Religion

II. Hinduism

If I were (UJked under wllOl sky the Illmum mind . . . lUll most deeply 1}()fIdered over 'he grea test problems of life. ami has /()Und sollltio,13 to some of them which well deserve the atterlHoI! even of those who hove ~'tlldied Pltlto (md Knnt- I should point to India . And if I went to ask myself from wlJat literatu re we wiao ha ve been mlrturr:d almod eu:i1I.'J'ively on the thoughts of Greekf (1IId RcmuJII s, and oj one Sem itic race, the Jewish, may dmw the correc- tive wllieh is most wanted in order to make oll r inner life mOn! perfect. more comwehensive. lIIore .m/venal. in fact more tnl!Y IUlma n a life . .. flgain f s/u)flld rJOillt to ifldia.

-Max Muller

On July 16, 1945. in the deep privacy of a New Mexico desert, an event occurred that may prove 10 be the most important single hap- peni ng or the twentie tJ. century. A chain reaction of scientific discov- eries that began at the University of Chicago and centered at "Si te r at Los Alamos .... 'Wi culminated. TIle first atomic bomb was. as we say. a success.

No one had been more instrument:a1 in this achievement than Hobert Oppenheimer. director or the Los Alamos project. An ob- server who was watc hing him closely that moming has given us the follOWing account: " He grew tenser as the last seconds licked off. He scarcely breathed. li e he ld on 1'0 a I>oSI to steady him self. ... When the anll o un cer sho ut ed 'Nowl' and there came this tremendous burst or light, fo ll owed ... by the deep-growling roar of the explosion, hi s

"

III NDU ISM 13

face relaxed in an expression of tremendous relief." 11lis much from th e outside But what Oas hed through Oppenheimer'sown mind dur- ing those moments, he recalled later, were t ...... o lines from the B/lagavad-Cita in which th e speaker is God:

I am become creath, the shatterer oj worlds; Waiting tlwt 11OU" tJwt ripens to thei" doom .

11li5 incident provides a profound symbol for this chapter's opening, and Mahabna Candhi's life can join it in setting the stage for the faith we are about to eIplore. In an age in which viole nce and peace faced each other more fatefully than ever berore, Candhi's name became. in the middle of our centu ry, the counterpoise to th ose of Stahn and Hitl e r. The achieveme nt for whic h the wo rld credited this man (wh o weighed less than a hund red pounds and whose world ly possessions whe n he died were worth less than two doll ars) was th e British withdrawal from Ind ia in peace. but wha t is Icss known is that among hi s O'Nll peop le he lowered a barrier morc formidabl e than that of race ill Am crica. He renamed India's un- touchables linrijn", "Cod's people." and T'.ilsed them to hum an stat- ure. And in doing so h e p rovided the Ilonviolent strate~'Y as well as th e inspiratio n for Martin Luther King, Jr.'s comparab le civil righ ts movement in lhe United States.

Candhi's own inspiration and sLrategy c arries uS directly illto this chapler's subject , for he wrote in his Autobiogrn,J"!I: "Suc h power as I possess for wo rking in the political field has derived from myexper- iments in the spiritual6cld." III that spiritual field, he went on to say, *truth is lh e sm'ereign principle, and the Blwgaooll-Cita is the book 1Mr e%Cell~ for th e knowledge of Truth ."

\Vlwt People Want If we were 10 take Hindu;sm as a whole-its vast li terature, its com, plicated rituals, its sprawli ng folkways. its opu lent art - and compress it into a single affimlation , we wou ld lind it saying. ou can have what you wallt

This sou nds promising, but H throws the prob lem back in our laps. For what do we wan t? It is easy to give 11 si mpl e answer-not easy to give a good one Indi a has li ved with this question for uges and has her answer W'.!iti ng . Peop le. she says, wJ.nt four thing

I" TIl E WORUYS RELIC IONS

Th ey begin by wanting pleasu ra Th is is natural. We are aU born wi th built-ill pleasure-pain reactors. If we ignored these. leaving Ou r hands o n ho t stoves o r stepping ou t of seco nd -s tory wind ows. we 'NOu ld 500n di e. Wh at could be more obvious, th en, than to follow the prom ptings o f pl easure aJld entrust our lives to it?

Having heard- for it is co mm o nl y a1 leged- that Ind ia is ascetic. o ther-wo rldl y, and life-denying, we migh t expec t he r attitud e to\wro hedo nists to be scolding, but it is not. To be sure, Indi a has not made pl eas ure he r hig hest good, but this is differe nt from condemning e njoyment. To the perso n who wants pl eas ure, India says in effect: Co after it - there is no th ing wrong with it; it is one o f the four legi tim ate e nds of life. 111e world is awas h with beau ty and heavy with sens ual de lig hts. Moreove r, th ere are worl ds above thi s one where pleasures increase by powers of a million at each rung, and these worl ds, too, we shall experi ence in du e course. Like everyth ing e lse, hedon ism req ui res good se nse. No t every impuls e can be fo lJowed with impu - nity. Small immediate goals mu st be sac ri6ced for long-range gains. and impulses that would inj ure othe rs must be c urbed to avoid Wltago nism s and re morse. Onl y the st upid will li e, steal , o r cheat for immediate pro6t, or succumb to addi ctio ns. 8u as ong as the basic. rules of moraUly are o~j)'Ou are Free to seek all the ~>l!I ... ,,!!!l!§,l'IlI1 want. Far From co nde mn ing pl easure, Hindu texts ho use poi nters on how to en large its scol:>e. To simple peo pl e who seek pleasure almost exclus ively, Hin duism presents itself as little more than a regi me n for e nsuring heal th and prosperity; whil e al the other e nd of the spec- trum , for soph is ticates, il e labora tes a sensual aesth etic th at shocks in its exp lj ci tness. IfTPleasure is what you want, do not suppress ~ d esire. Seek It intelligent".

TIl is India says, and wai ts. It waits fo r th e time-it will co me to everyo ne, though not to everyo ne in o ne's present life-when one reali7.es th at pleasure is not all that one wants. TIle reaso n everyone eventuall y comes to this d iscovery is not beca use pleasure is wicked , but beca use it is 100 trivial to satisfy o ne's total nature. Pleas ure is esse ntiall y pri vate, and th e self is too s mall au object for perpetual e nthu sias m . Soren Kierkegaard tried For a while what h e called th e aesthetic life, which made e njoyme nt its guiding principle, only to expe ri e nce its r'ddi cal failure, whi ch he described in Sickness Unto Deatll . ~ In th e bottomless oceu n of pl easure. ~ he wrote in hisJounl(ll. -I have sounded in vai n for a spo t to cast ancho r. I have felt th e almost

III NDU ISM " I csis tibl e I~'er with whi c h o ne pl easu re drugs anoth e r aft e r it. the ~~Id of adu lt erated e nthusiasm which it is capabl e of produci ng , the hamdom . th e lonn e nt whi ch foll ow," Even playboys-a type seldo~n

redih:.od with I)rofundity- have been known to conclude, as one did ~enlly, th at -Th e glamou r of yesterday I have co me to see as tin~I. " Soo ne r or late r eIo"t!ryone wants to experi e nce more than a kaleid o- scope of mom e ntary pleasures. hCM'e\lc r delectab le. .

Wh e n this time co mes th e individual's interests usuall y sluft to the seco nd major goal of liFe, which is wo rldl y success l with its th~ prongs of wealth , fame. and power, This too is a worthy goal, to be nel· th e r sco rn ed nor co nde mned. Moreove r. its satisfactio ns last l onge~, for (unlike pl easure) success is a soc ial achi eve me nt , and as such It involves th e li ves of othe~ f o r this reaso n it co mmands a scope and imporlance that pl easure cannot boast.

This poi nt does not have to be argued for a co nte mpor'.lry West· ern audie nce. Th e Ang lo-America n te mperament is not vo l up~u~us, Vi sit ors from abroad d o not 6nd Engli sh-speaki ng peopl es e nj oyi ng life a grea t de al , o r mu ch bent on doing so- they are too bu sy. ~eing ena mo red not of se nsuali sm but of success, what lake s arguing III th e Wes t is not th at ac hi eveme nt's rewards exceed those of th e senses but th a t success too has its limitatio ns - th at ~What is he worth?" d oes not co me down to - H ow mu ch h as he go t?'"

Indi a acknowledges that drives for power, position, and possessions mn deep. Nor shou ld they bedisparnged per se. A modicum.ofworl~ly success is indispensable for su pporting a household and dlsc hargmg civic duties responsi bl y. Beyond th is minimum , worldl y achieveme nts confer digni ty and self-respect. In the end , however, th ese rew-ws .too h ave the ir tenn , Fo r they all harbor limitations iJlat " 'e can det:U,I:

L. We alth , fame. and J!OWCr are exclu sive. he nce competitive. he nce precarious. Un like mental and spiritual values, th~ d~ ,nol multiply when sh~ th ey c annotbe.distributed withoul dlmllllsh· ing one"s own portion. 1f I own a dollar, th~t d~lla,r is no t ,yours ; whil e I am sitti ng o n a chai r, you can not occupy II , Similarl y Wllh ~ame a nd )OWer. T he idea of a nation in which everyo ne is famous IS a co n- ~radicti ol1 in te rnlS; and if powe r we re distrib uted equall y, no one would be powerful in the sense in which we custon~arily us~ th e word. From the co mpe titiveness of th ese goods to their precarious- ness is a short step. As o th e r peopl e w,Ult th e m too, who knows wh e n success will c hange h ands?

2. The ~ for .JCCf! s is insatiabla A fijUalificalion is needed here. for ~Ie do ge' enough money. fame. and power. It i when th ey make these things their chief IUTlbition that their lusts can not be satisfied. For these are flot the things people really want, and people can neve r get enough of what they do not really want. 111 Hindu idiom. 10 try tocxtinglliSh the drive for riches with money is like try- ing to quench a fire by pouring bUller OYe r it."

Th e West, too. knPWS this point. "Poverty co nsi sts, not in th e decrease of one's possPssions, but in th e increase of one's greed: wrote Plato. and Creg()ry Nazianzen. a theologian, concurs: ~Could you from all the world iJ lI wealth procure. more would remain, whose lack would leave you p:>Or: MSuccess is a goal without a satiation point," a psychologist has rece ntl y written, and sociologists who studied a midWestern ,own found "'both business men an d working men rUllning fOr dear Ofe In th e business of making the money th ey eam keep pace with tlie eve n more rapid growth of their subjective wants." It wa!i from ln ll ia that the West appropriated the parable of th e donkey driVer who kept his beast movi ng by dangling before it a carrot attached to a sliP that was fixed to its own ham ess.

3. The third probh,m with worldly success i,1denticaJ ·th that o(hedonism. It too cef, ters meaning in th e self, which proves to be too small for PerpetuaJ enthusiasm. Neither fortun e nor stalion can obscure the real ization lhat one lacks so mu ch e lse. .n the end eYery. one wants more from U(e Olan a country hom~ a ~rts car, and posh vacations.

4. Th e final reaso" why worldly success cannolsatisfy us com- pletely is that Its achlrvements are ephemerali Wealth. lime. and power do not SUrvive bltdilydeaO)-~You can'l take it with )'Du," as we routinely say. hud sind' wecannot, li s keeps these things from salis· fying us wholl)', for we are crea tures who can e nvis ion eterni ty and must instinCtively rue by co ntrast the brief purchase on time that worldly success comml'nds.

Before proceedin,lol; to tJl e other two things that Hindui sm sees people ""'Bu ting, it will be well to summari7,c the ones co nsidered thus far; HindUlilocat pleasure and success on th e Path of Desire. They use this Phrase Up-cause th e personal desires of the indiVidual have thus far been [ortlmost in charting life's course. Other goals li e ahead. but this does no l merul th at we shou ld berate these preliminar- ies. Nothing is gai ned JlY repressing desires wholesale or pretending

IIINOUISM 17

th d o not have them . As long as pleasure and success is what we

.twe d be · Ilh . think we want. we sho ul seek tJlem, remem nngon y e provISOS of nJd ence and fair play.

P Theguiding principle is not to tum from desire until desire turns from you. for Hind uism regards the objects of the Path of Desire as if they were toys· If we ask ourse lves whether there is anything wrong

·th toys. our answer must be: On the contrary. Ole thought of chil· ;'ren without them is sad. Even sadder, however, is the prospect of adults who fail to develop interests more Significant than dolls and trainS. By the sa me token. individuals whose da-elopment is not arrested will move through delighting in success and Ol e senses to the point where th eir attractions haye been largely OUlbtrOWn.

But what greater attractions does life afford? Two. say th e Hin· dus. In co ntrast with tJl e Path of Desire. th ey cons titute tJl e Path of Renunciation .

The word renunciation has a negati ve ring, ruld India's frequent use of it has bee n o ne of the factors in earning for it the reputation of being a life·denying spo il sport. But renunciation has two faces. 11 ca n stem rrom disillusionment and despair. the feeling tJlal it's not worth· whil e to extend o neself; but equally it can signal the susp icion that life holds mOre OJan one Is now expe ri e ncing. He re we find th e back. to-n atu re peOple-who renounce a£JJuence to gai n freedom from social rounds and the glut of things- but this is on ly the beginn ing. If ren un ciatloll always e ntail s the saCri fi ce of a trivial now for a more promising yet- ta-be. religious renunciation is like that of athl e tes who resist Indulgences that co uld dc(Ject th em from th e ir a11 - consuming goal . Exact opposite of disillusionment, renunciation in tJlis second mode is evide nce that tJle life force is strongly at work.

We must never forge t that Uioduism's "Path of Renunciation comes after Ihe Path of Desire. If J?Cf!Ple could be satisfied by rollow- ing their hnpulscs, the thought of renunciation would never arise.

or does it OCCur only to those who have failed on the fonner path- the disappointed lover who enters a monastery or nunnery to com- pe nsate. We can agree with th e disparagers that for suc h people renunciation is a salvaging act - Ole attempt to make the best of per· sonal d efeat. What forces us to listen att entive ly to Hindui sm's hypothesis is tlle testimony of those ~h~ stride the Path 0: Desire famously and still find themselves Wlslung for more than II offers. These peop le- not th e olles who renounce but th e ones who see

18 T il E WO RLD'S IU.: I.JG IONS

no thing to reno un ce for -are th e world 's real pessimis ts. For to li ve. people mus l believe in th at for th e sake of which th ey li ve. As long as th ey sense no futility in pleas u re and Success, tJl ey can beli eve th at ~Iose are wortJl living fo r. 8uI if, as Tolstoy po ints oul in hi s Confu- .ntm.$, they can no lo nge r beli eve in tJl e finite, they will believe in the infinite or th ey will di e.

Lei us be cl ear. Il induis m d ocs not say that ever)Une in his o r he r prese nt life will find th e Path of Desire wanting . For agai ns t a vas t tim e scale. Hinduism draws a distinc tio n the Wes t too is famili ar wi th - tha t between chrono logical and psychological age. T\\-'O pe0- ple, both fo rty-s ix, are th e same age c hron ologicall y, but psyc hologi _ call y o ne may be still a c hild and th e o th e r an ad uh . 111e Hindus ex te nd thi s d istin c ti on 10 cover multipl e life spans, a point we shall take up explici tl y whe n we co me to th e id ea o f re incarnation, As a co nsequ e nce we shall find me n a nd wome n wh o play th e ga me of d es ire with all the zes t of nin e-rear-o ld cops and robbers; th oug h th ey kn ow littl e e lse, they will di e with th e se nse of having lived to th e full and e nte r th ei r ve rdi c t th a t life is good. But e quall y, the re will be o~hers wh o pl ay thi s bram e as abl y, yet find its laure ls paltry. Wh y th e differe nce? Til e e nthusiasts, say th e II indus, are caughl in th e Ou sh of nove lty. whereas th e oth ers, having pl ayed the game O\Ier and O'\Ie r again. see k otJl e r wo rlds to co nque r.

We can d esc ri be th e typ ical experience of this second type. Th e .... ,orld·s visibl e rewards still a ttrac t the m strong ly. Th ey throw th e m- selves into e njoyment , e nlargi ng th ei r holdings and advanci ng !llei r sta- tus. But nei the r the purs uit nor th e a ttai nme nt brings true happiness. Some of !lIe tJli ngs th ey want theyf.ul logel, and this makes th em mis- erable. Some they get and hold onto fo r a wh ile, olll y to have the m sud - de nly snatched a ..... ay. and agai n tht:yare miserable. So me they both ge t an d keep, onl y to find th a t (like tJl e C h ris tm ases of many ado lescents) they d o no t bring the joy th at was expec ted. Many experie nces th ai th ri ll ed on fi rs t e nco unter pal l all th e hun dred th . Thro ug hou t, eac h attainme nt see ms 10 fan the fla mes o f new des ire: none sa tisfies full y; and all , it beco mes evidc nt , perish wi lh ti me. Eventuall y. th ere co mes (rVe r th e m the suspi cion thalth cy are ca ug ht o n a treadmill , havi ng to rull fas te r and fas le r for rew.mls th at mea n less and less,

~hen th at suspicio ll d awn s and thl:y find th e mselves cryi ng. "Valllty. va nity, all is w nitylR it may occ ur to th e m that th e probl e m ste ms fro m th e smalln ess of lh e sc lflhey have bee n scrambling to serve.

IIi ND UISM " What if th e focus ofthe iT co nce m were sh ifted? Mi ght nol beco ming • part of a larger. mo re significan t whol e reli eve life of its tri vialil yr

Tha t questio n an nou nces the birth of re ligio n. Fo r th o ug h in som e wa te red-down sense the re may be a relig ion o f se lf-wors hip. true religio n begi ns wi th !lIe q uest for meaning and ",..tue beyo nd self-cente red ness. It renoun ces th e ego's claims to finali ty.

But what is th is re nun ci ati on fo r? Th e qu estion brings us to th e tv.'O signpos ts 0 11 th e Puth o f Ren un ciatio l} , l1le fi rs t of these reads '"th e communit y. R as the obvi ous candi date for some thing greate r tha n o ur- selves. In supporting at once our own life and th e li ves of others. th e commun ity has an im portance no sing le life call co mmand . Le t us, th ell. transfe r our all egiance to it, givi ng its claims prio ri ty over ourown .

Th is trans fer marks th e fi rst great step In re lig io n. It produ ces the relig ion of dut y. afle r pl easu re and success th e third g reat aim of life in !lU:l Hindu o utloo k. Its powe r 0\Ie1"" Ol e mature is tre me ndo us. Myriads h ave tran sformed th e will -to-ge t into th e will -to-give, the will -ta- will into the will -to-se rve. No t to triumph but to do the ir bes t - to acquit th e msel ve s responsibl y. whateve r th e task at hand - has beco me th ei r prime objective.

llinduism abounds in di recti ves to peop le who would put th e ir should e rs to tJl e social whee l. 11 de tail s du ties app ropriate to age. te mperame nt. and social sta tus. Th ese will be examined in subse- qu e nt secti ons, lI ere we need onl y repeat wha t was said in co nn ec- tio n wilh pl eas ure and success: Du ty. too. yields no tabl e rewards. onl y to leave th e human spirit un61led. Its rewards requi re ma tu rit·y to be app rec iated . but give n maturi ty, they are substantial . Fai thful perfonn ance o f du ty b ri ngs respec t and g ratitude fro m one's peers, More impo rtant. however. Is the self-respect that comes fro m d oi ng o ne's p art , But in the e nd even th ese rewards p rove insuffi cie nt. For eve n whe n li me tunlS co mmunity into h istory, h is tory, standing alone, Is finite and he nce ultim ate ly tr.t.gic. It is tragic not only beca use it mu st e nd -eventual ly h istory, too, wi ll d ie - but in its re fusal to be pe rfec ted , Hope and h is tory are always light -years apart . Th e final human good mu st lie el~here.

What Peopu, ReaUy Want

'"There comes a tim e." Aldous Huxley wrote. '"wh e n one as ks eve n of Shakespeare, eve n of Bee tJlove n, is thi s all ?"

to TilE WORLD'S HEI.ICIONS

It is difficult to think or a sentence lhat identifies Ilinduism's alt!· tud e toward the world more precisely. The world's offeri ngs are not bad. By and large theyaregood. Someorthem are good e nough 10 com· mand our enthu siasm ror many liretimes. Evenlually, however, every human bei ng COrn (.'S to reali .. .e with Simone Weil that ~there is 110 tnle good here below, thai everything thai appears 10 be good in thi s world is finite.limiled, ~"CalS out, and o nce wom oul, leaves necessity exposed in all its nakedness. " . When this point is reached, one finds oneselr asking eve n or th e best this worla ca n offer, "Js tJlis all ?"'

This is the mom en t Hinduism has been waiting ro r. As long as people are conte nt with the prospect or pl easure, success, o r serviCe, the Hindu sage will not be likely 10 disturb them beyond offering some suggestio ns as to how to proceed more e lfec ti vely. The c riti cal point in lire comcs when tJl cse things lose thei r original c harm and one finds oneselr wishing Utat lire had something morc 10 offer. Whether lire does or does not hold more is probably the question that divides people mon:: sharply than any other;

Th e Hindu Wlswc r to th e question is UIlC(lIdvocal. Lire holds other possibilities. To see wha t these are we must relurn to the ques· tion or what people .... "aIlL Thus rar, Hindui sm would say, we have been answering tJlis question too superfi Ciall y. Pleasure, success, and duty arc never humanit y's ultimate goals. AI best they ure means that we ass um e will take us in the dirl."Ction or whnt "-'tJ really want. What we reall y want are things thai lie at a deeper leve l.

First, we wanl being. Everyone wanls to be rather th an not be; 1I0rm:lll y, no ont'! wants to die A World War II co rrespo ndent once descril>ed the abnosphere or a roo m co ntai nin g thirty.five men who had been assigned 10 a bombing mission rrom which, on averuge, o nl y o ne·rourth returned. What he relt inlhose men , the correspon· dent noted, was 1I0t so much rellr as "a profound reluclance IOhrive up lhe rutu re.· Their sentim ent ho lds ror us all , the Hindu s would say.

one or us take happily 10 the thought or a rulure in which we shall have no part.

