Pentecostalism

Additional Pentecostal theologians are listed in the article entitled, "Renewal Theologians". Other important scriptures are the sectarian Hindu Agamas which are texts dedicated to Vishnu, Shiva and Devi. Source: Operation World by Patrick Johnstone and Jason Mandryk, 2000, unless otherwise indicated. There are also a number of revered Hindu Tantras and Sutras that command the respect of various Hindu sects of different persuasion, some including the Mahanirvana Tantra, Tirumantiram and Shiva Sutras. The Apostolic Church is the fastest growing church in the world. Other texts considered important by today's Hindus include the Devi Mahatmya, an ode to Devi, the Divine Mother, and the Yoga Sutras, a key meditative yoga text of Shri Patanjali. Founded and led by David Yonggi Cho since 1958, it had 780,000 members in 2003. The post- Vedic Hindu scriptures form the latter category, the most notable of which are the Mahabharata and the Ramayana, major epics considered scripture by most followers of Sanatana Dharma, their stories arguably familiar to the vast majority of Hindus living in the Indian subcontinent, if not abroad.

The great majority of Pentecostals are to be found in Third World countries (see the Statistics subsection below), although much of their international leadership is still North American. Pentecostalism is sometimes referred to as the "third force of Christianity." The largest Christian church in the world is the Yoido Full Gospel Church in South Korea, a Pentecostal church. See Bhagavad Gita to explore this text. Pentecostalism was conservatively estimated to number around 115 million followers worldwide in 2000; other estimates place the figure closer to 400 million. In a wider context, it is considered a timeless classic of world literature. is estimated to be more than 20 million and also including approx 918,000 (4%) of the Hispanic-American population, counting all unaffiliated congregations, although exact numbers are hard to come by, in part because some tenets of Pentecostalism are held by members of non-Pentecostal denominations in what has been called the charismatic movement. While technically it is considered Smriti, it has singularly achieved nearly unquestioned status as Shruti, or revealed, and is thus the most definitive single Hindu text, read by millions of bhaktas (devotees) and yogis on a largely daily basis throughout the Sanatana Dharmic world. The size of Pentecostalism in the U.S. The text documents a conversation between Arjuna, a warrior, and Lord Krishna immediately prior to the major battle described in the epic Mahabharata.

According to a Spring 1998 article in Christian History, there are about 11,000 different pentecostal or charismatic denominations worldwide. The Bhagavad Gita occupies a special position in the hearts of most Hindus as a keystone yoga upanishad whose eternal words perhaps are the most representative of all Hindu thought. The largest Pentecostal denominations in the United States today are the United Pentecostal Church, the Church of God in Christ, Church of God (Cleveland) and the Assemblies of God. It can be said that while early Hinduism is most reliant on the four Vedas, Classical Hinduism, from the Yoga and Vedanta to Tantra and Bhakti streams, was molded around the Upanishads. The history of pentecostalism in Australia has been documented by Dr Barry Chant in Heart of Fire (1984, Adelaide: Tabor, 382 pages). While the Vedas and their early commentaries on one hand center on ritual and sacrifice, the late Vedantic (End of Vedas) texts emphasize mystic insight and express abhorrence for ritual practiced at the expense of spiritual insight, claiming to streamline the excessive litany of praise to Vedic gods and to capture the essence of the Rig Vedic dictum "Truth Is One." They set Hindu philosophy apart with its embrace of a single transcendent and yet immanent force that is native to each man's soul, an identification of micro- and macrocosm as One. In Brazil, for example, churches founded by the Swedish Pentecostal mission claim several million members. The Aranyakas and the Upanishads were originally esoteric, mystical teachings related in secrecy.

Swedish Pentecostals have been very missionary-minded and have established churches in many countries. The Shrautasutras and Grhyasutras form a younger stratum dealing with domestic ritual. These congregations are all independent but cooperate on a large scale. The oldest of these are the Brahmanas. As of 2005, the Swedish pentecostal movement has approximately 90,000 members in nearly 500 congregations. Depending on the school, various commentaries and instructions are associated with each Veda. Today this congregation has about 7000 members and is the biggest Pentecostal congregation in northern Europe. The four Vedas (the Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva Vedas) were preserved by various shakhas or schools.

