What is Hinduism ?
preface
- satguru bodhi natha veylanswami
All faiths are grappling with their self-definition as we
rev up to the breathtaking speed of the
information
age—a period more intense and kinetic than
any other
in the history of the world. Teachings and
practices that were
once accepted without question are often now
rejected unless
evidence and logic are marshalled to give
them plausibility. To
survive, customs and traditions must bear up
under intellectual
scrutiny, must prove themselves helpful and
immediately usable.
Hinduism is no exception. Hindu education for
youth is languishing,
and communities around the world are
struggling to
compose clear, concise presentations of the
dharma. It would
be possible to spend an entire lifetime,
indeed, many lifetimes,
absorbing and practicing the teachings of
just one sect or
of the Hindu faith. Yet, there is also a need
to understand this
complex conglomerate as a whole as well.
There is a preeminent
need, the world over, for cogent, comprehensive
explanations
of the various facets of Hinduism—and the
shared features of
its various sects—from a mountaintop
perspective—to answer
the sincere questions of children, coworkers,
neighbors, critics
and colleagues, and to provide a nonacademic
presentation for
those of other religions seeking insight into
this ancient path.
Producing quality educational materials on
Hinduism is inherently
difficult precisely because it is one of the
world’s most
paradoxical and easily misunderstood
religious traditions. It can
be equally confounding to the outsider and to
those born in
dharma’s embrace. This is because it is
actually a family of many
different faiths that share essential
practices and characteristics.
Most Hindus have an intuitive sense of, but
can’t articulate, the
“whys and wherefores” of their philosophy and
practices. The
boldness to ask questions about such matters
has only recently
developed. Just confer with Hindu parents who
have stumbled
when confronted with the direct and innocent
questions posed
by their own children, questions they never
voiced and therefore
never learned satisfying answers to.
This book seeks to be a bridge between
generations of past
centuries that grew up immersed in a pristine
Hindu culture—
with vast communal knowledge available to
them—and current
generations that have little or no access to
such knowledge. In
those olden times, living in a homogenous
society with the faith’s
culture and traditions interwoven in every
aspect of daily life,
one didn’t need to ask the whys of
everything. He only needed
to participate, enjoy and absorb the nuances
and meanings from
the inside out. In today’s fragmented
societies, we no longer
have such cocoon-like training for children,
so teachings must
be rearticulated and presented in ways that
will make intellectually
clear their purpose, relevance and value in
competition
with the compelling flood of media that
youths and adults are
subjected to day after day. Hinduism must
also compete in the
arena of ideas with its aggressively evangelical
counterparts.
T he idea of creating a book called “What Is
Hinduism?” came
to me from the “inner sky” one day while I
was meditating on our
faith’s educational needs. It was as if the
inner-plane masters, among
them our dear Gurudeva, Satguru Sivaya Subramuniyaswami,
were sending the thought form that such a
work would be just
what is needed at this time. Approached from
scratch, the book
in your hands would take years to produce,
especially with the
amount of patience and care that you will
find here in each
chapter. Thus, the serendipitous beauty of
the project was that
the necessary thousands of hours of loving
attention had already
gone into researching and designing its chapters, as Educational
Insight sections over the last ten years by
the talented team of
editiors, writers and photographers of our
international magazine,
Hinduism Today. All that was needed now, in 2007, was to
choose
the best features and put them together in a
way that offers a
thorough yet highly readable introduction to
Hinduism. Voilà!
As a small group of renunciate Hindu monks at
Kauai’s Hindu
Monastery in Hawaii, we have produced Hinduism Today for
more than a quarter century, tracking,
monitoring and encouraging
the current renaissance of the grandfather
faith of the human
race. One of the main reasons Gurudeva
founded the magazine
was to help Hindus become more aware of the
activities of their
Hindu brothers and sisters in other parts of
the world and thus
draw strength and courage from that
knowledge. Another was to
dispel myths and misinformation promulgated
by invaders and
missionaries of alien religions. A third was
to present the beliefs
and practices common to all Hindus, as well
as the teachings
and traditions of the individual sects,
traditions and lineages that
together form this quilt of dharma. What Is Hinduism? is an
insider’s view, honoring the beauties of
culture, tradition, celebration,
worship, belief and discipline.
