A Brief Outline of Hinduism By Swami Vivekananda

Hello Friends..
This article is also for those who wanna know about hinduism...

A Brief Outline of Hinduism
This article is based on a lecture deliverd by Swami Vivekananda at Jaffna in 1897. It is the second lecture in the series of lectures he gave from Colombo to Almora. It is titled "Vedantism". The full lecture can be found in "Lectures from Colombo to Almora" or in the "Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda" Volume III, pages 118-135.

The word `Hindu' originally meant `those who lived on the other side of the river Indus (in Sanskrit, Sindhu)'. Alternate names for the people following the religion can be `Vaidikas', followers of the Vedas, or `Vedantists', followers of the Vedanta. So, let us have a brief overview of the Vedas. The Vedas is not the utterance of persons. The Vedas do not owe their authority to anybody, they are themselves the authority, being eternal -- the knowledge of God. They were never written, never created, they have existed throught time; just as creation is infinite and eternal, without beginning and without end, so is the knowledge of God without beginning and without end. And this knowledge is what is meant by `the Vedas' (`Vid' -- to know). The mass of knowledge called the Vedanta was discovered by personages called Rishis. The Rishi is a seer of thought. He is the discoverer of the eternal Vedas. The Rishis were spiritual discoverers.

The Vedas are divided into two principal parts, the Karma Kaanda and the Jnaana Kaanda -- the work portion and the knowledge portion, the ceremonial and the spiritual. The Karma Kaanda consists of the duties of man, duties as a student, duties as a householder, duties as a recluse, and the various duties of the various stations of life. The spiritual portion of the religion is the second part, the Jnaana Kaanda. This is called `Vedanta' -- the end of the Vedas, the gist, the goal of the Vedas. The essence of the knowledge of the Vedas was called by the name of Vedanta, which comprises the Upanisads. All sects of India which comes within the fold of Hinduism must acknowledge the Upanisads of the Vedas. They can have their own interpretations, but they must obey the authority. All the various symbols used for worship come from the Vedanta. They are all present in the Vedanta as ideas, which these symbols represent.

Next come the Smritis. These are books written by the sages. These are subordinate to the Vedanta. The Smritis have varied from time to time. As essential conditions changed, as various circumstances came to have their influence on the race, manners and customs had to be changed, and these Smritis, as mainly regulating the manners and customs of the nation, had also to be changed from time to time. But the basic principles in the Vedanta, like the dynamics of the soul, which are eternal do not change.

Then there are the Puraanas. They deal with history, cosmology, symbolic illustrations of philosophical principles, and so forth. They were written to popularise the religion of the Vedas. They give the lives of saints and kings and great men and historical events, etc. The sages made use of these to illustrate the eternal principles of religion.
There are still other books, the Tantras. These are very much like the Puranas in some respects, and in some of them there is an attempt to revive the old sacrificial ideas of the Karma Kaanda.
All these books constitute the scriptures of the Hindus. When there is such a mass of sacred books in a nation and a race ehich has devoted the greatest part of its energies to the thought of philosophy and spirituality, it is quite natural that there should be so many sects. These sects differ very much from each other in certain points. But there are some essential principles which are common to all sects and which constitute the core of Hinduism.


First is the question of creation. The idea of Hinduism is that this nature, Prakriti or Maayaa is infinite, without beginning. The creative energy is ever active. There never was a time when that energy did not work. The Sanskrit word for creation, properly translated, should be `projection'. There is the law of cycles. The whole of this nature exists, it becomes finer, subsides; then the whole thing is again projected forth, only again to become finer and finer, until the whole thing subsides, and again comes out. Thus it goes on backwards and forwards with a wave-like motion throughout eternity. Time, space and causation are all within this nature. To say, therefore, that it had a beginning is utter nonsense. No question can occur as to its beginning or its end. Therefore, wherever in the Hindu scriptures the words beginning and the end are used, it means the beginning and the end of one particular cycle; no more than that.

What makes this creation ? Brahman. There is no suitable word in English. He is eternal, eternally pure, eternally awake, the almighty, the all-knowing, the all-mercifull, the omnipresent, the formless, the partless. If this is so, then why is there partiality in the world ? Why is one person happy and another person unhappy ? Who makes it ? Vedanta says: We ourselves. There is a cloud shedding its rain on all fields alike. But it is the field that is well cultivated is the one that takes the best advantage of it. The fault is not on the cloud. The mercy of God is eternal and unchangable. It is we who make the difference. We reap what we have sown in several previous births.

This leads to the next concept. Life is eternal. It is not that it has sprung out of nothing. That cannot be. Each one of us is the effect of the infinite past. Each one comes to work out his own past deeds. This is the law of Karma. Each one of us is the maker of our own fate. We, and none else are responsible for what we enjoy or suffer. We are the effects, and we are the causes. We are free therefore. If I an unhappy, it is of my own making, and that shows that I can be happy if I will. The human will stands beyond all circumstance. Before it -- the strong, gigantic, infinite will and freedom in man -- all the powers, even of nature, must bow down, succumb and become its servants. This is the result of the law of Karma.

