Hinduism

ALTARS of the WORLD The Eastern Religions

Autogenerated Transcript

By Lew Ayers

HINDUISM:

The Wheel of Life moves on, in the midst of misfortune and the noise of toil, it moves toward pleasure but ends in the mire of penance and wrath. He who understands the stoppage of the wheel of life is never more deceived. Ages ago while the societies and cultures of people in other parts of the world were still in the crudest most primitive stage, India was a great thriving civilization with an art a philosophy and an advanced religious system already highly developed. In fact, India has been called the cradle of religion and Hinduism the faith which developed there, and numbers the largest following has an origin that is prehistoric. Sacred literature called the Vedas may have been conceived three to four thousand years ago. Coexistent with the ancient and long since abandoned religion of Egypt. Hinduism has not only maintained its strength but has grown steadily until today its influence is felt on the lives of over three hundred and fifty million persons. With the exception of a few minor sects, the religion of Hinduism has no central organization nor church authority to determine its doctrines. This of course gives room for very broad interpretations which more or less permit a belief in accord with each person's ability to comprehend and is one of the reasons why Hinduism has lived so long and why it has stolidly resisted the evangelism of faiths like Buddhism Christianity and Islam; and also why one sees so many forms of worship in India from what would seem to be almost sheer idolatry to the very highest type of spiritual understanding, examples of which are found in the words and deeds of men like Ramakrishna, Rabindranath Tagore and many others. You see, most Hindus believe the limitless manifestations of God allows each man to worship differently as long as he is sincere. Like other religions, the ethical teachings of this ancient faith provide the Hindu hope today with rules that are easy to read difficult to follow. True happiness consists in making happy. Blessings give for curses. But who is the God of the Hindus? or should we say gods? for there are very many. It must be understood however that Hindus are taught to believe in only one Supreme Being or force called Brahman and to consider the host of lesser gods as various aspects of this one reality. Yet there are many persons unable to cope with this abstraction. They need something more tangible upon which to lavish their affections and emotions like the Saints in Christianity; and for them, the gods are very appropriate and very real, not as idols, but as symbols of their highest ideals. These worshipers have the respect of all levels of Hindu religious society due to the underlying unity between them: common scriptures, common beliefs, common practices, common gods. In the pantheon of Hindu gods, there are two, named Shiva and Vishnu, which are by far the more important, and which in a sense divide the primary loyalty of most Hindus between them. Vishnu, who is a God of righteousness and love, called the protector and sustainer of the world. Vertical red stripes indicate a temple in his honor. He is the inspiration for the devotional cult known as bhakti, and he has incarnated upon earth many times in behalf of mankind. Vishnu, incarnate as Lord Krishna, is the hero of a story in Scripture which is world renowned, a literary masterpiece, the Bhagavad-Gita. Sometimes Vishnu is depicted as Narayana with his wife Lakshmi, the goddess of prosperity. Elsewhere he is God Rama with a wife named Sita, well-known figures in the great symbolic legend, the Ramayana. It is said that wives of the Gods provide feminine attributes for those unable to reconcile the idea of both characteristics in one person even a god. The other important deity is Shiva, the god of destruction symbolic of perpetual change. Shiva not only destroys but creates and offers grace to the suffering world. Worship of Shiva attracts those seeking mystic paths to union with God; for when seated in yogi posture Shiva is known as the great meditator. For devotions, there is an abstract image of Shiva called a Lingam. Nandi, the deified bull, is called Shiva's vehicle. Various animals attached to the gods often represent physical aspects of man's nature which must be controlled. As with other religions, there are often small merchants at the entrances of Hindu temples selling materials for devotional observances. Powdered paint is for marking the foreheads of the devout, a custom well known in India. As for instance, the vertical symbol of Vishnu may be reproduced on young men who are students. Hindu religious life is roughly divided into four stages. A sacred string over the shoulder shows that someone has been formally initiated into the first or student stage and is devoted to study and discipline under the guidance of a teacher or guru. After initiation, one is considered twice born. Horizontal markings indicate devotion to Lord Shiva. The second stage of Hindu religious life is as a citizen and householder. During this period, worship follows a line of strict ritual. Although attendance at temple is never absolutely necessary nor is it carried out with group uniformity. In fact, Hindus often frown on such a practice. Worship is primarily a personal communication between the individual and his god. A coconut and some fresh garlands provide a suitable offering. Shoes are always removed before entering a Hindu temple. The bells are rung to attract the attention of the deity; and the offering is given to a priest who sets it before the tiny images in the place of consecration. First, the priest washes the images. Then he makes the offering to them. The conch shell is the signal for the start of the ritual worship called harati. It is a daily ceremony with deep emotional effect on participants and spectators, bringing on a sort of religious exaltation. According to Hinduism, there are five elements of creation: water, fire, earth, air, and ether. And