In addition to the reams of scripture
available to readers, there
are many books on Hinduism by writers and
scholars of both
East and Wests But few offer much relief to
the parent looking
for simple answers, or the social studies
teacher looking for an
authentic overview of the faith. Texts by
Westerners, often academic
in nature, tend to paint Hinduism into the
past and distort
it by wrong emphasis, dwelling on peripheral,
controversial issues
such as caste and the “Aryan Invasion.” Those
by Easterners
generally focus on just one sampradaya or lineage—such as Sankaran
Vedanta, Madhva Vaishnavism or Saiva
Siddhanta—often
presenting its philosophy and tradition as if
it were the whole
of Hinduism, which, of course, it is not.
When each sect and
lineage is presented in this way, it is no
small wonder readers
get confused.
Rare is the book that presents Hinduism in a
comprehensive,
contemporary, complementary way—as a family
of faiths and philosophies—
that a modern, English-speaking audience can
relate
to, understand and appreciate. What Is Hinduism? is just such a
rare gem. Exploring it, readers now and then
spontaneously stop
and sigh, “Ahh, now I get it. I now
understand this basic concept
of Hinduism.” It is an authoritative and
inspired work, an inclusive,
sophisticated, user-friendly explanation of
Sanatana Dharma.
Far from the arcane, sea-of-text descriptions
of Hinduism, this
book is rich with potent images, traditional
symbols and photographs
depicting each aspect of the culture and
faith. If one
were to simply study the photos and art and
their captions, that
would itself serve as a meaningful glimpse
into the Hindu heart.
This book is inspired by and draws heavily
from the remarkable
spiritual legacy of Gurudeva, without doubt
one of the most
significant Hindu saints and leaders of the
twentieth century.
An American by birth, Gurudeva showed the
world by his pure
and dedicated life that Hinduism is a
vibrant, relevant and living
force. He renewed the pride of Hindus in
their faith and gave
them guidelines for following Hindu Dharma.
He boldly spoke
of Hinduism as the greatest religion in the
world and showed
millions that Hinduism is destined to teach
our newly emerging
global civilization that harmonious
coexistence—in peace, mutual
respect, and with a deep sense of spiritual
values—is not
merely a dream, but a living reality. We know
that Gurudeva is
smiling approvingly at the creation of What Is Hinduism? We
believe it will be hailed as a classic, and
hopefully a best seller,
so that uncounted souls may enjoy its
heartfelt messages.
introduction
a simple overview of a complex faith
A Google search on the title of this book yields some
15,000 answers. Many are from outsiders offering their
best take; many are from antagonists taking
their best
shot. Too few are knowledgeable; fewer still
are authentic. Rare is
the answer that goes beyond parochial
sectarian understandings;
scarcely any encompasses the huge gamut
implied in the question.
For these reasons alone, this book was
inevitable. Written
by devout Hindus and drawn from the deepest
wells of spiritual
experience and cultural insight, it is a 416-page definition coming
from deep inside the inner sanctum and
depicting in words
and amazing images the living, breathing
entity that is Hinduism.
The forty-six chapters of this book have been
drawn from
Hinduism Today magazine, whose founder, Satguru Sivaya
Subramuniyaswami (1927–2001), well understood the challenges
that all religions face in today’s world,
whether from outside
or within. He wrote that every religion
consists of the spiritual
precepts, practices and customs of a people
or society, transmitted
from generation to generation, that maintain
the connection
with higher realms of consciousness, thus
connecting man to
God and keeping alive the highest ideals of
culture and tradition.
Gurudeva, as he was affectionately known,
observed that
if this transmission misses even one
generation, a religion can
be lost for all time, left to decay in the
dusty libraries of history,
anthropology and archeology. He strove to
protect the religion he
loved so dearly. He would ask rhetorically,
“Where are the once
prominent religions of the Babylonians,
Egyptians, Aztecs, Mayans,
American Indians or Hawaiians?” Little
remains of them.
Not long ago it was feared by some and hoped
by many that
Hinduism—the religion of a billion people,
one sixth of the human
race living mostly in India—would
meet the same fate. That
it survived a history of religious conquest
and extermination that
wiped out virtually every other ancient
religion is exceptional.
Ironically, this noble faith, having
withstood the ravages of invasion,
plunder and brutal domination by foreign
invaders for over
a thousand years, stumbled into the 20th century to meet the
subtler forces of secularism and the
temptations of materialism.
Christian propaganda, fabricated by 16th-century Jesuit missionaries,
empowered by the 19th-century British Raj and carried
forth today by the Western and Indian media,
had dealt heavy
blows over the centuries to the subjugated,
prideless Hindu identity.
A typical Christian tactic was to demean the
indigenous
faith, impeaching it as rife with
superstition, idolatry,
antiquated
values, archaic customs and umpteen false
Gods. India’s
Communist/
secular media stressed caste abuse and
wretched social ills,
branding as radical, communal and
fundamentalist all efforts to
stand strong for anything Hindu.
