Schools of Hinduism (Overview)

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Hinduism encompasses many movements and schools fairly organized within Hindu sects. A sect is a denomination that shares a common ground of beliefs but embraces many different schools inside its philosophical branches.

The many schools and diverse movements of Hinduism trace their origins from as far back as three thousand years to only a few decades. Most are the natural evolution and reinterpretation of old Vedanta and Yoga precepts. Hinduism is recognized as a very dynamic religion, accepting and continuously transmuting new influences from inside and outside with equal ease and remarkable lack of conflict.

The presence of different schools and sects within Hinduism should not be viewed as a schism. On the contrary, there is no animosity between the schools. Instead there is a healthy cross-pollination of ideas and logical debate that serves to refine each school's understanding of Hinduism. It is not uncommon, or disallowed, for an individual to follow one school but take the point of view of another school for a certain issue.

- See the List of Hindu Sects.
- See the Contemporary Hindu movements.

Hinduism, as most other major religions, has a great number of schools. The most important are listed below, under the sect in which they find greater expression:

1 Schools in Vaishnavism
2 Schools in Shaivism
3 Schools in Shaktism
4 Schools in Smartism
5 Schools in Javanese Hinduism
6 Philosophical Concepts
7 External links

Schools in Vaishnavism

- Gaudiya Vaishnavism (includes ISKCON, the Hare Krishna movement), adheres to the teachings of Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (Gaurangacharya)
- Srivaishnavism or Sri-Vaishnava Sampradaya, adheres to teachings of Ramanuja
- Vishistadvaita includes Udhava Sampraday to which also Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday belongs to all adhere to teachings of Ramanuja,
- Dvaita or Brahma Sampradaya, adheres to teachings of Madhva
- Ramanandi Sampraday, adheres to the teachings of Ramananda
- Shree Swaminarayan Sampraday adheres to teachings of Swaminarayan can be considered a branch of Vashistadvaita
- Pushtimarg Sampraday or Rudra Sampradaya, adheres to the teachings of Vishnuswami/Vallabhacharya
- Kumara Sampraday, adheres to teachings of Nimbarka (Nimbarkacharya)
- Mahapuruxiya dharma or Asomiya Vaishnavism, adheres to the teachings of Srimanta Sankaradeva
- Krishna Pranami Sampraday, adheres to the teachings of Devachandra Maharaj
- Advaita adheres to teachings of Adi Shankaracharya

Schools in Shaivism

Main article: Shaivism

- Saiva Siddhanta, adheres to the teachings of Tirumular/Sundaranatha (Nandinatha Sampradaya, the monistic school) or of Meykandadeva (Meykandar Sampradaya, the dualistic school)
- Adinath Sampradaya or Siddha Siddhanta, adheres to the teachings of Gorakhnath and Matsyendranath
- Siva Advaita, adheres to the teachings of Nilakantha (Srikantha) and Appayya Dikshitar
- Kashmir Shaivism, adheres to the teachings of Vasugupta and his disciplinic lineage, including Abhinavagupta
- Pasupata Saivism, adheres to the teachings of Lakulisa
- Veerashaivism or Lingayat Dharma, adheres to the teachings of Basavanna