This five-session course provides a fun and thought-provoking overview of Hinduism—the religion and the culture—practiced globally by over 1.2 billion people. Hinduism is also prevalent in its diluted forms such as yoga and meditation. Part-mythology, part-philosophy, it is currently the only major religion that embraces the divine in multiple genders. Over millennia, Hinduism has evolved to include contradictory elements like the Kama Sutra and goddesses on one hand and repression and sexism on the other. The course uses multimedia, Socratic/Upanishadic discussion, and a visit to a Hindu temple.

Moderator: Rama "Ray" Nandyal, PhD, is a lifelong student of comparative religion with degrees in physics, philosophy, and English literature. He was raised a Vaishnava (orthodox) Hindu but held leadership positions in Lutheran and Unitarian churches. A retired telecom engineer and current teacher of community yoga, he enjoys dealing with belief systems as beautiful collections of myth and metaphor a la Joseph Campbell.