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666 l ASIAN RELIGIONS—HINDUISM dance and astrology) in the Hindu tradition that are not part of the general Western understanding of the word, there are also topics like abortion, contraception, and gay rights discussed by religious institutions in the West that are ignored in practice in Hinduism. While these topics are discussed in dharma (righteousness, duty) texts written in the first millennium c.e., Hindus, in general, have balanced text with custom and practice. They have had a far more ambiguous relationship with the sacred texts than the Judaeo-Christian-Islamic traditions. Hard evidence on the issue of “dowry” in the Americas is hard to get. While dowry is not sanctioned by the scriptures, the giving of monies or goods by the bride’s parents to the son-in-law and his family had become a custom in many parts of India. The practice in India today, when it does occur, is not connected with religion or Hinduism exclusively; it is a custom extensively in vogue among Muslims and Christians in India. To a large extent, the intention behind the original custom among Hindu families was laudable—to help the bride financially. Women in most communities in India, according to Hindu law, did not inherit immovable property , and the gift of jewels and goods was to balance the situation. The custom spiraled out of control. It is hard to get information on this issue because most Hindu parents give their daughter many gifts including jewelry at the time of wedding and do not call this dowry. If the term is to be used simply for goods demanded from the bride’s family and not those given voluntarily, we can say that the custom is not popular in America. To understand Hindu communities and women in the Americas, therefore, we have to take into account their diverse ethnic backgrounds, their nebulous connection with religious institutions and scriptures, and the differences between first- and second-generation immigrants . We further have to note that issues important in the Judaeo-Christian traditions are ignored by Hindu institutions. In transmitting their traditions, Hindu women have relied largely on ritual and the performing arts. Almost a million strong, large numbers of Hindu women work outside their homes, and the second generation of Indo-American and Indo-Canadians, while quite integrated in the only homeland they have known, also continue to maintain Hindu and ethnic traditions. NEW HINDU MOVEMENTS Kathleen M. Erndl THE TERMS HINDU and Hinduism, problematic in India , are even more so in North America. Originally, the term Hindu was applied by Turkic- and Persianspeaking invaders as a geographic and ethnic designation for the peoples living east of the great river Sindhu, known as the Hindu in Persian (and Indus in English; hence India). Eventually, and especially under British colonialism, Hindu came to be a religious designation opposed to Muslim. One problem in defining Hinduism stems from the wide diversity of beliefs, practices, and cultural groups included under its umbrella. It is highly decentralized, with no historical founder, no equivalent of a pope or council with final authority in religious matters, and no agreement on which sacred scriptures or articles of belief are essential for all Hindus. Today, Hinduism refers to the religion of the majority in India and is generally understood to include all of the religious traditions indigenous to India, except for those that have established a distinct religious identity of their own (Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, but even they are sometimes included within the rubric of Hinduism). However, some modern Hindu-inspired religious movements , both in India and abroad, including most of those surveyed in this essay, either avoid or explicitly reject the term Hinduism, preferring to be known by the name of their particular organization or spiritual lineage and emphasizing their universality. Although the term Hinduism has been and is today highly contested, it may be used as a convenient designation for a diverse but continuous tradition, including common elements of belief and practice. The worldview of Hinduism includes a belief in samsara , the realm of birth and death in which human and other sentient beings undergo a series of rebirths determined by karma or intentional actions. Liberation from samsara (moksha) is attained through the practice of various disciplines or paths, yogas, such as ritual and ethical action (karma yoga), devotion to a personal deity (bhakti yoga), or meditation and transformative wisdom (jñana yoga). In all of these paths, the goal is to eradicate ignorance, desire, and ego...

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