Miss Buddha (114 page)

Thirdly, not unlike science, Hinduism is
constantly experimenting with and assimilating new ideas; and also
like science, it is far less concerned with the origin or history
of ideas than with whether they, as truths, do or do not work as
demonstrated through direct experience; i.e., produce results.

Hinduism’s openness to new ideas, teachers,
and practices, along with its desire for universality rather than
exclusivity, set it (miles) apart from those religions that define
their followers by their (often unquestioned) belief in particular
historical events, people, or revelations.

Two events in the life of
Mohandas Gandhi illustrate this aspect of the Hindu tradition.
First, Gandhi named his autobiography
The
Story of My Experiments with Truth
, clearly
communicating the Hindu willingness to experiment continually as a
means of discovering truth and to record the results of such
experiments. Gandhi was seeking spiritual truth, but he approached
it in the spirit of science.

Secondly, when once asked, “What is your
religion?” Gandhi answered, “My religion is Hinduism, which for me
is the Religion of humanity and includes the best of all religions
known to me.”

It is actually a historical fact that, every
now and then, saintly figures such as Gandhi rise to renew Hinduism
to keep it abreast of the times.

Because Hinduism has no central orthodoxy,
and really no need for one, renewal (and strengthening) of its
tradition has come from those who base their message on personal
and direct experience of the divine.

Hindu Teachings: What do Hindus Believe?

Within the borders of Hinduism, we find
various schools of thought that Hindu scholars have then
systematized in different ways.

These schools have all
enriched Hinduism with their individual emphases:
Nyaya
on rigorous
logic,
Vaiseshika
on atoms and the structure of matter,
Sankhya
on numbers and
categories,
Yoga
on meditation techniques,
Mimamsa
on the analysis of sacred
texts, and
Vedanta
on the nature and experience of spirituality.

These teachings are normally summarized in
texts called sutras or aphorisms, most of which can be memorized
easily and recited as a means of gaining spiritual focus.

Brahman: The Ultimate Reality

Throughout history, the
school known as Vedanta has constituted the standard form of
intellectual Hinduism. According to Vedanta, the highest aim of
existence is the realization of the identity or union of the
individual’s innermost self (
atman
) with the ultimate reality
(
Brahman
).

Although Vedanta states
that this ultimate reality is beyond name (as well as beyond time
and reason), the word
Brahman
is used to refer to it.

Whether this ultimate
reality is itself without distinguishing attributes has been a
subject of extensive debate among Hindu scholars. For to be
ultimate
Brahman must
(virtually by definition) transcend all limiting attributes, such
as name, gender, form, and features, as well as time and
reason.

But how can the human mind, with its time
and reason boundaries, conceive of this transcendent reality, when
human comprehension, by design, requires a personal reality, with
attributes?

A quotation attributed to
8
^th
-century Hindu scholar Shankara illustrates the subtlety of
this question, and these concepts: “Ishvara (another name for
Brahman), forgive these three sins of mine: that although you are
everywhere I have gone on a pilgrimage, although you are beyond the
mind I have tried to think of you; and although you are ineffable I
offer this hymn in praise of you.”

Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva: Aspects of
Brahman

Saguna
Brahman
—that is, Brahman when conceived as
having or displaying qualities—generally takes the form of one of
three main Hindu deities: Brahma, Vishnu, or Shiva.

These personified forms of
Brahman correspond to the three stages of the cycle of the
universe. Brahma is the
creative
force
from which the universe arises.
Vishnu is the
orderly force
that sustains the universe. Shiva is the
destructive force
that
brings a cycle to an end, leaving in its wake pure consciousness
from which the universe is then reborn.

Other forms of Ishvara
worshiped by the Hindu are
Shakti
, the female aspect of
divinity, and
Ganesha
, the elephant-headed deity associated with the removal of
obstacles.

Brahman may also take birth in a more
knowable form, or avatar, to uphold Dharma and restore balance to
the world.

Krishna, a well-known avatar of Vishnu,
appears at times to save the world. Rama, another well-known avatar
of Vishnu, is the subject of the Hindu epic Ramayana (Way of
Rama).

In fact, Vishnu has ten major avatars, which
are described in Hindu texts called the Puranas: fish (matsya),
tortoise (kurma), boar (varaha), man lion (narasimha), dwarf
(vamana), axe-wielding human (Parashurama), ideal person (Rama of
the Ramayana), all-attractive perfect person (Krishna), the
enlightened (Buddha), and a future incarnation (Kalki).

Most Hindus choose a personal deity, a
saguna form of Brahman with whom they can feel a direct personal
connection. Devotion to this deity then takes a number of forms,
including prayer, ceremonial worship, chanting of the deity’s name,
and pilgrimage to sites sacred to the deity.

Brahmanda: The
Universe

The relationship of the
material universe, which Hinduism terms
brahmanda
, to the ultimate reality
beyond the material poses a profound philosophical problem: While
Brahman represents a permanent (timeless and unchanging) reality,
the universe is in constant flux.

This flux is considered eternal: eternal
change. The Brahman, on the other hand, is eternal in a sense
beyond change. According to Vedanta, Brahman alone is real. What
reality the universe possesses springs from Brahman, just as the
light of the Moon really springs from the Sun.

