Understanding Hindu Religion

Theory of Maya

noreply@blogger.com (Pradeep 1) — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 00:01:00 -0800

Theory of Maya is very simple and complicated. We realize earth by our senses Like By our eyes we get the visual Image of this world, by our smelling sense we realize and differentiate Aromas, By our Hearing sense we listen to the world, by our Sense to feel we differentiate temperature and surface. Our brain analyses and remembers this data for further use. If someone says that whatever we are realizing is wrong it would be really difficult for us to believe. But here in Maya theory we are attracted to the world because of the illusion created by our senses and are attracted towards it without knowing whether it is correct or not.

For example we watch a movie and for that moment we start feeling ourselves to be a part of it we drive to emotions because of something which even our brain knows that it is not correct. Think when our brain knows that movie is an audio visual illusion still we are derived to emotions then if our brain does not know about any illusion then in this situation we will never realize whatever we are experiencing or learning is an illusion or reality.
This is what is Maya where whatever is happening to us seems true but it may or may not be true or partially true or completely a illusion.
Its very complicated to understand Maya as we are reading this in the impact of Maya and it does not allow us to understand the reality and finally one may feel confused. If maya is removed we can realise the true reality this world or which can be called as divine world.
I saw a person who was suffering from Cancer he knew that he will survive for next three to six months his all responsibilities were also over as he had completed his nineties, and surprisingly due to some family reasons his children did not like him so much, on on top of it he was a widower, I met that person and thought he has no reason to be attracted towards this world. He was a Muslim so he used to go to the Mosque daily on time despite of his sickness (He could have been Hindu or Christian also and reaction would have been same), He had some money with him which was sufficient for him to nourish him for his six similar lives, I told him as your kids are not with you and your wife is also not there you do not want to give any penny to any of your children and want to donate everything after your death so why don’t you donate everything right now and keep only what is required for your survival for one year sufficient for your medication as well. He told me that he has a reputation in society and he does not want to die poor. Surprising fact he knew that after his death his body will be of no use and whole society will not accompany him still he was talking about his reputation in society generated because of money.
Here my objective is not about saying that if he donates money he will be out of the illusions of Maya but just to explain that in a situation where person knows that he will die in a given period of time still he is not able to come out of his attraction towards his reputation from society. We are talking about “Maya” which completely surrounds us from our childhood till the end so how difficult it would be to understand that everything happening around is not true or has no worth in our devine lives.

This is just one example there are many ways by which people are attracted towards this society Money, Sex, Love, Pride and this all are created by Maya. All of us know that that we have to die one day and whatever we are attracted towards in life will not accompany us but still we are not able to fight ourselves to overcome from that attraction and illusion.
Now in order to explain about Maya further Lets find what Shrimad Bhagwad Geeta says about Maya.
Bhagwad Geeta chapter7 verse 14
दैवी ह्येषा गुणमयी मम माया दुरत्यया।

मामेव ये प्रपद्यन्ते मायामेतां तरन्ति ते।
daivi hy esa guna-mayi mama maya duratyaya mam eva ye prapadyante mayam etam taranti te
This divine Illusion of Mine, consisting of the three modes of material nature, is difficult to overcome. But those who have surrendered unto Me can easily cross beyond it.

Explanation

The Supreme Personality of Godhead has innumerable energies, and all these energies are divine. Although the living entities are part of His energies and are therefore divine, due to contact with material energy, their original superior power is covered. Being thus covered by material energy, one cannot possibly overcome its influence. As previously stated, both the material and spiritual natures, being emanations from the Supreme Personality of Godhead, are eternal. The living entities belong to the eternal superior nature of the Lord, but due to contamination by the inferior nature, matter, their illusion is also eternal. The conditioned soul is therefore called nitya-baddha, or eternally conditioned. No one can trace out the history of his becoming conditioned at a certain date in material history. Consequently, his release from the clutches of material nature is very difficult, even though that material nature is an inferior energy, because material energy is ultimately conducted by the supreme will, which the living entity cannot overcome. Inferior material nature is defined herein as divine nature due to its divine connection and movement by the divine will. Being conducted by divine will, material nature, although inferior, acts so wonderfully in the construction and destruction of the cosmic manifestation. The Vedas confirm this as follows: mayam tu prakrtim vidyan mayinam tu mahesvaram. "Although maya [illusion] is false or temporary, the background of maya is the supreme magician, the Personality of Godhead, who is Mahesvara, the supreme controller." Another meaning of guna is rope; it is to be understood that the conditioned soul is tightly tied by the ropes of illusion. A man bound by the hands and feet cannot free himself--he must be helped by a person who is unbound. Because the bound cannot help the bound, the rescuer must be liberated. Therefore, only Lord Krishna, or His bona fide representative the spiritual master, can release the conditioned soul. Without such superior help, one cannot be freed from the bondage of material nature. This superior help can also be provided by a Spiritual Teacher or GURU.
Shrimad Bhagwad geeta Chapter six Verse 8
सुहृन्मित्रार्युदासीनमध्यस्थद्वेष्यबन्धुषु।