Most recently, safeguarding the anti-Hindu
mind-set, Western
professors of Asian studies brandished the
tarnished term
Hindutva to suppress pleadings by Indian parents to
improve
the
pitiful portrayal of their faith in the textbooks their children
must study in American schools—a portrayal
that makes them
ashamed of their heritage.
More than a few Hindus, succumbing to the
avalanche of ridicule,
gave up their faith, changed their names to
Western ones
and stopped calling themselves Hindu, giving
more credence to
the notion that this is a faith of the past,
not the future. Even
those who were Hindus in their hearts would
demur, “No, I’m
not really a Hindu. I’m nonsectarian,
universal, a friend and
follower of all religions. Please don’t
classify me in any particular
way.” In a further dilution, many swamis and
other leaders
promulgated the false claim that Hinduism is
not a religion at all,
but a universalistic amalgam of Vedic, yogic
wisdom and lifestyle
that anyone of any religion can adopt and
practice without
conflict. Tens of thousands who love and
follow Hindu Dharma
avoid the H word at all costs. Rare it is to
find a spiritual leader
or an institution who stands courageously
before the world as a
Hindu, unabashed and unequivocal.
Despite these erosive influences, an
unexpected resurgence
has burst forth across the globe in the last
twenty years, driven
in part by the Hindu diaspora and in part by India’s
newfound
pride and influence. Hinduism entered the 21st century with
fervent force as recent generations
discovered its treasures and
its relevance to their times. Temples are coming up
across the
Earth by the thousands. Communities are
celebrating Hindu
festivals, parading their Deities in the
streets of Paris, Berlin,
Toronto and Sydney
in grand style without worrying that people
might think them odd or “pagan.” Eloquent
spokesmen are now
representing Hinduism’s billion followers at
international peace
conferences, interfaith gatherings and
discussions about Hindu
rights. Hindu students in high schools and
universities are going
back to their traditions, turning to the Gods
in the temples, not
because their parents say they should, but to
satisfy their own
inner need, to improve their daily life, to
fulfill their souls’ call.
Hinduism is going digital, working on its
faults and bolstering
its strengths. Leaders are stepping forth,
parents are striving for
ways to convey to their children the best of
their faith to help
them do better in school and live a fruitful
life. Swamis and lay
missionaries are campaigning to counteract
Christian conversion
tactics. Hindus of all denominations are
banding together to protect,
preserve and promote their diverse spiritual
heritage.
Articulating Our Faith
A major reason why Hinduism seems difficult
to understand is
its diversity. Hinduism is not a monolithic
tradition. There isn’t
a one Hindu opinion on things. And there is
no single spiritual
authority to define matters for the faith.
There are several different
denominations, the four largest being
Vaishnavism, Saivism,
Shaktism and Smartism. Further, there are
numberless schools
of thought, or sampradayas, expressed in tens of thousands of
guru lineages, or paramparas. Each is typically independent and
self-contained in its authority. In a very
real sense, this grand
tradition can be defined and understood as
ten thousand faiths
gathered in harmony under a single umbrella
called Hinduism,
or Sanatana Dharma. The tendency to overlook
this diversity is
the common first step to a faulty perception
of the religion. Most
spiritual traditions are simpler, more
unified and unambiguous.
All
too often, despite its antiquity, its profound systems of
thought, the beauty of its art and
architecture and the grace of its
people, Hinduism remains a mystery. Twisted
stereotypes abound
that would relegate this richly complex,
sophisticated and spiritually
rewarding tradition to little more than crude
caricatures of
snake-charmers, cow-worshipers and yogis
lying on beds of nails.
While Hindus do not share these coarse
stereotypes, they are
often aware of just one small corner of the
religion—their village
or family lineage—and oblivious to the
vastness that lies outside
it. Many Hindus are only aware of the
Northern traditions, such
as that of Adi Shankara, and remain unaware
of the equally vigorous
and ancient Southern traditions, such as
Saiva Siddhanta.
Unfamiliarity with the greater body of
Sanatana Dharma
may have been unavoidable in earlier
centuries, but no longer.
Those who are sufficiently determined can
track down excellent
resources on every facet of the faith. It
has, after all, possibly
the largest body of scriptural literature of
any living religion on
Earth. Mountains of scriptures exist in
dozens of languages; but
they are not all packaged conveniently in a
single book or cohesive
collection. To ferret out the full breadth of
Sanatana Dharma,
a seeker would need to read and analyze
myriad scriptures and
ancillary writings of the diverse
philosophies of this pluralistic
path. These days, few have the time or
determination to face
such a daunting task.
