Wednesday, June 30th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Concluding comments:
Conclusion I
All of the above philosophies of Hinduism have one thing in common. They are all derived from and consistent with the triad of authentic Hindu scriptures known as Prasthan Trayi, namely, Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita, and Brahm Sutra. They include the essence of all the ancient Hindu scriptures, namely, Vedas, Upanishads, various sutras, various smrutis, all the Purans, Mahabharat, and Ramayan. Number wise Hindu scriptures are not just a few texts but they are hundreds in numbers, consisting of hundreds of thousands of verses (shloks) and short sentences (sutras), and all of them are in Sanskrit or other vernacular languages derived from Sanskrit. It is difficult to study single-handedly and understand them all individually. This explains why there are many interpretations, explanations, and commentaries just about one single Truth and the five fundamental eternal realities in Hinduism.
The beauty of Hinduism is that it allows complete religious freedom at the same time teaches to develop the utmost tolerance for others’ belief. This is exactly opposite of bullying. Smruti shastras allow devotees to worship their own deity as God or demigod (devata) and to follow their own choice of scriptures according to their own level of understanding and intelligence irrespective of the Ultimate Truth. Yet, at the same time it also teaches to keep in mind that one is allowed to compare anything or anybody with God but one can never compare God with anything else that is lower than the level of God in His whole creation, not even with the transcendental and penultimate reality Brahm – the abode of God. This was the understanding of Madhavacharya when he placed Lakshmi at the little subordinate or subservient level to that of Narayan (God). Hinduism tells the truth to the followers of any deity or any God other than the Supreme Being, Parabrahm Purushottam Narayan, cautioning them, that whosoever follows other than Purushottam Narayan will be led to that particular person’s or deity’s own destination depending on that person’s or deity’s own power and capability but not the final resting place or the ultimate destination of the most powerful Supreme Being. The ultimate destination or the final redemption can only be reached by following the Truth, the true Supreme Being, or by achieving the truly ultimate knowledge. Hinduism tells never to follow blindfolded. It says to use one’s own intelligence and judgment objectively and see the behavior, level, and achievement of the Guru (guidance counselor), his Guru or master, and his students or followers. It also advises to disregard the social or worldly etiquettes, manner, or any other external variables of the true Guru in learning the brahm-gnan. Hinduism helps also by providing all the necessary guidance and guidelines to understand, know, and follow the Truth and at the end leaves the responsibility of taking final decision on the individual. Hinduism never forces anybody in following the religion, it just tells about the Truth. Shad Darshan shows the science of how to know the Truth. No matter whom one follows, no matter which path one follows, and no matter which decision one takes, it always advises never to lose one’s spiritual joy – the bliss of brahmanized state (brahmpanu) or the eternal happiness one gets by having union or close association with Brahm or Brahmanized sant or satpurush.
The Satyam (the truth), Shivam (the greatness), and Sundaram (the beauty) of Hinduism is that leaving aside its religious and philosophical aspects, and keeping one’s own faith or belief in one’s own religion, religious practices, religious philosophy, and the choicest deity of worshiping, one can still study, understand, and practice the universal, natural, and humanitarian aspect of it to bring the mental peace, world peace, and the heaven, paradise, or swarg on the earth.
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Wednesday, June 16th, 2010
Shad Darshan – Vedanta philosophies (contd.):
Swaminarayan philosophy – Jiv
Jiv and its body
1. Jiv or Soul is the essence or life force of the body, which is ontologically different than the elements of the body. The elements of body inherently carries three qualities (tri-gunas) of maya or prakruti, whereas, soul is free of these three qualities, namely, rajas, tamas, and satva, of maya. So, it is known as “asangi”. The body acts as the field (kshetra) for the soul and the soul is body’s fielder (kshetragna). The essence of a jiv or ātmā (soul) is Paramatma (the soul of the souls). Jiv is subtle (sukshma) like an atom (anu). Paramatma is subtler than jiv. Jiv is spiritual, sentient, conscious, or liveliness (chaitanya-rup) in nature, but is finite in capabilities and limited in power, that is restricted to its body only. In contrast, the body is mundane, insentient, or worldly in nature.