साधुष्वपि च पापेषु समबुद्धिर्विशिष्यते
jñāna-vijñāna-tṛptātmā
kūṭa-stho vijitendriyaḥ
yukta ity ucyate yogī
sama-loṣṭrāśma-kāñcanaḥ
person is said to be established in self-realization and is called a yogī [or mystic] when he is fully satisﬁed by virtue of acquired knowledge and realization. Such a person is situated in transcendence and is self-controlled. He sees everything – whether it be pebbles, stones or gold – as the same.
Now who can have such qualities, the only person who is out of the bondage of Maya can bear such qualities where he is not attracted towards any of worldly pleasures.
Now in Chapter six Verse 8
योगी युञ्जीत सततमात्मानं रहसि स्थितः।

एकाकी यतचित्तात्मा निराशीरपरिग्रहः
yogī yuñjīta satatam
ātmānaṁ rahasi sthitaḥ
ekākī yata-cittātmā
nirāśīr aparigrahaḥ
This verse signifies to the actions of a yogi a person who wants to free himself from the bondage of maya
Shree Krishna says :- A yogi should constantly concentrate his mind by staying in a solitary place, alone, with mind and body controlled, free from expectations, (and) free from acisition. transcendentalist should always engage his body, mind and self in relationship with the Supreme; he should live alone in a secluded place and should always carefully control his mind. He should be free from desires and feelings of possessiveness.
This signifies that the best way to free you from Maya is to follow the teachings of lord Krishna and to practice yoga or Meditation.

Hinduism is not a Religion

noreply@blogger.com (Pradeep 1) — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 23:45:00 -0800

In my opinion Hinhu is not a religion as per the English definition of religions. As per the oxford dictionary meaning of Religion is worship superhuman God gods other one A particular system of faith worship and also A pursuit devotion in Wikipedia encyclopedia someone has explained in more descriptive manner beliefs cultural systems world views humanity narratives symbols sacred histories meaning of life origin of life, or the Universe cosmos human nature morality ethics religious laws, or a preferred lifestyle .Actually saying these definitions and meanings are fit for many religions of the world but it does not stand true for Hinduism or we can say they are insufficient to explain Hinduism. Simple reason Hinduism has many belief systems and all of them are different from other belief. Even the basic platform of belief is different in different systems of belief so if we try to frame a definition of Hinduism it would be difficult and if we at all frame it also it will not stand good for other religions of the world.

One more thing I would like to state here that Hinduism has different belief system but these systems do not group or classify people for example four basic types of Hinduism

Shaivasm these are followers of shiva in all or some of the forms of Shiva which can be further devided into Pashupata Shaivism, Shaiva Siddhanta, Kashmir Shaivism, Siddha Siddhanta, Lingayata, Shiva Advaita next is

Vaisnavism people follow some or other manifestation or incarnation of Vishnu, in Vaishnavism Lord Vishnu is considered

as the supreme being. The cause, sustainer and destroyer of all worlds. Vishnu is considered both in the form and as the formless infinite one Lakshmi sampradaya, Brahma sampradaya, Rudra sampradaya, Kumara sampradaya, Krishna Sampradaya and Ram Snheyi Sampradaya

Shaktism (Shakteya) In Shaktism, Shakti (mother divine) is considered as the supreme being. and all other (female/male) forms are considered the manifestation of the supreme.

Smartism (Smarta) Smarta tradition joins all the above three traditions and worships absolute god in the form of Shiva, Vishnu, Shakti and other forms as well. Smarta tradition has higher reverence for Vedas and upanishads

This is not all

Shrautism word Shrauti comes from Shruti, Shrauti means the tradition of Shrutis. Shrauti tradition gives higher importance to practices from the earlier portion of Vedas.

Saurism In Saurism, Surya (sun god) is worshipped as the form of supreme being. This sect comes from the vedic traditions

Ganapatism The supreme being is worshipped through the form of Lord Ganesha.

Kabir panthi Teachings of Guru Kabir form the basic structure of Kabir Panthi, It has wide variety of Practices and wide variety of followers.