The next question is: What is the soul ? There are differences of opinion among the various sects, but there are certain points of aggreemnet. The souls are without beginning and without end, and are immortal by their very nature. Also, all powers, blessing, purity, omnipresence and omniscience are buried in each soul. In every man and in every animal, however weak or wicked, great or small, resides the same omnipresent, omniscient soul. The difference is not in the soul, but in the manifestation. This is the greatest idea that India has preached -- brotherhood of all creation. The Sanskrit word for soul is Atman. The Atman is separate from the mind. This Atman goes through birth and death, accompanied by the mind, the Sukshma Sharira (the subtle body). And when the time comes that it has attained to all knowledge and manifested itself to perfection, then this going from birth to death ceases for it. Then it is at liberty either to keep that mind, the Sukshma Sharira, or let it go for ever, and remain independant and free throughout eternity. The goal of the soul is freedom.


What is heaven ? Hinduism also has the concept of heavens. But, these are not infinite. They are just repetitions of this world, with a little more happiness and a little more enjoyment. There are many of these heavens. Persons who do good works here with the thought of reward, when they die, are born again as gods in one of these heavens, as Indra and others. These gods are the names of certain states. They also had been men, and by good work they have become gods; and those different names like Indra and so on are not the names of the same person. It is a position, and remains in it only a certain time. He then dies and is born again as man. But the human body is the highest of all. It is this earth, which is the Karma Bhumi (the place of work); it is this earth from which we attain to liberation. Even the gods have to be born as men to become liberated.

The goal is to become liberated. So long as time and space works on you, you are slaves. The idea is to be free of external and internal nature. Nature must fall at your feet, and you must be free. No more is there life; therefore no more is there death. No more enjoyment; therefore no more misery. It is bliss unspeakable, indestructible, beyond everything. And this eternal Bliss is the goal.

How did the soul come to earth ? What caused this bondage ? The answer to it in the scriptures is ignorance. Ignorance is the cause of all this bondage. It is by ignorance that we have become bound; knowledge will cure it by taking us to the other side. How will that knowledge come ? Through love, Bhakti; by the worship of God, by loving all beings as the temples of God. He resides within them. Thus, with that intense love will come knowledge, and ignorance will disappear, the bonds will break, and the soul will be free.

There are different natures of men. And so it is natural that there are different ways of worshipping God. Your way is good you,but not for me. My way is good for me, but not for you. Hinduism allows infinite variety. If a temple, or a symbol, or an image helps you to realise the Divinity within, you are welcome to do it. If certain forms and formularies help you realise the Divine, God speed you; have by all means, whatever forms, and whatever temples, and whatever ceremonies you want to bring you nearer to God.

By Swami VivekaNanda
I hope you like it...
A Proud Hindu
Hemant

An Old Hindu Legend..

According to an old Hindu legend.. There was once a time when all human beings were god like, but they so abused their divinity so much that Brahma, the supreme, decided to take it away from them and hide it where it could never be found, without hard soul searching work, so they deserve what they have.
Where to hide their divinity was the question. So Brahma called a council of the angels to help him decide. "Let's bury it deep in the earth," said the angels. But Brahma answered, "No, that will not do because humans will dig into the earth and find it." Then the angels said, "Let's sink it in the deepest ocean." But Brahma said, "No, not there, for they will learn to dive into the ocean and will find it." Then the angels said,
"Let's take it to the top of the highest mountain and hide it there." But once again Brahma replied, "No, that will not do either, because they will eventually climb every mountain and once again take up their divinity." Then the angels gave up and said, "We do not know where to hide it, because it seems that there is no place on earth or in the sea that human beings will not eventually reach."Brahma thought for a long time and then said, "Here is what we will do. We will hide their divinity deep in the center of their own being, for humans will never think to look for it there."All the angelss agreed that this was the perfect hiding place, and the deed was done. And since that time humans have been going up and down the earth, digging, diving, climbing, and exploring--searching for something already within themselves.
Interesting isnt it.. even though it seems like a story but it tells you all what you need.

Universality In Hinduism

Idham Mitram Agnim Ãhu atho; Dhivya Sah: Suparnah Garûthman
E'kam Sath Viprah: Bahudhãh Vadhanthi, Agnim; Yama Matharisvãnam Ãhuh: -- Rig Veda - Verse I-164.46

Translation: They call Him (It) Indra, Mitra, Varuna, Agni; and He is the heavenly nobly-winged Garuthman ! To what is One, Sages give many a title, Agni, Yama, Matharisvan they call it !!

