Shiva's Cosmic Dance: Hinduism

3 Credits · Level: Undergraduate

Hinduism is a vast world of ideas and practices - often paradoxical and bewildering - that have spanned millennia. A host of gods attracts the devotions of worshipers, but a single Cosmic Principle draws the unwavering concentration of the mystic. Popular rituals and magical practices reside alongside mind-splitting subtleties of philosophical speculation. This introductory course will focus on a few basic themes that lend a sense of unity to the puzzle of Hinduism. We shall look at the ancient ritual and philosophical texts of the Vedas and Upanishads, survey medieval reformist movements and their foundation in devotional religion, observe the practice of religion in rural India, and uncover the religious origins of Gandhi's political philosophy, among other themes.