Seco nd , we wanl lu know. Whether it be sc ie nti st's probing th e secrets or nuture. a typical ramily watching the nig htl y news, or neighbors ca tchi ng up o n local gossip. we are Insatiably cwiou Experiments have shown that even monkeys wi ll work longer and hard e r to discover what is o n th e oth e r side or a trapd oo r lhan th ey will ror ei the r rood or sex.

III NDUISM tt

The third thing people seek Is jay, a feeling lone Ihat Is the oppo-- lite offruslration, rutllity, and boredom.

Th ese a re what peopl e reall y want. To which we should add, ir we are to co mpl ete th e Hindu answer, that th ey ~"ant these things infinitely. A di stin c ti ve reature or hum an lIature is its capacity to think o r some thing tJlal has no limits; the infinite. This capac ity affec ts all human lire, as de C hirico's painting "Nos talgia or tJl e Infinite" poignantly suggests. Me ntio n any good, a nd we can imagine more or it -and , so imugining, wallt that more. Medical scie nce has doubled lire expec tan cy, but has living twice as long made people readier to die? To state the rull truth, th e n. we must say that what ~ people wou ld reall y like to h ave is infinite bei ng, infinite k~~rledge, ~ and infinite bliss. They might have to settle ror less. but till s IS what ..\...l th ey really wanl. To gathe r th e wanls into a si ng le word, whatl>eOp le «::::::.. really want is libemtion (moksll6)- release rrom tile linitu~e that ~ restricts us rrom the limitless being, consciousness, and blass ou r

hearts d(.osire. Pleasure, success, responsible discharge of duty, and libcmtion -

we have completed the circui t or what peop le think they ~nt and what they want in actuality. This takes us back to tJle staggenng con· elusion with which our su rvey or Hindui sm began. What people Ill OSt woint, illat illey can have. Infinite heing, inflnile awareness, and infinite bliss are within tJleir reach . Even so, the most startling state- ment yel awaits. Not on ly are tllese goods within peoples' reach, says Ilin duisl1l . People already possess them.

For what is a human being? A body? Certainl y, but anything else? A personality that inc!udes m~nd, lIIemo~es, and .prupe~ISiti~S that have derived rrom a ulllque trajectory or hre-expcnences. Tills, too, but anything more? Some say nO, but Hinduism disagn:es' Underlying the human selr and an imating it is a reservoi r or being that never dies, is never exhausted, and is unrestricted in conscious· ness and bliss. This iurUlite center or every lire, this hidd en se lr or Atma" is nu less than Brahmall , tJl e Godhead. Body, personaJity, and AtmlJ,,:Brohmarl-a human selrls not co mpl e telyaccoutlled for until

all three are noted. But ir this is true and we reall y are inlillite in our being. why is

Ulis 1I0t apparent? Why do we not act accordingly? " I don't ~eel par· ticularly unlimited today,· one mo.)' he prompted to observe: "~d my neighbor- J haven't noticed h is behavior to beexactlyCodllke. Ilow

U Til E WORLD'S RELI GIONS

can the Hi ndu hypothesis withstand the evide nce o f the mo rn ing newspape r?

The answe r, say th e Hindu s, lies in the de pth at which th e Eter- nal is bu ried under the almost im penetrable mass o f distractions, fal se assumpti o ns, and self-re!,rarding instincts tha i comp rise o ur sur- face se lves. A lam p can be covered with dust and dirt to th e poinl of o bsc uring its lig ht co mple tely. Th e problem life poses for the hum an self is 10 cleanse th e dross of its being to th e po int where it s infin ite ce nte r can shine forth in full display.

The Beyond Withi"

-nle aim of life, - Justice Ho Lm es used to say, -is to gel as far as possi - ble from imperfection.- Hindui sm says its purpose is to pass beyond im perfectio n a1toge th e r.

tr we were to se t out to co mpil e a catalog ue o f th e specific imper- fec ti o ns that hedge our li ves, it would have no e nd . e lack streugth and imtWnation to effect our dreams: WE' grow tiret{, fall ill, and al'Q foolish , We fail and become disco uraged: we grow old and die. Lis ofthi sort could be extended inde6nite ly, bUllhere is no need , for all specific limitations reduce to three basic variants. We are limited i"-, joy, knO'Nledge, and being, the three things pt."O.Qle really WIlgt.

Is it possible to pass beyond til e strict u res that separale us from these tllings? Is it feasible 10 seek to rise to a quality of life that. because less ci rcumscribed, wouJd be life indeed?

To begin wilh Lh e strictures 0 11 our j oy, these fa ll into th ree sub- gro~ps : ~hysical pain, frustration that arises from th e th .... 'Urting of deSIre, and boredo m with life in general.

Physical pain is th e leas t troublesome of th e th ree. As pain's intensity is partly due to the fear tha t accompanies it, the conquest of fear can red uce pain concomitan tl y. fl;Iln Cin a1so b:e.Acc.eptedwheo i1..ha..u..pucpose...a.s..a..pati.en.Lweicom the return ofl ife and feeling, even..pa.infulfeeling, to a1r:o:wn arm . Again , pai n can be overridden by an urgent purpose, as In a football game. In extreme cases of use- less pain, it may be possi bl e to 3Jlesthetb.e it through drugs or contro l of the senses. Ramakrishna, the greatest Hindu sai nt of the n ine- teenth centu ry, died of cance r o f th e throat. A d octor who was ~xa~ining him in til e las t stages of th e disease prolx.>tl his degcnerat - 1IIg tissue and Ramakrishna flin ched in pain . "Wait a minute, - he said;

IIINDUISM 13

the n, -Go a1lead: after which th e doctor cou ld probe without resis- tance The pa tient had focused his attenti on to the po int where ne rve impulses could barely gai n access. One WolY or another it seems pos- sible to rise to a poi nt where physical pain ceases to be a major probl e m .

More se ri ous is the psycho logical pain tll a t arises from til e thwarting of speci fic desires. We wan t to win a tournam e nt , but we lose. We wunt to pr06t. but th e deal fa ll s through. A promotion goes to o ur co mpetitor. We wuu ld like to h ave been invited, but are snubbed. Ufe is so 611ed with disappointments that we are likely to assu me that th ey are built into tile hu man co nditi on. On exami- nati on , however, there proves to be so me thing disappoi ntmen ts share in com mon. Each thwarts an expectation of the indi vidual ego. If the ego were to have no e:cpectatio ns. the re wou ld be nothing to disappoint .

If tllis sounds like e nding an ai lm e nt by killing !lIe pat.i e nt , th e same point can be stated positivel y. Wh at if th e inte rests of th e self were expa nded to th e point of approximating a Cod's-eye view of hum anit y? Seeing a111hings unde r tll e aspect of ete rnity · ..... ou ld make one o bj ective toward o neself, accepting failure as on a par with suc- cess in the stupend ous human dram a of yes and 0 0, positive and negative, push and pull. Personal fai lure 'would be as small a cause for concern as playing th e role of loser in a summe r th eater perfor· man ce. How could one feel disappointed at one's own d efeat if one expe rienced the vic tor's joy as also o ne's own; how cou ld being passed over for a promotion touch one if one's competitor's success we re e nj oyed vicarious ly? Instead o f cryi ng "'i mposs ibl e, R we should perhaps co nte nt o urselves with noti ng how differe nt this would feel from life as it is usually lived, for reports of th e g reates t spiritual ge- niuses suggest l hat th ey rose to something like thi s perspective.. - Inas much as you have done it unto tJl e least of these. yo u have done it unto me--are we to suppose that Jesus was posturing when h e uttered those words? We are told dial Sri Ram akrish na o nce

howleJ willi lX1in wilen lie saw two boatmen quarrelling angrily. lie ca me to identifyllimself witli tlw sorrowr of the whole world, however impure a,ul murderous tlle y mig/It be, untU his Ileart was scored with scars. But he knew tllat lie must love Cod ill all sorts and co,ulitums of men, however antagonistic mulllOstile, and in

!.4 Till-: WORLD'S R~:UCIONS

aIJ !on,1S of IIlOllght controlling d Wk existence and often ,~ettfng them at variaJlce to ane (lriother. 3

Detachment from the Anite se lf or attachm ent to the whole of things-",'e can stale the phenomenon either positive ly or nega- tively. When it occurs, life is lined above the possibili tyoffrustrntiOI1 and al>O\'e ennui-the tllird threat to joy- as well . for the cos mic drama is too spectacu lar to pennit boredom in the face or such vivid identification,

The second gr:e.aLJim ituliOll. oLhwnan life is ignocance. 111e Hindu s claim thai thi s. too, is rem oyable. The Upanishads speak of a "knowing of That the knowledge of w hich brings knowledge o f every- thing," It is 1I0t likely that "everythi ng" here impli es literal om ni - science. More probably, It refers to an in sig ht that lays bare the point of everyuling , Given that summ arizing insight. to ask for d etai ls would be as irrelevant as aski ng the number of atoms ill agreat paint- ing, When th e pOint is grasped, who cares about detai ls?

But is tran scen d e nt knowl e dge eve n in this more res tri c ted sense possible? C lea rl y. mystics think that it is. Academic psycho logy has not followed tllem all the way. but it is co nvinced that there is far more to tile mind than appears on its surface. Psycho logists liken the mind to an iceberg, most of which is invisible. What does the mind's vast , su bm erged ballast co ntain? Some think it contai ns every mem - ory and expe ri e nce that has come its way. nothing being fo rgotte n by th e deep mind that never sleeps, Others, (jke Car l lung, think it includes racial memori es that s ummari 7.e the experie nce of the entire huma n species. Psychoanalysis aims a few pinpoi.nts of light at this mentw darkness. Who is to say how far the darkness can be d;<peJled?

As for life's thinilimitation, ~triclc.d~. to profitabl y con - sider this we have first to ask how the boundary o f the self is to be de6ned , Not. certainl y. by th e amount of physi cal space our bodies occu py. th e amount o f water we displace in the bathtub. It makes mare se nse to gauge our being by th e size or our spirits. the range of reality with which they identify, A man who id e ntifies with his f.'lmily, finding his joys ill th eirs, wou ld have that muc h real ity; a woman who co uld identify with humankind would be that much grealer. By this c riterion people who cou ld id e ntify with being as a whole ,",,'QuId be unlimited , Yet this seems hardl y right , for they 'wou ld still di e. Th e

IIi NDUISM

object of their concerns would co ntinu e. but they themselves would

be gone. , We need, therefore, to approach this question Ofbelllg not o nl,y

spatially. so to speak. but also in tenns of time. Our everyday expen - ence provides a wedge for doing so. Strictly speaking, e\'ery moment of Ollr li ves is a dying; the I of that moment dies, nC\'er to be ~bom, Yet despite the fact that in this sense my life collsists of nothmg but funerals, I do not co nceive of myself as dying each moment. for' do not equate myself with my individual moments, I endure through them -experiencing th em, without being identical with any of th~m in ilS si ngulari ty, Hinduism carries this notion II step fu,:her, I,t ~Slts an extens ive self that lives successive lives in the way a Single life lives successive moments,

A child 's heart is broken by misfortunes we cons ider trivial. It identifies comple tely with each inc ide nt. being unable to, ~ee ~t IIbrainst the backdrop of a whole, variable lifetime. A I,ot uf,lNlng IS required before the c hild call withdraw ilS self-ide nllfi caho n from th e individuw mom e nt and approach . thereby, adu lth ood. Com- l>ared with children we are mature. but co mpared witl,l saints we ~re childre n , No mo re ca pabl e of seei ng our total se lves III perspective than a th ree-year-old who has dropped its ice cream cone. our atten- tion is fixat(..'<i on our present life span, If we cou ld mature com pl e te ly .... oe would see that lifespan in a larger se tting. one that is. actually, un ending, .

This is the basic POUlt in the Hindu estimate of tile human co ndi - tion , We have seen that psychology has accustomed us to the fact that there is more to ourselves than we suspect. Like th e eighteenth cen· tury European view of th e earth , ou r minds have their ~ darke~t Africas. their unmapped Borneos, th eir Amazonian basl~s. ,Th~lr bulk co ntinues to await explorati on. Hinduism sees th e ~lI1d ~ hl~­ d e n co ntin e nts as stretching to infinity. Infinite in being, m6mte III awareness. tbere is nothing beyond them that remains unknow~. Infinite in joy, too, for there is nothing alien to them to mar th eir

beatitude. Hindu literature is studded with metaphors and parables that

a re d es igned to awaken us to th e realm s of go ld that are hidd en in ~Ie depths of our bei ng, We are like kings who. fa ll ing victim to amn eSia, wander our kingd oms in tatters not knowing who we reall y ure Or li ke a lion cub who, having become sep arated from its mothe r. is

!6 T ilE WORLD'S REU C IONS

raised by sheep a nd tukes to graz ing and bleating on th e assumption that it is a sheep as well. We are like a 1000 r who, ill his dream , sea rches the wide ¥.'Orld in despair for his beloved. obli vio us of th e fac t that she is lying a t his side throug hout.

What the realization of our tota1 be ing is like can no more be described than can a sunse t to o ne bo rn blind; it must be expe ri . e nced. The biographies of th ose wh o have mad e th e di sc()\.'cry pro· vide us with clues. however. Th ese people are wiser; th ey have more stre ngth and joy. They see m freer, no t in th e sense tha t they go aro und breaking the laws of nature (though th e power to do excep' tional things is often ascribed to th e m) but in the sense that th ey seem not to find the natural order co nfining. Th ey see m sere ne, even radiant. Nat'ural peacemakers, the ir love flows outwurd , alike 10 all. Contac t with them strengthens and purifies.

Four Path. to the Cool

All of us dwell on th e brink of th e in£illite ocea n of life's creative power. We carry it within liS: supre me streng th , th e fullness of wi s· dom. unqu e nchabl e joy. It is nC\'er thwarted and can not be des troyed. But it is hidden deep. whi ch is what makes life a problem . Th e in6nite is dO'Nn in the darkes t, profoundest YIlu lt of our being, in th e forgotten well·house, th e deep ciste rn . What if we co uld bring it to light and draw from it un ceas ingl y?

TIlis qu es tion became Indi a's o bsess ion, He r people so ught reli. gious truth not si mpl y to increase th e ir store of general in formati on; they so ug ht it as a c hart to guid e the m to high e r stutes of bei ng. Reli - gious people were ones who we re see king to tran sfo rm their natu res, reshape the m to a superhum an paltem throug h which the infinite could shine with fewer obstructions. One feels the urgency of th e quest in a me taphor th e Hindu tex ts prese nt in many guises. Just as a man carryi ng on his head a load of wood thaI has ca ught fire would go rushing to a pond to quench th e flames, eve n so will the see ke r of truth , scorched by th e fires of life- birth, dea th , se lf·de luding futility-go rushing to a teacher wise to the \Wys of the things that matte r most.

Hindu is m's spec ific directions for actualizing the hum an pote n. ti al come und e r th e heading of yoga. n.e word o nce co njured images of shaggy nHm in lo incloths, twisting th e ir bodies into hum an pret'~ls

Ul NOU ISM 17

hile brandishing occu h pm.-ers. Now that the West has appropri· :00 the te rm , however, we are mo re like ly to think of lithe wo men exercising to retain their trim suppl e ness. Neither image, is tota~ly diyorced from the real articl e. but they re late on ly to ItS bodI ly aspects. TIl e word yogo deriYes from the same root :u does ~le EngHsh word yoke. a nd yoke carries a do~bl~ conno~~lOn : to UI~lte (yoke togeth e r), and to place unde r diSClpltned tratnlllg (to bnng under th e yoke, or "take Ill y yoke upon yo ul . Both conn otations,are present in the Sanskrit word. Defi ned ge neral ly. then. IJl!gtI IS a me thod of training designed to lead to integration o r ulllon. But

integration of what? , . . Some people are chie fl y interested to th e ir bodIes. Needless t.o

say, they have their Indi an coun te rparts -people who make th en bodies th e prime objects of tll ei r cOllcem and e ndeayor. ~or such people Indi a. through centu ries of experi me nt ation , has devised the mos t fantastic school of physical cu ltu re th e world has ever seen.· NOllhal she has been more inte res ted in the body than th e West~ he r inte res t has si mpl y take n a diffe rent tum. Whereas tI~e West. ~I as so ught strength and bea uty. indi a has bee n interested m p recISion an d co ntrol, ideall y compl ete co ntrol oyer the body's eve~ fu~ction . How many of he r incredi ble claims ill this area can be SCIe ntIfi cally corroborated remains to be see n.5 It is e nough here to note ~lal he r ex te ns ive instructions o n th e subjec t co mprise an authentic yoga. JllItJta yoga. Originally it was pmcticed as preliminary to spiritual yoga , but it has largely lost tlllS conn ecti on s~ it need not co nce rn us here. Thejudgment of the Hindu sages on thiS matter can be o~~ as well. In cred ible things can be done wi tll the body if ~u are Wll1 l,ng to give you r life to th e project. but tllese things have I.lttle to do WIth enlightenment. If their c ulti'>'ation ste ms (rom a deSIre to show off, they can actual ly impede spiritual growth.

The !lQ~s th at do concern us are th ose designed to unite the hum an ~'pi rit with the God who lies co ncealed in its . deepest recesses. MSi nce aU the Indian spiri tual las distinct from bod Il y) exer- cises are devoted seriously to this practic al aim-not to a.me rely fan- ciful co ntem platio n o r discussiOlI of lofty and profound ldeas-.th~ may well be regarded as representing one of the most. r,eahstic. matte r-of-fact. practical-minded systems oft houg hl and tralm~lg ever sc t up by the human mind. How to co me to Brahman IG~ III ~an­ skritJ and remain in touch witl_ Urahman; how to beco me Ide nhfied

28 Till<: WORL D'S RELI C IONS

with Ura..lunru!o li '!1!!g out of itj how to beco me divine while slill on earth - transformed. f"C,born ada mantin e while on the earthl y plane; that is the quest that has inspired and deified Ole human spiri t in Indi a throughout the ages.we

The spiri tual trails that Hindus have blrur.ed towanlthis goal are four. AI first this may see m surprising. If th e re is onc goal, sho uld th ere 1I 0 t be one path to it?Thi s might be th e case if we were all start - ing from the same point, though evell th e n diffe ren t modes of tran spo rt -walking, driving, (l ying- might co unsel alternate routes. As it is, people approach Ol e goal from different directions, so there must be multiple trails to Ol e commo n destination.

Where aile starts from depends on the kind of persoll one is. Th e point has not bee n lost o n Western spiritual directors. One of the most noh .. --d of these. Father SUrill, for example. criticize<I "directors who get a plan illto their heads whic h they app ly to all th e sou ls who come to them , trying to bring them into lin c with it like o ne who shou ld wis h ulilo wear the samec/ot hes." SI . John o r th e Cross call e d attention to th e same danger whell he wro l'e in The Living Flame th ut th~ aim or spiritual directors should "not be to guide souls by II way SUitable to themselves, but to ascertain the way by wh ich God I lim- selfis pointing them .w What is distinctive in Ilinduism is the amount of attention It has devoted to identirying basic spiritual personality types and the disciplines that are most likel y to work ror each. 11le result is a recogn ition. pervading the e ntire religion. Ihat Olere are multiple paths to God, eac b calli ng ror its distinctive mode or travel .

The num ber or the basic spiritual personality types, by I (jndu COll llt , is rour. (Car l Jllng bui lt his typology 011 th e Indian model, while modifying it in certain respe<:ts,) Some people are primarily ren.(.'cti~ Others are basicall y emotional. Sti ll others are essentiall y acllve. FlllaJly, some are experimentally inclined. For each or th ese personality types Ilinduism prescribes a distinct yOIJP tlmt is de.. signed to ca pitalize on the type's distinctive strenb>i.h. 111e types nrc not sealed in "outertight compartments. ror t."Vt:ry human being pos- sesses all rour talenls to some degree, just as mOSI hands or cards contnin all rour suits. But it makes sense to lead wiOI tile suit that is strongest.

Il four patlls bet.ri.Jl with IlIOral preliminaries. As tile aim or the ¥0lY!s is to render the surface selr transparent to its underlying divin - It y, It must first be cleansed or its gross Impurities. Religion is alwJ.)'S

III NDUISM " more than moralit y. but if it lacks a moral base it will not stand. Selfish acts coagula te the finite self instead o r dissolving it; ill-w ill perturbs Ol e flow or co nsciousness. 111e fi rs t step o r eYery yoga. therefore. involves the culti vation or snch habits as no n-inju ry. truth- ru lness, non-s tealing, selr-co ntrol, cleanliness. co ntentment. sel r- disciplin e, a nd a collllJClling desire to reach the goal.

Kee ping th ese COIIVlIon pre liminaries in mind. we are ready ror Ihe I)Ogas' distin ctive instructi ons.

The Way kJ God tlo ro ugh Knowledge

JIWFlO yoga, intended rOr spi ritual aspirants who have a stro ng reflec- tive bent, is the patl} to oneness with the Cod head through knowledge. Such know lcd.ge-the G reeks' gn08i.s and &,opMa-has nothing to do with ractual illfonnation; it is not e ncycloped ic It is., rather, an intui- tive discernment that tran srorms, turning th e knower eve utu all y into that which she knows. rShe" is appropriate here beca use in th e prill- cipal Wes te rn source- langu ages- H ebrew. Latin. and Greek-the words ro r kl10wledge in this mode are usually reminine in gender,) Thinking is important ror such people. They live in their heads a lot bec-.mse ideas have for tllCm all almost paip<lble vita1ity. tile)' dance and sing ror them. And ir such tllinkers are parodied as philosophers who walk around wi lh their heads in the clouds, it is because Ol e)' sense Plato's Sun sh ining above those clo uds. Thoughts hiIVC co nseque nces ror such people; tll eir minds an im ate thcir li ves. Not lIlanypeople are convi nced by Socrates' claim that "10 kllow the good is to do it," but in hi s OWII case he lIl ay have bee n reporting a strai ghtrorward ract.

For people thu s give n 10 knowing, Hinduism proposes a series or de mons trati ons that are designed to convin ce til e thiuker lhat she possesses more Ol all her liuite self. The rationale is straightrorward. Once the jnolW yogi grasps this point. her sense or self will shirt to a deeper level.