Jiv pervades the whole body by its knowledgeability or knowing power (gnan-shakti). It is impenetrable (achhedya), indivisible (abhedya), non-aging (ajar), indestructible (amar), and invisible in characteristics. It is eternal, means, it has no origin (anādi) and permanent (shaswat or sanatana). Souls are many (countless or infinite) in numbers. When a soul becomes brahmrup or brahm-like in qualities, it achieves its full potential. All free (mukta) souls (atma) in the abode of God are identical and have equal potential. In every birth, the soul gets different body in different ways by different parents. In different bodies different souls seems to show different potential and different power. The same soul changes its body many times within the cycle of births and deaths (samsār chakra of lakh chorāsi) among the 8.4 million life forms, until it gets final redemption or liberation. The soul and its body have “the garment and the wearer of that garment” relationship. Person inside (soul) remains the same but garments (bodies) are changed in every birth. The soul and its body also have “the house and its householder” relationship. Householder controls and maintains the house. Once the householder abandons the house, it becomes a haunted house and gets ruined and ultimately becomes “dust unto dust”. In the “Vedastuti” chapter 87 of Dasham Scand of Shrimad Bhagwat Puran it is said that God has created for the soul its body consisting of senses, intelligence, mind, and prāns just to attain liberation. Other usages of the body are minor and just coincidental. Jiv’s body (sharir) is of three kinds: Sthul (gross), Sukshma (subtle), and Kāran (causal), of which the causal body is full of ignorance. It has three states (avasthā): jāgrat (awaken), swapna (dream), and sushupti (deep sleep). The body consists of 24 elements, of which prān, in general, is the topmost (physiological) element. No other philosophies have mentioned about “pran.” Scientists may create fully functioning cell either from the scratch or from the base cell by changing its nucleus with synthetic or semisynthetic nucleus. The functionality of the synthesized cell, test-tube cell, clone cell, or stem cell is because of “pran” which is part of 24 physical and physiological elements, thus, suggesting, the difference between pran and jiv (soul). Jiv then enters the cell and automatically takes the charge according to the system governed by deeds or actions (karma) under the supreme authority or controlling power of God. Souls are divine (divya) and eternal (anadi), and cannot be created, synthesized, or made in the laboratory. In this way, other religious philosophical systems may still be vulnerable to the rigorous testing by science but Hinduism seems to be rather more foolproof religious philosophical system. The soul has to detach from its causal body (Karan sharir) that harbors the basic ignorance (mul-agnān), by gaining true knowledge, to go to the abode of God or to enjoy the company and the bliss of God. On final redemption or liberation, after leaving this mundane body, jiv gets a new kind of body when it stays in Akshardhām or Aksharbrahm – the abode of God Purushottam. This new kind of body is called “Brahmamay tanu” or “divya tanu.” It is of “chaitanya” (sentient) or “divya” (divine) in nature which is quite distinct from the mundane body consisting of the eight kinds of “jad prakruti.”
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Darshan (Philosophy) XXXI
Wednesday, June 30th, 2010Shad Darshan – Concluding comments:
Conclusion I
All of the above philosophies of Hinduism have one thing in common. They are all derived from and consistent with the triad of authentic Hindu scriptures known as Prasthan Trayi, namely, Upanishads, Bhagwad Gita, and Brahm Sutra. They include the essence of all the ancient Hindu scriptures, namely, Vedas, Upanishads, various sutras, various smrutis, all the Purans, Mahabharat, and Ramayan. Number wise Hindu scriptures are not just a few texts but they are hundreds in numbers, consisting of hundreds of thousands of verses (shloks) and short sentences (sutras), and all of them are in Sanskrit or other vernacular languages derived from Sanskrit. It is difficult to study single-handedly and understand them all individually. This explains why there are many interpretations, explanations, and commentaries just about one single Truth and the five fundamental eternal realities in Hinduism.
The beauty of Hinduism is that it allows complete religious freedom at the same time teaches to develop the utmost tolerance for others’ belief. This is exactly opposite of bullying. Smruti shastras allow devotees to worship their own deity as God or demigod (devata) and to follow their own choice of scriptures according to their own level of understanding and intelligence irrespective of the Ultimate Truth. Yet, at the same time it also teaches to keep in mind that one is allowed to compare anything or anybody with God but one can never compare God with anything else that is lower than the level of God in His whole creation, not even with the transcendental and penultimate reality Brahm – the abode of God. This was the understanding of Madhavacharya when he placed Lakshmi at the little subordinate or subservient level to that of Narayan (God). Hinduism tells the truth to the followers of any deity or any God other than the Supreme Being, Parabrahm Purushottam Narayan, cautioning them, that whosoever follows other than Purushottam Narayan will be led to that particular person’s or deity’s own destination depending on that person’s or deity’s own power and capability but not the final resting place or the ultimate destination of the most powerful Supreme Being. The ultimate destination or the final redemption can only be reached by following the Truth, the true Supreme Being, or by achieving the truly ultimate knowledge. Hinduism tells never to follow blindfolded. It says to use one’s own intelligence and judgment objectively and see the behavior, level, and achievement of the Guru (guidance counselor), his Guru or master, and his students or followers. It also advises to disregard the social or worldly etiquettes, manner, or any other external variables of the true Guru in learning the brahm-gnan. Hinduism helps also by providing all the necessary guidance and guidelines to understand, know, and follow the Truth and at the end leaves the responsibility of taking final decision on the individual. Hinduism never forces anybody in following the religion, it just tells about the Truth. Shad Darshan shows the science of how to know the Truth. No matter whom one follows, no matter which path one follows, and no matter which decision one takes, it always advises never to lose one’s spiritual joy – the bliss of brahmanized state (brahmpanu) or the eternal happiness one gets by having union or close association with Brahm or Brahmanized sant or satpurush.
The Satyam (the truth), Shivam (the greatness), and Sundaram (the beauty) of Hinduism is that leaving aside its religious and philosophical aspects, and keeping one’s own faith or belief in one’s own religion, religious practices, religious philosophy, and the choicest deity of worshiping, one can still study, understand, and practice the universal, natural, and humanitarian aspect of it to bring the mental peace, world peace, and the heaven, paradise, or swarg on the earth.
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