Pastored by Lewi Pethrus, this congregation, originally Baptist, was expelled from the Baptist Union of Sweden in 1913 for doctrinal differences. While the overwhelming majority of Hindus may never read the Vedas, the reverence for the more abstract notion of eternal knowledge (Veda means knowledge) is etched deep into the hearts of all those who follow Veda Dharma. In Sweden, the first Pentecostal church was Filadelfiaförsamlingen in Stockholm. The Vedas are considered as shruti (inspired) by all Hindus. This was later followed by the Elim Church. tradition, not revelation). In the United Kingdom, the first Pentecostal church to be formed was the Apostolic Church. The texts are divided into two categories: Shruti- that which is heard (i.e. revelation) and Smriti- that which is remembered (i.e.

Unlike "Classical Pentecostals," who formed strictly Pentecostal congregations or denominations, Charismatics adopted as their motto, "Bloom where God planted you.". Indeed, much of the morphology and linguistic philosophy inherent in the learning of Sanskrit is sometimes claimed to be inextricably linked to study. From the late 1950s onwards, the Charismatic Movement, which was to a large extent inspired and influenced by Pentecostalism, began to flourish in the mainline Protestant denominations, as well as the Roman Catholic church. The overwhelming majority of Hindu sacred texts are composed in the Sanskrit language. This influence included evangelistic emphasis, C&MA doctrine, Simpson's hymns and books, and the use of the term 'Gospel Tabernacle,' which evolved into Pentecostal churches being known as 'Full Gospel Tabernacles.'. Main article: Hindu scripture. Because of this, Simpson and the C&MA (an evangelistic movement that Simpson founded) had a great influence on Pentecostalism, in particular the Assemblies of God and the FourSquare Church. Hinduism's fundamental truth is best expressed in the Upanishadic dictum, Tat Twam Asi (Thou Art That), and the ultimate aspiration as follows:.

It was common for Pentecostal pastors and missionaries to receive their training at the Missionary Training Institute that Simpson founded. the temporal or earthly plane) who succeeds in living an honest, loving and dharmic life a jivanmukta (living free soul). During the beginning of the twentieth century, Albert Benjamin Simpson became closely involved with the growing Pentecostal movement. The great rishis (Hindu sages) have termed the samsaric (one who lives in samsara, i.e. The unification of white and black movements led to the restructing of the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America to become the Pentecostal/Charismatic Churches of North America. The chief aim of the Vedic religion is to achieve moksha, or liberation, through constant dedication to satya (Truth) and eventual realization of the atman (Universal Soul), held to be achievable by all, whether through meditation or pure love. This unification occurred in 1998, again in Memphis, Tennessee. Its presiding principle, Ma (Mother) Gayatri, is also known as Veda Mata (Mother of the Vedas) and is strongly associated with the Goddess of Learning and Illumination, Saraswati.

In 1994, Pentecostals returned to their roots of racial reconciliation and proposed formal unification of the major white and black branches of the Pentecostal Church, in a meeting subsequently known as the Memphis Miracle. Known as a universal mantra, it is revered as being the most condensed form of Divine Knowledge (Veda). When the Pentecostal Fellowship of North America was formed in 1948, it was made up entirely of Anglo-American Pentecostal denominations. Many Hindus to this day, in a tradition that has continued unbroken for at least 3,000 years, perform morning ablutions at the bank of a sacred river (especially the Ganga/Ganges). This lasted until 1924, when the church split along racial lines (see Apostolic Faith Mission). It is considered one of the most universal of all Hindu mantras, invoking the universal Brahman as the principle of knowledge and the illumination of the primordial Sun. The first decade of Pentecostalism was marked by interracial assemblies, "...Whites and blacks mix in a religious frenzy,..." according to a local newspaper account. The most revered mantra in Hinduism is the famed Gayatri Mantra (see Sanskrit for pronunciation):.

