God and Goddess in Hinduism
Hinduism contains a seemingly endless variety of gods and goddesses. Despite how things may appear, the majority of Hindus are not polytheists, but are monotheists. The majority of Hindus see God in one of two ways.
One God, the Others Demi-Gods
The first approach is to consider one of the many gods and goddess to be God. Those who believe this way then see all the other gods and goddesses as being demi-gods, rather like how there are angels or other divine beings in other religions. They then worship mostly only the one whom they consider God and honor the others who they consider part of the divine interplay of spiritual beings.
Hindu Sects
The one whom someone picks as the one God, whom follow this approach, depends on what sect of Hinduism they follow. In the modern times there are three primary sects, Vaishnavism, Shivitism, and Shaktism. Vaishnavism believes Vishnu or one of his many avatars is God. Shivites believe Shiva is God. Shaktis believe one of the many goddesses is God. Of these three paths the Shaktis are more likely to follow tantra yoga then the others. The Vaishnavas are more likely to follow bhakti yoga. The Shivities are more likely to follow raja yoga. Within each of these primary sects falls an endless number of sub-sects.
One God, Many Faces
The
other approach that many Hindus follows is to see all the endless varieties of
gods and goddesses as the many faces or aspects of the one God whom is so
infinite so as to not have one form. In this case they tend to see the gods and
goddesses of all religions also as other faces of this one God and thus tend to
be very universal in their religious approach. Even some Hindus worship Jesus
(there is a whole separate Hindu mythos concerning Jesus). Also
Buddha is considered to be part of the Hindu god pantheon.
Modern Saints as God
Some Hindus even worship a living saint as God or Goddess. In the modern times the worship of Sai Baba and Mother Ammachi is very popular.
Goddesses are Mothers
In Hinduism all goddesses are considered mothers as are women in general. Goddesses are considered greatly important. They are considered the shakti (power) of god. Without them them god is good as dead.
Hindu Gods and Goddesses...