The key to the proje<:t is discrimination. the power to distinguish between the surface selr th at crowds th e foreground or attention and the larger selr that is ou t or sight. Cultivating this power proceeds through three stages. the first or which is leaming. Through listen ing to sages aJld sc riptu res and treati ses on th e ord e r or Thomn.'i Aquinas·s 5''''11110 71leologico, the aspirant is introduced to th e pros- pect lhat her esse ntial being is Bei ng itself.

30 TilE WORLD'S RELIGIONS

111e seco nd step is thinking, By prolonged, intensive reflection. that which th e first step introduced as a hypothesis must assume life. Th e Atmo'l (Cod within) must c hange from concept to realization, A numberoflin~ of reflection are proposed for this project. For exam- pie. the disciple may be advised to examine our everyday langu age and ponder its implications. nle word - my" always implies a distinc- tion between the possessor and what is possessed; when J speak of my book or my jacket. I do not sup pose that J am those things. But I also spea k of my body, my mind, or my personaJity, giving evide nce thereby that in some sense 1 co nsider myself as disti nc t from them as well. Wh at is this ~ I " that possesses my body and mind , but is not the ir equivalent?

Again, scie nce te ll s me that there is nothing in my body that was there seven years ago, and my mind and m y personality have unde r- gone co mparable c hanges. Yet. throug hout th e ir manifold revisions, I have remained in some way th e same person. the person who be- lieved /lOW this. now thai ; who once was young and is now old. What is this something in my makeup. more constant than body or mind. that has endured th e changes? Seriously pondered. this question can di se ntangle one's Self from one's lesser idcllti6calions.

Our word ~personwity" comes from th e Latin penona, which origi- nall y referred to the mask an actor donned as he stepped onto the stage to play hls role, the mask through (per) which he sounded (sonarg) his part. nle mask registered the role. while behind it the actor remained hidden and anonymous, woof from th e e motions he e nacted. This, say th e Hindus, is perfect; for roles are precisely what our personaJities are, th e ones into which we have been cast for th e momen t ill this greatest of alltragi -comeciies. the drama of life itself in which we are si multaneously coauthors an d actors. As a good actress gives her best to be r part. we too should play ours to th e hilt. Where we go wrong is in mistaking our presently assigned part for what we truly are We raJl under th e spell of our lines. unable to remember previous roles we have played and blind to the prospecl of future o nes. nle task of th e yogi is to correct this fiU.se identifiC'.ltion. Thming her awareness inward. she must pierce th e innumerable layers oflicr personality until, hav- ingeut through the m all, she reaches the anonymous.joyfull y uncon- cerned actress who stands beneath,

The distinction between se lf and SeLf call be assisted by another image. A man is playing chess. The board re presents his wor ld. There

IIl NI)U ISM " are pieces to be moved. bishops to be won and lost, an objec tive to be

, cd Th e game can be won or lost, but not the player him self, Ifh e l!"', "wo~ked hard he has improved his game and indeed his faculties~ "'" , , l , . this happen s in defeat fu ll y as lIluc h as in victory. As t Ie co.ntes an. IS relal'ed to his total person, SO is th e finite self of any partic ular life- tim e re lated 10 its unde rl yi ng Atmoll.

Me taphors co ntinue. One of the most beautiful is found in ~,e Upanishads. as also (by interesting c?in~idenc~) in Pla,to. TIlere IS a ride r who sits sere ne and motionless In Ius c hanot . ~ laVing del~gated respon sibility for the joumey to his charioteer, hc IS. fr~ to SIt ~ack and give full attention to the passing landscape. In tliiS Image re.sldes a metaph or for life. Th e body is the c hariot. The road ove r which It travels are th e se nse objects. The ho rses that pull the cha riot over the road are tll e senses them selves. 11Ie mind that controls th e ~Ilses whe n they are disciplined is represen ted by tll e reins. The d~lslonal fac ulty of th e mind is the driver, and the mast e r of the C~I3,~Ut. who is in full authori ty but need lIever lift a finger. is th e Ommscle nt Se lf.

If th e !/Q{,ri is able and diligent, such re fl eetio.ns will, evenh.lall y

indu ce a li vely sense of th e infinite Se U t~al lInd~r~les o.nes Ir~nSI ?nt . finite self. Th e ty,,() will become inereasmgl y dlstm c t III o~es mind , separating like water and oil where form e rl y lh ey mixe d like wuter and milk. One is th e n ready for the tllird step on tlle path of k~~I­ edge. which co nsists in shifting he r self-identification to her abl~lI~g part , nle direc t "''Ily for her to do this is to think of herself as .S plnt . not oll ly during periods of meditatio n that are ~rved for ~IS pur- pose, but wso as much as possible while perfornung he r. daily tas~ This latter exerc ise. though, is not easy. She needs to dn ve a ~~ between he r skin-encaps ul ated ego and her Atman, and an ~d m doing so is to think of the fonn er in the third person. ~ns tea~ of I am walking down th e street: she thinks. -There goes Sybil waI~lI~g down Fifth Avenut; ~ and tries to reinforce tll e assertion by visual lzmg he r- selfrro m a di stam:e. Neither agent nor patie nt. her npproa~h to.what h ' " ' lh W ·tn-," She watches her unsubstanbnl hi story al>pens IS, am e I ... " . ,. with as much de tachm e nt as she le ts he r hair blow III the wllld-.JlI.st as II. lamp that lights a room is unconce rned with what goes on W1thm it, eve n so the yogi wutches what transpires ill hi s ho use ?f pro- topl as m. th e te xts teUus. ~Even the sun. with all its wannt~l . IS mar- ve lously detached~ was found scribbled somewhere 011 n pnson ~I~. Life's events are simply allowed to proceed. Seated in the denllsts

31 TilE WORLIYS RE.UC IQNS

c hair. Sybil not es, ~Poor Syb il . It will soo n be over. ~ But she mus t play fair and adop t lhe same post ll re w he n fortun e visi ts he r a nd she wou ld like no tiling bette r th an bask in th e praise she is receivi ng.

T hinking of oneself in the third person does tv.'O Ulings simulta· neously. It drives a wedge betwee n one's self-idc ntifica ti on and one's surface self, and at tile same tim e forces thi s self-id e ntifi cati o n to a deel>e r level until allasl. th rough a knowledge idcn ti cal wi th bei ng , one becomes in full what o ne always was at hea rt . ~That th oll art , oth e r than Who m th e re is no o the r seer, hearer, thinke r, or agent.~l

Th e Way to God 110 rough Love

Th e yoga o f knowledge is sai d to be til e sho rtes t IJat h to divine real- ization . It is also Ihes teepe5 t. Rcquiri ngas it does a rare combination o f rationality and spirituali ty, it is for a selcct few.

By and large, life is powered less by reaso n than by e motion; and of til e many e motio ns thai crowd th e human hcart. the stronges t is love. Eve n hale call be interpreted as a rebound from th e thwarting o f this impulse. Moreove r, peop le te nd 10 become like that w hi ch they love. with its name writt e n on their brows. 'Ole ai m o f blwkti yoga is 10 d irec t toward Cod th e love that li es at th e base o f every heart. "As the waters of til e Canges now incesS3n tJ y toward th e ocean ,~ says Cod in th e Blwgtloota Punma, "so do th e minds o f th e Makta move co ll sta ntJ y toward Me, Ul e Sup reme Persall res id ing in every heart, immediately tJl ey hear about My qualities."

In contrast to th e way of knowledge, bhakti YOIfP has cou ntless follov.rers, being. indeed. the mos t popular of the four. Tho ugh il orig- inntt.>d in nntiquit y, o ne of its best-known propon e nts was asixlee nth - centu ry mystical poetllamed Tul sid as. During hi s earl y married life he was inordin ate ly fond of his wife. to the point that he cou ld not abide he r absence even for a day. One day sh e ..... e nt to visi t her par- e nts. Before th e day was half oye r. Tu lsidas turned up at her si d e, ..... here u!>o n hi s wife exclaimed. "" ow passio nat e ly a ttac hed to me you arel If onl y you co uld sh ift. yo ur attac hm e nt to Cod, you would reach h im in no tim e. "~So I would. ~ th ought TuJsidas. He tried it. aJld it worked.

All the basic principles of bhokti yoga are richly exem plified. in C hri stianity. Ind eed, from th e l!indu p oint of view, C hri stia nity is one~:Teat brilliantl y lit bllOkti highway toward Cod, other paths bei ng

III NDU ISM 33

not neglected, but less clearly marked . O n !his path Cod is co n- ceived differe ntl y th an in ),wno. In j lla,w YOfIJ th e guiding image WolS of an infinite sea of being underlyi ng th e waves of our finite se lves. Thi s sea typified the al l-pervading Self, which is as mu ch within us as with ou t. and with which we should seek to identify. Thus envisio ned, Cod is impersonal . o r rath e r tr.mspersonal, for personali ty, being something d e finit e. seem s to be finite w hereas thejnanic Cod he ad is infinite To th e bhokti, for w hom fee lings are more real than thoughts, Cod appears differe nt on each of these co unts.

First. as h ealthy love is out-going, the bhaklo will rej ec t al l s ug- gestions tJl at th e C od on e loves is o neself, eve n one's deepes t Self, and insist on Cod's olh e nl ess. As a Hindu d evotional class ic puts th e point. '" want to tas le s ugar, I don't wan t to be sugar.~

Can water quoff itself? Con trees lOste of the frui t !lleY beO,.? fie who worship! Cod mlls t stand d istinct from Him, So only shall he know the jolJ/'ullove of Cod; Fo,. if he l ay that Cod and lie ai'll mae, Thot joy, Ihat love, .thoU vanisll in.dondy away.

Pmy no more for' utter onenUI witll God.: W/lt?t'tllvern the IJea uly if jewel and let ting weI'll one? Tile Ileat and llie shade are two, If not, where were the cmnforl of shade? Mother and child are two, If not. where were flu! love? W/ urn after being su ndered. llaey meet, What joy do they f eel. tile mother and childl whi!f'l! were joy, if the two were oneP Proy , then , no more for uHer mwnu! with Cod.·

Second. be ing persuaded of Cod's o th erness. th e blaakta's goal, too, wi ll diffe r from thejnani's. Th e IJhakta wi ll strive not to id e ntify with Cod, but 10 adore Cod with every e le me nt of his or h er bei ng . The words of Bede Frost . thoug h written in another traditio n. are direc tl y app li cabl e to this side of llind uism: ",1Ie union is no Pan - th eist absorption of the man in th e oue, but is esse ntiall y personal in c hnrac te r. More, si nce it is preemin e ntl y a union of love, tile kiud of kn ow ledge w hi ch is re(luired is that offrielldsh ip in th e very hig hes t

3<t TilE w O RLD'S RELIGIONS

sense or th e word.-· Finall y, in such a co ntex t Cod's personality, rar rrom being a li mitation, is indispe nsabl e. Philosophe rs may be able to IDYe pure being, infinite bt:yo nd all attributes, but th ey a re excep- lio ns. Th e normal object or human love Is 3 person wh o possesses attributes.

All we have to do in this yogtJ is to love Cod d early - not just claim such IDYe, but love Cod in ract: IO\'C Cod onl y (othe r things being loved in re lation to Cod); and love Cod ro r no u lte rior reason (not evc n rrom the desire ror Jjberation , o r to be loved in re tllm) but ror love's sake alon e. In so rar as we succeed in this \.\>"c know joy, for 110 expe ri e nce can co mpare with that orbeing full y and auule ntic all y in love. Moreover, every strengthening or our affec tions toward Cod will weaken the world's gri p. Saints may, indeed will, love tJm world more tJlan d o tJl e profan c; but they willlO'Je it in a \'Cry different way, see- ing in it the reflected g lory of the God th ey adore.

How is suc h love to be engende red? Obviously, the task wi ll no t be easy. 11le things of this world clamor ror our affection so inces - sa ntl y that it may be marvele d that a Being who can Il CiUIC r be seCli no r heard can cvcr become th e ir rival.

Enter Hinduism's myths, he r magnificent symbols, he r several hundred images of Cod, he r rituals that keep tuming nig ht and day like neve r-e nding praye r wheels. Valued as e nds in the mse lves these cou ld , of co urse, usurp Cod's place, but this is no t th e ir inte nt. 111ey are matc hmakers whose voca tion is to introduce the human heart to what UIt:y represe nt but th e mse lves are not. It is obtuse to co nru se Hindui sm's images with idolat ry, and th ei r multipljcity with polythe- ism. They are runways from which th e sense-lad e n human sp irit can rise for its "Hight of the alone to th e Alone. ~ Even village pri ests will freque ntly open th e ir tem pl e cere mo ni es with the rollowing beloved invocatio n:

o Lord. forgive lI. ree s ins tllat are due to my human limitations: TIWt, art everywhere. bllt I wars/lip you 11efl!; Thou art witl.out fonll , bll' I worslli" you i" tlu~se fonlls; TIWtI 'Ieedest no ""aue, yet I offer you these pmyen arid

,(Jiu/at jons.

Lord, forgive tI. ree si,u lIwt are due to my lIumanlimitation$.

A sym bol such as a multi -a rmed image, grap hi call y portraying Cod 's asto unding versa tilit y and supe rhuman mi ght , can epitomi 7.e

III NDU ISM 35

an entire Ul cology. Myths plumb depths that th e intellect can see only oblique ly. P.olrables an d legends present ideals in ways th at make hearers long 10 e mbod y the m -vivid s upport ror Irwin Edman's co n· lention th at - it is 3 myUl , not a Ilmnciat'e, arab le, 1I0t a logic by which people are movecl.- l1lC value of th ese Ulings lies ill their power to recall o ur minds from the wo rld's distractions to Ul e thought or Cod and Cod's love. In si nging Cod's praises, in praying to Cod with whol eh earted devotion , in meditati ng o n Cod's majes ty and glory, in reading abou t Cod in Ul e scriptu res. in regarding the e ntire universe as God's handiwork, we move our affections steadil y in Cod's di rec- tion . "Those who meditate on Me and worship Me without any attac hment to anything else, - says Lord Krishn a in th e BlwgtJood- Ciro, ~those I soon lin from the ocean of death .·

111ree features of ule bhakta's approach d eserve me ntion:japam, ringing the changes o n love, and the worship o f o ne's chosen ideal.

japam is ul e practice of repeating God's nam e. It finds a C hri stian paralle l in one orthe class ics or Ru ss ian s])irituality, The WlIy of a Pil- grim. This is the story of an unnamed )>casan t whose first conce rn is to fulfill th e biblical injunctio n to "pray with o ut ceaslng . ~ Seeking fo r someone who can explain how it is possible to d o this. he wanders through Russia and Siberia with a knapsac k of dried bread for rood and the c harity oflocals ror she h e r, cons ulting many aUUlOrities. only to be disa ppointed until at las t he meets a n old man who teaches him ~a constant, unint e mlpted calling upon the divin e Name or Jes us with Ul e lips, in th e spirit, in th e heart , during every occupalion , at all tim es, in aU places, even during sleep. - The pilgrim's teach e r trains him until he can repeat the name o r Jesus more Ulatl 12,000 limes a day wiUI- out straiu . TIlis frequent service of the lips imperceptibly becomes a gen uine appeal of UI C heart. TIm prayer becomes a consta nt , warm- ing presence wiLhin him that bri ngs a bubbling joy. ~Keep the name of th e Lord spinning in the midst of all your activities~ is a Hindu state-. men t of the sa me point. Washing o r weaving, planting o r shopping , im perceptibl y but indelibly these verbal droplets o r aspiration soak d own into th e su bconsc ious, load ing it with the divine.

Ringing the c hanges on love puts to religious use th e fact that love assumes different nuances according 10 ule relationship involved. TIl e love uf the parent ror th e c hild carries overtones of protect.i ve ness, wh e reas a c hild 's love incllld es depend ence. Th e love or rrie nds is differe nt rrom the conjugal love of woman an d man. Diffe re nt still is

36 TilE WORLD'S RELI G IONS

the love of a devoted servant for its mast er. Ilinduism holds that all of these modes have th e ir place in strength e ning th e love of Cod and e ncourages blwktas to make use ofthem all. In practice C hristia nity does the same. Most frequently it e uvisions God as benevole nt protec- tor, symboli:t.ed as lord or parent. but other modes are not abse nt. WWimt a Frie nd we have in Jes us- is a familiar Christian hymn, and "m y Master and my Friend" figu res prominc nLlyi n another Christian favor- ite. Cod figu res as spouse ill th e Song of Songs and in Christian mys tical writings where the marriage of the soul to C hri st is a standing meta- phor. The attitude of regarding Cod as o ne's c hild sounds somew hat foreign to Wes te rn ears, ye t llIu ch of the magic of C hri st mas derives fro m this being the o ne tim e ill tbe ~ar whe n God e nters th e he art as a child, e li ci ting th e re by th e tenderness of th e pare ntal instinct.

We come finally to the wors hip of God in the form of o nc's c ho- sen ideal. The Hindus have represented God in innumerable forms. This, th ey say, is appropriate. Each is but a symbol that points to so me thing beyond; and as no ne ex hau sts God's actual nature. L11t~ e ntire army is needed to co mpl e te the picture of Cod's aspec ts and manifestations. Bul thoug h th e representations )>oint equally to Cod. it is advisable for each devo tt.'e to form a lifelong attachme nt to o ne of th e m. Only so can its meaning deepen and its full JlO"'er become access ibl e. Th e represe nta ti on selected will be olle's ishta, or adopted fo rm of the divine. Th e bllllkto need not shun other forms, but this one will never be displaced and wi ll always e njoy a special place in its di sciple's heart. The ideal form ror mos t people will be olle of God's incamations, (or God can be loved most readil y in human form beca use our heart s are already attuned to loving people. Many Hindus acknowledge C hrist as a God-man, whil e beli evi ng that there have bee n otllers, such as Rama, Krishn a, and the Buddha. Whenever lh e stability of th e world is serio usly threatened, Cod descends to redress th e imbalance.

\Vhen good'lesS b'1"Oll)$ weak, \Vhen evil increases, I make myself a body.

In every ow: 1 COllie IXJCk 10 deliver the I.my, To dest roy the s in of the si ,mer, 10 establish the righteous. (BIIlIf!,Pooti-Ci ttJ , IV:7-B)

IU NDUI SM 37

The Way to God through Work

Th e third path toward Cod, intended for persons of active bent, is kafTllo YOgIJ. th e path to Cod throug h wurk.

An examination of Lll e anatomy and physiology of hum an bodies discloses an inte resti ng (act. All orga ns of diges ti on an d respirn ti o n serve to feed th e blood with nutriti ve mate rials. Th e Circ ul atory 3ppnralus de li vers thi s nouri shing blood through out the body, main· taining bones, joints. and muscles. Bones provide a framework with· out which the muscles co uJd not opera te, while joi nts su ppl y the nexibility needed for move me nt. The brain envisions the move ments thai are 10 be made. and Llle sp in al nervous sys te m exec utes Lll e m. The vegetati ve nervo us sys te m. he lped by th e e nd ocrine sys le m, mai ntains Lll e harm ony of the viscera on which th e motor muscles depend. In short, the e nti re body. except for the reproduc ti ve apparatus, converges on action . "TIl e human mac hin e. ~ a physician writes, ~seelll s indeed to be mad e for action.~IO

Wor k is Lll e staple of hum an life. Th e point is 1I0t simply lhat aU bUI a few people must work to survive. Ultimately, the drive to work is psychological rather than economic. Forced to be idl e. most people beco me irritable; forced to retire, LI ley decline. Included here nre compulsive housdeepers as ~ll as grea t scie ntists. such as Mm e. Curie. 10 suc h people Hinduism says. You don't have to retire to a cloister 10 reali :t.e God. You CWl find Cod ill the ,",,'Orld of everyday affairs as readily as anywhcre."11 lfOW yourself ill to )'Uu r ,",,'Ork with everything you have; only do SO wisely, in a way that will bring th e hig hest rewards, nol just trivia. Leanl th e sec re t or work by which every m{}\lcmenl can carry yo u Godward eve n whil e other things are being accomp li slu .. -d, like B wris twntch L1lat winds itself as other dulies are performed.

lI ow this is to be dOlle depends on th e o the r componen ls in th e worker's nature. By choosing the path of wo rk , the knnlla yogi has already shown au inclination toward ac ti vity, but there re mains the ques t:i on of whethe r Lll e su pporting disposi tion is predomi- nantl y affective or reneclive. The answer to Ihal question deter- mines whethe r the yogi approac hes wu rk intellectually or in the spi rit of love. In tJle language of the four yogas. knnllll yoga can be pructiood in e ither mod e: jnOFIll (k nowledge), or bllakti (devoted service).

18 THE WORLD'S RELI C IONS

As we have see n, th e point ofHfe is to transce nd til e smalln ess of th e Ilnite selr. This can be do neeithe r by Ide ntjfying oneself with th e tran spersonal Absolu te that res id es at the core of one's be ing, or by sh ifting one's Interes t and affectio n to a personal Cod w ho is experi- enced as d istin c t from o neself. The Ilrst is the way of jnona . th e sec- ond of b/aakti, Wo rk can be a ve hicl e for self-tra nsce nde nce in e ither app roach, for acco rding to Hind u doc trine every ac ti o n performed upo n the external wo rld reacls o n th e doe r. If I chop down a tree that bloc ks my view. eac h stro ke of th e ax un se ttl es th e tree; but it leaves its mark o n me as ~-eU , dri ving deepe r into my being my determ ina- tion to have my way in th e world. Everything I do for my private we llbeing adds anoth e r laye r to my ego. and in thicke nin g it insulates me more from Cod . Conversely, every ac l done withou t th ought for myself diminishes my self-cen tered ness until Ilnall y no barrier re- mai ns to separate me from th e Divine

TIle best way for th e e moti onally inclined to ren de r 'wo rk seHi ess is to bring th e ir arden t and affec ti onate natures into play and wo rk for Cod's sake instead of th e ir own. ~ J-Ie who pe rform s actions without attachment, res igning the m to Cod, is un tai nted by th e ir e ffects as th e lo tus leaf by water. ~ It Such a o ne is as active as before, but works for a differe nt reason, out of dedicatio n. Acts are no longer unde r- take n for th eir personal rewards. Not on ly are th ey now pe rformed as service to Cod; th ey are regard ed as prompted by Cod's will and e nacted by Cod's e nergy as chann e led through th e devotee. -rhou art the Doe r, I the instrum e nt," Perfonned in this spiri t. acti ons lig hten th e ego ins tead of e nc umbering it. Eac h task becomes a sac red ritual , lovi ng ly fulfill ed as a li ving sncri6 ce to Cod's glory. "Whatsoever you do. whatever yo u eat, whatever you offer in sac- ri ll ce. wha teve r you give, whatever austerity yo u practice, 0 So n of Kunti , do this as an offe ring to Me. Thus shal l yo u be free from the bondages of ac ti ons that bear good and ev il results," 58)'5 th e Bhagouad-Gita . "l1l ey have no des ire for the frui ts of the ir ac tio ns," echoes th e Bliagooota Purrma . "These persons would not acct:pt even th e sta te of union wi tJI Me; they would alwa)'5 prefe r My service."