By the third week in April, 1906, the small but growing congregation had rented an abandoned African Methodist Episcopal Church at 312 Azusa Street and organized as the Apostolic Faith Mission. Indeed, Mahatma Gandhi's dying words were a two-word mantra to the Lord Rama: "Hai Ram!"'.. On April 18, 1906, the Los Angeles Times ran a front page story on the movement. They often give courage in exigent times and serve to help 'invoke' one's inner spiritual strength. The attending pastor, William J. Seymour, also claimed that he was overcome with the Holy Spirit on April 12, 1906. They can also be used to aid in expression of love for the deity, another facet of Bhakti yoga akin to the understanding of the murti. The expansion of the movement started with the Azusa Street Revival, beginning April 9, 1906 at the Los Angeles home of Edward Lee, who experienced what he felt to be an infilling of the Holy Spirit during a prayer session. Mantras are said, through their meaning, sound, and chanting style, to help meditational focus for the sadhaka (practitioner).

Parham left Topeka and began a revival ministry which led to a link to the Azusa Street Revival through William J. Seymour whom he taught in his school in Houston, although because Seymour was African American, he was only allowed to sit outside the room to listen. Much of mantra yoga, as it is called, is done through japa (repetition). Parham, a minister of Methodist background, formulated the doctrine that tongues was the "Bible evidence" of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. Reciting mantras is a fundamental practice in Hinduism. Although the 1896 Shearer Schoolhouse Revival in Cherokee County, North Carolina might be regarded as a precursor to the modern Pentecostal movement, the commonly accepted origin dates from when Agnes Ozman received the gift of tongues (glossolalia) at Charles Fox Parham's Bethel Bible College in Topeka, Kansas in 1901. Main article: Mantra.. Modern Pentecostalism began around 1901. For more details on this form of worship, see murti.
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This same holds true for the Oneness Pentecostal towards trinitarian churches. Thus, Hindu image worship is a form of iconolatry, in which the symbols are venerated as putative sigils of divinity, as opposed to idolatry, a charge often levied (erroneously) at Hindus. The major trinitarian Pentecostal organizations, however, including the Pentecostal World Conference and the Fellowship of Pentecostal and Charismatic Churches of North America, have condemned Oneness Theology as a heresy and refuse membership to churches holding this belief. They are symbols of the greater principle, representing and are never presumed to be the concept or entity itself. They also believe that God has revealed Himself in different roles rather than three distinct persons. Worship of said deities is often done through the aid of pictures or icons (murti) which are said not to be God themselves but conduits for the devotee's consciousness, markers for the human soul that signify the ineffable and illimitable nature of the love and grandeur of God. This is for their belief that the original Apostles baptized converts in the name of Jesus. Also, the puranas list twenty-five avatara of Vishnu : Catursana, Narad, Varaha, Matsya, Yajna, Nara-Narayana, Kapila, Dattatreya, Hayasirsa, Hamsa, Prsnigarbha, Rsabha, Prithu, Narasimha , Kurma, Dhanvantari, Mohini, Vamana, Parasurama, Raghavendra, Vyasa, Balarama, Krishna, Buddha.

Oneness Pentecostals, are sometimes known as Jesus-Name, "Apostolics", or by their detractors as "Jesus only" Pentecostals. Among the most popular are Vishnu (as Krishna or Rama), Shiva, Devi (the Mother as many female deities, such as Lakshmi, Saraswati, Kali and Durga), Ganesha, Skanda and Hanuman. The largest Pentecostal Oneness denomination in the United States is the United Pentecostal Church. The vast majority of Hindus worship many gods as varicolored forms of the same prism of Truth. Some Pentecostal churches hold to "Oneness theology", which decries the traditional doctrine of the Trinity as unbiblical. While some censuses hold worshippers of one form or another of Vishnu (known as Vaishnavites) to be at 80% and those of Shiva (called Shaivaites) and Shakti at the remaining 20%, such figures are perhaps misleading. The idea that one is not saved unless one speaks in tongues is rejected by most major Pentecostal denominations. Hinduism encourages devotees to describe and develop a personal relationship with their chosen deity (ishta devata) in the form of a God or Goddess.

