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Thread: Sanatana Dharma questions

  1. #1

    Sanatana Dharma questions

    I am disturbed by the following questions due to my imperfect knowledge of Sanatana Dharma.

    1. What is the purpose of this existence?
    2. Why is the existence so painful?
    3. Is Moksh the highest purpose for a human being?
    4. Advaita in sanskrit means "NOT TWO", SO ...Is God and Advaita one and the same thing and He is the
    source of this existence without purpose?

    Will someone kindly oblige me by giving answers to above questions . I shall be very thankful.

  2. #2

    Re: Sanatana Dharma questions

    Namaste Rijuji,

    I have been encountering these kind of questions

    1. What is the purpose of this existence?
    2. Why is the existence so painful?

    The very fact that you are asking about the purpose of existence or life, let us assume that there is no purpose to life, will you immediately die then ? Obviously not. It may be possible that the experience of life has become so burdensome that you are asking what is the purpose of existence or life why is it so painful ?. If however you were blissful you would not be asking this question would you . This implies that the question is not coming from a correct perspective.

    What you need now is not the Hindu Dharma forum, what you need is your close friends to listen to you and your problems.

    The issue is that when you tell your problems to strangers there is a tendency that your self importance is down played and I understand that. I am not going to answer the rest of the questions since you do not even know what Moksha is in the 1st place nor can you understand what Brahman or God is?

    It is not advisable to give you advice about Brahman in the state of the mind you are in. Since to understand this subject one must 1st compulsorily have Vairagya, and it appears that you do not have it in the 1st place.

    So the bottom line you are in misery, in such a case posting questions on forums won't help you but talking to your close friends will help you.

    Another thing is that what helps us relieve us of our misery is by looking at people who have much more misery than us.

  3. #3

    Re: Sanatana Dharma questions

    Namaste Riju Ji,

    Ok I will attempt to answer the question best I can and i hope it inspires you to not feel so much in pain.


    1. What is the purpose of this existence?

    Exactly what you have done and inquire into the nature of why things happen in the world to Dharmic minded people who read, study and practice Shastra or religious texts, in this sites case that would mainly be the Vedas. In fact from the perspective of Vedas and many other sources is that this is the main purpose of human life. We are very different from many other species, we have the ability to question and ponder these things, so just in comparison to other species we have unique faculties, so just as every other species uses their natures in the right way, so should we.

    2. Why is the existence so painful?

    Nobody likes pain and many seekers start off from coming from a place of frustration, Krsna also says this this in Bhagavad Gita, s people who are in pain should be welcomed in as that is part of the teachings in Bhagavad Gita. One thing I found useful was in the four noble truth of The Buddha, he said that pain existed, if we have a body and we live in the materiel realm its kinda compulsory to feel pain, so we shouldn't be to shocked when it rears it face.

    There are many reasons why we are in pain, false identification, attachment to the wrong things etc but all these can be solved by slowly adopting a Dharmic way of life, having a practice that inspires you and to be patient. Depending on your level of knowledge and your understanding of the teachings the answer would have to fit in that. Self absorption in ones own pain is not advised, in some sort of way we have to structure our suffering and still question it without attachment, sadly we live in a world where people don't really care enough, so many times we are on our own.

    3. Is Moksh the highest purpose for a human being?

    Yes and no, depends on what tradition, I see the urge to be liberated as being sometimes being a problem, because if you want liberation and only that then aversion can be built up against the experience of not being liberated, also for some traditions like Bhakti Tradition liberation is not important, only Bhakti and the chance to stay within devotional service to the Supreme. Some may say your already liberated but didn't notice, so I would say more important than wanted to be liberated is to develop a practice and follow that with faith and conviction and be patient.


    4. Advaita in sanskrit means "NOT TWO", SO ...Is God and Advaita one and the same thing and He is the
    source of this existence without purpose?

    Good question, sadly I am not qualified to answer this one.
    Last edited by markandeya 108 dasa; 08 July 2015 at 10:56 AM.

  4. #4
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    Re: Sanatana Dharma questions

    Namaste Riju ji,

    Some more views on the questions raised:
    1. What is the purpose of this existence?
    Purpose of existence of human being life : To find path for attaining liberation, follow it and attain it.
    Purpose of existence of creation : To provide that path for countless beings, it exists.
    2. Why is the existence so painful?
    So that human push themselves towards Liberation or no one would have ever got moksha if existence would have consisted of only sweet dreams & happiness.
    3. Is Moksh the highest purpose for a human being?
    Yes, it is the only goal worth pursuing. Rest all goals add up to nothing but they also need to be accomplished, being an essential to attain liberation.
    4. Advaita in sanskrit means "NOT TWO", SO ...Is God and Advaita one and the same thing and He is the source of this existence without purpose?
    No, He is not the source of existence. Existence is full of pain and miseries, how can He be the cause of miseries to human? How could He be harsh? Its impossible. Existence is neither created nor destroyed, it only transforms itself.