A young woman, newly married and in love. works not fo r herself alone As she works the tllOught of her be loved is in the back of be r min d, giving meaning and purpose to he r labors. So too with a devo ted servant. He claims nothing for hi mse lf lV::gard less of per- sonal cos t he does his duty for his master's satisfaction . Just so is

IlI NDUISM 3i

cod's will th e joy a nd sati sfaction of the devo tee. Surre nde ring to th e Lord o r all , he remai ns untou ched by life's viciss itudes. Such people are not broke n by di scouragements, for winning is not wh at mo ti - vates the m; they want onl y to be o n til e right side. Th ey know that if history c hanges it wi ll 1I0t be human bei ngs th at change it but its Auth o r -whe n human hearts are read y. Histo ri cai llgures lose the ir center whe n th ey become anxious ove r th e o utco me of th e ir actions. "Do withou t attachm e nt the work yo u have to d o. Surre nde ring all actio n to Me. freei ng yourself from longing and selfishne ss, fig ht - un perturbed by g ri e f" (Bhagoood-Cita ).

Once all claims on work have been ren oun ced, including whe the r it will succeed in its intent, th e konlla yogis actio ns no longe r swell th e ego. 11ley leave on the mind no mark th at cou ld vec- tor its subseque nt respo nses. In this way the yogi works o ut til e accumulated impressions of previous deeds withou t acquiring new ones. Whatever o ne thinks of this kanllic way of putting the ma lte r. th e psychological truth invo lved is readil y apparent. A person who is compl e te ly at th e disposal of oth ers barely ex ists. The Spanish as k wryl y; "'Would you like to become invisible? 1"lave no th ought of your- self for two years and 110 oll e will noti ce yo u."

Work as a patll toward Cod takes a diffe re nt tUn! for peop le whose di spositio ns are more refl ective than e mo ti onal. Fo r these too the key is work do ne un selfishl y, but th ey approac h the project differ- entl y. Philosophers te nd to Ilnd the idea of Infini te Being at tll e ce n- ter of o ne's self more meaningful than the thought of a d ivin e Creator who wa tches over th e world with love. It fo ll ows.. the re fore, th ai the ir approac h to work sho uld be adapted to the way they see tllings.

Th e way that leads to e nlighte nm e nt is wo rk perform ed in detachm e nt from the e mpiri cal selr. Specifically, It consi sts in draw- ing a li ne beh\.oeen tll e finite self that acts. o n the o ne hand. and o n the othe r the eten!a1 Self that observes the action. People usual ly approac h work in terms of its co nsequ e nces for th e ir e mpirical selves- the payo r acclaim it will bring. This inflates th e ego. It thi c ke ns its insulation and thereby its isolatio n,

The al te rnati ve is wo rk performed detacbed ly. almost in dissoc i- a ti on fro m the e mpirical self. Ide ntifying with the Ete n! ru, the worker works; but as th e deeds are bei ng performed by the e mpiri cal se lf, the Tru e Selfhas nothin g to do with them . -rhe knower of Truth , being ce nte red in the Self shou ld thin k, 'I do nothing at all : Whil e

40 THE WORLD'S REUCIONS

see ing. breath ing, speaking, le lling go. holding, ope ning and closing the eyes, he observes on ly senses moving among se nse objccts."13

As the yogi's identi6cation sh ifts from he r finite to he r infinite Self, she will become increasingly indifferent to th e co nsequ ences that flow from h e r finite actions. More and more she will recognize th e truth of th e Citos d ictum : -To work you have th e right . but not to th e fruits thereof." Out}' for duty's sake becomes her watchword.

He wlio does tile task Dictated hy duly, Caring tlOt/ling Fo,- tlte fnlit of the aclion , He Is a yogi. (Blwgauad-Cita. VI :1)

I·Ie nce th e story oftllt~ yOgi who. as he sal meditating on the banks of th e Ganges, saw a scorpion fall into the WIlter. He scooped it oul , onl y to have it bite him. Presenlly. lIle scorpion feU into the river again . Once more the yogi rescued it. only again to be bitten. The sequence repeated itse lf twi ce more, whereupon a bystander asked the yogi, · Wh y d o you keep rescui ng that scorpion when its only gratitude is to bite you?'" The yogi replied: -It is the nature of scorpions to bite. It is the nature of yogis to help others when they can.-

Karma yogis will try to do each thing as it co mes as ifit "'ere th e only thing to be done and , having done it. tum to the next duty in similar spirit. Concentrating fully and calmly on each duty as it prese nts itself. they will resist impatience, excite ment. and the vain attempt to do or think of half a dozen things at once. Int o the various tasks that fall their lot lIley will pul all the strokes they can, for to do otherwise wou ld be to yield to laziness, whic h is another form of selfish ness. Once they have done this. however. th ey will diSSOCiate themselves from the act and let th e chips fall whe re they may.

One to me is loss or gain. One to me is fame or sliame. One to me is pleasure, 1Jain. (BllOgauad·Cita, Xl1)

Mature individuals do nol resen t co rrection , for they identify more willl their long-range selves that profit from correction than with the mom e ntary self that is being advised. Similarl y, the YOgl accepts loss. pain. and shame with equanimity. knowing that th ese too are teachers. To the degree that yogis repose in the Ete rnal. they

IIl NDUlSM 41

experience calm in the midst of intense activily. Like the center of a rd.pidly spinning wheel, th ey see m still -emotionally sti ll -even when th ey are intensely busy. It is like th e stillness of absolu te motion .

Though th e concept ual fram~'Orks within which philosophical and affec tional'e natures practice kanna yoga are different . it is not difficult to perceive th e ir co mmon pursuit. Both are engaged in a rad- ical reducing di et, designed to starve the finite ego by deprivi ng it of the consequences of actio n on which it feeds. Neither gives th e slight- est purchase to that native egoism that the world (.'() Ilsiders healthy self- regard. The bllOkta seeks "self-naughting'" by giving h eart and will to th e Eternal Companion and finding them e nri ched a thousandfold th ereby. Thejnaflj is equally intent on shrinking lIle ego, being con- vinced that to the degree that the venture succeeds there will come into view a nucl e us o f selfhood that differs mdically [rom its surface mask , -a sublim e inhabitant and onlooker, transcending the spheres of the former conscious-unconscious system, aJoofly unconcerned with the tendencies that fonn e rly supported th e individual biography. This anonymous 'diamond being' is nol at aJl what we were cherishing as ou r character and c ultivati ng as our facu lties, inclinations. virtues. and ideals; for it transcends every hori7.on of unclarified consc iousness. It was e nwrapped within the sheaths of the body and personality; yelthe dark. turbid , th ick [layers of the surface sel~ could not disclose its im age. Only the translucent essence ofla self in which all private wants have been dispersed) perm its it to become visible - as through aglass, or in a quiet pond. And then . the moment it is recognized , it's mani- festatioll bestows an immediate knowledge that this is Ollr true iden - tity. The life-monad is remembered and greeted. even though it is distin c t from everything i.n this phenomenaJ compos ite of body and psyche, which. under the delusion ca used by our usual ignorance and undiscriminating co nsc iousness we had crudely mistaken for the real and lasting essence of our being. M14

The Way to Cod through P.ycl'aphy.icaL Exercise.

Because of the dazzling h eights to which it leads, raja IJOga has been known in India as "the royal (mj) road to reinte~...-ation.n Designed for peop le who are of scienti6c bent. it is th e WIly to God through psy- chophysical expe riments.

.. 2 THE WORLD'S REUCION S

TIle West has honored em piricis m in the laboratory but has often distrusted it in spiritual matters. on grou nds that it deifies per- so nal experie nce by mak ing it th e final test of truth. India has not had such misgivings. Arguing that affain of the spirit can be approached as e mpiri cally as can oute r natu re, she e ncourages people who pos- sess th e requisite inclination and willpower to seek God in laboratory fashion. The ap proach calls for a strong suspi ciDn that our tru e selves are more than " 'e now real ize and a passiDn to' plumb their full ex te nt. For th ose whO' possess these qualifi cations, mja IJOfP ou tlines a seri es of steps that are to be followed as rigoro usly as th e steps in a ph ysics experiment. If th ese do nDt produce the expected conse- quences, the hypoth esis has been disproved , at least for this experimenter. 111e claim, howeve r, is that Lhe expe ri e nces that unfold wi ll co nfirm th e hypoth esis in questiDn .

Unlike mosl expe rim e nts in th e natural scie nces, th ose of mja yoga are on one's self, not e xt e rnal nature. Even where science does turn to self-expe rime nt -as in medicin e, where e thics presc ribes thai dange rous experiments may be performed Dn ly on oneself- th e lndi c e mphlLSis is d iffe re nt . The YOJ,,>1 expe rim e nts not on his bod y (though we shall find th e bod y definitely in\lOlved) but on Ilis mind. The expe rim e nts take th e form of practici ng prescribed mental exe r· cises and observing thei r subjec tive effects.

No dogm as need be accepted, but experim e nts require hypoth e- ses they are designed to co nfirm or negate. The hypoth esis that underlies roja IJOfP is the Hindu doc trin e of the human self; a nd though it has been described seve ral times already, it needs to be restated as th e background agai nst whi ch the steps of raja IJO#!P proceed.

The th eory postulates that th e human self is a layered e nti ty, We need not go into the detailed Hin du anal yses of th ese layers; the accoun ts are techni cal , and futu re science ma), show th em to be more me tap horical than literall y acc urate. For our purposes it is e nough to summari 7.e th e hypo th esiS by reducing th e principall a)'ers to four. First and mos t obviously, we have bodies. Next co mes th e conscious layer of our minds. Unde rlying th ese two is a third region , th e realm of the individual suhco nscio us. This has been built up through our individual histories. Most of ollr past expe ri e nces have been lost to our co nscious me mo ry, bul those experiences co ntinue to shape Ollr li ves in wa)'S that conte mporary psychoanal ysis tri es to

HI NDU ISM .f3

unders tand , With these th ree parts of the self, the West is in full agreeme nt. What is distin c ti ve in the Hindu hypoth esis is its postula- don of a fourth compone nt. Underlying the oth e r th ree. less perceived by the conscious mind than eYen its pri vate subconscious (though related to it full y as mu ch), stands Being Itself. infinite, ullthwarted, etemal. "I am smaller than the mi nutest ato m, likewise grea ter than the greatest. I anI the whole, th e diversified-multicolored-lovely- strange universe. I am th e An cie nt On e. I am Man. the Lord. I am the 8eing-of-eold, I am th e very state of divine beati tude. " IS

lIinduism agrees with psychoanalysis that if onl y we cou ld dredge up portions of ou r individual unconscious - th e third layer of our being-we 'NOuld experi ence a re markable expansion of our powers. a vivid fresheni ng oflife. But if we could uncover somethi ng forgotte n not onl y by ourselves but by humanit y as a whole. so me- thing Lhat provides clues not si mp ly to our individual personalities and quirks but to' all life and all existence, what th e n? Would th is not be mom e ntous?

The call , clearl y, is to retreat from the world's ;nconsequentiaJ panorama to the deep-lying causal zones or th e psyche where th e real proble ms and answers li e. Beyo nd this, howeve r, mja yoga's respon se cannot be described, quite. as an answer to on)' articulated call. Bathe r. it is II determined refusal to allow the pitter-patter of dail y exis te nce to di strJ.c t from th e unknown de ma nds of some wai t- ing urgen cy within: a kind of total strike agains t the terms of routine. prosaic existence. The successfw yogi succeeds in carryi ng life's problem to' this plane of new magnitude aud the re resolvi ng it. TIle ins ights of such people will pertai n not so mu ch to passing personal and social predicaments as to th e unquen chabl e source by whic h all peoples a nd societies are re newed . for their inspiration wi ll be drawn from di rect contact with this primary spring. In bod y they will remain in divi du als. In spirit each will have become unspecifi c. un iversal, perfected.

111e purpose of raja yOgll is to de monstrate th e validi ty of tJli5 fourfold es tima te of th e human self by leading th e inquirer to direct personal experi e nce of ~the beyond that is within ." Its me thod is willed introversion , one of the classic implements of crea Uve genius in any line of c ndca\lOr, here carried to its logical te rm . Its intent is to drive the psychic e nergy ofth e self to its dee pest part to activate the lost continen t of the true selr. Ri sks are of co urse involved; if the

.... T il E WORLD'S RELIGIONS

ve nture Is bung led. at bes t co nside rnbl e tim e wi ll have bee n lost , and at .... ,orst co nscious ness can disintegra te into psychosis. Rig htl y d one. howeve r. under a di rec tor wh o knows tll e terrain. the yogi will be able to integrntc th e insights and experi e nces that come into view and will e merge with IIt: ig hte ned se lf-knowl edge a nd greater ~el f­ con trol.

With th e hypoth esis rnja yogo proposes to tes t before us. we are prepared to indica te the eight ste ps of the experim e nt itself.

I and 2. Th e fi rst two co ncern th e mor-I.I preliminaries with which all four yoga, begin . Anyo ne who sit s down to thi s tas k of se lf- discOlr'Cry discovers th at d is trac Li ons li e in wait. Two of tJle most obvi- ous are bodily crnvings and men tal inquie tud e. J ust as co nce ntrati on is about to bcb>in ill earnes t. th e yogi may expe ri e nce un urge for a cigare tt e or drink of water. Or resent men ts. envies, and pungs of co n- scicnceobtrude. Th e first lwosteps of raja yogo seek to clear the field of such static and to lock the doo r agai nst further intrusions. The first invo lves th e prnctice of five abste nti ons: from injury, lyi ng, stealing. se nsuali t y, and greed. The second involves the practice offlve obser- vances: cleanliness. co nt e ntm en t. self-control. studiousness. and con te mplatio n of th e divin e. Together they constit ute thc five finge r exe rcises of the bum a n spi rit in an ticipaLi on of more intricate studi es to come. Chinese an d Japanese officers who used to pructice varia- tions of raja yoga in Buddhist monasteries wilh no religious interest whatsoever-simp ly to in crease th e ir mental clarity and vitality- discovered that eve n in their case a certain ll lll ount or moral co m- portme nt was a necessary condit ion for success.

3. Rnja yOI!P works with th e body eo.'Cli while being u ltimatel y concerned with the mind. More p recise ly. it works through the body to the lIlilld. Beyo nd ge neral health , its chi ef ohjcct here is to keep th e body from distracting the milld wh iJ e it concentrates. T hi s is no smal l object. for an untrained body cannot go for long without itch- ing or fidgeting . Each sensatioll is a bid for attention Lhat distracts from the project at hand. The object of this third s tep is 10 excl ud e such distractions - to get Urolher Ass, as Saint F'rolllcis call ed hi s body. properly tethered a nd alit of the WolY. What is attempted is a bodily sta le midway be tween discomfort. which rouses and disturbs. and at Ih e opposite pole a re laxatio n so co mple te that it si nks inlo drowsiness. The Hindu di scoveries for ach it..'Vi ng this balance are called Q.SfIIJDS, II wurd usua ll y trans lated wpost u res" b ut which carries

III NDU ISM .. 5

connotaUons of bala nce and ease. The phys ical and psychological benefits of at least so me of th ese postures are now widely recog- nized. Th at til e llin du texts describe eigh ty- four pos tures indica tes extensive expe rime ntatio n ill th e area, but o nl y about fi ve areconsid- ered important for mcclitation .

Of th ese. tile one tll at has proved most importan t is th e .... ,o rld - renowned lotus position in which th e yogi sits-id eall y on a tiger skill, symboli zi ng e nergy, overlaid witll a deerski n, symbolizing calm -with legs c rossed in suc h a Woly that eac h foo t rests so le up o n its opposing thig h. Th e spi ne. with allowan ce for its natural c urva- lu re. is erect. Hands are placed, palms up. in the lap, one atop the oth e r with thum bs touc h ing lightl y. The eyes may be closed o r allo ...... ed to &'W'.c unfoc used o n th e g rollnd o r floor. Peo pl e who under- take this position after th ei r bodies haV(! reached maturit y fi nd it painfu l, for it imposes strains o n the te ndon s whicb req ui re mo nth s of conditioning to be acco mmodated . Wh en th e position has been mast ered, however, it is surpris in gly co mfortable an d see ms to place th e mind in a sta te that co ndu ces to meditation. Civen tll al standing induces fatigue. chairs invi te slumping. and reclining enco umges sleep, th ere may be no other position in which the body can re main for as lo ng a stre tc h both still and alert.

4. Yogic postures protec t the Int.-d ilator fro m disruptio ns from the body in its stati c aspects, but there remain bod il y ac ti vities, such as breatlling. TIl e yogi must breathe. but untmined breathing ca n shatter th e mind 's rCI>ose. Newcomers to meditatio n are surprised by the ex tent to which unbrid led brea thing can intrude UpOIl th e lask. Bronc hi al irritations and congestio ns trigger coughs an d clearings of the th roat. Each Lim e th e breath sinks too low. a deep sigh erupts to shatte r the spell. Nor are suc h obvious irregu larities th e so le offe nd ers; tJuough co nce ntrated sil ence. a "nonnal

R

brea th can rip like a crosscut, sending the hush shi veri ng, fl ying. TIle pU'1>ose o f raja yoga's fourth ste p is to prevent such disruptions tllroug h the mas- tery of respi rollio n. The exercises prescribed toward thi s e nd are num e rou s and varied. So me, like lea rning to breath e in th rough o ne nostril and ou t th rough the o ili er, sou nd biza rre. h ut studi es suggest th at th ey may he lp to ba1ance the brai n's ! 'A'O he mispheres. O n the whol e th e exerc ises work toward slowing th e breatll , evening it, and red uci ng th e mUOtint of air re quired , A typica l exercise call s for brea thing so gently IlCroSS goose d ow n tou ch ing the nos tril s that an

46 TilE WORLD'S IIt:I..IGIQNS

observe r ca nn o t tell ir air is mO'ling in or oul. Breath suspe nsion is particularly important , ror the body is most still when it is not breatll _ ing. Wilen , ror examp le, the yogi is doing a cyc le or sixteen COunts inhaJing, sixty-rour holding, and thirty-two ex haling, th ere is a stretch during which an im ation is reduced to the point thai the mind seems disembodied. These are che ri shed mome nts ror th e task at hand. -rhe light or a lamp. R says the BllDgaood-Cita, Rdoes not flicker in a windless place.-

5. Composed, body at ease, its breathing regular, the yogi sits absorbed in con tcmp lation. Sudde nl y, a door creaks, a sliver or moonlight shimmers on the ground ahead, a mosquito whines, and he is back in the world.

Restfus tile ml,ld is, So strongly shaken In the gri,J of the .senSe;!. 7roly 1 tllink The ,ui,,(! is 110 wilder. (Bhagaood-Cita , YI :34)

The senses tum outward. As bridges to th e physical ~'Orld they are invaluable, but the yogi is seeking so mething else. On the track or more interesling prey- the interior universe in whicll (according to reports) is to be ro und tJl e final secret or lire's mystery-the yogi wants no se nse bombardments. Fascinating in its own way, the o ute r 'WOrld has nothing to contribute to the present task. For the yog; is tracking tJle ulldc T}) in ning or lire's racade. Behind its physical rront. where we experi e nce the p lay or lire and deatJl , the yogi seeks a deeper lire that knows no d ea th . Is there, beneath our surface accou nting or objects and things. a dimension or awareness that is different not just in degree but in killd?The yog; is testing a hypothe- sis: that the deepest truth is opened olll y to those who tum th e ir attention inward. and in this experiment the physical senses can be nothing but busybodies. -rh e se nses tum outward, - observe th e Upani shads. -People, thererore, look toward what is outside and see not the inward being. Rare are th e wise who shut their eyes to out. ward tJtings and behold the g lory or the Atman within ." Five hu ndred rears later tJle BllIlgaood-Cita repeats that rerrain:

Only tliat yogi W'lOSejoy ir Inward,

In ward his ,leaet!, And h is uiskm inward ShaU come to Brohman And knOtv Niroarw.

ILINDUI SM 47

It is against the background or three millennia or this pos tul ate that Mahatm a Gandhi proposed to our extrO'le rted ccntury: "Turn the spotlight inward.-

The final. transitional step in th e process or e ffecti ng this tllm rrom th e external to the in ternal ",'Grid Is to close th e doors o r percep-- tion , ro r o nl y SO ca.n th e clatter or the world 's boiler ractory be effec· livel y shut oul. That this can be done, and withou t bodily mutilation, 15 a common experie nce. A man call s his wire to remi nd her that they should leave ror a social e nl,rage ment. Five minutes later she ins ists that she did not hear him i he insists that she must have heard him, ror he was in th e adjoining room and spoke distinctl y. Who is right ? It is • matle r o r definition. Irh earing means that sound waves o r sufficien t amplitud e beat 011 health y e arclmms, she heard ; ir it means th at they were noticed. she did nol. There is nothing eso te ri c abo ut such occurrenceSi their explanatio n is simp ly conce nt rati on - the woman was at her compu te r a nd deeply e ngrossed. Sim ilarl y, tll ere is no ca tch in th is finh ste p in mja yoga. It seeks to carry tll e yogi be).u nd th e point the wire had reaciled, first , by turning co ncen trati on rrom a c han ce occurrence into a power that is co ntro ll ed; and second. by raising th e tal en t to a po int where drumbeats in the same roo m can escape notice. Th e technique, though , Is id e nti cal. Concen tratio n on one thing excl udes other things.