Fortunately, there is an easier, more natural
way to approach
the vastness of Hinduism. From the countless
living gurus, teachers
and pandits who offer clear guidance, most
seekers choose
a preceptor, study his teachings, embrace the
sampradaya he
propounds and adopt the precepts and
disciplines of his tradition.
That is how the faith is followed in actual
practice. Holy men and
women, counted in the hundreds of thousands,
are the ministers,
the defenders of the faith and the inspirers
of the faithful.
Back to Basics
For Hindus and non-Hindus alike, one way to
gain a simple
(though admittedly simplistic) overview is to
understand the four
essential beliefs shared by the vast majority
of Hindus: karma,
reincarnation, all-pervasive Divinity and
dharma. Gurudeva
stated that living by these four concepts is
what makes a person
a Hindu.
Karma:
Karma literally means
“deed” or “act” and more broadly
names the universal principle of cause and
effect, action and
reaction which governs all life. Karma is a
natural law of the
mind, just as gravity is a law of matter.
Karma is not fate, for man
acts with free will, creating his own
destiny. The Vedas
tell us, if
we sow goodness, we will reap goodness; if we
sow evil, we will
reap evil. Karma refers to the totality of
our actions and their
concomitant reactions in this and previous
lives, all of which
determines our future. It is the interplay
between our experience
and how we respond to it that makes karma
devastating or helpfully
invigorating. The conquest of karma lies in
intelligent action
and dispassionate reaction. Not all karmas
rebound immediately.
Some accumulate and return unexpectedly in
this or other births.
The Vedas explain, “According as one acts, so does he become.
One becomes virtuous by virtuous action, bad
by bad action”
(Yajur Veda, Brihadaranyaka Upanishad 4.4.5).
Reincarnation:
Reincarnation, punarjanma, is
the natural process
of
birth, death and rebirth. At death we drop off the physical
body
and continue evolving in the inner worlds in our subtle
bodies,
until we again enter into birth. Through the ages, reincarnation
has
been the great consoling element within Hinduism,
eliminating
the fear of death. We are not the body in which we
live
but the immortal soul which inhabits many bodies in its
evolutionary
journey through samsara. After death, we continue
to
exist in unseen worlds, enjoying or suffering the harvest of
earthly
deeds until it comes time for yet another physical birth.
The
actions set in motion in previous lives form the tendencies
and
conditions of the next. Reincarnation ceases when karma is
resolved,
God is realized and moksha, liberation, is attained. The
Vedas
state, “After death, the soul goes to the next world,
bearing
in
mind the subtle impressions of its deeds, and after reaping
their
harvest returns again to this world of action. Thus, he who
has
desires continues subject to rebirth” (Yajur Veda,
Brihadaranyaka
Upanishad
4.4.6).
All-Pervasive
Divinity: As a family of faiths, Hinduism upholds
a
wide array of perspectives on the Divine, yet all worship the
one,
all-pervasive Supreme Being hailed in the Upanishads. As
Absolute
Reality, God is unmanifest, unchanging and transcendent,
the
Self God, timeless, formless and spaceless. As Pure Consciousness,
God
is the manifest primal substance, pure love and
light
flowing through all form, existing everywhere in time and
space
as infinite intelligence and power. As Primal Soul, God is
our
personal Lord, source of all three worlds, our Father-Mother
God
who protects, nurtures and guides us. We beseech God’s
grace
in our lives while also knowing that He/She is the essence
of
our soul, the life of our life. Each denomination also venerates
its
own pantheon of Divinities, Mahadevas, or “great angels,”
known
as Gods, who were created by the Supreme Lord
and
who serve and adore Him. The Vedas proclaim,
“He is the
God
of forms infinite in whose glory all things are—smaller than
the
smallest atom, and yet the Creator of all, ever living in the
mystery
of His creation. In the vision of this God of love there is
everlasting
peace. He is the Lord of all who, hidden in the heart
of
things, watches over the world of time” (Krishna Yajur Veda,
Shvetashvatara
Upanishad 4.14-15).
Dharma:
When God created the universe, He endowed it with
order,
with the laws to govern creation. Dharma is God’s divine
law
prevailing on every level of existence, from the sustaining
cosmic
order to religious and moral laws which bind us in harmony
with
that order. In relation to the soul, dharma is the mode
of
conduct most conducive to spiritual advancement, the right
and
righteous path. It is piety and ethical
practice,
duty and obligation.