    Adviata is a philosophy on spirituality dealing with subjects related to God. With reference to God, advaita means non-dual existence of God or soul. Its interpretation can be expanded in countless ways. As you wrote " NOT TWO", it essentially projects emphasis on non dual nature of soul and places it in its real space. Soul from real point of view is non-dual but from relative (vyavharik) point of view 'appears' as duality. For example- In reality, soul is Akarta or non-doer. But in relative, a person functions/ performs actions only in the presence of soul,so soul is blamed for that action along with body, which imparts it duality.

    I think to understand these concepts, true Vairage is needed which is totally internal in nature. No external portrayal of Vairag is needed. I think that is what Sriram257 pointed. As far as one keeps on churning, he is worth knowing everything.

    Pranam.

  5. #5

    Re: Sanatana Dharma questions

    Namaste Sriram 257,
    Namaste Markandeya 108 dasa,

    Thanks for the effort of reply.

    Vedas came from the mouth of Brahmana.
    They represent the absolute TRUTH.

    I am DISTURBED that such a beautiful TRUTH has been wrongly understood by the great rishis.
    Guatam Buddha had all the correct answers and He successfully answered the doubts of great
    rishis of his time and converted them to buddhism (science of WISDOM).

    Guatam Buddha could do this conversion by the method of meditation face to face.]
    He would convey the experience by DIRECT EXPERIENCE , where WORDS were ineffective.

    Guatam Buddha will give answers as follows.

    I am the BRAHAMANA .....one and only one.
    Existence is part of me and am evolving it by creating gods, humans and various lives.
    ALL THE EXISTENCE IS ME.
    Their pain is my pain and the churning of pain creates WISDOM (buddha) in me.
    All the past saints who followed the path of MOKSH were wrong, instead they should have
    lived full life in existence .
    Brahmana says I AM THE TRUTH and this existence is me and hence the absolute TRUTH.
    All those who understand this will live full existence, experience the pain, learn WISDOM,
    become a Buddha.
    By doing this they are following along the flow of current of life. And hence will lead a
    happy, healthy and peaceful life.

    This existence is not Maya or UNTRUTH .

  6. #6

    Re: Sanatana Dharma questions

    Quote Originally Posted by follower12 View Post
    Namaste Riju ji,


    No, He is not the source of existence. Existence is full of pain and miseries, how can He be the cause of miseries to human? How could He be harsh? Its impossible. Existence is neither created nor destroyed, it only transforms itself.

    Adviata is a philosophy on spirituality dealing with subjects related to God. With reference to God, advaita means non-dual existence of God or soul. Its interpretation can be expanded in countless ways. As you wrote " NOT TWO", it essentially projects emphasis on non dual nature of soul and places it in its real space. Soul from real point of view is non-dual but from relative (vyavharik) point of view 'appears' as duality. For example- In reality, soul is Akarta or non-doer. But in relative, a person functions/ performs actions only in the presence of soul,so soul is blamed for that action along with body, which imparts it duality.

    I think to understand these concepts, true Vairage is needed which is totally internal in nature. No external portrayal of Vairag is needed. I think that is what Sriram257 pointed. As far as one keeps on churning, he is worth knowing everything.

    Pranam.
    Namaste follower 12,

    Consider an alternative answer from the point of view of Sanatana Dharma and give your views.......

    Brhamana created many consciousnesses (souls) as a replica of HIM.
    And sent them down to go and CREATE an EXISTENCE.

    These consciousness out of IGNORANCE considered themselves as individual souls and became EGOS.
    They were the original BRAHMAS (sons of BRAHMANA).
    They divided and created MANY GODS and subsequently divided into many human beings and other lives
    All of them were IGNORANT and made blunders and caused pain to themselves.
    Some of these EGOS due to sufferings and pain learnt WISDOMS
    Some others found no solutions to the pain and sufferings and ran for MOKSH as losers.

    They are multiple WISDOMS to be learnt to become a BUDDHA.
    A BUDDHA goes to NIRVAN in the lap of BRAHMANA after completing his job successfully.
    A BUDDHA also leaves behind a successful, happy and peaceful EXISTENCE behind , so that
    future BRAHMAS (sons of BRAHMANAS) build and created an advanced EXISTENCE.

    There is a SUTRA authored by Guatam Buddha. It is named LOTUS SUTRA.
    In this sutra HE condemns ARHATS as fools who run for MOKSH.