6. At last the yogi is alone with his mind. The five steps e num er- ated thus rar all poi nt to this eventual it y; one by one the intrusio ns or cravings, a trou bl e d co nscie nce, body. breath , an d th e senses have been stopped. Uut the battle is not yet won; at close quarters it is j ust beginning. For the mind·s fiercest a ntagonist is itselr. Alone wi th itselrit stil l shows not the slightest inclina ti on to settle down or obey. Memories, antici p ati o ns, daydreams, cl lains or reve ri e he ld togeth er by the flimsiest , most unexpected links imaginab le close in rrom all sides, caus ing the mind to ripple like a lake be neath a bree7.e, ali ve with ever-changing, se lr-s hattering refl ections. Len to itselrthe mind never stays still , smooth as a mirror, crys tal clear, re fl ecting the Su n or all lire in pence t replica. Fo r such u cond itio n to preva..!I , it is no t

48 THE \\IO HLD-S HELIG IONS

e noug h that e ntering rivulets be dammed: this th e 6ve preceding ste ps e ffec li vely accomplished. There remailliake-bottom sp rings to be stopped and fantasies to be c urbed. Obviously, much remains to be done.

Or swi tc h the metaphor to one less serene. The motions of the average mind , say the Hindu s, are abou t as orderly as those of a Cta7.ed monkey cavo rting abo ut its cage. Nay, more; like the pranc- ings of a drunk , cra'l..ed monkey. Even so ~-e have not conveyed its rest less ness: the mind is like a drunke n, crazed monkey that has S1. Vitus' Dance. To do justice to oW" th e me. however, we must go a finaJ step. Th e mind is like a drunken crazed monkey with St. Vitus' Dance who has just been stu ng by a wasp.

Few who have se ri ously tried to meditate will find this metaphor ex trem e. The trouble with th e advice to "leave )'Ou r mind aloneH is lhe unimpre ssive spectacle th at remains, I tell my hand to ri se and it obeys. I tell my mind to be sH U a.nd it mocks my command. How long cart the average mind think about one thing-one thing only, witbout slipping first into thinking about thinking about that thing and taking off from there 011 a se nseless chain of irrelevancies? About three and a half seconds, psych olog ists tell us. Like a ping- po ng ball. the mind will alight where its owner directs it, but onl y to takeofl"immed iate ly on ajittery{light of staccato bounces that are co mple tely o ut of hand.

What if the mind cou ld be turn ed from a ping-pong ball into a lump of dough, which when thrown sticks to a w.u l until del iberately remO'led? Wo uld not its power increase if it cou ld be tllUS he ld in focus? Would not its stre ngth be compounded, like tll e stre ng th of a li ght hulb whe n riuged by refl ec tors ? A normal mind can be held to a reasonabl e ex ten t by tll e wo rld 's objec ts. A psyc hotic mind ca nno t; it slips at o nce into un co ntroll ab le fantasy. Wh at if a third conditi on of mind cou ld be d eveloped, as much above th e nonn al mind as th e ps ychoti c mind is be low it, a condit ion in which tll e mind co uld be induced to focus protractedly on an object to fatllOm it deeply? This is th e aim of co nce ntrati on, the sixth step o f raj(1 yoga. An e lephant's trunk thai sways to an d fro as th e e leph ant walks and reac hes oul for objects on e ithe r sid e will se Hl c down if it is give n an iron baU to hold . Th e purpose of co nce ntration is comparabl e: to teach the rest- less mind to ho ld un swervingly to the objec t it is direc ted to. "'When all the se nses are sti lkod , when the mind is al rest, whe n th e intellect wavcrs not - tltal , say the wise, is the hig hes t sta te." UI

III ND UI SM 49

Th e method prop osed for reaching tllis stale is not exotic. only arduous. One begins by relax ing th e mind to allow thoughts that need release to exorcize th e mselves from the subcon scio us . Then one selects something to conce ntrate o n - the glowing tip of a j oss stick, th e tip of one's nose, an imaged sea of infinite Hght. th e object does not mu ch malte r - and practices keeping th e mind on the object until success in creases.

7. Th e las t two steps are stages in which this process of concen - tration progressive ly d eepe ns. In the preceding step the mind was brought to th e point wh ere it would flow steadil y toward its object, but it did not lose conscio usness of itself as an object distin ct from the one it was focusing o n. in tllis seventh ste p, in which concen tra- tion deepe ns into meditation, the union between tll e two is tight - ened to th e point whe re separa te ness vanishes: "111e subj ect and the object are complete ly merged so that the self--consciousness ofihe individual subject has disappeared altogether."n Inlhis mome nt th e dualit y of kn ower and known is resolved illto a perfect unity. In th e words of Schelling, "the perceiving self merges in the self-perceived. AI that mom e nt we annihi late tim e and the duration of time; we are no longer in tim e, but tim e, or rather e te rnity itself, is in us.-

8. There remains th e 6nal, c limac ti c state for which the Sanskrit word samadhi should be reta ined. Etymologically sam parallels th e Greek pre fix 8'1" , as in synth esis, synopsi s, and syndrome. It mean s -toge th e r witll: Ad"1 in Sanskrit is usuall y tran slated Lord, parallel- ing th e He brew word for Lord in the O ld Testament , ALlan or Adanal. SGnl6dhi, th en, names th e state in which the human mind is com· pletely abso rbed in Cod. In th e seve nth step- that of meditation - concentration had deepened to the point where the self dropped out of sight e ntire ly. al1 attention being ri veted on th e obj ec t being known . Th e di slincti ve feature of sanl6dhi is that all of the objec t's forms fall away. For fonns are limiting boundaries; to be one fonn others must be excl uded, and what is to be known in raja yoga's final stage is wi thout limits. The mind co ntinues to think-if thai is tll e right word- but of no tlling. This does 1I0t mean that it is thinking of nothin g, that it is a to tal b lank. It has perfected the paradox of see ing th e invisible. It is filled with that wh ich is "separated from all quali - ties, ne ith e r this no r that , without form , without a nam e. "IS

We have come a long way from Lord Kelvin's asserti on that he could not imag in e anything of which he cou ld not cons tru c t a

50 Til E \\!O HL O'S RELI G IONS

mec hani cal model. By th at mode in whic h th e knower is un ited wilh wh at is knowu , th e h owe r has bee n broug ht to th e knowledge of total be illg and, for a spell. been dissolved into il. lt TI mt whic h th e expe rime nt was designe d to test has been de tenn in ed. The yogi has a ttained 10 th e insight "Th at. ve ril y. Th at th o u art."

We have presented the fo ur yogas as al te m a ti ves but , to con. elude with a point that W.lS made althe start , Il indui sm does no t con. side r th e m as exelusive of o ne an oth e r. No indi vid ual is solely re flecti ve. e moti onal , ac ti ve. orexl>erim e ntal. a nd different life situ a. ti~ns call fo r differe nt reso urce s to be broug ht into pl ay. Mos t J>eople WIll , o n the whole, find trdvel o n o ne road more sa ti sfactory th an o n oth ers and wi ll co nsequ e ntl y te nd to keep close to it; but Hinduism e n(..'O urages people to tes t al l fou r and combin e th e m as oos t sui ts the ir needs. TIl e majo r d ivisio n is be t .... -een j no llo and bllOkti, th e refl uctive and the e mo ti onal types, We have see n that WQrk can be adap ted to ei th e r of these modes, and some med ita ti o n is va lu able in any case. Th e no rmnl pa lte m , th e refore, will be fo r indi viduals to cast th ei r re ligio n in e ithe r a pll ilosophical or a devotional mold, adapt tht:.i rwork to th e o ne tha t is c hosen, an d medi ta te to wha tever exte nt is practica bl e. We read in th e Bllagaood· C ito tha t SOm e "realize the Atmo n th ro ugh co nte mpla ti on. Some reali 7"c the Almo n ph ilosophi. call y. O tll ers real ize II by fo ll owing the )'Obra of rig ht actio n. O thers wors hip Cod as th e ir teachers have ta ug ht th e m. lf these faithfull y prac tice what they have learned. they will pass beyo nd dea th's powe r."

The Slages of Life

PeoJ)le are d iffe re nt. Few o bservatio ns could be mo re banal , yet seri o o us a tte ntion to it is o ne of J linduism's distin cti ve fea tures. Th e preced ing secti o ns traced its insiste nce th at diffe re nces in hu man natu re call fo r a variety of path s toward life's fulfillme nt. We have now to 1I 0te th e same in siste nce pressed from a no th e r q ua rte r. No t o nl y do ind ividuals diffe r fro m one anoth er; each indi vi du al mO\.'es th ro llg h diffe re nt stages, eac h of whic h calJs for its OWII app rop ri ate condu ct. As each da y passes fro m mo rn ing th rough nOO Il a nd afte r· noon into eve ning, so every life likewise passes th roug h four phases, eac h possess ing distin c t aptitudes th a t di c ta te di stin c t mod es of reo spo nse. If we ask, th e re fore. how sho uld we li ve? Ifind uis m answers,

HI NO UISM :51

thai depends not oll ly 0 11 what kill d of person )'O u are but also on tJl e sta8e of life yo u are in.

The Srst stage Indill ma rked off as that of the stude nt. Traditio n- ally, this stage began afie r the rite of in itiati on. betwee n th e ages of eight Ilnd twe lve. It las ted fo r twe lve years. during whic h th e stud e nt typicall y lived in the home of the teache r; rendering service fo r instruc- tion received. Life's prime res nsi bilit at thiS st was to offer a receptive min to all tha t the teache r; standing, as iI we re, 0 11 the pInnacle 01 the pas t, could transmit. Soon enoug h respo nsi bilities would announ ce the mselves copio usly; fo r th is gl Ori ously suspended mom e nt the stude nt 's o lll yo bligati on was to store up aga inst th e tim e when mu c h would be de manded. What was to be learned included factual info rm ation, but morei for India - d relllllY. impracti cal India - has had little interes t in knowledge for knowledge'S sake. TIl e successful stude nt was no t to e me rge a walking e ncycloped ia, a reference library wired for sound. Habits were to be cul ti vated, character acqUired. The enti re training w-d-S more like an appre ntices hip in which info nna ti on became iu ca mated in skill. TIle lil>e rall y ed uc at ed stud e .. ! was to emerge as eq uipped to tum o ut a good and effec ti ve life as a potte r's apprentice to tum out a well· wroughl um.

TIle seco nd stage. begi nning wi tJl marriage. ~ tha t of the hQl Ise- holde r. If ere duri ng life's noonday, witJ l physical powen at th e ir ze nitJl, interes ts and e nergies naturall y turn outward . There are th ree front s 011 which tJu~y can pl ay witJl satisfaction: famil v, yocati on, andJ!le com. ~o whi ch o ne belongs. No nn all y, att e nti o n will be divided

'betwee n tJl e three. TIlis is tJl e tim e for sa tisfyiug the 6rst tJlree human w.mts: pleas ure. th roug h marri age and fam il y pri maril y; succe ss. through voca ti oni aud duty. throug h civic parti c ipation.

Ilinduism smiles o n tJle happy fulfillm e nt of these wan ts bllt does 110 1 try to prime th e m whe n th ey begi n to e bb. TIl3t a ttachment to lh e m sho uld eve nt uall y declin e is altoge th e r ap propriate, fo r it ..... o uld be unn atu ral for life to c ud while actio n an d des ire are at thei r zenith . II is not ord ai ned th at it do so. If we foll ow th e seaso ns as they come, we shall notice a time whe n sex and the de lights ofth e se nses (pleas ure) as well as achi eve me nt in the ga llie of life (success) no longe r yie ld /l ove l and surpri sing turn s; wh e n eve n th e res po nsi ble disc harge of a hum a n vocatio n (dut y) begi nS to ):tall , havi ng grown repetitio us a nd stal e. Wh e n thi s season a rri veS it is tim e fo r th e ind io vidu al to move on to th e third stage in lifc's seque nce.

52 TilE WOItLO'S RELI C IO NS

Some neve r do. Th ei r spectacle is not a prelly one, for pursuits appropriate in th e ir day become grotesque when undul y prolonged. A playboy oftwc nt y-five may have co nsid e rabl e appeal, but spare us the playboys of fifty, How hard they work at their pose. how little th ey receive in return . II is simi lar with people who cann ot bring tll em- selves to relinquish key positions whe n a younger ge ne ration with more e nergy and new ideas should be stepping into them.

Still, such peop le cannot be censured; for seeing no oth e r rron - tie r to life, th ey have no option but to hang o n to what tlley kuow. nit! qu es tion they pose is. bluntl y, "Is old age worthwhil e?" Willi medical science increas ing life expectancy dramati call y, more and more pea-. pi e are having to face that qu e stion . Poets have always gi ve n the ir nod to autumn leaves and th e su nset years. but their phrases sound s us- pect. If we res t our case with poetry, MCrow old along witll me. the best is yet to btt carri es not half th e co nvi ction or YCather ye rose- buds while ye may .... Tomorrow we'U be d yi ng .

M

Wll c ther life has a future beyond middl e age depe nds in th e e nd not on poetry but on fnc t, on whallhe valu es oflife reall y are.lfthcy are supre me ly those o f bod y and se nse, we may as well res ign our- selves to til e fact that life after youth must be downhill . If wor ldl y achievement and th e exerc ise o f power is best, middle age, til e stage of th e householde r, wi ll be life's apex. But if vision and self- underStillldillg ca rry rewards e<lual to or surpassing tll ese o th e rs. old age has its own opportunities. and .. l ie ca ll come to happin ess at the tim e when tile rivers of our lives flow gentl y.

Whether or not the la te r years d o hold such rewards d epe nds on the scene tllat is disc.1osed when th e c urtain ofignorance lifts. If real - ity is a mono tonous a nd depressi ng wasteland and self no more than s ubtl e cybernetics. th e rewards of vision an d self.kno ..... ledge cann ot possibl y rival the ecstus ies of se nse o r the satisfactions of social achievement. We have seen , hov.'eYe r, that in Hinduism th ey arc he ld to be more. "Leave all and follOW" lIiml Enj oy his inexpressible riches. M say th e Upanishad s. No j oy can approximate tile beatific visio n, and the Self to be d iscovered is great beyond all report . It fol - lows tha i succeeding the stages of stude nt and household e r, Hindu - ism will mark with confid e nce n third stage into whic h life should move

Thi s is th e stage of re tire me nt. Any tim e after th e arriva l of a first gm ndc hild , th e indi vidual may take ad vantage of tile li cense of nge

III NOUISM 53

and withdraw from the social obligations that were thus far s houl- dered with a wiU . For twenty to th irty years SOCiety has exac ted its dues: now re li e f is in order, lest life concl ude before it has been understood. 111us rar society has required til e ind ivid ual to specia l· ize: th ere has been little time to read, to think, to ponder life's mean· ing without intern'ption. nlis is not resented; the game has carried its own satisfactions. But must th e human spirit be inde ntured to society forever? Th e time has come to begin one's true adu lt edu ca- tiOll , to di scover who one is and what life is about. What is th e secre t of th e MI'" with whic h one h as been on such intimate te rms all these ~rs, yet whi ch remains a stranger, full of inexpli cabl e quirks. baRling surds, and irrational impulses? Why are we born to work and struggl e, eac h witll a portion of happiness and sorrow, on ly to die too soon? C e ne ration after generation swells briefl y like a wave, then breaks on tile shore, subs iding into til e anonymous fe ll ows hip o f dea th . To find meaning in th e mys te ry of existence is life's final and

fascinating chall e nge. Troditionall y. those who responded fu ll y to thi s lure of sp iritu al

adventure were known as forest d .... 'Cll ers. for - hu sba nd and wife togeth er if sh e wished to go, husband alo ne if s he did not- they would take their leave of family. the co mforts and constraint s of hom e, and plunge into the fores t soliludes to laun c h th e ir pmg rom of self.discovery. At last tll e ir responsibilities were to th e msel ves alon e. -Business, family, secular life. like the beauties and hopes or YOUtll and the successes or maturity, have now been le ft be hind; e te rnity alon e re main s. And so it is to thai - not to llie tasks and "urnes of thi s life, already gone. which came and passed like a drenm-that th e mind is turne d ."to Retirement looks beyond th e stars, not to th e vi l- lage streets. It is th e time ror ..... o rking out a philosophy. and tll e n ..... orking tllBt philosophy into a way of life; a time for transcending th e senses to find . and d ..... e ll with. th e reality that und e rli es thi s natural world .

Beyon d retirement , the final stage wherein th e goal Is actually reached is th e state o f th e sannyasill , d e fin ed by th e Bhllgavad-Citll as "one who nei th e r hates nor loves anything."

Th e pilgrim is now free to return to th e .... urld for, th e intent o f the forest disciplin e achieved , tilll e and place have lost th e ir hold. Wh ere in a.11 th Cj world can o ne be totall y free if not everywhere? Th e Hindu s like n the sallllYll.rill to a wild goose or SWoln , "whi ch has no

54 TilE WORLD'S RELIC IONS

fixed hom e but wd.nders. migrotiug with the rnill-clouds north to tlle llimalayas and back sou th again, a t home on every lake o r sheet or wolter, as also in th e infinite, unbounded reaches of th e sky." The mar. kctplace has now become as hospi tabl e as the forests. But though the slltlrlya.dn is back, he is back as a different person. Hoving discO\lered that comp lete release rrom every limitation Is synonymous with abso- lut e anonymity, the sonnyasin has learned the art o r keel)ing the finite self dispersed lest it ecHpse the infinite.

Far from wanting to "be somebody," the sarmyasills wish is tlle opposite: to remain a complete non ent ity on the surface in order to bejoincd to al l at root . J low couJd one possibly wish to make onese lf up again as an individual, restore the posturings and costumes of a limiting selr.identity, the persona that conceals the purity and radi· ance oftlle intrinsic self? The outward life tlmt fits this total freedom best is that of a home less mendicant. Others will seek to be ecollomi. cal ly independent in their old age; the satlnyCLtin proposes to cut free or econom ics altogether. With no fixed place on earth , no obli.!,rations, no goa l, no belongings, th e expectations or body arc nothing. Social pretensiolls likewise have no soil from which to sprout and interfere. No pride remains in someone who, begging bowl in hand. finds him· se lr a t the back door of someone who "~J..~ once his servant and would not have it otherwise.

The sQlltlyasin saints of Jainism. an offshoot of Hindui sm, went about "clothed in space, ~ stark naked. Buddhism, another offs hoot, dressed its counterparts ill ochre, the co lor \\-'Orn by criminals ejected from society alld condemned to death . Cood to have all status whisked away at Q stroke. for aU social identities prevent identi6ca~ tion with the imperishable totality or existence "'P.tking no thought or the future and looking with indifference upon thc present," rcad the llindu texts, the sarUlyaain "lives idenlih(:d with the e ternal Self and beholds nothing else." "'I e no more cares whether his body falls or remains, tllan does a cow what becomes or the garland that someo ne has hung around her neck; ror the faculties ofllis mind are now at rest in the Ii o ly Pm.'er, th e essence orb li ss."t1

T he unwise lire is one long struggle with death the intruder-an Ullevell con test in which age is obsessively delayed tllrough artifice and the d e nial of time's erosions. When the rever or desire slackens, the unwise seek to refuel it with more potent aphrodisiacs. Wh e n tll ey are rorced to let go. it is grudging ly and witll sclf·pity, for they

III NIJ UISM 55

cannot see the inevitable as natural, and good as "''ell. They lillve 110 comprehension or Tagore's insight that trutll comes as co nqu eror ollly to those who have lost the art of receiving iI as rriend.

The Siotion8 of Life

Peop le are different -we are back a third time to this cardinai llindu tenet. We have traced its import for the different paths people should follow toward Cod, and the different patterns of life appropriate at various stages in th e human career. We co me now to Its implications fur the station the individual shou ld occupy in the social order.

T his brings li S to th e Hindu concept of caste. On no other score is ll induism better known or more round ly denounced by th e out· side world. Caste contains both point and perversion. Everything in th e discussion of this subject depends on OUI" abiUty to distinguish between the two.

How cas te arose is one orthe co nrused topics of history. Cen tral , ce rtain ly, was th e fact that during the second millennium D.C. a host of Aryans possessing a different language, c ulture, and physiognomy (tall, fair·skinned , bluCH."yed, straight·haired) migrated into India. The clash of differences that followed burgeoned di e caste system, if it did not actually create it. The extent to which ethnic differe nces, co lor, trade g uilds harboring profess ional secrets. sanitation restric· lions between groups with different immunity systems, and magico- religious taboos concerning po lluti on and purification co ntributed to the pattern that e merged may never be fu ll y unravck-d. I II any event the o ut come was a society that was divided into rour groups; .seers. administrators. producers. and followers.

Let us record at once the perversions that e ntered in lim e, how· ever tllCY originated . To begin with. a finh group-or outcastes or untouchables -appeared. Even in speaking of this category th e re are mitigating points to be re me mhered. In dealing with her lowest social group. India did not sink to slavery as have most civilizations; OlitCastes who in tll e ir rourth stage of life renounced the ,",'Orld for Cod were regarded as outside social classifications aud were revered, even by the highest cas te, the bro}U1I/ri.J;H from Buddha th rough OaYolnanda to Candhi, many re ligious refonners sought to remove untouchabilil y from th e caste system; and co nte mporary Ind ia's con· sLitutioll out laws th e institution. Sti ll . th e ou tcas te's lot through

56 TilE \\'OnLO'S RELI GIO NS

Indi a's history has been a wre tched one and must be regarded as the basic perversion t.he cas te sy.i te rn succumbed to. A seco nd deteriora- tion lay in lhe prolifera ti on of cas tes into subcastes, of which there are today ove r three thousand. Third, proscriptions against inte rm ar- riage a nd interdining ca me 10 co mplica t'e social intercourse enor- mou sly. Fourth, privileges e ntered th e sys te m, with higher castes benefiting nl the expense of tJl e lower. Finall y, caste became heredi- tary. One re mained in th e cas te into whi c h one was born.

