F.      The Modern Period (AD 1750 onwards)

1.       Introduction

 a.      Muslim domination of India had little influence on the Hindu religion

 b.      At the beginning of the modern era, the Hindu religion and culture had reached a low ebb

 c.      Under the ruling of British, religious life of the masses were not much influenced

 d.      Western secular culture and western Christianity have much influences on the intellectual elite

 e.      A number of movements and men deserve our consideration in Hindu renaissance

2.       The Brahma Samaj

 a.      Raja Rammohan Roy (1772-1833)

 b.      Considered to be the Father of modern India

 c.      Founded Brahma Samaj in 1830

 d.      It was the first reform movement of the modern era

 e.      He knew Bible in Greek and Hebrew

 f.       Accept the teachings of the Gospels, but rejected the miraculous and theological claims of the New Testament

 g.      In one of his social reform, the SATI- burning the widows - was abolished

 h.      A pioneer of the science of comparative religion

 i.        Emphasizing universal religion based on morality and rationality

 j.       Debendranath Tagore (1817-1905), the successor of Raja Rammohan Roy

(a)     Introduced important principle that the teachings of Hindu scripture were to be accepted only in so far as they harmonized with reason and light within

(b)     marks the beginning of the Hindu liberalism

3.       Tagore and Gandhi

 a.      They have a profound influence on the Hinduism renaissance

 b.      Rabindranath Tagore

(a)     1861-1941

(b)     The Leonardo de Vinci of Hinduism Renaissance for he was a poet, dramatist, novelist, actor, composer, educator, philosopher, painter, and prophet

(c)     Emphasizing love for humanity and nature

(d)     Establishing a religious philosophy at Shantiniketan in Bengal

(e)     Salvation is for both the individual and the community

 c.      Mahatma Gandhi

(a)     1869-1948

(b)     A political politician and a deeply religious ascetic

(c)     Leader of the Indian National Congress who achieved political independence for India and gave to the people a sense of dignity

(d)     Believed all religion are true, being reflections of the universal truth

(e)     Interpreted ethics of Sermon on the Mount to his understanding of Hinduism and had no interest in the incarnation, atonement and resurrection of the historical Christ

(f)      His views on non-violence influence many people, such as Tolstoy

4.       Contemporary Gurus

 a.      People are not satisfied with secular, naturalistic world views

 b.      Four broad categories

(a)     Who offer their followers various psychic experiences

(b)     Who have supernatural power and perform miracles that attract people

(c)     Who revived some of the old techniques of attaining super-consciousness through nudity and sex experiences, attracting upper class

(d)     Who offer psycho-physiological benefits, such as peace, rest, and energy through the technique of Transcendental Meditation, which involves silent recitation of a Mantra (often mono-syllabic word. in one's mind)