Counterfeit Religion: HINDUISM: Counterfeit Religion: HINDUISM

Wherefore come out from among them,

and be ye separate, saith the Lord,

and touch not the unclean thing;

2 Corinthians 6:17

इसलिये प्रभु कहता है, कि उन के बीच में से निकलो और अलग रहो; और अशुद्ध वस्तु को मत छूओ, तो मैं तुम्हें ग्रहण करूंगा।

--This is a SIMPLIFIED Overview/Outline--

--3 Layers of Worship

--Brahma

--Vishnu

--Shiva

--Where the Hindu trinity may have came from [Vague Memories]

--Christian God vs. reincarnation

[This is a very, very SIMPLIFIED overview. Hinduism is very much more detailed and diverse on a massive scale. This overview is to make it easy for westerners to grasp the most basic framework]

3 Layers of Worship

To begin there are 3 layers of worship.

1) Since they believe in reincarnation, on an up and down scale, where they are at in this level of their reincarnation journey, they pick one of the 3 of their trinity of gods to worship.

There is Brahma (the creator), Vishnu (the sustainer) and Shiva (the destroyer).

**IF applied to Christianity, it would be like you accept the Father, Christ and Holy Spirit as all equally God but choose in this life to worship and follow the rituals for one. For example the denomination of God the Father, or of Christ or the Holy Spirit.

Currently Brahma has very few followers.

There a 4 other major forms to worship as an alternative. One is Shaktism where the goddess Shakti, known as the Devi, is worshipped as over the trinity of gods. Another is Smartism where they worship all 3 of their trinity as well as the Devi goddess. And then there is Neo-Hinduism where they borrow from many world religions for elements of truth but centered in Hinduism. They were influenced by the Unitarian Church over a century ago.

Also in southern India and Sri Lanka (Ceylon), there is another form of Hinduism followed who worship a god called Murugan (also known as Skanda) It seems that when the Hindu people conquered the south, Murugan was already worshiped and the conquered simply applied their god onto the Hindu template. This god appears to have

been a god of fertility and hills for the pre-Hindu conquest of the Dravidian people.

2) The 2nd layer of worship is to pick as many as you want of thousands of lesser gods to worship. There are two that seem to be very popular. The monkey god Hanuman and the elephant headed human god Ganesha.

3) Many from rural villages still also follow their village or tribal pagan gods from pre-Hindu times. Some may be deified ancestors from thousands of years ago or hills, trees, or animals.

Brahma

The creator god Brahma is depicted with 4 heads. His 5th head was cut off by the bad boy god Shiva.

Brahma restarts the next universe when this one comes to an end.

He himself sprouted from the cosmic egg.

The Hindu holy books of the Vedas came from him and one of his wives.

He created women who became a source of evil for men "lusting for sensual pleasures, began to stir men up. Then the lord of gods, the lord, created anger as the assistant of desire, and all creatures, falling into the power of desire and anger, began to be attached to women" (Mahabharata in Hindu Myths, 36).

He also created DEATH as a LINE OF DISTINCTION between gods and mortals.

Vishnu

The preserver is Vishnu who is also associated with sexual perversion and the sun.

He came in 10 avatars at different times in history to save mankind. His most famous was as Krishna and Rama. Another was as a fish to save Manu to survive a global flood. Manu was told to gather up seeds and animals on a boat to repopulate the earth with a total of 8

survivors.

Some worship and follow the rituals of Vishnu while others worship him in one of his avatars.

**IF applied to Christianity, one could worship Christ as Christ OR as one of His avatars. It would be like IF Christ came as Noah to save mankind from the flood, then Moses to deliver the Law, then as Solomon to deliver wisdom then as Daniel to deliver prophecies, etc.

So you could worship Christ instead as Solomon for example and study just the Solomon aspect and writings of wisdom, etc.

Shiva

Shiva is the bad boy of the trinity of their gods. He has both a positive side and a dark side. He also has a third eye to destroy people. He is considered by some to be the god of rage.

One can worship him from either perspective, Although most worship him from the positive side some worship from the dark side.

An example are the Aghori. They live near cemeteries where they interact with supposed ghosts. They also cover themselves in ashes, eat and drink from human skulls and eat dung---literally.

**IF applied to Christianity there would be a trinity of God, Christ and Lucifer. One could worship Lucifer from his positive perspective, lets say as before his fall as a good angel, OR one could worship him from his current dark side (this is a very SIMPLIFIED explanation).

Yoga also started with the Shiva followers and some also engaged in human sacrifice until British colonization.

Where the Hindu trinity may have came from [Vague Memories]

[This is just my opinion] Hinduism seems to have began in the Indus River Valley civilization based on their pictographs with images similar to the their gods poses, sacred cows and the swastika of Hinduism.

We know many people venerated ancestors.

Could it be a vague memory of the trinity of brothers who populated the world post-flood? (Vishnu was elevated years later in this pantheon).

*Remember they have a story where Vishnu comes in an avatar of a fish to save Manu during a global flood by guiding his boat.

Manu Flood Story

Q: So could it be that the eldest, Japheth, became the creator god Brahma?

Q: And Vishnu the preserver god modelled after Shem of whom the Messianic line was to come?

Q: And finally Shiva modelled after a vague memory of Ham, the bad boy of the brothers? Remember that Ham would obviously have a good side at times but made some sort of terrible mistake that resulted in Noah (Hindu Manu) cursing him.

*Another possibility is that Brahma could be a vague memory of Noah who was the progenitor of the post-flood race and Shiva representing Ham (because if you remember, Ham did something to Noah) and Shiva cut off one of Bahama's heads.....later to make a trinity Vishnu was elevated to make 3.

----Just an idea.....

Christian God vs. reincarnation

Hinduism teaches reincarnation---that after death one keeps coming