Advocates say that the Pentecostal position aligns closely with Luke's emphasis in the book of Acts and reflects a more sophisticated use of hermeneutics. Whether believing in the One source as formless (nirguna brahman, without attributes) or as a personal God (saguna Brahman, with attributes), Hindus understand that the one truth may be seen as different to different people. Critics charge that this doctrine does not mesh well with what they believe to be Paul's criticism of the early Corinthian church for their obsession with speaking in tongues (see 1 Corinthians, chapters 12-14 in the New Testament). The various gods and avatars that are worshipped by Hindus are understood as different forms of One truth, sometimes seen as beyond a mere God and as a formless Divine Ground (Brahman), akin but not limited to monism, or as one monotheistic principle like Vishnu or Shiva. This, however, would be a minority perspective. Contrary to popular belief, practiced Hinduism is neither polytheistic nor strictly monotheistic. This would be the only case where a believer would be filled with the Holy Spirit, but not exhibit the so-called "initial physical evidence" of speaking in tongues. See Swastika.

Some ministers and members admit that a believer might be able to speak in tongues, but for various personal reasons (such as a lack of understanding) might not. Many Eastern cultures still hold it to be sacred, especially in India, in spite of the recent association with Nazism which perverted the original meaning of this universal symbol. Most major Pentecostal churches also accept the corollary that those who don't speak in tongues have not received the blessing that they call "The Baptism of the Holy Spirit" (this claim is uniquely Pentecostal and is one of the few consistent differences from Charismatic theology). It has been used in Hinduism since the early Vedic culture and is still widespread in the Indian subcontinent. Speaking in tongues, also known as glossolalia, is the normative proof of the baptism with the Holy Spirit. Its rotation in four directions has been used to represent many ideas, but primarily describes the four directions and their harmonious whole. One of the most prominent distinguishing characteristics of Pentecostalism that separates it from Evangelicalism is its emphasis on the work of the Holy Spirit. It stands for satya, truth, and stability within the power of Brahma or, alternatively, of Surya, the sun.

For the Pentecostal, the Scriptures are a primary reference point for communion with God and a template for reading the world. The swastika (卐) is an Arya, or noble symbol. Jackie David Johns, in his work on Pentecostal formational leadership, states that the Scriptures hold a special place in the Pentecostal worldview in that the Bible is held as a book in which the Holy Spirit is always active; to encounter the Scriptures is to encounter God. It contains an enormous and diverse amount of symbolism; Hindus consider its sound and vibration to be the divine representation of existence, encompassing all of manifold nature into the One eternal truth. ; see Aum for more detail. Dr. Aum (ॐ) is the standard sign of Hinduism, and is prefixed and sometimes suffixed to all Hindu mantras and prayers. Reason is esteemed as a valid conduit of truth, but Pentecostals do not limit truth to the realm of reason. Among the most revered symbols in Hinduism, two are quintessentially a part of its culture and representative of its general ethos:.

Although Pentecostals are concerned with orthodoxy ("correct belief"), they are also concerned with orthopathy ("right affections") and orthopraxy ("right reflection or action"). With the stress on vegetarianism (which is usually followed even by meat-eating Hindus on religious days or special occasions) and the sacred nature of the cow, it is no wonder that most holy cities and areas in India have a ban on selling beef and there is a movement among Hindus to ban cow-slaughter not only in specific regions, but in all of India. Pentecostals embrace a transrational worldview. It is said that Krishna is both Govinda (herder of cows) and Gopala (protector of cows), and Shiva's attendant is Nandi, the bull. While there is cross pollination with other movements, Pentecostals differ from Fundamentalists by placing more emphasis on personal spiritual experience and, in most cases, by allowing women in ministry. Thus, while most Hindus do not worship the cow, and scriptural injunctions against eating beef arose long after the Vedas had been written, it still holds an honored place in Hindu society. Theologically, most Pentecostal denominations are aligned with Evangelicalism in that they emphasize the reliability of the Bible and the need for conversion to faith in Jesus. This is most likely because the largely pastoral Vedic people and subsequent generations of Hindus throughout the centuries relied so heavily on the cow for all sorts of dairy products, tilling of fields and fuel for fertilizer that its status as a willing 'caretaker' of humanity grew to identifying it as an almost maternal figure(so the term gaumata).