When
we follow dharma, we are in conformity with the
Truth
that inheres and instructs the universe, and we naturally
abide
in closeness to God. Adharma is opposition to divine law.
Dharma
is to the individual what its normal development is to
a
seed—the orderly fulfillment of an inherent nature and destiny.
The
Tirukural (verses 31–32)
reminds us, “Dharma yields
Heaven’s
honor and Earth’s wealth. What is there then that is
more
fruitful for a man? There is nothing more rewarding than
dharma, nor anything more ruinous than its
neglect.”
Hinduism’s Unique Value Today
There are good reasons for today’s readers, Hindu and
non-Hindu alike, to study and understand the
nature of
Hinduism. The vast geographical and cultural
expanses
that separate continents, peoples and
religions are becoming
increasingly bridged as our world grows
closer together. Revolutions
in communications, the Internet, business,
travel and
global migration are making formerly distant
peoples neighbors,
sometimes reluctantly.
It is crucial, if we are to get along in an
increasingly pluralistic
world, that Earth’s peoples learn about and
appreciate the
religions, cultures, viewpoints and concerns
of their planetary
neighbors. The Sanatana Dharma, with its
sublime tolerance and
belief in the all-pervasiveness of Divinity,
has much to contribute
in this regard. Nowhere on Earth have
religions lived and thrived
in such close and harmonious proximity as in
India. For thousands
of years India has been a home to followers
of virtually
every major world religion, the exemplar of
tolerance toward all
paths. It has offered a refuge to Jews,
Zoroastrians, Sufis, Buddhists,
Christians and nonbelievers. Today over one
hundred
million Indians are Muslim, magnanimously
accepted by their
majority Hindu neighbors. Such religious
amity has occurred out
of an abiding respect for all genuine
religious pursuits. The oftquoted
axiom that conveys this attitude is Ekam sat anekah panthah,
“Truth is one, paths are many.” What can be
learned from
the Hindu land that has given birth to
Buddhism, Sikhism and
Jainism and has been a generous protector of
all other religions?
India’s original faith offers a rare look at
a peaceful, rational and
practical path for making sense of our world,
for gaining personal
spiritual insight, and as a potential
blueprint for grounding our
society in a more spiritually rewarding
worldview.
Hinduism boasts teachings and practices
reaching back 8,000
years and more, its history dwarfing most
other religions. In fact,
there is no specific time in history when it
began. It is said to
have started with time itself. To emphasize
the relative ages of
the major religions, and the antiquity of
Hinduism, Raimon Panikkar,
author of The Vedic Experience, cleverly reduced them
to proportionate human years, with each 100 years of history
representing one year of human life. Viewed
this way, Sikhism,
the youngest faith, is five years old. Islam,
the only teenager, is
fourteen. Christianity just turned twenty.
Buddhism, Taoism,
Jainism and Confucianism are twenty-five.
Zoroastrianism is
twenty-six. Shintoism is in its late
twenties. Judaism is a mature
thirty-seven. Hinduism, whose birthday
remains unknown, is at
least eighty years old—the white-bearded
grandfather of living
spirituality on this planet.
The followers of this extraordinary tradition
often refer to it as
Sanatana Dharma, the “Eternal Faith” or
“Eternal Way of Conduct.”
Rejoicing in adding on to itself the
contributions of every
one of its millions of adherents down through
the ages, it brings
to the world an extraordinarily rich cultural
heritage that embraces
religion, society, economy, literature, art
and architecture.
Unsurprisingly, it is seen by its followers
as not merely another
religious tradition, but as a way of life and
the quintessential
foundation
of human culture and spirituality. It is, to Hindus, the
most accurate possible description of the way
things are—eternal
truths, natural principles, inherent in the
universe that form the
basis of culture and prosperity.
Understanding this venerable
religion allows all people to fathom the
source and essence of
human religiosity—to marvel at the oldest
example of the Eternal
Path that is reflected in all faiths.
While 860 million Hindus live in India, forming 85 percent
of the population, tens of millions reside
across the globe and
include followers from nearly every
nationality, race and ethnic
group in the world. The US alone is home to
three million Hindus,
roughly two-thirds of South Asian descent and
one-third of
other backgrounds.
Om Tat Sat
(Continued...)
(My humble salutations to Sadguru Sri Sivaya Subramuniyaswami ji, Hinduism Today dot com for the collection)
(The Blog is reverently for all the seekers of truth, lovers of wisdom and to sharethe Hindu Dharma with others on the spiritual path and also this is purely a non-commercial)
Post a Comment