Hinduism and the many ways to the divine in India

Hinduism and the many ways to the divine in India

BhagavadGita • Within the Gita, there are three paths laid out to understand the Divine • Karma Yoga • Yoga of action • Jnana Yoga • Yoga of intellect • Bhakti Yoga • Yoga of devotion

Different views on religion* • Hinduism and the “Three Ways” • There are not only different paths to the divine, but different ‘divine natures’ to which you should/could aim your practices • Also, in Hinduism, there is an interesting gender dynamic which you do not see in Western cultures • Vishnu – definitely male • Shiva – male/female • Devi – definitely female

Approaching the Divine • There are three main ‘God-heads’ • Vishnu • Śiva • Devi • And three main paths • Karma • Jñana • Bhakti • There are also various methods for employing these devices • Asceticism • Yoga • Tantra

Asceticism • Asceticism of some form or other can be found in nearly every religion in India • It can involve fasting, holding the body in a particular posture, or otherwise challenging physical demands

Asceticism • Jainism makes a very extensive use of asceticism, especially involving fasting and pulling out one’s hair • Asceticism can also be milder and more mental, such as spending a long time sitting in one place in meditation (such as on a corpse)

Asceticism • When we talk about ascetics we usually mean those persons who give up living at home to • either become wanders, or • live in a religious institution such as a Hindu or Jain ashram or a Buddhist monastery

Asceticism • Formal vows of asceticism include • Sannyasin, becoming a Hindu monk, • becoming a Jain monk, • becoming a Buddhist monk (Bhikshu/bhikku) • Jains have more women monks than either Hinduism or Buddhism

Asceticism • Some people don’t take a formal vow and just become wanderers • These people are usually called Sadhus

Asceticism • Goals • Generally, the development of spiritual energy, or tapas, is the goal of asceticism, as well as detachment from the world • Sacrificing the self to the Self • Defeating suffering by charging right into it

YOGA • Yoga involves mastering the mind by quieting the thoughts • It takes its cosmology from Samkhya and believe in Purusha/Prakrit • The goal of yoga is union with Iswara, or the Lord.

YOGA • This means especially to not let the mind, which is likened to wild horses, carry one away, but rather to learn how to concentrate the mind on a particular thought wave • citta-vrtti-nirodhah • "Yoga is the inhibition (nirodhah) of the modifications (vrtti) of the mind (citta)"

YOGA • By directing the mind one is able to eventually attain enlightenment • Yoga is a practice which relates to all the different religions in Indian, including Buddhism, Jainism and Hinduism, as well as Sikhs

YOGA • Yoga is about concentrating the mind and learning how to direct it • The ideas of Yoga are used by all these traditions, however, Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism don’t refer (or accredit) the text Patanjali wrote (YogaSutras) even if these religions use these ideas of Patanjali

HOW DOES YOGA RELATE TO ASCETICISM? • The practice of yoga in most cases involves asceticism, though asceticism in yoga is mostly directed inwardly and is not so often expressed outwardly • The exception is Tantric Yoga where the body becomes the vehicle instead of the object to transcend

YOGA – Texts Used • The main text used is Pantanjali’s Yoga Sutra • Some people also use the BhagavadGitato explain Yoga as well • Some people also use the Upanishads as a way of understanding the mental practice and goal of Yoga

BHAKTI/DEVOTION • Bhakti begins to become prominent very early • The BhagavadGita (2nd century) extols devotion to Krishna.

BHAKTI/DEVOTION • Bhakti really starts to become very popular by the 6the century with songs to Śiva by the Nayanar poets in South India and the Vishnu Namalvar poets a few centuries later, also in South India • Telling the stories of the young cowherd boy Krishna are a main form of bhakti practiced also, even today.

BHAKTI/DEVOTION • This begins in South India with SrimadBhagavatamPuranamin approximately the 9th century • This book has lots of stories of the life of the young Krishna, how he steals butter, how he as an adolescent steals the clothes and hearts of the cowherd women (gopis) and how he meets with them and dances with them in the forest

BHAKTI/DEVOTION • The pictures of Krishna with his flute come from this cycle of stories • Later in the 16th century, Mirabai thinks of Krishna using these same stories featured in the SrimadBhagavatamPuranamand has great devotion for Krishna and writes her own poems about and to Krishna

Mirabai • Mirabai (मीराबाई) 1498-1547CE • A Hindu mystical poetess whose compositions are popular throughout India • Mirabai composed between 200 to 1300 prayerful songs called bhajans • These bhajans are some of the most passionately praised Lord Krishna.

Kabīr • Kabīrकबीर (1398—1518) was a mystic poet and saint of India, whose literature has also greatly influenced the Bhakti movement of India

Kabīr • A weaver by profession, Kabir ranks among the world's greatest poets • In India, he is perhaps the most quoted author • The Sikh community in particular and others who follow the Holy Granth, hold Kabir, a Bhagat, in high reverence.

Kabīr Kabir openly criticized all sects and gave a new direction to the Indian philosophy This is due largely to his straight forward approach that has a universal appeal

Kabīr • “You’re Mother is a slut!” • “There, now I have your attention – work hard towards liberating your mind”

HOW DOES BHAKTI RELATE TO YOGA • Bhakti and Yoga are said to lead to the same goal, but these two methods are probably the most different from each other • This is because Yoga involves the mastery of the mind, while bhakti is about surrendering the emotional self to God • So the mind becomes still when one uses yoga to control it, actively inculcates an opposite thought, and the mind becomes still when it gets absorbed in love with the form of Krishna • These are two different methods, which both lead the mind to stillness • ascetic arrest

HOW DOES BHAKTI RELATE TO ASCETICISM • Bhakti is a path of love, devotion, so it tends to not involve conscious asceticism • The only asceticism it employs is one is so much in love with the deity that one doesn’t even realize that one hasn’t eaten, etc. • On the other hand, numerous ascetics really do have much ‘devotion’ to the divine and will adopt bhakti practices to help them in their ascetic quest, even though as a method for approaching the divine, bhakti does not at all require asceticism

HOW DOES BHAKTI RELATE TO ASCETICISM • Bhaktiis probably the single most popular way to approach the divine, today especially • Even today in India, many people practice devotion by singing songs to different gods, offering puja to them • Some people today even write their own songs as a practice of devotion to God, just as Mirabai and Kabir did in the past • People also don’t’ just have devotion bhakti for Gods; they have them for the saints as well.

Hinduism – Belief and Practice • Thus, Hinduism offers us a case in which a varied set of beliefs results in a shared body of beliefs and practices • There are other traditions, however, that are, by comparison, ‘belief-free’ • These traditions look at ‘religion’ the same way we look at ‘craftsmanship’ • Belief is inconsequential, it is a result based method

Hinduism and the many ways to the divine in India