Charismatic Christians, at least in the early days of the movement, tended to remain in their respective denominations. Those Hindus who do eat meat predominantly abstain from beef, some even going so far as to avoid leather products. Pentecostalism is similar to the Charismatic movement, but developed earlier and separated from the mainstream church. Thus, while vegetarianism is not dogma, it is recommended as a sattwic (purifying) lifestyle. The Pentecostal movement within Protestant Christianity places special emphasis on the gifts of the Holy Spirit. About 30% of today's Hindu population, especially in orthodox communities in South India, in certain northerly states like Gujarat, and in many Brahmin enclaves around the subcontinent, is vegetarian. Al Sharpton - American politician, civil rights activist, and Pentecostal minister. Thus, an ingrained and externally motivated influence led to the development of a large section of Hindus who grew to embrace vegetarianism in a bid to respect higher forms of life, restricting their diet to plants and vegetables.

Andrea Mason - leader of the Family First Party of Australia in the Federal Election of 2004. While Jainism as it was practiced was certainly a major influence on Indian society with its exhortation of strict veganism and non-violence as ahimsa, the term first appeared in the Upanishads. Steve Fielding - Family First Party Leader and Senator from Victoria. A note of the element of ahimsa in Hinduism is vital to understanding the society that has arisen around some of its principles. Andrew Evans - Founder and most influential member of the Family First Party and Member of the South Australian Legislative Council. See Tantra for more. Stockwell Day - prominent Canadian politician. Most tantras were written in the late middle ages and sprang from Hindu cosmology and Yoga.

Frederick Chiluba - former President of Zambia. The word "tantra" means "treatise" or "continuum", and is applied to a variety of mystical, occult, medical and scientific works as well as to those which we would now regard as "tantric". John Ashcroft - former Attorney-General of the United States. To the Tantra we must therefore look if we would understand aright both ritual, yoga, and sadhana of all kinds, as also the general principles of which these practices are but the objective expression." (Introduction to Sir John Woodroffe's translation of "Mahanirvana Tantra."). Luis & Aileen Torres - Pastors of Centro De Adoracion Nuevos Comienzos, Passaic, New Jersey, US. IX., verse 12). Rev Mohan - Pastor New Life Assemblies Of God Church, chennai, India. Shiva says: 'For the benefit of men of the Kali age, men bereft of energy and dependent for existence on the food they eat, the Kaula doctrine, O auspicious one! is given' (Chap.

Vincent Leoh [1957- ]- General Superintendent of the Assemblies of God of Malaysia; Senior Pastor of Glad Tidings Assembly of God, Petaling Jaya, Malaysia. The Tantra Shastra is, in fact, and whatever be its historical origin, a development of the Vaidika Karmakanda, promulgated to meet the needs of that age. Sophia Tan Luang Keng - Founding and Senior Pastor of Living Spring Fellowship, based in Singapore, Malaysia and Thailand. According to the most famous Western Tantrik scholar, Sir John Woodroffe Sir John Woodroffe/temp (pseudonym Arthur Avalon): "The Indian Tantras, which are numerous, constitute the Scripture (Shastra) of the Kaliyuga, and as such are the voluminous source of present and practical orthodox 'Hinduism'. Larry Schoonover is also Senior editor of the Apostolic Herald (http://apostolicherald.com). See bhakti yoga for more. Larry Schoonover - Senior Pastor of New Life Pentecostal Church (http://newlife-apostolic.com) in Puyallup, Washington. Altogether, bhakti resulted in a mass of devotional literature, music and art that has enriched the world and given India renewed spiritual impetus, one eschewing unnecessary ritual and artificial social boundaries.

