Ninth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

The interpretation of religious symbolism in Hinduism is one of the main tools for understanding the religion and all the rituals around. This paper faces with the task of recognizing and understanding the meaning of both religious symbols and the whole process of their application in the social everyday life. I examine the phenomenon of implicit learning, the process by which behaviors and beliefs are acquired independently of conscious wills to do so. Hindu iconography is very rich in symbolism. I will focus here on the various representations of the same goddess: Kāli, and attempt to decipher the complexity of her iconographic symbols. Assuming that Kāli represents the Goddess, mother of all Hindus, loving and protector, why does she look terrifying? (holding weapons and men’s bloodied decapitated heads, in her hands) This paper wants to clarify these two seemingly opposite paradigms. Implicit learning of the religion produces a tacit abstract knowledge base that is representative of the structure of the societal environment. Such knowledge is optimally acquired independently of conscious efforts to learn but is very deeply integrated by the whole society.