this ceremony symbolizes the offering and return these elements to the Creator. It might be pointed out that Hinduism is less a system of ethics or even theology than it is a school of metaphysics and psychology, meaning its basic aim is not to make its followers more perfect earth dwellers nor even blissful inhabitants after death in the realms of heaven. Instead, it strives to inspire man to become one with the eternal universal spirit, Brahman, the ultimate reality; a goal, it is claimed, which is unattainable by perfection of character or conduct; but can only be the result of a completely transformed consciousness an all-consuming objective. And Hinduism even says it is not possible to accomplish this in one lifetime and therefore the ancient doctrine of rebirth or reincarnation is accepted. Rebirth functions in accord with the law of karma, the workings of a divine justice which is believed to place each person in the exact station earned by his actions in previous lives. Thus he may move up or down the social scale and even back into animals and plants. This is the wheel of karma, a wheel which can be stopped only by liberation from the finite consciousness of individuality called the opening of the third eye. This results in a new transcendent consciousness. The true destiny of all men to attain liberation or moksha. Silent prayer and meditation are important and this is often supplemented by the countless repetition of mystic syllables considered the veritable embodiment in sound of the deity itself; as for instance the sound om, a name of the impersonal absolute Brahman. Pranayama or breath control calms and controls the body keeps it from distracting the mind during meditation. Prayer beads are used when a devotional mantra is to be repeated hundreds or thousands of times. This kind of repetition, called japa, is highly regarded as an aid to further realization of God. Up where the Ganges emerges from the Himalaya Mountains, is the holy city of Hardwar. It is a place filled with men who have become full time devotees of a religious path. They are now called sadus or sannyasins meaning: holy men. Some shave their heads, while others belonging to the order of Udasis, do not. Most of them are members of some recognized order. Their meager wants are supplied by begging while living a life of complete asceticism void of worldly ambitions and sensuous pleasures, seeking only spiritual freedom. Their day consists of study or preaching to each other and of course exercises in yoga breath control and many many kinds of ritual and mystic disciplines. Sprinkling the water is a rite of purification often connected with the worship of Vishnu. Sadus with the trident show devotion to Lord Shiva. Sitting cross-legged is a meditative pose well known as the lotus posture; it's to prevent falling asleep. There are several stages of development in the life of a monk. Many of those here are considerably advanced having been given permission by their abbot to make pilgrimage to this holy place but some seem to show the costly effects of the severe strain they may have imposed upon themselves by what is considered the greatest pilgrimage self-purification and discipline. Their goal: stoppage of the wheel of material life, unity with God. Hindu yoga like the word yoke means union with the divine. This union may be accomplished by different types of yoga: as love and devotion, bhakti yoga; or by service to follow man, karma yoga; by knowledge, janaina yoga; or by Contemplation, raja yoga, a path which culminates in a state of rapture called Samadhi. This difficult objective should be paralleled by a strict course of physical discipline in order that bodily functions will not disturb one's concentration. When habits are controlled, when the body is obedient to the will, consciousness may then be open to the reality of God. Only highly developed masters have true skill in the art of hatha yoga where every posture symbolizes a means of overcoming obstacles on the path. The master stated that while hatha yoga was useful in controlling the body and hence the mind, spiritual progress would not be furthered without integrity moral. Stature and consecration to the universal will. Thus, the underlying basis is religion. There is also the need for inner verification of the all essential philosophical term maya or illusion in regard to the ultimate unreality of the phenomenal world. According to Vedanta, there is but one reality: Brahman Atman, God in the highest sense, unknown and indescribable, except as neti neti, not this, not that. Freedom from illusion depends upon the complete conviction of one's true identity with this indescribable universal spirit in accord with the venerable phrase tat-twam-asi, that art thou. Unsuited to the rigors of hatha yoga some seek for union with God by consecration and worshiped, such as the sadhus who express their devotion through the Goddess Lakshmi, the gracious consort of Vishnu. These are members of an ashram or school of spiritual discipline conducted by a leader or teacher having the title swami or guru. Gurus somehow communicate the impression of profound spiritual insight and are a great inspiration to their followers. There are many such ashrams in India, most of them insisting that disciples live in obedience to a very severe moral code without worldly goods or any of the so-called worldly pleasures, included a hard rule for vigorous men, and not without certain psychic dangers. Such a life calls for emotional maturity. Upon the external walls of many ancient monasteries, one finds carved figures of the heavenly apsaras along with other designs. Such sculpture represents the outer physical world, as opposed to the purity of the spiritual life within the temple of the mind. The earthly counterpart of the apsara was found in the temple dancer, who though rare today in India, left a lasting impression on Hindu dancing and on the memories of men living in worldly renunciation. For those seeking union with the divine through mystic meditation, visions such as temple dancers must not be entertained. No sensual imagery can be allowed to interrupt the concentrated effort to break the veil separating man from the spiritual source of his being. Seated in the lotus posture to refrain from sleep, yet relaxed and breathing without effort, the mind concentrates on some aspect of divinity and awaits until the doors of spiritual insight, called samadhi, finally opened for a glimpse of divine reality. What it is like when the doors of spiritual insight are opened? Few have even tried to say; for the experience of samadhi is more like poetry than science, indescribable as the fourth dimension. Beyond this, the devout Hindu may also hope he will find release from his repetitious lives in the material world and be freed from illusion and pain on the wheel of karma.