Miss Buddha (115 page)

Those who decide to pursue moksha may find
that the system of Vedanta and Yoga (there are eight limbs of
Yoga—of which our Western love affair with stretching and
exercising the body is only one, and a minor one at that; the other
seven concern spiritual progress and liberatin) provide a good road
map for their journey.

Jiva: The
Individual

According to one Hindu system, a human being
consists of not one but three bodies.

There is the gross physical
body, the one the Westerner normally views as the self; there is
the subtle body of thought and feelings; and there is an even more
subtle body—known as the
causal
body
—where our primal ignorance of our true
nature is located, along with the knowledge of that
ignorance.

The physical body disintegrates after our
death, but both the subtle and causal bodies travel from one life
to the next.

Another Hindu system
envisions the human being as consisting of five layers or sheaths,
called
koshas
, all
covering the true self or atman.

From the outside in, these
layers are constituted by the physical body (
annamaya
), energy
(
pranamaya
), mind
(
manomaya
),
consciousness (
vijnanamaya
), and bliss
(
anandamaya
).

Compulsive identification with one or more
of these koshas (though what identification is not compulsive?),
such as conceiving “I am my physical body,” limits us and prohibits
knowledge of our true nature.

Other Hindu concepts of personality employ
yet other schemes.

One popular concept
visualizes a person’s dormant energy as residing at the bottom of
the spine like a coiled serpent (
kundalini
). Upon awakening, this
energy rises for the head and then it arrives (after piercing nodal
points, called chakras, along the spine), one reaches
liberation.

Hinduism, being as all-embracing as it
is—offers both spiritual and physical exercises to help us awaken
to liberating all aspects of the personality.

Yoga: Paths to Brahman

Now, if we were one of those who wanted to
rise toward Brahman, how would we go about it?

Hindu thought takes the personality of such
a seeker as the starting point, dividing human personalities into
natures dominated by physicality, activity, emotionality, or
intellectuality. The composition of our personality intuitively
predisposes us to a particular type of yoga—that is, a path we
might follow to achieve Samadhi, union with Brahman.

Although many
people—especially here in the West—associate the word
yoga
with a physical
exercises and discipline, in its original Hindu meaning yoga refers
to any technique that leads the seeker toward and unites him or her
with the ultimate reality.

The physical fitness buff
may seek such a union by practicing
hatha
yoga, a yoga system of physical
exercises and breathing control. However, people with different
personality traits have other choices. For the action-oriented
person there is
karma
yoga, the yoga of action, which urges a life of selfless deeds
and actions.

The person of feeling may
choose
bhakti
yoga, the yoga of devotion, which calls for unconditional love
for a personal divinity.

The person of thought may
pursue
jnana
yoga,
the yoga of knowledge, which calls for spiritual and physical
discipline intended to bring direct insight into ultimate
reality.

Keep in mind, though, that these different
yoga disciplines do not represent tightly sealed compartments,
merely convenient classifications. A well-balanced personality
might well make use of all four.

These various yoga systems
are sometimes referred to as
margas
(paths), suggesting (rightly) that the same
destination can be approached by more than one route, and indeed by
more than one mode of travel.

Varna: Social Organization

While the individual lives in a sacred
relationship with Brahman, he or she also stands in a relationship
to the society in which he or she lives.

There are two Hindu
concepts—
varna
and
ashrama
—that address this social dimension of human
existence.

Every Hindu society distinguishes among
occupations by power, wealth, education, or other factors, and has
long recognized four major occupational groupings.

The first group consists of
priests, teachers, scholars, and others who represent knowledge and
spirituality. People in this group are called
brahmanas
, or
brahmans
.

The second group,
called
ksatriyas
,
is represented by kings, warriors, government bureaucrats, and
others who represent, and wield, power.

The third group,
called
vaishyas
,
is represented by farmers, traders, merchants, and other skilled
workers; no unlike the Western middle class.

The fourth group,
called
shadras
, is
comprised of unskilled workers.

A faction of society
sometimes known as
untouchables
has at times constituted a subcategory within
the
shudra class
,
and is sometimes referred to as a fifth group.

Four Limbs

Hindu thinkers visualized
these societal groups as comprising the four limbs of society
conceived as a body. It is a hierarchical system, with brahmans
seen as the highest category and shudras as the lowest, known
as
varna
.

Over time, especially during the long period
of Islamic rule, these classes hardened into what then became known
as—and is still known as—the caste system.

Ashrama: Stages of
Life

Just as the varna system
provides an organizing principle of Hindu society, the
ashrama
system provides
an organizing principle of an individual’s life.

According to the ashrama system, human life
is divided into four stages, each succeeding the other, providing a
road map for the journey through these stages with a clear sense of
purpose for each stage, including old age.

It’s worthy of note that Hindus consider the
last stage of life highly meaningful, if not the most
meaningful.

Also, ashrama addresses the four goals that
constitute a fulfilling life (discussed above): Dharma, artha,
kama, and moksha.