Hence, all of creation arises from Brahman;
Brahman is both the efficient cause of the universe—that is, its
creator—as well as the material foundation of the universe—that is,
the substance of which the universe is created. This is why the
Hindu considers all of creation divine and deserving of our
veneration.

Atman: The Innermost
Self

As individuals we are also part of this
changing universe.

Our bodies are undergoing constant change—it
is a scientific fact that every seven years every single cell in
our body has died and been replaced by new, different, cells
through the constant cycle of cellular death and regeneration—as
are our minds, the mental flux of thoughts and feelings.

The Vedanta, however, holds
that our self consists of more than mind and body, for at our core
lies the unchanging, eternal
atman
, our innermost, transcendental
and spiritual self, as different from our material self: our body,
thoughts, and feelings, which are all part of the material
universe.

The atman is our true self.

But we so easily lose sight of this because
of our passionate and ongoing entanglement with our material self
and its search for happiness in this universe. The Vedanta,
however, tells us that the universe can never provide perfect and
permanent happiness since it, like our material self, is in a state
of constant flux.

True happiness can only be attained through
full awareness of atman and the discovery of its true relationship
(one-ness) with Brahman.

Through awareness of atman
and its one-ness with Brahman, we attain not only happiness, but
also
moksha
, or
liberation.

Liberation from what? One a mundane level,
this liberation is from unhappiness, but the Vedanta goes deeper:
Moksha is liberation from the chain of lives.

Samsara: The Chain of
Lives

We commonly view ourselves as coming into
being when we are born of our parents and as perishing when we die.
According to Hinduism, however, this current life is merely one in
a long chain of lives that extends far into the past and projects
far into the future.

According to Vedanta (and
the Buddha), the origin of this chain of lives cannot be
determined; but the process of our involvement in the universe—the
seemingly beginningless and endless chain of births and deaths—has
been given a name, and that name is
samsara
.

The Hindu scriptures tell us that samsara is
caused by ignorance.

By ignorance of our true selves and by our
ensuing desire for happiness and fulfillment outside our true
(atman) selves, we continue to embody ourselves; we continue to be
reborn in this infinite and eternal universe because of our
unfulfilled desires.

Samsara affords us endless opportunities to
resume this external pursuit of happiness, until—enlightened—we can
leave this squirrel cage.

Karma: Action and Its Consequences

The law that governs
samsara is
karma
.
The destination and quality of each birth and death we suffer is
determined by the balance sheet of our karma—that is, in accordance
with our past volitional
thoughts, words,
and actions
.

Karma is a pivotal Hindu concept. According
to this doctrine, our present condition in life is a direct
consequence of the actions—actually, volitional thoughts, words and
actions—taken in our previous lives. The choices (again,
volitional) we have made in the past directly affect our condition
in the present, and the choices we make today all have consequences
for our future lives in samsara.

According to Hindu teachings, a true
understanding of the cause and effect of this interrelation can
lead a person toward right choices, deeds, thoughts, and desires,
without the need for an external set of enforceable
commandments.

In other words, the
principle of karma provides the framework for Hindu ethics. The
word
karma
is
sometimes translated into English as “destiny,” but karma does not
imply the absence of free will or lack of freedom of action that
destiny does. A better English translation for
karma
might indeed be “volitional
action.” Thus, by the doctrine of karma, the freedom and ability to
make choices remains with the individual.

The law of karma is no less real than the
law of gravity. But just as the law of gravity does not rob us of
our freedom to move about, the doctrine of karma does not leave us
unfree to act. Rather, karma describes the moral law under which we
function, just as the law of gravity is the physical law governing
our physical being here on Earth.

When we, volitionally, cause pain or injury,
we add to the karmic debt we carry into our future lives. When we,
again volitionally, practice generosity and share with and help
others in a genuine way, we lighten our karmic load.

In the Bhagavad-Gita, an important Hindu
text, Krishna states that the best way to free yourself of all
karmic debt is by selfless action, or by dedicating every thought,
word and act as an offering to Krishna himself.

Purusharthas: Goals of
Human Life

Hindu teachings take a comprehensive view of
the human condition and group the things we seek in this world and
beyond into four broad divisions: Kama, artha, Dharma, and
moksha.

Kama
includes the pleasure of the senses, both aesthetic (refined
artistic) pleasures and sensual and sexual pleasure.

Artha
encompasses the pursuit of material well-being, wealth, and
power.

Dharma
comprises our striving for righteousness and
virtue.

Moksha
groups our desire for liberation from the chain of
lives.

As you can see, the first three of these
goals pertain to the world we know, while moksha aims for freedom
from the world and from our desires for kama, artha, and
Dharma.

Attaining moksha (liberation) is an
extraordinary goal, which, today, very few people specifically
seek. Those who do, however, will find the prior pursuit of Dharma
to be a boon.

Dharma, in the sense of our volitional duty
or desire to do right, occupies a pivotal role in regulating artha
and kama and promoting moksha. On account of this role, the goals
of human life are often viewed in the order of: Dhamma, artha, kama
and moksha.

While Hinduism does not look down upon kama
or artha, the ultimate aim of human life is held to be moksha,
liberation from sorrow and desire and realization of the union with
the Ultimate Reality (Brahma).

Because we may not always enter the world in
human form, Hindus consider that birth as a human being is a unique
and valuable opportunity for seeking moksha—something most, if not
all, lower forms of life remain ignorant of—and an opportunity that
should not be wasted.