India is one of the oldest philosophical religions that we have. To understand Hinduism, you must understand the layer of Indian religious philosophy. The very earliest layer of Indian religious philosophy occurred 2500 BCE (Before the Common Era). This civilization that occurred was called the Indus Valley civilization because the land was fertile and they were able to cultivated animals. In the Indus Valley there were many sub-cities but they all seemed to share many of the same religious beliefs. Around 1500 BCE something new happens, a group of people came into India and systematically conquered the city. These people were called Aryans and had very sophisticated civilization. They brought with them religious literature called the Vedas and a very distinctive religious structure and a structured society system. There were four different Vedas that the Aryans brought to India; the Rig Veda is one and was filled with hymns and poems, the Suma Veda is rituals and there explanations, the Yajar Veda is a book of sacrificial formulas, and the Arthra Veda was magical formulas used to manipulate nature for your own purposes. In the Aryan society you were born into your place and the priest were the ones in charge of this Veda knowledge. Along with the Veda literature were important commentaries built over time and was added to the literature. One was called the Brahmans and were official commentaries on what the Vedas meant. The Ariyakanns were priest who went off into the forest and meditated on the Vedas. The most famous was the Upanishads who were groups of priest that broke off and formed communities and spent time on meditation and the wisdom that comes from it. The Upanishads became key to understanding modern Hinduism. So during the period 1500 BCE we get literature and a stratified society where you were born into a certain class and that’s where you stayed your entire life. You were born into a certain class because of you actions in a different life. The Aryans also brought in a pantheon of gods. At first, it appears that these gods were worshiped but soon gods started to be seen as metaphors and a deeper truth. There is a shift from pantheism to monism where now the people believed in one divinity and not several gods, this happens near the end of the Aryan strata. Around 500 BCE you have the philosophic strata. This period has also been referred to as axis age (pivotal point). This was a time when all over the world things were happening. Hinduism really started to take shape during this time. At first the priest did not like this because it took power away from them. People started leaving the city and started making their own civilizations and started reinterpreting the Vedas and formed a new way of thinking. In the Upanishads there are 9 basic themes that become the foundation of Hinduism. The 1st is absolute reality, or what is real. In the philosophical stage Hinduism decided reality does not change it just is. Reality is not dependent on any other thing and you cannot discover it with your 5 senses. In fact, the senses are misleading you. Absolute reality can only be found by stripping away all meaning especially by using the 5 senses. This is where the idea all is one came from. The 2nd is the self-atman (soul), what you are essentially. What are you at your basic self? The self is a part of the oneness of all things. The self is a part of everything and individualism is a dangerous illusion. The 3rd is thou art that (self and reality), relationship to reality. Transcendent reality to the oneness of all things. The 4th is stages of consciousness. In the west these are are conscious, meditation, dreaming, and unconscious. In the east these ideas, or stages, are turned upside down and everything you are experiencing is absolutely wrong. When you are conscious and lose all sense of self that is when you have a sense of self and you reach total absorption of self. The 5th is saving knowledge. In most religions there is a question of what do we have to do? In Upanishads the knowledge that you have right now is wrong (false knowledge) and will screw you over. Saving knowledge is the realization that all this life is an illusion and we must begin to realize that and transcend to connect to the oneness of things. Transcend not through drugs but transcend after your journey is complete. The 6th is death/destiny. What are we destined to become and how does death play into that? In philosophic tradition existence and life is transitory but in a very specific way. Your essential self is born into an illusion and lives and dies and is reborn into the illusion and this will happen forever, unless you can transcend to a point where you can recognize this illusion. If you can do this then you can exist as the oneness of all things. 7th is karma samsara which is the law of the deed. What you sow is what you reap. Transmigration of the ottoman is samsara. Re