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Dec-07-2009
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Synopsis
Part III of the Introduction to Hinduism describes three paths or courses of actions popular with most Hindus to practice Hinduism for attaining moksha or union with God, the Supreme Brahmin. It concludes by identifying basic moral and ethical standards real devotees should follow for living a virtuous (dharmic) life.
The introduction to Gita defined Yoga as: "Yuj means to join. Yoga3* (*references in Part II) is a conscious attempt by anyone to acquire or lift his/her present available personality and attune it to a higher, perfect self set ideal. Yoga also means "to acquire" for purposes of processing and Kshema means "all efforts of preserving the acquired." Yoga means control of the mind. When thoughts are stilled, the claim is, eternal soul has a chance to experience its own nature (jiva-purusha duality, Part V))."
Yoga also means paths used by Hindus for reaching perfect self ideal and control of mind. Part III describes three yogas/paths popularly with Hindus.
Select Hindu Yoga/Paths
Yoga of knowledge is the Path-of-Knowledge. Gita (2.11-46) presents in 36 verses the logic of thought in Hindu philosophy or the cream of knowledge from Hindu Upanishads.
Ancient Hindus understood that every human is made of perishable body and imperishable Self, soul or atman. The Self-body duality is introduced in scriptures by:
. Describing indestructible self (2.12), "It is not that at any time (in the past), indeed, was I not, nor was you, nor these rulers of men. Nor, verily, shall we all ever cease to be hereafter" and
. The perishable nature of the body (2.18), "They have an end, it is said, these bodies of the embodied-self. The Self is Eternal, Indestructible and Incomprehensible. Therefore, fight, O Bharata (Hindu son/daughter)."
The words, "fight, O Hindu son/daughter" is the call for actions in life to be lived to fullest. Emphasis in life is for actions, not inactions associated with defeatist mental state or attitude. The same words, "fight, O Hindu son/daughter" are also a religious call to face, whole-heartedly and sincerely, the situations, in every given field of life, at every given moment of existence. Hindu religion asks for active resistance to evil.
The Hindu concepts of extreme forgiveness and large-hearted tolerance are represented by the principle of "non-violence."
The Self is unmanifested; the death for the born and birth for the dead are certain. Both the beginning and the end of the Self are unmanifest; only the middle with body is manifest. Hindu creed for "the Hindu son/daughter" - the manifest state - is to face every situation in every given field of life, at every given moment of existence.
Hindus are asked (2.38) not to lose their equanimity at all time by imploring them to make pleasure and pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, the same. Sin is unacceptable, so Hindus are asked to engage in the battle of life for the sake of life so as not to sin.
The doctrine of reincarnation was introduced by ancient Hindus as Hindus regard the Self to be immutable. Gita (2.20) states, "He (the Self) is not born, nor does He ever die; after having been, He again ceases not to be; unborn, eternal, changeless and ancient, He is not killed when the body is killed." Gita (2.23) acknowledges, "Weapons cleave It not, water moistens It not, wind dries It not."
Scientists may recognize in these verses similarities in ancient Hindu thoughts and the modern physics. The current understandings of the cosmic universe are given by the Einstein"s theory of relativity and quantum physics (Part VI).
A detailed study of Geeta and its precursor Upanishads introduces concepts we learn through modern sciences and philosophy. Prakruti is Hindu term for material world that is rational, and subject to reason and laws of physics. The Self is the force or energy that pervades entire universe. Ancient Hindu thought incorporates psychology and human behavior. The pranayam yoga is for healthy living and healthcare. It offers ayurvedic medical science to treat illnesses. With philosophy and mathematics it introduces concepts in sciences, engineering, architecture, astronomy and the Sankhya system (Part VII) is the enumeration science for evolution of behavior. Astronomy is an old science in India and Hindu scientists were among the first to recognize that the earth revolves around sun, not moon. It emphasizes innovation and creativity, which are the basis for the entrepreneurial spirit; the Hindu teachings encourage entrepreneurship.
Yoga of Action
Is the Path-of-Action. It prescribes five duties or responsibilities for each person. Each person in the given order is responsible for or duty (dharma) bound to:
1. Take care of (him/her) self first. If you can"t take care of yourself, you can"t discharge the remaining four duties or responsibilities. Hindu tradition - culture and society norms - emphasizes 4 key moral values and ethical codes
. Non Violence, Truth, Renunciation and Service
. These values and codes are essential actions for a fruitful life full of fun and achievements for personal as well as community development.
2. Take care of your immediate family - parents, wife, children and siblings.
. Parents, in addition to giving birth and nurturing child, are first teachers - gurus - during formative years. Modern psychology identifies first five as formative years to lay foundation for building edifice of life once child is of school age.
3. Take care of your extended family of relatives, teachers, and all those you learned from as you grew up.
4. Take care of immediate friend circle that helped you grow up. Each of your immediate friends has directly and indirectly contributed to your education as you answered "the call of renaissance". It takes a village to raise a child.
5. Take care of the rest of the village you grew up in. It takes a village to raise a mature responsible adult ready to face the world, O, Hindu son/daughter.
Taking care of you means to acquire self-perfection through education and answering the "call of the renaissance". Hindus are encouraged to be innovative and creative; education is the foundation for the two activities. Entrepreneurs are innovative and creative and education helps build entrepreneurship.
