eastern religions hinduism 3: vedantic hinduism · eastern religions hinduism 3: vedantic hinduism...
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Eastern Religions
Hinduism 3:
Vedantic Hinduism
1. Important Vedic Gods2. Maya, Samsara and Asceticism3. Vedantic Philosophy
Note: Gold and White
Important Vedic Gods
4
Varuna: Lord of Heavens and Oceans
Grk. god Poseidon
Grk. god Ouranos
vr=to surround
the preserver ofmoral order
Roman god Uranus
Roman god Neptune
The CosmicJudge
rta = order
Genesis 1: 6-8God said, "Let there be a firmament in the midst of the waters, and let it divide the waters from the waters. And God made the firmament, and divided the waters which were under the firmament from the waters which were above the firmament: and it was so. And God called the firmament Heaven. And the evening and the morning were the second day.”
Omniscience of VarunaThe Thousand Eyes of Varuna
Surya, the Sun God
Mitra = “Friend”
right: Mithraic cult in Rome
GreekHelios
Greek Apollo
Surya = “Supreme Light”
Gayatri Mantra
"We meditate on the (brightly shining) glory of the divine Light;
may he inspire our understanding."
this translation is by
SarvepalliRadhakrishnan(1888-1975)
Philosopher
1st VP of modern India2nd President of
modern India
Rig Veda 3.62.10
Indra: Thunder God
Indra became the most important of the Vedic Gods
Indian warriors were very impressed with this warrior God who was most like them.
The Slaying of Vritra
Indra was a hero. He fought the enemies of the gods.
Zeus
Jupiter
Thor
Taranis
An awesome power that warriors wanted to tap into.
European Counterparts
Rudra: the Wind and Storm God
called “the wild one” and “the howler”
Messenger of the godsGod who inspires us
Mercury Hermes
Agni: the Fire God
Heraclitus,early Greek Philosopher
a witness at Hindu weddings
REVIEW A
maya, samsara, and asceticism
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Axial Age
1. Upanishads (8th- to 5th- C BC)
2. Isaiah (8th-c BC)
3. Jeremiah (7th- to 6th-c BC)
4. The Mahavira (6th C BC)
5. Zoroaster (6th C BC)
6. Confucius (6th C BC)
7. Lao Tzu (6th C BC)
8. The Buddha (c.6th- to 5th-C BC)
9. Socrates (5th C BC)
10. Plato (5th- to 4th C BC)
11. Aristotle (4th C BC) "the spiritual foundations of humanity were laid simultaneously and independently... And these are the foundations upon which humanity still subsists today.“--Karl Jaspers
800-200BC
The Origin and Goal of History
by Karl Jaspers
Vedanta
Veda anta
end
Vedic Sacrificeto maintain the order of the world
Plato’s Allegory of the Cave
Maya(Illusion)
“Maya” by Kathleen Scarboro
Acommonrefrain
in Vedantais
“neti neti”
“not this,not that”
What I’m looking for is not of this world!This world seems to be one of whirling, overlapping confusion.
Samsara
The Wheel of this Earthly Life
A Whirlpool of Existence in this World
literally, a “continuous flow” of existence, it is(1) cycle of Birth, Life, Death, and Rebirth (Reincarnation)
(2) a cycle of suffering
Samsarais a flow,or cycle,
of Karmic
connections
Asceticism
John the Baptist baptizing Jesus in Franco Zefferelli’s film “Jesus of Nazareth”
Withdrawing from the World in order to Focus on Spiritual Life
The Answer for Some:
Riches or God?Jesus argued that you can’t serve both.
"You cannot serve God and mammon" (Luke 16:13b)When Jesus heard this, he said to him, "You still lack one thing. Sell everything you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me." (Luke 18:22)
Monastic Movement
St. Dominic, St. Francis (top), St. Benedict, and St. Anthony
ChristianAsceticism
These saintsestablished monasteriesfor focus on
the spiritual life.
And likeBuddhist
monasteries,they hada close
relationshipwith the
communities thatsupported them.
