The Beginner's Guides to L Ron Hubbard, Islam and Hinduism
The Beginner's Guide to Hinduism
Actor Paul Nicholls travels the length of India to learn from gurus about the ancient and modern beliefs and practices of Hinduism.
In the foothills of the Himalayas, Paul meets a guru who tells him that Hinduism, one of the world's oldest traditions, is a way of life rather than a religion. He explains that for Hindus, all individuals are divine, no matter what they do, and that the god Brahman is the supreme creator, Vishnu is the preserver and Shiva the destroyer.
Paul participates in a nightly fire ceremony where everyone joins in the singing and clapping. The fire is believed to purify the soul of grudges, pain and jealousy, and to replace bad feelings with light and peace.
The next day he watches the sacred thread ceremony, a rite of passage for young boys carried out at the river Ganges, which washes away their sins while they lark about in the water.
Then it's off to Tamil Nadu at the opposite end of this vast and varied country. Here many of the people are orthodox Hindus. Paul follows a traditional pilgrimage route to the temple of Thiruvannamalai, where Hindus believe that Shiva takes the form of a mountain. He goes to the annual Shiva celebration where some people go to extreme lengths to demonstrate their devotion – like the girl who has painted her face yellow and pierced her tongue.
Travelling round the bottom of the holy mountain, Paul visits many small temples and shrines, where Shiva is represented by a lingam or phallus. He carries out a thanksgiving ceremony and gives an offering to a sadhu, or holy man. In the big temple of Thiruvannamalai, the head priest takes him to the inner sanctum, where there are huge queues to go in and see God.
Most Hindu worship, though, takes place in people's own homes. Paul's mentor, Bhaskar, takes him to a private house to make an offering with the residents to Ganesh, the son of Shiva, who is believed to remove obstacles to reaching God.
Then he is taken to meet Radha, an accountant turned guru, who never stops laughing. People believe she is an incarnation of God in human form but she says that gurus just feel like ordinary people.
Another face of Hinduism altogether is Kali, a bloodthirsty goddess who protects the universe from evil. Every Friday, people offer rice, food and the blood of a goat which must be killed with a single blow, though Bhaskar says that many people find this primal, ungilded ritual unacceptable today.
The guru Radha takes Paul into the forest to meditate on what he has gained from his journey. He says that he feels that you don't have to trust in God or religion – that maybe Hinduism is about being aware, honest and at peace with yourself.