At the core of our understanding is Hindu philosophy that places emphasis on sustainable self-reliance. For the basic day-to-day living, we need to understand that "no education, no skills, no job, no income and no potential for achieving sustainable self-reliance." It is that simple.
As we satisfy our core needs through sustainable self-sufficiency step-by-step we progress to higher levels of reaching out to God to satisfy spirituality. The reach to God is accessible through many yogic forms. Yoga or path of action offers a step by step process as our dharma or duties in a responsible progression.
Any religious community - Zoroastrians, Jews and Hindus to name three - that is empowered by education is very powerful and can survive against all odds and political persecutions. The followers of these religions have prevailed for millenniums in spite of persistent attacks from those seeking growth through extraterritorial expansions and also by politically motivated warlords who invoked misinterpretations of their faith.
Yoga of Devotion
Is the Path-of-Bhakti. It calls for devotee"s total fixation and surrenerance on God. Primary to this path is the total belief in existence and ability of God - a recognition of God"s will in all situations and actions.
The devotees have to satisfy absolutely necessary three conditions to follow the path of devotion, which appears to be, but is not, a very easy task. The conditions are to follow the perfect path, be ever steadfast in worship and engage mind to totally merge with God.
Idol worship is very useful tool as the path of bhakti for relationship with God. The path of meditations requires self control or restraining all the senses, being steadfast through equanimity and cultivating intent on the welfare of all beings. God is the summit of perfection. To climb up the summit of perfection one must conserve or curtail dissipation of energy by the wandering mind; for the mind is governed by the sense organs. In the world-of-change each seeker has to discover personal balance and equipoise by controlling his/her intellectual evolutions, mental attachments and the physical contacts with the outside world. In dealing with the world the devotees have to tirelessly serve the entire living kingdom. Love for all beings becomes seekers creed. Through meditation the seeker fixes the mind upon the intangible God by being able to control sense organs through equanimity and making his/her nature to serve others (see above for five actionable karmas, duties or responsibilities collectively called dharma).
Mind and intellect are nothing but thoughts. Learning through practice to focus thoughts, both mind and intellect, on intangible God in the presence of a tangible idol requires shraddha (reverence, veneration) and development of art of concentration (a unity of mind and purpose) to focus on God. The practice of fixating on God entails thought penetration and molding our personality to break away from desires (vasanas) instigated by sensuality and body-cravings.
The learning through practice (abhyasa or study) the art of cultivation of equanimity is required for exercising regular self-control while worshipping God. The mind by its very nature tends to run wild from the object of contemplation unless the devotees have cultivated and mastered the art of self control for keeping thoughts balanced through concentration.
Supreme faith in God through shraddha is essential to master the art of self-control to achieve equanimity of mind. Shraddha is not "blind faith." Shraddha (reverence, veneration) is a recognition that the devotee believes in the object he does not know so that he may come to know what he believes in. Shraddha is a faculty to be cultivated.
With a wandering mind the goals keep on drifting and although we constantly struggle, we reach nowhere, wasting time and energy. In Sanskrit, anya means "other" and ananya means "without otherness." The Geeta recommends practicing the ananya yoga in which the goal is ever steady and our mind has no sense of "otherness" about it.
Practicing devotion to God is the abhyasa (study) yoga. Meditation is a tool to create the necessary condition, most favorable for an early blossoming of the greater man in us. Meditation without interference by desires and a wandering mind is hard and hence the Geeta suggests an alternate path - yoga of action - to surrender all your actions in a spirit of dedication to God. Hindu philosophy maintains that actions performed in the spirit of God leads the devotees to attain perfection.
Doing actions in the spirit of God requires renouncing the fruits of all actions. Simply put, it means our acts should be devoid of our ego or they be for the community and free of the sense of a separate, individual existence. The community services obviously have to be guided by a sense of morality and ethics. The Gita (12.14-20) describes in seven verses the moral rules and ethical codes of behavior for Hindus. Moral rules and ethical codes are values, not laws for any religion.
The description of the bhakti yoga is concluded by listing attributes of a real devotee and the moral, ethical and spiritual qualities of the devotee dear to God and incorporated into the values revered by Hindus as the immortal dharma (duty).
Hindu morals and ethics tell devotees, man/woman of perfection, what you should do. Hindu moral and ethical values are for man/woman to attain ideal perfection through devotion to the God. Unlike morals and ethics the laws enacted by any society and political systems tell you what you can"t do; conformity to laws is essential to maintain political order in society.
The attributes of a real devotee
1. As man/woman of perfection, the devotee will not engage in agitating the world around him/her. The real devotee"s presence in the world is to induce serenity and endless peace in the environment.
2. As man/woman of perfection s/he cannot be agitated by the world around her/him. A perfect person is made of stronger mettle and for such person life is build upon surer foundation. The world around may be chaotic, revolting, boisterous and vengeful but presence of such a devotee induces a dynamic peace in the environment. The real devotee being rooted in the realization of the deeper substratum of life is not attached to the superficial conditions of matter and its playful magic.
3. As man/woman of perfection the devotee is completely freed from inward agitations causes by joy, envy, fear and anxiety. Joy comes with a gain of desired objects; envy of those who have it if the desired object is not gained; greed for more follows if the desires are satisfied; and fear surfaces with anxiety of loosing what we possess. The real devotee has no desires for material gains that cause agitations.
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