Ouriel de Jesus - Senior Pastor of World Revival Church (http://www.godsrevival.com), the center of the revival in Boston, MA, and the president of the 70 some odd congregations planted by his ministry around the world. See bhakti movement for more depth. Brian Houston - Senior Pastor of Hillsong Church in Sydney, Australia. It is said, however, that the bhakta, through a growing connection with God, is eventually able to eschew all external form and is immersed entirely in the bliss of undifferentiated Love in Truth. Wayne Hughes - Senior Pastor of the Takapuna Assembly of God, New Zealand. This rather organic system of devotion attempts to aid the individual in connecting with God through symbolic medium. In 2002, he conducted the largest known evangelistic crusade in history, in Lagos, Nigeria, attended by six million people. Devotional songs called bhajans (written primarily from the 14th-17th centuries), kirtan (praise), and arti (a filtered down form of Vedic fire ritual) are sometimes sung in conjunction with performance of puja.

Reinhard Bonnke (1941-) - German evangelist known for his huge crusades, mostly in Africa but also elsewhere. The most popular means of expressing love for God in the Hindu tradition has been through puja, or ritual devotion, frequently using the aid of a murti (statue) in conjunction with the singing or chanting of meditational prayer in the form of mantras. Luis Cabral (1965-) - Portuguese evangelist, now based in New Zealand. They can rightly be said to have affected the greatest wave of change in Hindu prayer and ritual since ancient times. Jack Hayford - Founding Pastor of Church on the Way in Van Nuys, California. The Bhakti movements rejuvenated Hinduism through their intense expression of faith and their responsiveness to the emotional and philosophical needs of India. David Yonggi Cho (1936-) - Senior Pastor of the Yoido Full Gospel Church in Seoul, Korea. Essentially, it is God who effects all change, who is the source of all works, who acts through the devotee as love and light. 'Sins' and evil-doings of the devotee are said to fall away of their own accord, the devotee shriven, limitedness even transcended, through the love of God.

Currently Associate Pastor of Times Square Church, New York. Seen as a form of Yoga, or union, it seeks to dissolve the ego in God, since consciousness of the body and limited mind as self is seen to be a divisive factor in spiritual realization. David Wilkerson (1931-) - author of The Cross and the Switchblade and numerous other books. The philosophy of Bhakti seeks to tap into the universal divinity through personal form, which explains the proliferation of so many Gods and Goddesses in India, often reflecting the singular inclinations of small regions or groups of people. Ward. The Bhakti (Devotional) school takes its name from the Hindu term that signifies a blissful, selfless and overwhelming love of God as the beloved Father, Mother, Child, or whatever relationship finds appeal in the devotee's heart. M. Like Ramanuja, Madhva (1238 - 1317) identified God with Vishnu, but his view of reality was purely dualistic in that he understood a fundamental differentiation between the ultimate Godhead and the individual soul, and the system is therefore called Dvaita (dualistic) Vedanta.

C. Because of this qualification of Ultimate reality, Ramanuja's system is known as qualified non-dualism. Jimmy Swaggart. Vishnu is the only independent reality, while souls and matter are dependent on God for their existence. Pat Robertson. He taught that Ultimate reality had three aspects: Isvara (Vishnu), cit (soul) and acit (matter). Oral Roberts. Ramanuja (1040 - 1137) was the foremost proponent of the concept of Sriman Narayana as the supreme Brahman.

Kathryn Kuhlman. See Advaita for more. Kenneth Hagin Sr. For them, Shiva is personified as God without attributes. Kenneth Copeland. For Shaktas, who worship Devi, Devi is the personal form of God to attain the impersonal Absolute, God, i.e., Shiva. Morris Cerullo. For Shaivites, Devi is Parvati.

Dan Betzer. For Vaishnvaites who follow Ramanuja's philosophy, Devi is Lakshmi, who is the Mother of all and who pleads with Vishnu for mankind who is entrenched in sin. Jim Bakker. God's energy is personified as Devi, the Divine Mother. Gordon Fee - New Testament Scholar. All personal forms of God such as Vishnu or Shiva are different aspects of God in personal form or God with attributes, Saguna Brahman. Rufus Hollis Gause (born 1925). Nirguna Brahman can never be described as that as It transcends all definitions.

