Understanding Hinduism a bit at a time

[TheLightWithin]

I really like this channel I discovered recently, called Hindu Lifestyle (on YouTube)
I like how it meets me where I am, with beginner questions as an outsider
This one is titled Hinduism and Reincarnation / Why do Hindus believe in Reincarnation?

The impact of Karma on rebirth

This is called The Hindu Concept of "God" / Do Hindus believe in God?

The concept of God as pure consciousness and pure truth.

I think many of us in the West (even those of us who read up on world religions!) have only a very surface understanding of Hinduism.
Our ideas come from history overviews, encyclopedia entries, the occasional odd documentary, and New Age materials which borrow ideas from many traditions including Hinduism and simplify them to make them understandable. Of course, this leads to understanding on a thin layer of a rich tradition, and not necessarily understanding Hinduism accurately.

For anybody who knows, does it seem this channel is portraying things pretty accurately, based on what you can see?
(Luckily the videos I posted and many of their videos are pretty short)

 

[mystic_friend]

well yea it is portraying it in the correct way, oh and a little fun fact for you, you are also god in hinduism you are the universe "aham bramhasmi" which means i am bramhin, so you're the universe experiencing it self

 

[mangalvaar]

oh and a little fun fact for you, you are also god in hinduism you are the universe "aham bramhasmi" which means i am bramhin, so you're the universe experiencing it self

There isn't really a particular view that all Hindus share. It is a vast religion with a variety of schools, philosophies, teachers, and traditions.

There are many Hindus who would say that they are not God or a god. Dvaita Vedantins, for instance, hold to dualistic (or perhaps pluralistic) metaphysics, so they see the supreme being, Vishnu, as completely other than themselves. For them, Brahman and God are the exact same concept.

As to the idea that the individual is the universe experiencing itself, that might depend on the individual Hindu's philosophy. Advaita Vedanta teachers such as Swami Sarvapriyananda at the Vedanta Society of New York, for example, would say that you are Consciousness (with an uppercase cee) and that the universe is an appearance within yourself. In Advaita, God is a little less than Brahman proper.

Those who subscribe to Sankhya philosophy see Consciousness and Nature as the two fundamental metaphysical principles, both being utterly different and that each of us is ultimately Consciousness.

Some Hindus are atheistic and/or metaphysically naturalist. They might say 'I am Brahman' as in 'I am the universe,' but not really 'I am God.'

There is even more. It is vaster than the international airport at New Delhi, I promise you.