the Hindu Goddess is able to take many forms she also gains a variety of interchangeable representations. The Hindu Goddess is worshiped all across the world as she has developed a kind of feminist representation that many women are looking for in Religion today. This essay is going to focus on the concept of the Hindu Goddess and the variety of meaningful attributes she has in Hinduism, as well as the Important relationship and connectedness between the Hindu Goddess and the Hindu woman. What connects the Hindu Woman and the Hindu Goddess includes the connection of the female body, the importance of the Hindu Goddess as a powerful symbol to woman, and the importance of the female and male relationship.

Rastafarian tradition is one that is founded and built upon the respect of all peoples. It is a new religion that has seen rapid change since its conception and continues to see change even today. This paper will explain how gender is understood in the Rastafarian tradition both at its inception and today.

There are Hindu followers that believe that hindu deities appearances stem from dreams and visions in these alien-esk forms, but some Hindu believe otherwise ("Today at Kauai's Hindu Monastery"). Hindu Guru Adi Sankara taught that according to the vedanta philosophy, once one reach paramarthika, or the ultimate level of consciousness, they could realize that Brahman is devoid of attributes, or nirguna (Vidyaraman) However, until one reaches this level, they are still at the vyavaharik level of thinking, and accept Brahman and all deities as having attributes, resulting in the iconographic representations most commonly attached to each deity (Vidyaraman). When in the vyavaharik level of consciousness, it is difficult to accept a god that has no concrete forms. To help the average hindu worshiper who had not yet reached the understanding of nirguna, the images of the deities with multiple extra body parts, animal attributes and other curiosities were created. In this way, the average, yet-to-be-enlightened worshipers could conceptualize that the gods were divine beings who could easily be distinguished from humans. Therefore, some widely used attributes of the gods are most likely artists’ details that have been copied and used so often they have become accepted as symbolizing that god, for no other reason than they were originally used to distinguish them as

An often controversial issue within politics is how woman are viewed and treated in the Hindu religion. The role of woman in Hinduism is often disputed and positions range from quite reasonable to highly antagonistic. An often overlooked aspect is that, Hinduism is more of a way of life then a Religion. This is because Hinduism requires that we see the same reality in all the diversity of creation; that we see the same Self in all beings. Hindu women within this religion would view themselves as an important part of the family, but this is not shown through the contents of the Manusmriti. The Manusmriti directly translated is “Laws of Manu,” or “Institutions of Manu,” is regarded as the foundational

It is clear in Hinduism that a woman has the same religious and spiritual freedom as men. Like men, women can attain the same heights of spiritual awakening by taking the path of asceticism. The Sanskrit language possesses a female equivalent to the male renouncer: there is the sadhvı as well as the sadhu, the sannyasin as well as the sannyasıni. However, throughout time there have been many women ascetics in Hinduism who have been greatly respected.

Author CF discusses a popular theistic ritual in the religion of Hinduism. He describes how priest and lay people perform “Puja” every day in their homes and temples. The Priest and lay people perform “Puja” in front of the deities’ pictures. Author CF concludes that “Puja” is a ritual that gives praise to the powerful gods and goddesses, and is generally used to signify personal affection towards them too. Lastly, “Puja” establishes harmony amongst the deity and the worshipper that eliminates the dissension within them.

Thus, Hijras characterize ambiguity, and they embrace an identity that is uniquely distinct from the traditional views of male and female. Serena Nanda’s ethnographic observation analyzes the complex position of the Hijra in Indian society (Guest, 2014). Nanda explains that “…the hijra role continues to be sustained by a culture in which religion still gives positive meaning to gender

Throughout India, there has been a large variation of religions that people follow. While there are many cohesive religious systems, what makes Hinduism unique is that it is categorized as many Indian religious ways formed together to make one single religion. (Fisher, 73). In Hinduism, there have been three gods that are vital in the religious aspect life of Hinduism. These three gods, Brahmā, Vishnu, and Shiva, represent the three forces of creation, preservation, and destruction in Hinduism and when they are linked together, primarily in philosophy and art, they are often called the Trimūrti, which means “triple form.” Brahmā represents the god of creation, Vishnu represents the god of preservation, and Shiva represents the god of

In Mythologies across the world there have been innumerable references to non-heterosexuality. Hindu mythology tells of women becoming men, such as Shikhandi, and men becoming women, in the case of Vishnu who turns Mohini. There are also stories of men creating children without women and vice versa, Nara and Narayana who gave birth to Urvashi, and the boneless Bhagirath who was born of two women. Even the languages of this country, Sanskrit, Prakrit and Tamil have words like kliba, napumsaka, mukhabhaga, pedi, etc that point to familiarity with non heterosexual behavior and thought. This paper deals specifically with the character of Shikhandi, from the Mahabharata, in retellings of the epic.