The first ashrama stage is the life of a
celibate student, a time when an individual acquires the values of
Dharma—that is, preparation and training for leading a proper
life.

This stage is followed by that of the
householder, the time to seek artha and kama by marrying, working,
and raising a family as an active member of society. During this
second stage, Hindu householders are expected to carry out their
responsibilities in accordance with Dharma and to free themselves
of debts owed to the gods, the sages, and their ancestors.

At around 50, once these years of enjoyment
and responsibility are over, the third stage of life begins. The
children are now grown, and the individual gradually begins to give
up acquisitions and worldly ties and to instead take up spiritual
contemplation in preparation for the next stage.

The fourth and final stage involves
renunciation of the world to seek liberation in sublime
isolation.

Renunciation

Renunciation allows the
individual to free himself or herself from external
responsibilities and, instead, to concentrate on an inner search.
The life of the true
sannyasi
(renunciant) focuses on achieving realization of
the true and innermost self, the atman, in union with the
divine.

Hence, the ashrama system also recognizes a
clear division between active participation in life and ascetic
withdrawal from life. Although this division has applied to all
Hindus, regardless of gender or caste, men of the three higher
varnas (brahmans, ksatriyas, and vaishyas) have been more likely to
enact it through the ashrama system—primarily, of course, because
they are in a societal (and financial) situation to do so.

On the other hand, some Hindus choose to
devote their entire lives to the quest for moksha, and become
renunciants at an early age, free from the obligations of varna and
ashrama.

These are known as
sannyasis
. A sannyasi who
joins a monastic order becomes a
swami
.

In addition to the duties associated with
each stage of life, Hinduism also emphasizes duties belonging to
all human beings, especially cultivation of truth and nonviolence.
Many Hindus, for example, choose not to eat meat because of their
cultivation of nonviolence.

Hindu Rituals: What Do Hindus Do?

The Hindu tradition considers all things
created worthy of worship, which means that religious activity in
Hinduism takes many forms.

Worship and rituals may be performed by the
individual, by the family, by the village, by the community or
region; at home or in a temple; and frequently or infrequently. In
fact, the prevalence and persistence of Hindu ritual may well
provide a unifying factor in a tradition as flexible in doctrine as
Hinduism. One could even say that ritual is the glue that holds
Hindus and Hinduism together.

Most rites and observances practiced
(whether daily or at lesser intervals) have come down from ancient
times; others have sprung from the lives and teachings of Hindu
saints and sages. While details of rituals may differ from region
to region, their meaning and principal practices have remained
consistent since their inception.

Guru: Teacher

Spiritual authority in Hinduism flows from
enlightened sages called gurus. The guru is someone who,
personally, has attained realization and acts as a guide for other
human beings.

He or she guides the individual seeker of
truth and self-realization to the appropriate deity, practice, or
yoga within Hinduism.

Though the disciple’s goal
is to
transcend the need for a guru
through direct experience of the divine and
self-awareness, having such a guide is considered critical for
traversing the complexities of spiritual practice and
self-discovery.

In other words, the guru thus constitutes an
important center of spiritual activity in Hinduism.

Sacred Literature

Although Hindu tradition (correctly, in my
view) holds that the ultimate reality lies beyond all scriptures,
it is equally convinced that the scriptures help people orient
their minds and lives towards Brahman.

This attitude has given rise to a body of
sacred literature so vast that by one calculation it would take 70
lifetimes of devoted study to read all of it.

The Vedas

At least on paper, the four Vedas constitute
the most important body of sacred Hindu literature.

While other sacred literature, especially
the Hindu epics, may be more popular with readers, the Vedas,
written in the ancient Sanskrit language, are the oldest and most
respected scriptures.

These four Vedas are
separately titled the
Rig-Veda
,
Yajur-Veda
,
Sama-Veda
, and
Atharva-Veda
, but collectively they
are simply referred to as
the
Veda
.

Each of the Vedas can be
further divided into four types of texts, roughly chronological in
order:
mantra
or
samhita
,
brahmana
,
aranyaka
,
and
upanishad
.

The mantra or samhita portion consists
mostly of hymns addressed to the various deities.

The brahmana texts gather the authoritative
utterances of brahmans (sages and gurus with personal knowledge of
Brahman, the ultimate reality) and describe the rituals—chiefly
sacrificial offerings—in which the hymns are employed.

The aranyakas, or forest texts, were
presumably composed by sages who sought seclusion in the
forests.

The Upanishads, the last section (and
written somewhat later than the other three), are philosophical (or
mystic) texts expounding upon the spiritual content of the
Vedas.

Some scholars have suggested that these four
categories of texts represent four different stages in the
spiritual evolution of the Aryans, the peoples of the Vedas.

During the earliest stage of their religious
life, the Aryans may have recited simple hymns of praise for the
divinities they felt dwelt around them.

The next stage saw ritual evolve from the
early worship and become increasingly elaborate—so elaborate, in
fact, that only the priesthood could now perform them.

The third stage saw sages retired to the
forests to reflect on the meaning of sacrifice and the person who
makes the sacrifice.