Asceticslive off of whatthey can find in nature, oralms.
Alms:charity, or gifts to the poor
SadhuA Hindu ascetic is called a
Holy Man
This is how Jainism, Buddhism, and Vedantic Hinduism got their starts.
Forest DwellersThe earliest Sadhus were
Upanishads
Philosophical reflections on the Vedas
Seated at the feet(of the Guru)
The new holy texts of the Vedanta were called the
Guru(A teacher who Brings Light into the Darkness)
Maharishi Mahesh Yogi
The word swami means “master.”
GurumayiRamakrishna
Vivekananda
The Forest BooksThe first Upanishads are called the
R
REVIEW B
vedantic philosophy
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The question then becomes: What DO you want?
Hinduism in a Nutshell:You can have what you want!
Huston Smith
1. Pleasure (kama)2. Worldly success (artha)
(wealth, fame, and power)
Paths of Desire
Can you ever have ‘enough’? Can these things really bring you
lasting happiness/satisfaction?
3. Social Duty (dharma)(1st level of renunciation: service to something greater than yourself)
Paths of Renunciation
Causes of Suffering
Limits to:
SAT space and timeBeing
CHIT Knowledge
ANANDABliss
Moksha (Liberation)
Huston Smith tells us that to the Hindu, the purpose of life is “to pass beyond imperfection altogether.”
Infinite SAT, CHIT & ANANDA.
InfiniteBEING,KNOWEDGEand BLISS
“Follow your bliss!”
What we really want is
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REVIEW C
Brahman
ब्रह्मन्is
SatchitanandaINFIITE BEING, INFINITE KNOWLEDGE, INFINITE BLISS
OMNIPRESENT, OMNISCIENT, OMNIPOTENT
Brahman
Chinese Tai Chi
Purusha
Shang Ti (Shangdi)
Yahweh
Allah
“The Absolute”Godhead
theAll-Embracing
Originof all things.
Purusha,like otherVedic gods,fades inimportance.
ब्रह्मन्
Tat Tvam Asi: That Thou Art!
“They say ‘you can have what you want’. But wait until you here the punch-line: you alreadyhave it!”
It’s there inside of you!
(That you are!)
We are dropsfrom the great
Oceanand we return to the great Ocean.
“Little drops makea great ocean.”
--Hindu saying
“Atman is Brahman!”
The True Selfand
the Divineare One
A New Lensthrough which to
See the World
“Neti, neti!”
becomes
“Tat Tvam Asi!”
“That Thou Art!”
Shiva NatarajThe Lord of the Dance
Shiva’sfoot on theback of the
dwarf, which represents
the ego.
gives rise toLILA,
the Divine Play
By putting our egos in place, we can participate in the Divine Play of the Universe.
Hindu Greeting. meaning “The divine within me honors the divine within you.”
Namaste
Union with the Divine“What the realization of our total being is like can no more be
described than can a sunset to one born blind; it must be experienced. The biographies of those who have made the discovery provide us with clues, however.
“These people are wiser; they have more strength and joy. They seem freer, not in the sense that they go around breaking the laws of nature (though the power to do exceptional things is often ascribed to them) but in the sense that they seem not to find the natural order confining. They seem serene, even radiant. Natural peacemakers, their love flows outward, alike to all. Contact with them strengthens and purifies.”
--Huston Smith
Isha Upanishad
1. ALL this, whatsoever moves on earth, is to be hidden in the Lord (the Self). When thou hast surrendered all this, then thou mayest enjoy. Do not covet the wealth of any man!
…6. And he who beholds all beings in the Self, and the Self in all beings, he never turns away from it7. When to a man who understands, the Self has become all things, what sorrow, what trouble can there be to him who once beheld that unity?
--translation by Max Müller
“If all the Upanishads and all the other scriptures happened all of a sudden to be reduced to ashes, and if only the first verse in the Ishopanishad were left in the memory of the Hindus, Hinduism would live for ever.”
REVIEW D