In a very anti-consquentialist position, Hinduism's overarching tradition conveys the message that it is okay to fail, so long as you fail at the thing that you ought to be doing. The duty placed on each person by the soteriological idea of dharma, laws for a harmonious world, centers on one's best attempt to fulfill one's own place, even imperfectly, rather than trying to be or do the works of someone else. This idea of varying paths and duties extends to the path each ought take to reach moksha or liberation as explicated in The Bhagavad-Gita. Moksha, the ultimate goal, signifies freedom of the soul from illusion and suffering and joing with atman, the eternal self. For “when one discovers the inner self... the self merges into its trancendent source and one experiences unspeakable peace and bliss” (Fisher 77). The reach towards this liberation takes the form of different yogas, spiritual and physical disciplines that provide an ordered path towards spiritual awakening and revelation. Three main forms of yoga in Hinduism are bhaktiyoga, the path of devotion, karmayoga, the path of desireless action, and jnanayoga, the path of wisdom. Through examination of the fulfillment and goals of bhaktiyoga, karmayoga, and jnanayoga, it is made apparent that the varied Hindu tradition, which includes 330 million deities, provides and encompasses a myriad of diverse paths to liberation, moksha, and the eternal self, atman.
The path of devotion, bhaktiyoga, focuses on the surrender of the whole self in intense love of the deity. The desire for this love and companionship can be found throughout the tradition of this ancient religion, as demonstrated in the Brhadaranayaka Upanisad's creation myth where the creator god, taking human form and ...
... middle of paper ...
...connectedness of the planet through atman, the totality of the varied deities, and the celebration of diverse and essential individual contributions through dharma lead Hinduism to an acceptance and embrace of many paths to climb the same mountain, many ways to attain moksha.
Works Cited
Eck, Diana L. Darśan: Seeing the Divine Image in India. New York: Columbia UP, 1998. Print.
Fisher, Mary Pat. "Hinduism." Living Religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice-Hall, 1999. N. pag. Print.
Karve, I. "On the Road: A Maharashtrian Pilgrimage." The Journal of Asian Studies 22.1 (1962): 13. Print.
Miller, Barbara Stoler., and Barry Moser. The Bhagavad-Gita: Krishna's Counsel in Time of War. New York: Columbia UP, 1986. Print.
Śaṅkarācārya, and Hari Raghunāth. Bhagavat. The Upanishadbhashya. Part 1 Edited by Hari Raghunath Bhagavat. Poona: Asthekar, 1927. Print.
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
"From the Bhagavad-Gita." Prentice Hall Literature. Trans. Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood. Upper Saddle: Pearson Prentice Hall, 2004. 182-89. Print.
Fisher, Mary Pat. "Chapter 5: Buddhsim." Living Religions. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall, 2005. 150-62. Print.
Smith, Huston. The Illustrated World's Religions: A Guide to Our Wisdom Traditions. San Francisco: Harper SanFrancisco, 1994. Print.
Upon the reading of chapters 1-6 of the Great Scripture of Hinduism, The Bhagavad Gita (the 'Lord's Song';), I am completely and utterly fascinated. The story's emphasis on selfless acts, devotion, and meditation is like no other I have ever encountered before. Through the narration of Sanjaya and the conversation of Sri Krishna (Vishnu incarnate) and Prince Arjuna, the principles of Hinduism are eloquently illustrated.
I will now examine what it means to be religious with a critical enquiry into Buddhism, Hinduism and
Ludwig, Theodore M. The Sacred Paths: Understanding the Religions of the World (4th Edition). 4 ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2005.
The Bhagavad-Gita, a portion of the great epic the Mahabharata, is the “most typical expression of Hinduism.” It is eighteen chapters long and was composed around the first century BCE. The sage Samjaya recites the story to the blind king Dhrtarastra, the father of the Kaurava princes. While presenting ideas of wisdom, duty, and liberation in the midst of the rivalry between the Kauravas, the Bhagavad-Gita epitomizes the teachings of Krishna. Focusing specifically on the moral struggle of the Pandava prince Arjuna, the Bhagavad-Gita’s major themes include yoga, karma, dharma, and moksa. Yoga, being discipline or the strict and “attentive cultivation of mental character and meaningful action” , is crucial to the text because it is dharma yoga, acting properly according to one’s dharma, and bhakti yoga, a disciplined life of devotion that allows one to achieve moksa, or liberation, one of the four aims of li...
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
Nirvana is a word that is commonly used in Buddhism with varied meanings depending on the use. It means the state of blowing out from certain detractors in life. To “blow out” has great meaning and refers wholly to the extinguishing or dispelling of oneself from certain characters that are considered to be iniquitous. It is characterized by peace of mind and it saves man from the sufferings, the cycles of rebirth, and death. Nirvana could only be achieved by individuals who observed the laid down rules and detached themselves from sin. Moksha is a common belief in the Hindu religion and it describes a state where one’s soul connects with god’s soul. In the Hindu religion, achieving moksha removes one from the cycle of life and death, which is the state of reincarnation as one moves from one life to the next. In essence, moksha is a state of unification of one’s soul with that of the creator, therefore achieving oneness of atman and Brahman. This essay discusses the various similarities and differences that exist between Buddhist Nirvana and Hindu Moksha.
Though both Hinduism’s moksha and Buddhism’s nirvana are more or less synonymous, they both hold distinctive differences in the path that leads followers to the end goal of enlightenment from samsara. In Hinduism, “letting go” or releasing from samsara by way of the realization that “atman is Brahman” is what moksha is defined as. Contrastingly, Buddhism involves extinguishing feelings that cause suffering and thus, achieving
Atman supplies light to the intellect itself and therefore it is above all these instruments utilized by it.” Personally, among the three margas (karma-bhakti-jnana) in Hinduism to attain Kaivalya, I am attracted and influenced by the karma marga or also called as kriya yoga. Karma means work or action and involves connecting with God by performing one’s duty. Bhagvad Gita is an example of Karma Marga, Mahatma Gandhi is a great example of the notion. The main idea of Karma yoga is – do your duty and do not be concerned with the results.
Pandey, T. N., 2014. Lecture 1/9/14: Culture of India: Aryan and Indigenous Population. Cultures of India. U.C. Santa Cruz.
Dogma, Urmilla, pgs. (3-29) Hinduism the oldest religion of Infinite adaptability and diversity: Ramesh Chander Dogma
Classical Hindu Mythology. Cornelia Dimmitt and J. A. B. van Buitenen. Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1978. 38-40. Print.