Great World Religions: Hinduism

By: Mark W. Muesse, The Great Courses

Narrated by: Mark W. Muesse

Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

In this 12-lecture series, you'll encounter a religion that is perhaps the most diverse of all; one that worships more gods and goddesses than any other, and one that rejects the notion that there is only one path to the divine. These lectures provide a window into the roots of, perhaps, all religions. You'll explore over the course of Hinduism's 5,000-year journey: the Indus Valley civilization; the sizable variety of Hindu gods and goddess; the sacred writings in the Vedas, Bhagavad Gita, and Upanishads; Hindu ritual purity rites; the Aryan language of Sanskrit, whose roots can be seen in English words such as "divine," "video," and "ignite"; and much more.

The story of Hinduism, you'll come to see, is the story of very non-Western traditions (such as arranged marriages and the caste system) that have survived and thrived for thousands of years. It's also home to a wealth of gods, terms, and practices (such as karma, Krishna, yoga, and guru) that have found a home in Western lives and language. Along the way, Dr. Muesse discusses salient aspects of Hindu life and places them in historical and theological context. He also explains that Hinduism honors all seekers of truth, that it contains multiple paths to divine reality (the way of action, the way of wisdom, and the way of devotion), and that it can be both a monotheistic and a polytheistic faith.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying reference material will be available in your Library section along with the audio.

©2003 The Teaching Company, LLC (P)2003 The Great Courses

So Amazing!

Any additional comments?

I greatly enjoyed listening to Professor Muesse's lectures on Hinduism. I learned an amazing amount from these lectures! I plan on getting the other Great Courses lectures on Great World Religions!

Substantive yet concise! Great intro!

Its a pretty satisfying intro to Hinduism in and of itself, But it has also sparked my curiosity enough that I'd like to dig deeper into some of the topics.
Meusse's style is pleasant and humorous. His treatment of the subject is niether judgmental nor worshipful.
My intererst is partly academic, as someone who just wants to understand what makes people tick; but my interest is also personal, i hope my spiritual exploration will help me learn wisdom, from around the world, that will help me live a more compassionate and full life.
i find much in Hinduism to be admired.. and also much that is worth studying as a manifestatiin of the darker side of humanity, what punk rock fans might call "bad religion"
Like virtually all religions and cultural traditions hinduism reflects the best and worst of humanity, and Mark Meusse's candid approach lets you see both sides, and doesnt take up too much time with value judgments of his own.

Hinduism Done Justice

The instructor unpacks Hinduism as best as can be done while fully acknowledging its never ending complexity.

Excellent overview, the topic structure flows well

Prof Muesse does an admirable job with this massive topic, Hinduism. There is just enough history, just enough liturgy, just enough philosophy, just enough cultural geography. A vast number of jigsaw puzzle pieces begin to slide into place, and a coherent picture of this multi-millenial tradition begins to form. His fluency in gender and sexuality studies adds a valuable interpretive vocabulary. A capable academic Hinduist needs to be able to talk about ancient sexual energies and ritual tantra in accessible language - and Prof Muesse does that with confidence.

The vignettes about the village smallpox goddesses and the Bengali Durga festivals will be meaningful to any westerner who has tried to make sense of Bhaarat Maataa. The Bhagavad Gita lecture was perfectly targeted to a third-year undergrad, which means that the key ideas that define Arjuna's paralyzing conflict were conveyed with no technical philosophy words. For example, Muesse kindly says / ways of knowing / rather than / epistemological methods. / The closing thoughts were balanced observations about Hindu missionaries in the West and Hindu nationalism in the homeland.

Prof Muesse is a gifted explainer with clear, neutral pronunciation and a tone of respectful compassion. I listened to the entire lecture series carefully, twice, with appreciation and enjoyment. 100% recommended for those with a personal or academic interest.

Great introduction for the non Hindu.

This is a great introduction but does not reflect the belief of the born hindu

An Earnest effort

Like the author himself says in the beginning, Hinduism is far too complex to decipher / present in 12 part Lecture series. Further due to his inherent background a lot of ideas of hinduism are skewed / misinterpreted. However an earnest effort into bringing this series into being and to conclusion , deserves every credit on Prof. Mark W Muesse's behalf. Thank you sir !!

Nice introduction to Hinduism

Very thorough and does a nice job of helping others who are not from India to understand the cultural setting that impacts understanding of Hinduism

A great overview

While no book can claim to cover all the concepts of Hinduism, which are themselves at variance with each other at times, this series of lectures does a very good job. The best thing about the book is the Timeline that it provides at the beginning. That, in itself, is a work of intensive research and simplifies things for the reader. I am extremely grateful for that. Being an Indian, I had some previous knowledge but this course has helped me understand things so much better. It has also ignited a hunger to learn more on the subject.
I recommend this course for beginners or people like me who know a bit but not quite enough.

Who Knows How Many Gods There Are

I found this course very interesting and mind expanding. I had no idea there were so many gods to worship in the Hindu tradition. I found the last chapters very interesting about Hinduism and our modern times, and the impact the colonial period had on their society.
This is the third course of world religions I have listened to in the last month.
Very worth while.

EXCELLENT

A precise introduction to Hinduism. All the lectures are very well done.
It is now up to the individual student to explore further. There is so much more to learn.
Professor Muesse has a pleasant voice.
My thanks to all involved, JK.