My Hindu Page Glossary - H

Hatha Yoga, Hath Yoga Pradipika, Heaven / Heavens, Hindu / Hinduism, Hindu Myths, Homa, Human-like forms

Hatha Yoga: Yoga exercises. The Hindu art of physical exercise. Yoga exercises are designed to keep the physical body healthy and prepare the mind for spiritual disciplines such as meditation. The oldest known text on yoga exercises, the Hatha Yoga Pradipika, written by Sage Gorakshanatha more than 2,000 years ago, is an instruction manual that has all the yoga poses and their benefits.

Hatha Yoga Pradipika: A Scripture written over 2,000 years ago by Satguru Gorakshanatha. It is the first Scripture to detail all the poses and benefits of different yoga asanas or yoga exercise poses. Apart from yoga asanas the Scripture also describes breath control techniques known as pranayama.

Heaven / Heavens: The upper Devaloka and Brahmaloka. In Hindu Cosmology, the spiritual dimensions are divided into three main level. The first level is the Bhuloka–the material plane; the second level is the Devaloka–the subtle world of the ancestors; the third level is the Brahmaloka–the causal world of the God and the Mahadevas. The upper Devaloka and Brahmaloka are heavenly worlds. The Devaloka is divided into a heavenly upper plane–Svarga, and a hellish nether plane–Naraka.

Hindu / Hinduism: Of or pertaining to the Hindu religion. The Hindu religion is the most ancient religion in the world. It is estimated that Hinduism is over 5,000 years old. The word Hindu was said to have been created by the Persian Muslims who invaded India in the 16th century. They named the ancient religion of the Indian people after the mighty Indus river that they had to cross in order to get to the Indian Subcontinent from present day Pakistan. After the Persians who became the Moghuls, the British formalized the name Hindu for the ancient religion of India. Before the word Hindu followers of the religion's many sects called their common belief structure Sanatana Dharma. Sanatana Dharma is not as much a name of a religion for Hindus as it is a term that encapsulated their common beliefs that tied the various Hindu sects together. Sanatana Dharma means the Eternal Truths of Life. There are about a billion adherents of Hinduism mostly living in the Indian Subcontinent, though the Hindu diaspora from India has made the religion a global religion. Hindu temples and organizations can be found in most countries in the world. Hindu teaching has also been spreading out of India to other communities, especially in the West since the late 19th century. Hindu swamis such as Swami Vivekananda created Hindu missions in the West that still function today. Hindu practices such as non-violence, hatha yoga and meditation have since been adopted universally practices. See also Sanatana Dharma.

Homa: “Fire offerings.” The worshipful Vedic fire ceremony. Also known as agnihotra. Homa preceed the puja ceremony and is usually performed on important festival days in temples and also as part of certain domestic rites such a home blessings and marriages.

Human-like forms: In the context of these lessons, human-like forms refers to forms that God, as Paramatma, can take on to appear to devotees. Human-like means, looking like a human instead of an animal. In most human-like forms, Paramatma is usually depicted with four arms. The multi-arms in God's forms is the main distinguishing part of God's form from humans and other beings. God can also appear to have many faces, such as Mahavishnu or Brahma. If Paramatma is depicted in the form of an avatar, such as Krishna or Rama, He will look like a human with two hands instead of four. A  few forms of Paramatma are half-human and half-animal, such as Lord Vishnu's avatar as Narasimha.