ABSTRACT
Hinduism, a range of polytheistic religious variations on basic common themes, came to America largely through 20th-century trans-Pacific migrations from India and other parts of south Asia, first to California and Hawaii and then to places across the country. Its core belief is that an impersonal spiritual Absolute descends into such deities as Vishnu, Shiva, and Krishna—statues of whom are objects of ritual devotion in temples and homes—and exists as a spark within each individual that can be realized through meditative yoga with the aid of a guru. Each region of India reveres particular deities and has developed particular yogic practices. https://s3-euw1-ap-pe-df-pch-content-public-p.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/9781315022703/d8062edf-62f8-4e77-ad3e-fdf43d7f25ef/content/ufig94_C.jpg" xmlns:xlink="https://www.w3.org/1999/xlink"/>