Aghor panth It is a branch of Shaivism, an usual adherent of this sect is a wandering monk whose main purpose in life is to attain god through simple living

Tantrik panth Practice of Tantras is advocated for one's development on the path of self realization

That’s not all there are sum binary or subdivisions like Samkhya: A logic oriented tradition where enquiry into consciousness and mind are of importance Yoga: Unification with the consciousness is achieved through Meditation, contemplation and other body mind controlling practices Nyaya: In this tradition primary importance is given to Logical thinking Vaisheshika: Vaisheshika is based on understanding the nature of objects, i.e all objects can be further divided into atoms and these atoms are responsible for everything happening in the universe Mimāṃsā: Enquiry into the nature of Dharma Vedanta: Knowledge is given primary importance and obviously knowledge of Vedas and upnishadas.

Even if I say this is complete no there are many other belief systems for which I will have to write a book on sects practices and beliefs of Hinduism.

On understanding these many traditions and belief systems we easily make conclusions that hindu society is devided into so many parts and the answer is no. That’s where the problem lies when we talk about religion or sects we immediately come to a conclusion that a certain group of people believe on something and a name to it. When we talk about Hinduism here we differ from all the religions of the world. We can follow one tradition or many of them its on individual choice. Even family bondage of belief is flexible for example I might be a beliver of Krishna and follow Shrimad Bhagwad geeta as a sacred book, as per my belief I will try to teach my way of thinking to my son and daughter but they may follow Shaivism but while following shivism they will not condemn my belief and even they may follow both. Even if they do not follow any of the system and belive that yoga or meditation is the only way to reach to all mighty still they are followers of Hinduism. There is even a possibility that at any part of my life I start following Ganpatism and continue following Vaishnivism as well.

So we can not devide Hindu in sacts and there is no group of people following certain tradition.

There is one more thought process where people call Hinduism as a religion of particular geographical area that is South east asia of the modern world and Jambudweep as per the ancient theory of seven islands. But I doubt on this theory also as defiantly name Hinduism comes from this theory only but Hinduism did not require any name as in ancient world only one Dharma was followed and when there is only one way is assigned there is no need for naming the same. So defiantly the name has come to picture when foreigners entered India and found that there is a civilization following different way of worship which is different from there traditions and customs they thought of giving some name to this particular people and they named them Hindus.

Again as the name was given with an intention of Geographical area we can not boud such a great Dharma (Hinduism) to geographical boundaries. Now again the point comes how to define Religion so that Hinduism should become a part of it and the only answer is Hinduism is not a religion.

To understand further lets go into depth, Hindu Dharma is one of the oldest Religion in the world According to historians, the origin of Hinduism dates back to 5,000 or more years. According to scholars, the evolution of Hinduism may be divided into three periods: the ancient (6500 BCE-1000 AD). Hinduism is commonly thought to be the oldest Dharma (Religion) in the history of human civilization. The exact dates are still not clear.

Hinduism has been called the "oldest religion" in the world, and some practitioners and scholars refer to it as Sanātana Dharma, "the eternal law" or the "eternal way" beyond human origins. Scholars regard Hinduism as a fusionor synthesis of various cultures which depict not only a certain geographical area but includes whole world and traditions, with diverse roots and no founder. This "Hindu synthesis" started to develop between 500 BCE and 300 CE, after the Vedic times.

Prominent themes in Hindu beliefs include (but are not restricted to), the four Puruṣārthas, the proper goals or aims of human life, namely Dharma (ethics/duties of a human being), Artha (prosperity/work required to fulfill worldly duties), Kama (work to keep the world going on) and Moksha (Salvation or freedom from the cycle of birth and rebirth, or a way by which our eternal energy or atma takes its real path and gets ammolgomated with ); karma(action, intent and consequences), samsara (cycle of rebirth), and the various Yogas (paths or practices to attain moksha).^[15]^[16]Hindu practices include rituals such as puja (worship) and recitations, meditation, family-oriented rites of passage, annual festivals, and occasional pilgrimages. Some Hindus leave their social world and material possessions, then engage in lifelong Sannyasa(ascetic practices) to achieve moksha

Hindu religion does not only teach to be near to god, it is the only religion which has ways which can lead you to understanding and finding God in its real form. That’s true and surprising; In most of the other religions the founder of the religion found God but, to his or her disciples the religion has always taught the way of living, and offering prayers to supreme power but not the way to reach that all mighty or that supreme power. Hinduism is the only faculty in the world which teaches about Moksha or amelgmation with Paramatma or supreme God head.
That is why I call Hinduism as ocean and other religions like rivers and streams. It is the most complex and most simple and easy and flexible way of living.

Objective

noreply@blogger.com (Pradeep 1) — Sat, 2 Oct 2010 11:45:00 -0700

My objective of writing is Blog is to make the world understand about a religion, Which is oldest, which is widest, Which is very complex ( Understanding God is not so easy, and that is the major objective Hinduism), Very flexible religion. I want to spread the knowledge of this religion and want the world to realize that this is not the religion of people living in certain geographical region but the religion which whole world should respect. As the Hinduism Believe Vasudev Kutumbkam the world is one family.