Derek Prince (1915-2003) - probably the world's best-known Pentecostal theologian. However, even that definition can be limiting. Donald Gee (1891-1966). To Advaitists (nondualists) Ultimate Truth is best expressed as Nirguna Brahman, or God without form, or God without personal attributes; indeed, some might go so far as to say it is not 'God' but something beyond. Rex Humbard (b.1919) The first successful TV evangelist of the mid 1950s, 1960s, and the 1970s and at one time had the largest television audience of any televangelist in the U.S. Adi Sankara denounced caste and meaningless ritual as foolish, and in his own charismatic manner, exhorted the true devotee to meditate on God's love and apprehend truth. Oral Roberts (b.1918) Healing Tent Evangelist who made the transition to televangelism. It is not merely philosophy, but a conscious system of applied ethics and meditation, all geared towards attaining peace and understanding of truth.

Allen (1911-1970) Healing Tent Evangelist of the 1950s and 1960s. By analysis of experiential consciousness, he exposed the relative nature of the world and established the non-dual reality of Brahman in which Atman (the individual soul) and Brahman (the ultimate reality) are identified absolutely. A. Sankara expounded his theories largely based on previous teachings of the Upanishads and his own guru Govinda Bhagavadpada. A. Its consolidator was Sankara (788?-820?). Jack Coe (1918-1956) Healing Tent Evangelist of the 1950s. Advaita literally means "not two"; thus this is what we refer to as a monistic (or non-dualistic) system, which emphasises oneness.

Branham (1909-1965) Healing Evangelists of the mid 20th century. See Vedanta for greater depth. William M. The great debate between followers among the major Hindu philosophical school, Vedanta, from followers of Advaita philosophy on one hand and the strict theistic schools such as those of Ramanuja and Madhva on the other, focused on the true nature of Brahman, on whether Brahman was essentially attributeless or with attributes, i.e., a personal Supreme Being. Kathryn Kuhlman (1907-1976) American female evangelist who brought Pentecostalism into the mainstream denominations. Most Hindu thought today in some way relates to changes affected by Vedantic thought, which focused on meditation, morality and centeredness on the one Self rather than on rituals and societal distinctions like caste. Aimee Semple McPherson(1890-1944) American Female Evangelist and organizer of the Four Square Gospel Church. Primarily associated with the Upanishads and their commentary by Badarayana, the Vedanta Sutras, Vedanta thought split into three groups, initiated by the thinking and writing of Adi Sankara.

Seymour (1870-1922) Azusa Street Mission Founder. The Uttara ("later") Mimamsa school is perhaps one of the cornerstone movements of Hinduism and certainly was responsible for a new wave of philosophical and meditative inquiry, renewal of faith, and cultural reform. William J. It, like the Upanishads, seeks realization of the Atman as being nothing other than the infinite Brahman through ethical (mind), physical (body) and meditational (soul) practices of one-pointedness on the 'one supreme truth.' See Yoga for an in-depth look at its history. Charles Fox Parham (1873-1929) Father of Modern Pentecostalism. Realization of the goal of Yoga is known as moksha or samadhi. David du Plessis. It also utilizes the Brahman/Atman terminology and concepts that are found in depth in the Upanishads, adopting Vedantic monist concepts.

Smith Wigglesworth. This is because Ishvara is the only aspect of purusha (the infinite Divine Ground) that has not become entangled with prakrti (the temporal creative forces). John Alexander Dowie (1848-1907). The most significant difference from Samkhya is that the Yoga school not only incorporates the concept of Ishvara (a personal God) into its metaphysical worldview but also that it holds Ishvara as the ideal upon which to meditate. Australia: 0.4 million. Upanishads and Bhagavad Gita are also indispensable literature in the study of Yoga. Papua New Guinea: 0.4 million. It is based on the sage Patanjali's extremely influential text entitled the Yoga Sutra, which is essentially a compilation and systematization of meditational Yoga philosophy that came before.

Oceania: 3.3 million