With th ese heavy counts agrunst it. it may co me as a su rpri se to find th at there are con te mporary Ind ians, thoroughl y fam iliar with Western alternatives, who defend cas te- not, to be sure, in its en tiret y. especial ly what il has become, bul in its basic fonnat.13

What lasting values cou ld suc h a sy.i te m possibly contain? Wh a t is called for here is recogniti on that wi th respect to the

ways th ey can best contribute to society Ilnd develop th eir own pol'e ntialities, people fal l into four groups. (1) The 6rst group Ind ia call ed brahminsorseers. Ren ective. with a pass ion to und ers tllnd and a kee n Intuitive grasp of th e valu es that matte r mo st in human life, these are civi li zatio n's inte ll ectual and spiritual leaders. Into th eir province fall the functions our more specialized SOCie ty has di s- tributed among philosophers. artists. religious leaders, and teachers; things of the mind and spirit are their raw mate rials. (2) TIle second group, the ksllatriljos, are hom administrators, U with a ge nius for orchestrating people and projects in wa)'S that makes th e mos t of avai lab le human talents. (3) Others find the ir vocalion as producers; they are artisans and fann e rs, skillfu l in c reating tJl e mate rial things on whi ch life depe nds. These are the oolslJyos. (4) Finall y, slwdma, can be chllrac terized as followers or servants. Unski ll ed laborers wou ld be anothe r nam e for the m. These are people wh o. if th ey had to carve out a career for th e mselves, oo mmit the mselves to long peri- ods of training, or go into business fo r th e mselves, would found e r. TIle ir attentioll spans are re1atively short, wh.idl makes them unwill - ing to saCrifice a grea t deal in th e way of presen t gains for the sake of future rewards. Under supervision, however, they are capable of hard work and devoted service Suc h people are better off, and actu all y hap- pie r, wo rking for others than being on tJl eir own . We. with our de mo- cratic and egalitarian sen tim e nts, do not lik e to admit that th e re are such people, to whic h th e orthodox Hindu replies: What yo u wou ld like is not th e point. The question is whal people actually are.

HI NDUISM .57

Few contemporary Hindus defe nd the le ngths to which India e"\'-entuall y went in keeping the cas tes distin c t. Her proscriptions regulating intennarriage, inte rdining, and othe r forms of social COIl - tact made he r, in her first prime minister's wry 3Ssessme nt. - th e least tolerant nation in social fonns whil e t.he mos t tole rant in the realm of ideas.- Yet even here a certain point li es behind th e accursed prolife r- ations. That prosc ription s against difrere nt cas tes drinking from th e same source ..... 'Cre especiall y finn suggests that differences in immu- nity to diseases may ha\ltl played a part. TIle presiding reasons, how- ever, were broader than this. Unless unt."q uals are separated in so me fashion , th e weak must co mpete against the strong across th e board and will stand 110 c hance of winning anywh ere. Between cas tes there was no eq uali ty, but within each caste the indivi dual 's rights were safer than if he or she had been forced to fe nd alone in the world at large. Each cas te was self-goveming, and in troubl e one could be sure of being tried by one's peers. Within eac h cas te th ere was equality, opportunit y, and social insurance.

In equalities between the castes th e mselves aimed for due com- pensation for servi ces re ndered. The we ll -bei ng of society requires that some people assu me, at the cos t of co nside rable self-sacrifice, responsibilities far beyond average. Whil e most young people will plunge early into marriage and e mployment, some must postpone those satisfactions for as much as a decade to prepare the mselves for demanding vocations. The wage eamer who c hecks out at five o'clock is through for the day; the employer must take hom e th e ever-p resent insecurities of th e e ntrepreneur, and often homework as well. TIle qu es tion is partl y whether e mployers IN'O uld be willing to shoulder their responsibilities without added co mpensation, but also whether it would bejust to ask the m 10 do so. Indi a never co nfu sed democracy with egalitarianism . Justice was defined as a state in which privileges were proportionate to responsibilities. In salary and social power, th erefore. th e seco nd cas te, th e administrators. rightly stood su- preme; in honor and psychological power, the brahmin.s.. But only (according to the ideal ) because the ir responsibilities were propor· tionately greater. In precise reverse of th e European doctrine that th e king could do no wrong, the ortllodox Hindu view came very near to holding that th e shudras. tlle IQlNCst caste, could do no wrong, its members being regarded as children from whom 1I0t much should be expec ted . Classical legal doctrin e stipula l'ed that for tlle same

58 Til E WOnLO'S RELI CIONS

offense "th e punishment or th e Vaishya [producer] should be twice as heavy as that orthes hudra, thaI ohhe kslwtriYlJ ladministrator] twice as heavy a&'1li n, and th at or Ill e brahmin twice or eve n four tim es as heavy agai n, "15 I n india th e lowest caste was exe mpt from many of the fonn s of probit y and self-denial th at th e uppe r castes we re held to. Its widows might re marry, and prosc ription against meat and a1 co- 1.01 were less exacting.

Stated in mode rn idiom , tl.e ideal of cas te e merges so methin g lik e this: At th e bo ttom of th e social scale is a class of routilleers - dom estics, faCl"ory worke rs, and hired hands - who can put up with an unvaried round of duti es but who, their self-discipline being mar- ginal , must punc h tim e clocks if they are to ge t in a day's work, and wh o are little inclined to forego present gratifi ca tion for th e sake of long·tenn g'.u ns. Above Ul e m is a class of techni cians. Artisans in preindustrial societies, in an industri al age they are th e people wh o understand machines, repair th e m, and keep th e m runnin g. Next comes the manageri al class. In its politicaJ wing it includes party offi cials and elec ted re prese ntatives; in its military branc h, offi cers and cllie fs-of-s taff; in its industrial arm , e ntrepre ne urs, managers, board me mhers, and c hi ef executive offi cers.

Ir. howeve r, socie ty is to be not onl y co mpl ex but good, if it is to be wise and inspired as ,",'ell as effiCie nt. Ul e re mu st be above th e admjnistralors - in es tee m but not in pay, for one of th e definin g marks of thi s class must lie in its indiffe re nce to wealth and powe r -a fourth class, whi c h in our speciali zed society would include rdigious lead ers, teac hers, writers, and arti sts. Suc h peol>\e are rightl y caJled seers in th e lite ral se nse of thi s word. for th ey are the eyes ofUle com- munit y. As th e head (administrators) rests on th e bod y (laborers and techniCians). so Ul e eyes are placed at the top ofUl e head. Members of thi s class mu st possess e nough willpower to co unte r the egois m and sedu c ti ons that di stort perception. They command res pec t beca use others recogni 7A! both th eir own incapacity for such restrai nt and the truth or what th e seer tells them , It is as if the see r sees clearly what other types onl y suspec t. But such visio n is fragile; it yields sound di scernm e nts onl y wh e n carefull y protected. Need- illg leisure for unhurried re nec li on, th e see r mu st be protec ted from ove rinvolvelll e nt in th e day- to-day ex ige ncies that clutter an d clo ud Ih e mind, as a nav iga tor must be free from se rving in th e &>all ey or stoking in Ul e hold ill order to track Ul e stars to keep th e ship on

III NOUISM " cOurse. Above aJ!, Uli s Anal cas te mu st be prol"4..'ctoo. from t·e mporaJ powe r. India co nsidered Pl ato's dream of th e philoso~her king unrealisti c, and it is true th at whe n brahmill3 assumed SOClaJ power. they became (.'O rrupt. For te mporal powe r subjec t·s its Wielde r to press ures and te mptations thai to some ex te nt refract judgme nt and distort it. The rol e of lhe see r is lI ot to c rac k down but to counsel, 1I0t to dri ve but to guide. Like a co mpass needle. gua.rded that it may point, Ul e bm/llllin is to ascertain. UICll indicate, th e tru e north of life's meanin g and purpose. c harting th e way to civilization's ad .... d1lce.

Cas te. whe n it has decayed. is as offen sh'e as any other co rrupt - ing corpse. Whatever its character at the start , it ca me in tim e to neglect Plato's insight that "u gold e n parent may have a sil ve r so n, or a sil ve r parent agold e n son, and the n th ere must be a c hange of rank; th e so n of th e ri ch mu st desce nd. and th e child of th e arti san ri se, in the sociaJ scale; fo r an oracl e says 'that th e state will come to an e nd if governed by a man ofhrnss or iro n.' .. As one of Ul e most th oughtful recent advocates of the basic idea of cas te has wri tte n, ~we may expect Umt the co ming developme nt wi ll diffe r chi e fl y in permitti ng ultermarringe and choice or change of occupation und e r certain co n- ditions, though still recognizing the general desirabi lit y or marriage within Ul e group and offo ll owing one's parents' calling."2fl lnsofar as cas te has co me to mean rigi di ty. excl usiveness. and undeserved privi- lege. Hindus today are working to clear th e comlption from th eir poli ty. Bu t th ere re main many who be li eve th at 10 th e proble m 110 co untry has yet solved. th e proble m of how society ought to be ordered to insu re th e max imum of fair play and c reativit y, the basic th eses of cas te continu e to warrant attenti on.

Up to thi s point we have approached lI induism in te rm s of its practical import. Begin nin g with its a nalysis of what people W'.Illt, ,",'e have traced its sugges tions co ncerni ng Ul e ways th ese wan ts might be me t and the responses appropriate to various stages and statio ns of hum an life. Th e remain ing sec tions of thi s chapter shift the focus from practice to th eory. indicati ng th e princi pal philosop hi cal con- ecpu th at rib the Hindu re ligion.

''Thou Before Whom All Words Recoil"

The first principle of Japanese ikeballa f\ ov.'er arr.J.ngemcnt is to learn what to leave out. This is also th e first prin Ciple to be learned in

60 TIlE WO RL.D'S REL.lCIONS

speaking of God, the Hindus insist. People are forever trying to lay hold of Reality with 'o1.'Ords, only in the e nd to find mystery re buking their speec h and their syllahle s swal lO\\w by sil e nce. Th e proble m is not th at our minds are nol brig ht e noug h. Th e problem li es deeper. Minds, taken in th e ir ordinary, surface sense, are th e wrong kind of instrument fo r th e und e rtaking. The e fft!C t, as a result, is like trying to lad le the ocean with a ne l, or lasso the wind with a rope. The awe- inspiring praye r of Shankara, the Th omas Aquinas of lI induism, begins with the invocation , ~Oh Thou , before whom a1l words reco il. ~

Th e human mind has evolved to facilitate survival in th e naturnJ world , It is adapt ed to deal wi tIl finite objects. Cod, 011 th e contrary, is infinite a nd of a compl e te ly different order of being from what our minds can grasp. To expect our minds to co rner the infinite is like aski ng a dog to unde rstand Ei nstei n's e quation with its nose. This analogy becomes mi slead ing if, pressed in a different directio n, it sugges ts that "-'e can neve r know the Abysmal Cod. Th e YOI!Ps, .... 'C have see n. are roads to precise ly such rea Ii 7.atio n. But th e knowle dge to whi ch th ey lead transcends the knowledge of th e rational mind; it rises to the deep yet dauJi ng darkn ess of tile mys ti cal co nscious- ness. t1 TIle only lit erall y accurate desc riptio n of th e Unsearchab le of which th e ordi nary mind is capable is neti . . , "eti, not this ... not this. If you lraverse the le ng th and breadth of the uni verse sayi ng of everything you can see and conceive, ~nol this ... nol this," what re main s wi ll be Cod .!13

And yet ..... ords and co ncepls can not be avoid/..-d. Be ing the o nl y C<llIipme nt at our mind 's di sl>OSa!, any co nscious progress toward Cod mu st be mad e with their aid. Th oug h co ncepts ca n neve r carry th e mind to its des tinati on, th ey can point ill the rig ht direction .

We may begin simpl y with a nanlC to hang o ur tIlOug ht s o n. The name the Ilindus give to th e su preme real il y is Brahmall , which has a dua l e tymology, de ri ving as it does rrom both br, 10 breu th e. and brih , to be great. The c hie f at tributes 10 be linked with the na me are !lo t, chit , a nd anarlllu; Cod is being. aware ness, a nd bliss. Utte r realil y, utte r consciousness. and utterly beyond all possibility of frustration - th is is th e basic Hindu vk ...... of Cod, Even th ese wo rd s can not claim to describe Cod li temlly, h(M'f:\'er. for the:: meanings th ey carry fo r us are radical ly unlike the se nses in which they appl y to Cod. \Vlml pure bei ng wou ld be like. bei ng infinite with abso lute ly noth - ing excl uded. of this we have scarcely an inkling. Sim il arly with

IIlNDUISM 61

awaren ess and j oy. In 5pinoza's formulatio n Cod's nature rese mbles our words about as muc h as tIl e dog star resembles a dog . Th e most thai can be said fo r th ese words is that they are pointers; ou r minds do better to move in the ir di rec ti on than in th e opposite. Cod li es o n the furthe r side of bei ng as we und e rstand it. not nothingness; be)und minds as we know Lhe m, not mindless clay; beyo nd ecstasy, not ago ny.

This is as far as some minds need go in their vision of Cod: infinite being, infinite conscio usness., infinite bliss- all e lse is at best comme nta ry, at worst re trac tio n. 11le re are sages who can live in this austere, conceptually Uli n atm osp here of th e spirit and find it invigord.tillg; th ey can llnd e rsland with Shankara that "th e sun shines even wi tIlOut objects to shin e upon .~ Most peopl e. however, ca nnot be gripped by such high-o rder abs trac tion s. That C. S. Lewis is among their number is proof that th e ir mind s are not infe ri or, on ly different. Professor l...eoNis tells us lha l whil e he was a c hiJd his par- ents ke pi admonis hing him not 10 think of C od in terms of any fonn . for th ese co uld o nly limit hi s infinit y. He tried hi s best to heed th e ir ins tru ctio ns. but the closest he co uld co me to th e idea of a formless Cod W'dS an infinite sea of grey lapi oca.

This anecdote. til e Ilindus wo uld say. points up pe rfec Ll y th e c ir- cum stance of tIl e man or WOma.n whose mind must bite into some· thing concrete and representatio nal if it is to find life-sustai ning meaning. Mos t people find it impossible 10 co nceive. much less be moti vated by, anything thai is removed very far from direct t!Xpe ri - e nce. Hinduism advises such peol>le nOlto try to thjnk of Cod as tIl e sup re me instance of abstractions like being or consciousn ess, and instead 1-0 thin k of Cod as th e archetype of th e nob les t real ity Ul ey en counle r in til e naluml wo rld. T his means thinking of Cod as th e supreme perso n (lshoora Of' Bll4gaoon), for people a re na ture's nobl es l crown. Our discussion of blwkli yoga, the path to Cod throu gh love and devotion. has already iutroduced us 10 Cod co n- ceived in this way. 111is, in Pascal's Westem idiom. is the Cod of Abra· ham . Isaac, aJld Jacob. not the Cod of tIl e philosophers. It is Cod as parent, lovi ngly me rci ful , o mniScient , almighty, our e ternal co nte m- porary, the companion who understrulds.

Cod so conceived is called Saguna Brahman , or Cod-wilh· attributes as di stinc t from tIle philoso phe rs' more abs tract Nirf:,'una Brahman , or Cod-without-attrihutes. Nir"gllllu Brahman is tIl e ocean

61 TH E WO RLD'S RELI CIONS

without a ripple: Saguna Brahman th e same ocean alive wilh s'A-'e lis and waves. In th e lang uage of theol ogy. th e distinc ti o n is be twee n pe rsonal a nd ltanspe rsonaJ co nceptions o f God. Hindui sm has Includ ed superb champion s of eac h view, nota bl y Shankarn for the transperso naJ and Ha manuja for th e perso nal; but tJl e conclusio n th at d oes mos t justice to llinduism as a wh ole and has its own eICplicit ch ampi ons like Sri Ram akri shn a is tha t bo th are equaJJ y co rrec t. AI first blush thi s may loo k like a g laring violati on o f th e law of th e excl ud ed middle. God may be e ith e r personal o r no t, we are like ly to in sist, but no t both . But is thi s so? What th e di sjunction forgets, Indi a argues, is th e di sta nce our rational minds are from God in th e first pl ace. Intrinsicall y, God may no l be capabl e of being t-wo conlroldi c· tory th ings-we say may 11 0 1 because logic itself may me lt in th e full bl a7.e o f the di vi ne in cand esce nce. But co ncepts of God conlai n so muc h all oy to begi n with tha t two co nlmdi ctory ones may be true, e ac h from a diffe re nt li ng le. as botJl wave and particles may be e qu all y acc urat e he uri sli c d evices for d escribing th e na tu re o f lig ht .1lI On th e who le India has been co nt e nt to e nco urage th e d eva· 1'00 to co nceive of Brohman as e itJl e r perso nal or lranspersonal , de pend ing on whic h carri es tJl e mos t exal led meaning fo r the mind in (IUesti on.

Cod's relati o n to tJl e world li kewise varies acco rding 10 the sym· bolism that is e mb mced , Conceived in personaJ I'e nn s, Cod will st and in re lati ollt o th e world as an artislto his or he r handiwork. God will be Creator (Brahma), Preserve r (Vishnu ), and Destroyer (Sh iva), wh o in tJle end resolves all finite fo rms bac k into the p ri mordial nature from which th ey sprang . On th e oth e r hand, conceived trans- perso nall y, Cod stands above the struggle, al oo f from th e finite in every respect. ~As ul e sun d oes no t tremb le, alth ough its im age tre m· bl es whe n yo u shake the c up filled with wa te r in whic h tJl e sun's lig ht is re Oec led: thu s th e Lord also is no l affec ted by pain, aJulOug h pain be fe lt by that part of him whi ch is called th e indivi dual 5O ul. "30 Th e world will still be Cod·d e pend e nt. It will have e me rged in some unfath omabl e way fro m Ul e d ivi ne pl e nitude and be sustain ed by its powe r. "'Ie shin ing, the sun , th e moo n a nd th e stars shin e afte r I-lim: by His lig ht all is Iig hled . J-Ie is the Ear of the ear, the Mind o f th e mind , the Speech o r the speech, th e Life of life, th e Eye of th e eye. ~31 But Cod willn o l have inte nti onall y willed th e world , nor be affected by its inh erent ambiguity, imperfection s, and finitud e.

III NDU ISM 63

'rtie personal ist will see littl e re lig io us avai labi lit y in thi s idea of Cod who is so far removed from ou r pred icame nts as to be un aware

:f our ... e ry ex iste nce. Is it no t re ligio n's dea th to desllO ii th e h uman heart of its final treas ure, lh e d iamond of Cod's JO\Ie? l1l e answer is th at Cod se rves an e nli rely d ifTe re nt fun c ti on for th e transperso nali sl. o ne that is equall y re ligio us. but d ifferent all the sam e. If o ne is slruggling against a cu rren t il is co mfo rting 10 have a mas te r ~wimmer by one's side. It is equall y im po rtant tJ13t there be a shore, solid and serene, that lies beyond th e strugg le us th e te rminus of al l o ne's sp las hings. TIl e lransl>c rsonal is t has becom e so possessed by th e goal as to fo rge l all e lse, eve n th e e ncou rage me nt of suppo rting co mpani ons.

Coming of Age: in til e: Universe:

With C od in p ivotal pos iti on in the Hindu sche me. we can return 10 humall beings to d ruw togetJl er sys te mati call y tJl e l!indu co ncept of their nature and d es tin y.

Lndi vi dual so ul s, or j ioos, e nte r th e world mys te riou sly; by Cod's iJO"''Crwc may be sure, but how or fo r wh at reaso n weare unabl e fu ll y 10 ClCpl aill. Like b ubbl es tJl at fo ml o n th e bo ttom of a boiling teake t- tl e, Uley make tJl eirway tllrough the wdl e r (uni verse) until they b reak free into the lim itl ess atm osphere of illumination (liberatio n). Th ey be gin as the so ul s o f th e si mpl est form s of life. bUI th ey do no t van ish wilh th e d eath of th e ir o ri ginal bodi es. In th e Hindu view spirit no more d e pends on the body it inh abits than bod y d e pe nds on Ul e d otJl es it wears or ule ho use it li ves in . Wh e n we outgrow a suit o r find ou r house 100 c ramped , " 'C exc hange these fo r roo mi e r o nes th ai offe r ou r bod ies freer pl ay. So uls do the same.

WOnl-ot.d ga nlll!t'l ',$ A re sluxl by tile body: Wo n H )Ut bodies Are shed b y the dweller. (Blwga ood· Gita , 11 :22)

This p rocess by whi c h an ind ividual j ioo passes throug h a seq ue nce of bod ies is known as reincarnatio n or trunsmi gratio n of the so ul - in Sa nsk rit samsam, a wo rd th ai signifies e ndless passage throu gh cycles of life. d eath, and reb irth . O n th e subhuman level th e passage is throu gh a se ri es of in cre asingly co mpl ex bodi es until at last a human o ne is a ltain ed. Up to thi s po int th e so ul 's growth is

6<1 TIlE WORLD'S RELIGIONS

virtually au tomatic. It is as if the soul were growing as steadi ly and normally as a plant and receivi ng at each successive embodiment a body thai , being more comp lex. provides the needed largess for its new ca pab ilities.

With the sou l's graduation into a hum an body, thi s automatic, escalator· like mode of ascen t comes to an end. Its e ntry into this exalted habitati on is evid e nce that th e soul has reac hed se lf· co nscio usness. and with this estate come freedom , responsi bilit y, an d effort.

The mechanism th at ties these new acquisitions together is th e law of konno. The li teral meaning of kanna (as we encoun tered it in karma yoga) is \\.'Ork, but as a doctrine it means, roughly, the moral law of cause and effect. Science has alerted the West to the impor- tance o f causal relationshi ps in the physical world. Every physi cal even t, we are incl ined to believe, has its cause, and every cause wi ll have its d e te rminate effects. India ex te nds this co ncept of ca usatio n to include moral and spiritual life as well. To some extent the West has as well. MAs a man sows, so shall he reap"; or again, MSOW a t.hought and reap an act, sow an act and reap a habit , sow a hab it and reap a c haracter; sOW" a character and reap a destiny" - th ese are ways tJle West has put the point . Th e difference is that Indi a tightens up a nd extends its concept of moral law to see it as absolute: it brooks no excep ti ons. Thepresent condition of each interior life- how happy it is. how co nfused or serene, how much it sees-is an emct product of what it has wanted and do ne in th e past. Equally, its present th ough ts and d ec isions are detennin ing its future experiences. Each act that is direc ted Upoll th e world has its equal an d opposite reaction on one· self. Each thought and deed d elivers an un seen chisel blow that scu lpts one's destiny.