This verse from worlds oldest written religious scripture basically means that the supreme truth or the ultimate reality is only one and wise people know this truth by different names. This verse forms basis of Hindu or Sanatan Dharma (The eternal religion), where everything perceivable and non perceivable through five senses are essentially one and inseparable from each other. Only a veil of ignorance which is described in Hindu Shastras as Maya or illusion (which seems to be there for senses but not actually present e.g. Mirage) keeps us Jiva away from the supreme soul i.e. Ishwara.

As you dwell your mind deeper into vast oceanic knowledge of Hinduism you will soon realize that there are essentially three stages for worshipping and realizing the ultimate reality. They are Dvaita i.e. Dualistic stage, Vishishta Dvaita i.e Qualified Non-Dualistic stage and Advaita i.e. Non-dualistic stage. There are proponents of all these three stages in Hinduism. Understanding these three systems of thoughts on supreme reality is essential in understanding universality of Hindu System of thoughts and this understanding will result in knowledge of Hinduism as mother religion of every way of worship which exists on earth today.

Dualistic philosophy was mainly propagated by Shri Madhavacharya. As per this philosophy soul and supreme soul are not one and this universe consists of three realities i.e. Ishwara (God), Jiva (Soul) and Jada (Insentient matter). Soul is dependant on the supreme soul and this dependency creates clear distinction between Ishwara and Jiva. Semitic religions like Christianity, islam and Judaism fall in this first stage of religion to certain extent as they also have a clear distinction between the god and humans. Qualified non dualism or Vishishta Dvaita had Shri Ramanujacharya as its biggest propagator. This is a special case of non dualism in which says that even after salvation or Moksha the soul retains its individuality but this system is different from dualism in the sense that it believes that souls share essential nature of brahma or the supreme. Both dualism and qualified non dualism systems believe in supremacy of Lord Vishnu and think of him as the supreme soul. They both believe in cycle or karmas and rebirth of souls and say that only bhakti or true devotion to the lord Vishnu will result in salvation of soul. In that sense these two systems of thoughts belong to monism system of worship and believe in Saguna Supreme i.e God with form and attributes.

The most important and revolutionary system of philosophy in Hinduism is Non Dualism or Advaitwaad. This is the final stage of human philosophy related to GOD, as nothing can go beyond this system of thinking. In this system of thought the living, non living things and the supreme reality are essentially one. This whole world is unreal and Braham is the only reality. This whole universe along with all infinite sky is projection of supreme reality himself. This universe starts, exists and merges in the supreme like the bubble in water. The soul is essentially pure and its part of the supreme himself. A veil of ignorance or Maya keeps us away from our own true nature. When we remove this veil of ignorance than our soul reaches its logical destination and becomes Supreme himself. It achieves him and become him. The sages who achieved the supreme have declared that Aham Brahamasmi i.e. I am him or the supreme. This system of thought believes in Nirguna Braham or God without any form or attributes. Sri Adi Shankaracharya was biggest proponent of this philosophy and logically speaking this philosophy overshadows all other system of thoughts in its content, reach and universality.

The Hindu mind reached pinnacles of glory in ancient times in every walk of life. This glory was of such a magnitude that no other system of its time was even closer to its feet in terms of achievement. Even when one Buddha stood up against prevailing wrong practices in contemporary Indian society, no one dared to harm him physically, even though he was saying things against prevailing customs. Every one challenged him for debate and after losing they became his followers. But compare this to one Christ of west. Christ was at first saying that he is one of the Jews only, his message is for Jews in particular but whole world knows that west crucified Christ for theirs sake and Buddha became 9th Avatar of Lord Vishnu in Hinduism. The point which I am trying to make here is in India we have always given importance to logic and superiority of mind over anything. Its because of this only the kings in times of Vivekananda found great happiness in pulling his chariot in streets of India when he returned back from world religion meeting from US. The wealth and power of the Hindu kings has always bowed down in front of saffron cloths of a monk. We have always looked for gaining spiritual advances instead of material possessions. Our best intellect was directed towards in search of god rather than gold and diamonds.

I believe that if there is any real spirituality left in world than it is our motherland that is Bharat or India. We have to achieve Indias past glory again. If you want a job to be successful than it should be done by learning lessons from past, knowing needs of present and being alert for the future and believe me if we just follow these three things any work is bound to be successful. We all often look for temporary solutions as the permanent one is often more painful and slow process. But by looking for temporary solution we forget most important thing which is fragility or temporariness of that solution. After some time the same problem is bound to rise and we again have to run for some solution. Isnt it would be great that we should just look for one time solid response for the problems, and face it with courage and determination, which may take longer time but wont bother us again.

This thinking is again needed if we want Mother India to regain her crown and past glory. The will of a nation to stand up as one for anything and against everything is the need of the hour. Arise and awake Hindus as this is the only solution to the problems we are facing in India today. Come together, O Hindus we can and we will take back the crown for our beloved mother India and reinstate her as Jagat Guru once again.

Vande Mataram