PHIL 2010 - Lipinski: Hinduism

"The battlefield in the Bhagavad Gita is a perfect backdrop for the war within, the struggle for self-mastery that every human being must wage if he or she is to emerge from life victorious. The struggle with which the Bhagavad Gita is concerned is the search for meaning through yogic consciousness. Arjuna and Krishna are not merely characters in a literary masterpiece. Arjuna becomes Everyman, asking the Lord himself, Sri Krishna, the perennial questions about life and death— asking not as a philosopher, but as the quintessential man of discerning action. This article captures the symbolic dimension of the battlefield of soul in the Bhagavad Gita."

The author offers his opinion about the caste system in Hinduism. He admits that the phenomenon of untouchability still persist in contemporary India. He notes that Hinduism views God as the single, unique, uncreated and imperishable source of all that exists. He cites that the teaching on divine immanence and the equal worth of all human beings must inspire and impel the Hindus to identify and overcome the exploitative and oppressive caste structures.

Article from the New York Times

"The article focuses on the Jogeshwari cave, a 1,500-year-old shrine to the Hindu god Shiva, located in the city of Mumbai (formerly Bombay). It is suggested that the cave's importance is over looked. The author describes the condition of the cave as neglected, and reports that illegal housing is crowding the shrine and sewage from the housing is seeping into the cave. A brief history of the time period that the shrine was made is included. Jogeschwari is compared to other shrines of the era."

Take a look at the chart on the side which seems helpful

Resources on Hinduism in a variety of information formats.

From the PBS series Religion and Ethics Weekly.