This idea of kanllO and the comp le tely moral universe il implies carries two important psychological corollaries. First, it commils th e Hindu who understands it to complete personal responsibi lity. Each individual is who ll y responsibl e for his o r her present condition and wi ll haveemctly the future h e or she is now c reating. Most people are not willing 10 admit this. Th ey pre fe r, as th e psychologists say, to project-to locate the sou rce of their difficulties outs id e themselves. l1u. .. y wan t excuses. so meone to blame so that they may be exoner· ated. This, say the Hindu s, is immature. Everybody gets exactl y what Is deserved-we have mad e ou r beds and must li e in them. Co n·

HI NDUISM 65

versely, the idea of a moral universe closes the door on chance or accident. Most peop le have little idea how much they secretl y bank on luck- hard luck to justify pas t failures. good luck to bring future successes. How many people drift through life simpl y waiting for the breaks, for that mo me nt when a lu cky lottery number brings riches and a di zzyi ng spell oframe. [f you approach li fe this way, says Hindu- ism, you mi sj udge your position pathetical ly. Breaks have nothing to do with protracted levels of happin ess, nor do they happell by chance. We li ve in a world in which there Is no chance o r accident. Those words are simply covers for ign orance.

Because kamlQ implies a lawful world, II has often been inter· preted as fatalism . However often Hindus may have su ccumbed to this interpretation, it is untrue to the doctrine itself. KnnrIa decrees lhat every decision must have its detenninate conseque nces, but th e decisio ns th emse lves are. in th e last analysis. freely arrived at. To approach til e matte r from the other direction, the co nseq ue n ces of one's past d ecis ions conditi on one's present lot, as a card playe r finds himself dealt a particu lar hand while remaining free to play that hand in a variety o f ways. This means that the career of a so u] as it threads its course through innum erable human bodies is guided by Its choices. which are con trolled by whal the so ul wants and wills at eac h stage of the joumey.

What it s wants are, and th e order in which they appear, can be summarized quickly here, for previous sections h ave consid ered the m at le ngt h. Wh en it first enters a human body. ajioo (soul) WolUts nothing more than to taste widely of tJl e se nse delights its new physi- ca1 equ ipm e nt makes possible. With repetiti on, however, even the most ecs tati c of th ese falls prey to habituatio n and grows monoto--- no us, whereupon thejioo turns to social co nqu ests to escape bore- dom . 11lese co nquests-the various modes of wealth, fame, and power-can hold the individual's interest for a co nsiderable time The stakes are high and their attainm e nt richly gratifying. Eventu· all y, however, this e nti re program of persona1 a.mbitio n is seen for wha t it is: a ganle-a fabu1ous. exciting, history·making game, but a game all th e sa.me

As long as it h olds one's inte res t, it satisfies. But when novelty wears off, when a winner has acknowledged with th e same bow and pretty littl e speech the accolades th at h ave come so many limes before. he or she begins to yearn for someth ing new and more doo»ly

66 TIlE WOJlLD'S IIELI GIO NS

satisfying, Dut y, th e total dedi cation of one's life to one's co mmunit y, call fill the need for a whil e, but th e ironies and anomali es of histo ry make this objecltoo a revolving doo r. Lean on it and it gives, bUI in time one diSCO\lers that it is going round and round. Afte r social dedi. ca tion th e only good Ihat can sati sfy is one that is infin it e and e te rnal , whose reali ... .alion can tum all experi e nce, ~n the experience of tim e and apparent defeat, into splendor. as stonn clouds drift ing through a valley look differen t vi ewed from a peak that is batlled in su nshine. TIle bubble is approaching tll e water's surface and is demanding final release.

The so ul's progress through th ese ascending strata of human wants does not take tlle fonn of a straight lin e with an ac ute upward angle. It fumbles and zig'Lags its way toward wha t it reall y needs. In th e long run. however, the trend of attachments will be upwnrd - everyone finall y gets th e point . By "upward" here is meant II grudua l relaxalion of nttacluucnt to physical ubjects and stimuli, accom pa· nied by a progress ive re lease frolll self-interest. We can almost visual- i .... e the ac tion of karma as it de livers th e conseque nces of what th e so ul reaches out for. It is as if each desire that aims at the ego's grati- fi cati on adds a b>Tain of concrele to th e wall that surrounds the indi- vidua l self and insu lates it from the infinite sea of being Ihat

~ surrounds it; while. co nverse ly, each compassionate or disinterested ~ act dislodges a grain from the co nfining dike. Detachment cannot be \./) overtly assessed, however; it has nu public index, The fact thai some· ~ one withdraws to a monastery is no proof of triumph O\ICr self and a cravi ng, for tll C5e may continue 10 abound in th e imaginations orthe <: heart. ~o~~rsel y, an execulive may be heavily involved in wor ldl y

respo nsibilities; but Ifhe or she manages tllem de tachedly-li ving in the world as a mudfish li ves in th e mud. without the mud 's Slic king to it -the .... ·orld becomes a ladder to ascend.

Never during its pilgri mage is th e human spirit completely adrifl and alone. From start to finish its nucleus is tile Atmall, tll e God within . exerting pressure to ·out - Iike a jack-in· the- box. Underlying its whirlpool oftr:msient feelings, e motions. and delusions is til e self· luminous. abiding poinl of Ihe transpcrsonal God, Though it is buried too dl.'tl p in th e sou l to be normall y noticed. it is the so le b'TOulid of human ex istence an d aware ness, As tlle SUII ligh ts th e world even when cloud·covered, Htll e Immutable is neve r see n but is the Witness; It is n(.'Ve r heard but is the Hearer; it is neve r thought.

III NDU ISM 67

but is the Tltinker; is neve r known , but is the Knower. There is no other witness but This. no oth e r knower but This.-» But God is nol only tlle empowering agent in tile soul's l."very action . In tlle e nd it is Cod's radiating warmtb that melts th e soul's icecal), turning it into a pure capacity for Cod,

What happens tll CO? Some say tlle individual soul passes into comple te id e ntifi cation with Cod and loses every trace of its fonner separateness. Others. wishing to taste sugar, not be sugar. c he rish tll e hope that some slight differe ntiation between the soul and Cod will still re main -a Ihin line upon the ocean that provides nevertheless a remnant of personal identity that some co nsider indispensable for th e beatific vision,

C hristopher Ishe rwood has written a story based on an Indian fuble that summarizes the soul's co ming of age in the uni verse. An old man seated on a lawn witll a group of c hildren around him te ll s them of th e magic Kalpataru tree tllat fulfills all wishes. ~ If you speak to it and tell it a wish ; or if you li e down unde r it and think. or even dream , a wish , th en that wish will be grunted,- The old man proceeds 10 tell th em th at he once obtai ned such a tree and planted it in hi s b'Urden, "I n fact," he tells them. -tllat is a Kalpataru O\Ier tllere. M

With tll at th e c hildren rush t'o the tree and begin to shower it with ret:luests. Most of th ese tum out to be unwi se. e nding in either indigestion or tears. But the Kalpataru grants them indisc riminately. II has no interest in giving advice.

Years pass, and the Kalpataru is forgotte n. The childre n have now grown inlo men and women and are trying to fulfillncw wishes th at tlley have found , At Ilrst they want tllcir wish es to be fulfilled ins tantly, but lal'e r they search for wishes thai Call be fu lfilled only with ever-increasing diffi culty.

The point of the story is that the uni verse is one gigantic Wishing Tree. wilh branches that reach into every heart . TIle cosmic process decrees that so me tim e or othel". in this life or anotller, each of th ese wis hes will be granted-together. of co urse. wilh consequences. There wus one chiJd from the original group. however. so the story concludes, who did not spend his years skipping from desire to desire, from olle grati6cation to anut he r. For from th e first he had unders tood the real nature of the Wishing Tree. -For him, the Kal · pataru W'.lS flot th e pretty magic tree of his uncle's story- it did not exist to grull t the foolish wishes of ch ild ren-it wus unspeakably

68 TilE WORLD'S REI. ICIONS

terrib le an d grand. H was hi s rather and his mother. Its roots held the world togethe r, and its branches reached beyond the stars. Before the oogi nning it had been -and wou ld be. a1ways.-:13

The \Vorld-Welcome and Farewell

A gro und plan of the \\-'Orld as conceived by Hinduism wou ld look so meth ing like this: There would be innumera ble galaxies compara- ble to our own, each cent ering in an earth from which pt.>op le wend th eir ways to Cod. Rhlbrill g each earth wou ld be a numbe r or fin er worlds above and coarse r ones below, to which souls rellai r between incarnations according to their just desserts.

"Ju st as the spider pours forth its thread from itself and takes it back again, eve rl so the uni verse grows from the Impe rishable. "31 Periodically the thread is wi thdrawn ; the cosmos co ll apses into a Night of Brnhma, an d all phenomenal being is returned to a sta te of pure pote ntiality. Thus, like a gigantic accordion, th e wor ld swe ll s out and is drawn back in. l11is oscillation is built into the sc heme of things; the universe had no begi nning and will have no e nd. The time fram e of Indian cosmology boggles the imaginalion and may have something to do with the proverbial ori ental indifference to hast e. The J-limalay.as. it is said, are made of solid gran it e. Once every thou - sa nd years a bird nics over them with a si lk scarf in its beak. bmsiling their peaks with its scarf. When by this process the Him alayas have bee n wonl away, one day of a cosmic cycle wi ll have elapsed.

When we tum from our wo rld 's position in space and time to its moral character, the first point has already been establis hed in th e preceding section . It is 11 just wo rld in which eve ryone gets what is deserved an d creates his or her own future.

The seco nd thing to be said is th at it is a middle world. This is so, not onl y in the sense that it hangs midway between heavens above and he ll s below. It is also middle in th e sense or being middling, a wor ld in whi ch good and evil. pleasu re and pai n, knowledge and ignorance, interweave in abou t equal proportions. And tliis is the Wdy things wi ll remain. All talk or social progress, of cleaning up th e "'Orld, of creating the ki ngdom of heaven on earth-in short. al l dreams of utopia - are nol just doomed to di sa ppointme nt'; they mi s- judge th e wo rld's purpose. whi ch is not to rival paradise but to pro·

HI NDU ISM 69

vide a training ground for th e human spirit. The world is the soul's gymnasium , its school an d training field. What we do is important; but ultimately, iI is importan t for th e disci pline it offers our individ- ual character. We delude ourselves if we expect it to change the world fundam entally. Our work in the world is like bowling in an uphill all ey; it ca n build muscles, but we should 1101 tJlink that ou r rolls wi ll permanently deposit the balls at the alley's otJler end. They all roU back eventuall y, to co nfro nt our childre n if we our- selves have IlasSed O il . The world can develop charac ter and pre- pare people to loo k beyond it - for these it is admirabl y suited. But it cannot be pe rfected. "Said Jes us, blessed be his name, this world Is a bridge: pass ove r, but build no house upon it." It Is tme to Ind ian thought thaI tJlis apocryphal saying, attributed to the poet Kabir, should have originated on her soil.

Ir we ask about the world's metaphysical status, we shall have to col1tinue th e distinction we have watched divide Hinduism 0 11 every major issue tllU S far; nam ely. th e one be twee n til e dual and th e non- dual points of view. On th e condu ct of life thi s disti nctio n di vides }nona yogp from IJllOkti yoga; on tJ\e doctrine of Cod it divides th e personal from th e transpersonal view; on the issue of salV'dtio n it divides those who anticipate merging with Cod from those who aspire to Cod's company in th e beatific vis ion. In cosmology an ex tension of the same line divides those who regard th e world as being from th e hi ghes t perspective unreal rrom those who beli eve it to be real in every sense.

All Hindu religious thought deni es that the wor ld of nature is sclf-existent. It is grounded in Cod, Bnd if this divine base were removed it would instantly co ll apse into nothingness. For the dualist the natural world is as real as Cod is, whil e of course bei ng infi ni tely less exalted . Cod, individ ual sou ls, and nature are distinct ki nds of beings, none of wh ich can be reduced to th e oth ers. No n-dualists, on the other hand , distinguish three modes of consciousness under whi ch the world can appear. The first is hallucination, as wh en we see pink elep hants, or when a straight stick appears bent under water. Such apl)Carances are corrected by further perceptions, including those of other people. Second. there is the world as ilnor- mally appears to the hum an senses. Finall y, there is the ,,"'Orld as it appears to yogis who have risen to a sta te of su percollscio usness. Strictly speaki ng, this is no wo rld at all. for here every trail that

70 THE WO RLIJ'S RELI C IONS

c harac te ri7-CS the ",'Orld as nonnall y perceived-its mult ipli c ity and muteriality-v.lnishcs. TIl cre is but one reality, like a brimming ocea n, boundl ess us th e sky, indivisibl e, abso lute. It is like a vas t Sll t:t: t of water, shore less and calm.

Th e non -dualist claims thai this third perspective is the most acc urate o r th e three. By comparison , th e world that nonnall y appears to us is maya. TIl e word is oOe n tra nslated "ill usion ," but Lh is is misleading. For one th ing it sugges ts Lh at th e world need no t be taken serio usl y. This the Hindus d e ny, poin ting o ut that as lo ng as it appears real a nd de manding to us we must accep t it as suc h. More- ove r, ma!la does have a qualified, provisio nal reali ty.

Were we as ked Ir dreams are real, ou r IUlsv.1;!r would have to be qualified. Th ey are real in the sense LllIIt we have th e m, bu t th ey arc not rea l in as mu c h as what th ey depict need 1I0t exist o bjecti vely. Strictl y speaking, a d rea m is a pS)'t: hological co nstru c t, a me lltal fabrica ti on. Th e II lndus have so me thing like thi s in mind whe n th ey spea k of maya. TIl e wo rld appears as th e mind in its normal co ndi - tion perceives it ; but we are no t justi fi ed in thinking that reality as it is in itselrls as it is thu s seen. A yo ung child see ing its first mOYie will

~ mistake the moving pictures for actual objects., unaware th at the li on grow ling from the scn.--en is projected rrom a booth at the rear of th e

<;.t:: theater. It is the same with us; th wor ld we see is conditi oned , and " ~ in tha t sense projec ted, by our perceptual mec hanisms. To c hange

the metaph or, o ur se nse receptors regis te r onl y II narrow band or e lectromagn e tic frequencies. With the he lp o r mi croscopes and o th er amplifiers. we can d e tec t some additio nal wave le ngths, but superco nsciousness must be cu lti vated to know realit y itselr. In that sta te Our receptors v.'Ou ld cease to re fract , like a prism , the pure lig ht of being int o a spec trum or multip li city. HealHy wou ld he known as it ac tuall y is: one, infinite, unal loyed.

Ma!la comes from th e same root as magic. In saying the wor ld is mayo , non-du al lI induism is saying that th e re is someth ing tricky about it. 111e tri ck li es in the way th e wo rld 's materiality and mul· tip li city pass th e mse lves off as being independen tl y real - real apart from th e stance rrom whic h we see them -whereas in ract reality is undiffere nti ated Brohman throu ghout . eve n as a rope lying in the du st re mai ns a rope while heing mi staken ror a snake. Mayo is al so sedu ctive ill th e attmclive ncss in which it presents th e world . trap· ping us within it and leaving us with no d es ire to journey 011 .

III NIJU ISM 7 1

But again we mu st as k, jfthe ","'Orld is o nl y p rovisio nall y rea l, will it be t'.1ke ll serio ll sly? Will not responsibility flag? Hinduism thinks nOt. In a ske tc h of the id ea l society comparable to Pl ato's Republic, the Tripu m Ittl/ll/sya portrays II pri nce wh o ac hieves thi s ou tl ook 0 11 the world an d is rreed th e re by rrom ~the knots or th e heart" an d "the ide ntifi ca tion of the fl es h wit h the Selr." Th e co nsequ e nces d e picted are rar rro m asocial . Thus li bera ted, the prin ce performs h is royal duties e ffi Cie ntl y but dispass ionate ly, "like an actor on th e stage." Fo l- lowing h is I'eac hings and exampl e, his subj ects att ai n a comparab le freed om and are no lo nger motiva ted by th e ir passions, though th ey sti ll possess th e m , Wo rl dly aflilirs continue, but th e ci ti ze ns are reli eved of old rese ntm e nts and are less buffe t'ed by fears and d esires. " I n th e ir everyday life. laughing, rejoicing. wearied or a ngered, th ey beh aved like me n intoxi ca ted and indiffe rent to th e ir own affairs." Wh erefore th e sages Lhat visi ted there called it Mthe C ity o r Respl e n- dent Wisdom ."

Jf we as k wh y Reality, wh ich is in fact one and perfect . is see n by us as man y and marred ; why th e soul , which is real ly united with Cod Lh rough out , sees itselfror a while as su ndered; wh y th e rope appears to be a snake-if .... 'C ask th ese questio ns we are up agains t the qu es- <:J=' ti on that has no answe r, any more than th e comllUrable C hri st ian J question of why Cod created th e world has an an swer. TIl e bes t we can say is that the world is lila , Cod's pl ay. C hildre n pl ayi ng hid e and ....J sce k assum e v.u'ious roles that have no validit y outside th e ga me. Th ey place th e mselves in jeopard y a nd in co nditio ns rrom whi ch Lhey mu st escape. Wh y d o th ey do so whcn in a twinkling th ey cou ld rree themselves by simpl y stepping out of th e grun e? Th e o nl y answer is that the game is it s own poin t and reward. It is fun in itse lf, a spo n· taneous overflow of crea ti ve, imaginative e nergy. So too in so me mys- te riou s waymust it be with th e world. Like a child pl aying al o ne, Cod is the Cosmi c Dance r, whose rou tin e is all creatures an d all wor lds. From til e tirel ess stream of Cod's e nergy th e cos mos fl ows in e ndl ess. gracefu l ree nac tm c nt.

Those who have seen images of the goddess Kali dancing o n a prostrate body whil e holding in he r hands a sword and a severed head ; those who have hea rd that th e re arc more Hindu te mples dedi - cated to Shi va (wh ose haunt is th e c re matorium and ;s Cod in hi s aspec t o f des troyer) than the re arc te mpl es to Cod ill th e form of c re- ator an d preserve r combined - th ose who kn ow these things will no t

72 TilE WORLD'S IIEtlGIDNS

jump quickl)' to th e conclusion thai the Hindu wor ldview is gentle. What th ey overlook is thnl whal Kali and Shi\fil destroy is the finite in order to make way for th e infinite.

Because TI1Q11 lovu! tIle BUniing-grmmd, J haw: made a Bunlillg-ground of my lJearl- TJwt Thou., Dark OtJ~ hunter 0/ the Bllming-ground, Maye8t dance TIIY eternal tlallu. (Bengali hymn)

Seen in perspective, the y.'Qrld is ultimately benign. It has no pennanent he ll and threatens no eternal damnation. It may be loved without fear; its winds, its ('''Yer-changing skies, its p lains and wood- lands, even the poisonous splendor of th e lascivious orchid-all may be 10Yed provided that they are 1I0t dallied over indefinitely. ForaH is maya , lila , the spell·binding dance of the cos mic magician. beyond which lies the hound less good , which al l will achjeve i.1l the end, II is no accident that th e only art form India failed to produce wn.<; tragedy.

In sum: To th e question . ~What kind of world do we have?" H in- duism answers:

1. A multipl e y.'Qrld that includes innumerable galaxies horizon - tally. innumerable tiers ycrtically, and innumerable cyc les temporall y.

2. A mor.tl world in which lhe law of konrw is never suspended. 3. A middling y.'Qrld that will never replace paradise as the spir-

irs destination.

4. A world that is trwyo , deceptively tric ky in passing oO"its mul- tiplicity. materia lity, and dualities as ultimate wheD they are actually pnwisional.

5. A training ground on which people can develop their high es t capaci ties.

6. Ii \\IOrld that is lila , the p ia)' of the Divine in its Cosmic Dance- untiring, un e nding, res istless. yet ultimately beneficent. wiUI a gntce born of infinite vitality.

Many Patlas to th e Same Summit

That Hinduism has shared her land for ce nturies wi th Jains, Budd· h ists, Parsees. Mus lims. Sikhs, and C hri stians may he lp exp lain a final

HINDUISM 73

kIea that comes out more c1earl), ~r~ugh her than th ,rough ll~e oth~r great religions; namely. her convIction that the Yanous major reh- giOllS are a1temate paths to th e same goal. To claim salvation as th e lDonopoly of anyone religion is like claiming that Cod can be found In this room but 1I0t the next , in this attire but not another, Nonnally, people will follow the path that rises fro~l the ~Iains of !heir own cjvilil.ation j those who circle the mounlUlll , trying 10 bnng others around to their paths, are not climbing. In practice India's seets have often been fanaticall), intolerant, but in princip le most have been open. Early on, the Vedas announc:e<' Hinduism's classic contenl~on that the vMious religions are but differe nt languages through wilich God speaks to the humUll heart. "Tru th is one; sages call it by differ- ent names.

R

It is possible to cli mb life's mountain from any side. but when the top Is reached the trails converge. At base, in the foothills of theology, ritual , and organizational structure. the religion s are distinct. Differ- ences in culture. history. geography, Ulld collective temperament al l make for diverstl starting poi nts. Far from bei ng deplorable, this is brood; It adds ric hn ess to the totality of th e human venture. Is life not more interesting for Ule varied contributions of ConfucilUlis!s, Thoists, Budd- hists. Muslims,Jews, and Christians? RHow artistic," writes a contem· porary Hindu . "that there should be room for such variety-how rich the texture is, and how much more interesting Umn if the Almighty had decreed one antisepticalJ)' safe, exclusive, orthodox W'd.y. Although h e is Unity, Cod finds. it seems, his recreation in wriet),," 35 But beyond these differences, the same goal beckons.

For evidence of this, one of Hinduism's nineteenth-century saints sought Cod successivel), through the prac tices of a number of the .... 'Qrld·s great rcligiolls. In tum he sought Cod through th e person of Christ . the imageless, Cod..wrected teachings of the Koran , and a variety of Hindu Cod-embodiments. 1..11 eac h instance the result was th e same: 11le same Cod (he reported) was revealed , now incarnate in Christ, JlOW speaking through the Prophet Muhammad. now in th e guise of Vishnu the Preserver or Shiw the Completer. Out of these experiences came a set of teachings on th e essential unity of the great re ligions that comprise Hin duism's finesl YOiceon Ulis topi~ As tone is as important as idea here, we shall come closer to th e I-hndu position if we relinquish the remainder of this seelio n to Hamakrishna's words instead of trying the paraphrase lhem .:MI

74 TilE WORLD'S IU; L1CIONS

Cod lieu made diffenmt religion,s to suit different {UJJiratiom, tima, and COtJntries. All doctrines are only 80 111011'1 path.s; but a path is by no mean.s Cod llim.te/f lruleed, one carl reach Cod if one follows any of tile pat/~ with w/lole-hearted devotioll. One may eat a cake with icing either stmight OJ'" sidewise. It will taste sweet either way.

As otle alld tile some material, water; is called by different nama by different people" one calling it water, atlOtiler eau, a thin' aqua, and onotller pani, $0 the otle Everlasting-Intelligent_ Bliss is inooked by some as Cod. by some as Allah , by $Ome tU Jehovah, and by odler'S 0$ Brahman .

As one carl ascend to the tOJJ of a house by means of a ladder or a bamboo or a s taircase or a ro,Je. so diverse are t1~ ways and mean, to a",mHJch Cod, and every religion ill tile world shOWs one af these ways.

Bow down and wars/Ii" wllere other.t kneel, Jm- wlaere so mOlly have been 1Joying Ow tribute of adoration the kind Lord must manifest himse1J.for lie is all mercy.

Tile StlOwur ls the me.urnger of Cod, lie is lilre the viceroy of a mighty rllO,wrcli. As when t/lere is some disturbance ill a far-off prouince, the king sends his viceroy to quell it. so wherever there is a d{.'Cihle of religion in any IJart of tile world . Cod sends hia Sauiour there. It is one anti tile same Sauiour that, havillg I,/ullged into t/~ ocea n of life. met uI' in one l>lace and is .blOWn as Krislma . anll ciiving doom agoin rises ill aMther place and is knoum U.J Christ.

Everyone should follow ones own religitm, A Christian should follow Christianity, a Muslim should follow Islam. and $0 on. For the flindus the ancient path, the ,HJtli of the Aryan sages, iI tile best .

People lJOriition off tlldr lands by means of bOllntlarie.s. but '10 OI'le can IHJrtilion off the aI/-embracing :rky over/lead. Th e indivisible sky surrounds all and includes all. So lJeOIJle in igno- r"(mce say, MAly religion is tile Dilly one,. my religion i.t tile bes t. - But when a "eun Is illumineci by tnle I",owledl!/!, It ImoUiS t/lOt above all these wart oj sects and sectariarl.1 presitles the one im/ivisible, etenwl, all-k,lOwing bllu

As a ',lOllIer, in nUr'Sing IlIt r :rick children, gives rice a,1lI Cllm) to one. and sal!P arrowroot to allOt/leT; arid hread and butter to a

IHNDUI SM " f/linl. $0 the Lorr1/I(~ laid out differrnt IHltl1S for differrnt people suitable for llleir natur-es.

T/~ was a mall wllo worsllipped 5hioo but hated all other deities. ()rte day Shioo apI>earm to Ilim anti said. "I sholl never IJe pleased willi yOtl so long lUI '1011 Iwte the otller J!PiI.s." B"t the "WII was illl!Xoroble. Afterafew days Shioo Ql!Pin alJpeared to Ilim and saic/, '" sllalllletler IJe pleased witll you so long 1M you IIate. .. The man kept s ilent. After a few days 5hioo agoin al'Ptami to him . This time one side oJhil Ixxly tool that of5/lioo , anti theotlltf' Me tlwt of Vis hili I . Tile man was half ,)/cased and Iwlf displeased . lIe laid /ii, offerlll{9 on the Me re,Jresenting Silioo, and did not offer an'll/ling to the side rvpreseflting Vis/mil. Then 5hioo said. "Your bigotry is unconqueroble. I, by assuming this drlOilJSIJeCt , tried to convince you tllat all gOO.9 and goddesses are but oorious OSIlCCU of tile Orle Absolute Drnhmnn.

Appendix on Sikhism J (indus are inclint:d to regard Sikhs (literally di5ciples) ns so mewhat wayward members of their own ex te nded family, but Sikhs reject this reading . They see Uleir faith as having issued from au original divine ft.,'\felation that inaugurated u new religion.

TIl e revelation was impartooto Guru Nanak. gt'"' being popu- larly eXl)lnined as a tlispeller of ignor.J.nce or darkness (gu) and bringcr of e nlig htenm e nt (Mj). Nanak. pious and rcflecti from his birth in 1469, around the year 1500 mysteriously disappeared while bathing in a river. On reappearing three days late r he said: ~Sillce there is neither Hindu nor Muslim, whose palh 5halll follow? I will follow God's path, Cod is neither J IintIu nor Muslim . Wid the palh J follow is Cod's," Ilis authorit y for those assertions, he went on to explain, derived from th e fact that in his three-day abse nce he had been Laken to God's court, where he w.lsgi ... cn a cup of nectar (amrlt, from which Amril5ar, Sikllism's holy city, is named) and was told:

This is tile CtI,J of the aoomtion of Ccd:¥ uame. Drink it, I am witll you. I bless you and raise IJOtI .",. Whoever remembers fIOt' will enjoy lIIyfavor. Co, rejoice III my Il(Ime and. teach othen to do 110 also. Let this I~ yOllr calling.

76 THE \YORLO'S REU C IONS

That Nanak begun by distillg ui shing his palh rrom both Hindu _ ism and Is lam unde rscores the rac l that Sikhism arose in a Hindu culture -Nanak.....as born into th e 1csJwtriya caste-tJlal was unde r Muslim domination. Sikhism's home land is th e Punjab. "tJl e land or the fi ve riYers~ in northwest India, where Mu slim invaders were in finn COI~I.rol . Nanak valued his Hindu he ritage whil e also recogni zing th e nobl ill yo risiam . Here were two religions. each in itse lr inspired. bUI which in collision were exciting hatred and slaug hte r.

Ir the two sides hnd agreed to negotiate th e ir dilfcre nces, th ey c~uld hardl y have reached a more reasonabl e theologi cal co mpro- mise tball tJl e tenets o r Sikhism afford. In keep ing with Hindui sm's aa notana dharow (Eternal Truth ), the revelation thnt.....as imparted to Nanak affirms the ultimacy or a supreme and ronnl ess Cod who is beyo nd hum an conceiving. In keeping with th e Islami c revelatio n. h~'er. it rejects th e notio n or avatars (divin e incarna tions), caste d is tin cti ons. images as aids to worshil\ and the sanc tity orth e Vedas. ll avingdeparled rrom Hinduism in these respects, however, tJ1 C Sikh reve lation lea ns bac k loward it in e ndorsiug , as against blam , th e doctrine o r reincaruation .

This re latively eve n division between Hindu and Mu slim doc- trin es has k-d outsiders to suspec t th at in his dcel\ intuiti ve mind, ir nol conscious ly, Nanak worked out a raith he hoped mig ht reso lve th e Con Oi cl re ligio n had produ ced in his region. As ror the Sikhs tJl emse lves, they acknowledge th e co nci liato ry nalure or their raith, but ascribe its origins to God . Only in a seco ndary sense was Guru Nana k a g rin'. Th e on ly True Cw'u is Cod. Others qualiry as g lll'IlS in propo rtion as Cod speak s throug h th e m.

TIl e o ffi ciaJ Sikh gurus are te n In number and. beginning witJI C uru Nanak , Ihe Sikh community took shape through tJle ir mini stra- tion s. The teutJl in tJli s lin eage, Curu Cobind Singh , announced that he was tJl e las t or th is line; roll owi ng his dea th the Sacred Tex t that had take n shape \\-'Owd replace hum an gu rus as th e head o rtJl e Sikh co mmunity. Kn own as the Guru Cmnlh Sahib, o r Co ll ec tion or Sacred Wisd o m. thi s scripture has ever since been revered by th e Sikhs as their li vi ng Curu; illi ves in th e sense th a t th e will and wurds or Co<l are ali ve within it. For the lIlos t part it (:o ns ists or poe ms and hymn s tha t ca me to six or th e CllruS as th ey med it ated on Cod in th e d ee p stilln ess or their hearts an d e mc rged to sing joyfull y Cod's pmises.

HI NDU ISM 77

Sikhism has been und e r heavy assaull during mu ch orits history. At a time when th e raitJl was particularl y hard pressed, th e Te nth Guru caJ led ror tJ10se who were prepared 10 commit tJleir lives unreservedly to tJle raith to step rorww. To th e ~beloved five" who responded hcgave a special initiation, thereby instituting the Khalsa, or Pure Order, which continues to this day. Open 10 men and women alike who are willing to rulfill its regu lations. it requires that those who en ter it abstain rrom aJ cobol, meat, and tobacco. and that they wear "the five Ks. ~ so-called because ill I'unjabi all begin with the let- ter "k," The fi ve are un c ut hair, a comb, a sword or dagge r, a steel bracele t, and und e rshorts. Originally, all fi ve or th ese had protective as " 'ell as symboli c sides, Toge th e r with th e c omb. uncut hair (typi - call y ga tJl ered in a turban) shie lded th e skull whil e tying in with th e IJOh~ belier that un c ut hair co nserves Vitality and draws it upward; th e co mb ror its part sym holized clean lin ess and good order. Th e steel brace le t provided a smwl shield, whi le at tJl e same time "shack- ling" its weare r to Cod as a re minde r that ha nds should always be in Cod's selVice. Undershorts, which rep laced tJle Indian dhoH. meant th at o ne was always dressed ror action. Th e dagge r, II OW largel y sym- bolic. was originally needed ror selr-de re nse.

AI th e same time that he instituted th e Khalsa, Guru Gobind Singh ex tendt..'(\ hi s nam e Singh (Iite mll y li on, and by ex te nsion stal - wart and li onhe arted) to all Sikh me n. and to wo me n he gave th e na me Kaur, o r princess. Th e names remain in rorce ror Sikhs. right down to today,

Th ese matt e rs co nce rn religious rorms. Centrally. Sikhs see k sal- vation through union with Cod by reali zing. throu gh love, th e Person orCod, who dwells in the d e pths o r th ei r own being. Union with Cod is the ultimate goal. Apart rrom Cod lire has no meaning; it is sc pam- lion rrom Cod that causes human sufferi ng. In the words or Nanak, "What terribl e separation it is 10 be separa ted rrom Cod and what blissru l uni on to be wlited with Codl"

Wo rld renunciation does not figu re in thi s raith , The Sikhs have no tradition or re nunciation, asceticism, celibacy, or me ndi cancy. Th ey are ho usehold ers who support tJl e ir ramili es with the ir e arn- ings a nd donat e one-tenth or tJl e ir in co me to c harity.

Today there 3TCsome 13 mill io n Sikhs in tJ1C world, most orlhem in India. The ir he adquarters are in lh e ramed Colden Thmpl e, which is located in Amritsar.

78 TilE WQIILO'S IIELI G IONS

Suggestions for Further Reading

Before turning to books. le i me note that my half· hour vid eotape (with Eld a Hartley), tilled "'ndia and th e Infinit e: Th e Soul of a Peo- pi e." places th e ideas of this cimpter in tJl e ir audio-visual context. It can be pu rch ased or rented from Hartley Film Foundation, Cat Rock Road, Cos Cob, CT 06807; or from The Institute of Noetic Sciences, 475 Cate Fi ve Road, Suite 300, Sausalito. CA 94965.

Davi d Kin sley's f/btdllism.: A Culturnl Perspective (Englewood C liffs., Nl: Prentice-Hall, 1982) provid es a clear overview of Hindu - ism . It grounds it in its geographical setting, outlines its histori cal deve lopment. and call s attention to th e tre me ndous variety this re li. gion includes.

He inric h Zimmer's TIle Pllilos01,1Iia of Indio (Princeton , NJ : Prin ceto n University Press. 1969) and Swami Prabhavananda's Tile Spiritual I-Ieritage of India (Holl ywood, CA: Vedanta Press, 1980) develop at greater length th e philosophical and religious dim e nsion of Hinduis m that my dlapte r focuses on,

Diana Eck's Darslian: Seeing the Oi l>ine Image in India (Cham - bersburg, PA : Anima Boo ks, 1985) provides a graphi c se nse of Hindu d t:'\lOtion .

The Hindu scriptu res are of e norm oWi scope. but two portions are of uni versru import. Th e BllOgaood-Cita now be longs 10 Ihe world , a.nd Barbara Stoler Mill e r's translation (New York: Bantam Books, 1986) is em in e ntl y servi ceabl e. 111c Upan ishad s fC(luir~ more inter- p retati on, ruld Swami Nikhilanrulda's four-vo lume translation of th e principal o nes, with running co mme ntary (New York: Ram akrishna- Vivekananda Center. 1975-79). can be reco mm e nded. For a o ne- volume edition of the Upanishads, without comme ntary but with a helpful introdu c tion , see the tran slati on by JUlm Mascaro (New York: Penguin Books, 1965).

On Sikhism Tile 5ikm: Their Reli&rWus Beliefs alld Pract ices by W. Owen Co le and Piara Singh Sambhi (New York: Routledge. C hap· man & I-I all , 1986), and til e c hapter o n "The Faith of th e Sikhs" in John Koll er's l1ae Irldi(IF1 Way (New York: Macm illrul. 1982) are recommended.

III NDU ISM 79

Notes

I. TIle SMnskrit wurd here is orlluJ, which IIterodl y means "thing, o" jt.·<:t , sub· stance." and 50 is us uall y tnlllsiated -wealth" or "material possession." I have tnmslatro it """v rldly s ucccu" because tbe Hindu tc:o:tJ deal ill fact with th is larger theme, not j ust wealth . Thb wurdi ng is approt)ri ate cOluiderlllg the nonn al connectio n of prellige and pov.'t!T with material possessions.

2. SUlione Wei! , " 'Oil/flgfOf" Cod. 195L Reprint . (New ' o rle: tl arper 6r Row. 1973). 210.

3. D. G, Mulcerji, rhe FlJCI/ ofSilmce., as paraphrased ill Romain Rolland . Th4 I.Ift! of Hmllakrllhllo (Ma)'K''IlIi. Almol1l. Uimalay.u:: Ad\1&ila Ashrama. 1954),80,

4, B. K. S. lyenpr's l..iglil 0tI YO8/' (1965. Rt:print.INew Yo rlc : Sc::hoclcen 1~1cs. 1979]) pre5e llts one of the best OttIerviews of Ih is side of !fOgtJ.

5. As instllllCCS of the Icinds of clllims that need to be lifted, in the Sep tember 14, 1954 , iuue of The Reporler. Jean tyall te ll s of witnessing a yogi being buried and exhum ed alive after eight days. when Wes tern physicians calc u· lilt ed that his air supt>ly WlJ uld suffice for on ly two. And ill the j anu ary 21. 1982. issuo of No"'~ l'I e rbcrt Henso n of the Ila rvard Medi cal Sc::hool ll nd fi ve co lleMgut:S reported experim e nts on three Tibetwi yogis who, throug h mind control , were able to increase tlie temperatu re In th eir fingcrs and toes by as lIIuch as 14 .9 degrees Fahrenhe it .

6 . Il clnrie" Zimllle r, The Pllilosopllfe. of Imllo. 1951. l\epnnt . (Princeton, Nj : I'rin celull University Pre5s : 1969),80-8L

7. A refrain thai. wil h nlinor varialiOIIS, runs th roughout the UpaniBhads. 8. Song by Tukaram . Translated by j olm S. Il oyialid in A.n IndliJlI i'r!osont Mill-

l ie, 1932. lleprillt . (Dublin , IN : Prinit Press, 1978), 9. He<le Frost, The A.rl of Mentol Prayer. 1950. !\eprint. (London : Cun.on

Press, 1988),29-30. 10. Iluocrt Benoit , 1'htI SUI/rente Doctrillif, 1955. Reprmt. (New "ork : Pa ntht.'o n

Books. 1969). 22, II . There is something here tl.at parall els Luther', de termination to ease the

dis tinction bet .... -ee.n cl crgy and the lai t)' by sallc tifying the co mmon life. O ne recalls him cryi ng to magistrate. farmer. artisan. and sen-'llnt th at if they "pproach th ei r statioll in the right spirit, nOne on ellrth ca n be higher. Indeed, :l ny of these can be -a slatu$ higher than that of a bishop."

12. BhogtJt'fJd.CltlJ, V;lo. 13. SW'.rnt1 Sworupanandll, tnms .. Srimod·BluJgtJOOIl·Glta (Ma)'Il\"\lti, Ilimllolllya.s :

A<lvalta AsiU1lma, 1933), l25. 14. Zimmer, Philowphkl of Imllo . 303-4. 15, Quoted in Zimmer, PhllmOJmU!' of Indio.

.. THE WORLD'S RELICIONS 16. Katha UPflllishad, lI .m.JO. 17. Paul Deu s$e n, The Philowph" ofll~ UpDnishot/.r. 1908. Rt.-print. (New York .

Dover Publications. 1966) . .

18. A description thai , with minor variations. recurs throughout the Upanbharu. 19. For Ii description of Ii mall who spent sill months in this condition, !lee

Romain Rolland , Life of Romolrrllhoo, 1952. Repri nt. (Calc utta, India. Advaila Ashr,ama, 1965) 77-78. .

20. Zimmer, Phlltoophin of Indio. 44 . 21. Zimmer, PhilolOplliu of Indio , 157-58. This entire deK:ription of the four

stages has drawn hell.vily on Zimmer's accou n t.

22. So Iitde hn this fact been recognb.ed In recent disc::uuiolls of caste that it will be ~'ell 10 docume nt it through three quotations. An ancient and authoritative lawgiver writes: MLeam supreme knowledge and service CYe!! (rom the man offow birth: and eve n (rom the chcmciuia [ouIClUlel: learn by serving him t.he way to saJvation .~ Quoled in TM Compieu " iIrlu a/Swami ViCt'kol'lQlldo (Mayabati , India: Advaila Ashrama, L932) , vol. 3. 381.. Swami Tyagisananda's translation or the seventy,second aphorism or Nmada'J BhDk'i-Sutnu (Madras. I lidia: Sri Ramakrishna Math , 1943) reads, - In jthe lovers orGod] there is no distinction based on cute or culture. - MOSI roree- fu l of al l is Sri Kris!ma's stalemenlln tile MIlJWlbhnrnla; -rhe devotees orthe Lord are not shudras Ithe lowest cute]; Sbuciras are they who have no faith in th e Lord whichever be the ir caste. A wise man should not slight even an oulcute irhe is devoted lothe Lord; he who looks down on him will rail inlo hell .-

23 .

24 .

25. 26. 27.

28.

Por Olle or the Illost thoughtful or sueh dd'enses, see -What has India Con - tributed 10 Human Welrare?" in Ananda Coomaraswamy, The DoI1CfJ 0/ ShiVIII , 1957. Repri"t . (New York: Dover Publicalions, 1985). For perhaps the bett overview, and judicious assessme nt or the caste system , see Louis O um ont , lI0m0 flicrorchicw(Chlcago : Universi ty of Chicago Press, 1980) . Th e Sanskrit ~rd blwtri!llJ originally colllloled warior as well as ruler, because the latter were eJ:pecled 10 protect the ~ak alld subdue tJlC' wicked .

Coomaraswamy, Da ,," o/ShiVQ, L2 . Coomaraswamy, Danct:cifShiVIII , 125. Compare Thollla.5 1 Kempis: -rhere is a dis lance incomparable between the things mell imagine by natural reason and those which iIIuminaled men hold by contemp latlon.- ~'estern parallels to this !Ita flegal/VIII , the way to Cod tllrough rudlcal " ega- tion , are to be round in the writings or most or her great mystics and theologians. There 15 SI . Bernanl's .nucto, rW!'«1o. - and Angela of Poligno's - Not tllis! Nor tills! I blaspheme, - a.5 she struggles to put he.r OYel'whe.lmil\g CJipcricnce or Cod into wonk "Then only i~ there trull. in Wllilt we k now concerning God .- says SI. Gregory. ·when we lre made sensible that we canno t know auything concerni ng Il im . - Alld Meister Eckhart inSists that

IIINDUISM " God must be loved "as nol -God, lIot -spirit, no-person, not-image. just be loved as He is, a sheer pure absolute One. sundered from all tWOness, lind in whom we must eternally li nk from nothingness to notllingness.·

18 A Weste rn parallel to th e I lindu view on this point occurs in Simone Weil's mailing/or God (195J. Reprinl . [New York : Ilarper & Row, )9731 .32): -A case of contradictories. bodl of them tru e. There is a God . There Is no Cod. Where is the problem? I am quite sure that there is a God In tI.e sense that l am sure my 10Ye i5 no illusion . I am quite lure there i5 no Cod. in the sense that I am sure tllC're Is nothing which resembles what I can conceive when I say the word.-

30. Abbreviated rrom Shan lom,'s Commentary on The Brnhma SlIlro, 11 .1Ii.46. 3 1 Composite. drawn from Knllw Upanklwtl, lI.ii.l5: Ml.lndako UpanuhDd,

) J.jiJO; SCt'ttJm(lIDro, V.vi.l4 . 32. BriMdamnllakll UpanuhDd, IJ I.vii .23. 33. C h ristopher Ishcrwood, -The Wishing 1i'ce, - in \'hlanllJ for 1M We-tern

Mbrld (i lollywood: Vedanta I'cess, 1945), 448-51. 34. MundDka UpanWwd. 1.1.7. 35. Prema Chaitan)'lI. -what Vedanta Means to Me, -III \WlnnlD and til. Uut,

194& Reprint . (London : Allen & Unwin, 1961), 33. 36. TIle balance of this sectlO Il COllsisLs ofleuchi ll~ of Sri Rilln akri5illli u com-

piled by SW'.nni Abhedananda in TM 5a!lilll9 o/Sri RaFllukrkh,Wl (New York : 11le Vedanta Society, 19(3), with minor editorial dIAl.geJ.