  7. #7
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    Re: Sanatana Dharma questions

    Namaste riju,

    Already some good answers have come up. I will try to explain further.

    Quote Originally Posted by riju View Post
    1. What is the purpose of this existence?
    Existence is there due to nature of Brahman. The Nature of Brahman (also called MAyA) creates all this and in the fashion it is. There is no purpose. Some try to answer this question by saying that it is all God's sport but Brahman and Creation are non-different in the Absolute state.

    Brahman is Consciousness. Appearance of thought-waves within Consciousness is the cause of creation. There can't be any specific purpose behind this creation. Purpose for what and for whom ? When there is none but Brahman, the question of any purpose cannot arise. Brahman has nothing to gain or lose by indulging in any activity. Even calling it a sport of Brahman or God is fallacious because then we are assuming that Brahman is not happy without this sport i.e. there is restlessness in Brahman and that violates the essential nature of Brahman.

    2. Why is the existence so painful?
    Again, there is no reason. However, it serves a purpose to keep this existence painful. If it were not painful, man would have not tried to know his True Narture which is utterly peaceful and blissful and free from vagaries of MAYA.

    3. Is Moksh the highest purpose for a human being?
    Of course. A being passes through several stages of consciousness in the long span of existence before getting birth as a human being. If he doesn't get Moksha in this birth, he is at the mercy of fate and circumstances in his future lives and he has to go through alternate sufferings of joys and sorrows as per Laws of karma. There cannot be any greater thing to achieve than being free from clutches of Laws of Karma.

    4. Advaita in sanskrit means "NOT TWO", SO ...Is God and Advaita one and the same thing and He is the
    source of this existence without purpose?
    The Reality is One and that is called Brahman. Brahman has four states of reality. Three states are relative or illusory existence. The fourth is Turiya or Nirguna
    Brahman. Nirguna Brahman is like One dollar. Within one dollar note there are 100 cents ... assumed to be there but not visible when you see the 1 dollar note. Accordingly, other three relative states are within the fourth in Brahman. Nirguna Brahman is the cause of God and from God come into being two worlds i.e. this gross worlds and the subtle world. There is no purpose or reason behind all this. It is just the Nature of Brahman in action. The Reality is what it is. Looking for purpose for everything comes from our conditioning / our conditioned mind which cannot accept things without any purpose or reason.

    OM
    "Om Namo Bhagvate Vaasudevaye"

  8. #8

    Re: Sanatana Dharma questions

    Quote Originally Posted by riju View Post
    I am disturbed by the following questions due to my imperfect knowledge of Sanatana Dharma.

    1. What is the purpose of this existence?
    2. Why is the existence so painful?
    3. Is Moksh the highest purpose for a human being?
    4. Advaita in sanskrit means "NOT TWO", SO ...Is God and Advaita one and the same thing and He is the
    source of this existence without purpose?

    Will someone kindly oblige me by giving answers to above questions . I shall be very thankful.
    Namaste riju,


    I will assume that you posted Buddhism's response to your own questions (in your comment dated July 8, 10:46 PM) simply for comparison purposes, and that you are looking for more responses from followers of Sanatan Dharma.
    I am going to post my own responses below and they are going to be quite different from what others have posted so far. And that should not be surprising. Different people have different knowledge and experiences and so their outlooks towards everything are different too. I can only say that even though my responses are different from other posters here, they are fully backed (to the best of my knowledge) by Hindu scriptures.


    1. What is the purpose of this existence?


    The purpose is Leela, or play. This whole world is a play of Brahman going on. Member 'devotee' said above "Even calling it a sport of Brahman or God is fallacious because then we are assuming that Brahman is not happy without this sport i.e. there is restlessness in Brahman and that violates the essential nature of Brahman."
    It is important to understand that Brahman was happy, calm, and peaceful when He decided to start this Leela, and He still is happy. Brahman does not need to play. He wishes to do Leela so He does the Leela.... it is that simple. The only reason why we use words like 'play' or 'sport' is because we do not know of a better word to use for a situation when someone does something without any 'need'!


    2. Why is the existence so painful?


    The existence is painful because of our own ignorances. When ignorance is removed, pain vanishes. Discerning knowledge from ignorance, and adopting knowledge, is one of the primary functions that the wise perform in this Leela.


    3. Is Moksh the highest purpose for a human being?


    No it is not! Most learnt people will tell you that a person achieves Moksh only when s/he gets rid of all ego. However, when we say "I want Moksh", or "I want to do things that will get me Moksh", then ego is still there, and it stays there no matter how hard we are working towards getting Moksh! And as long as the ego is dominant in a person, there can be no Moksh for him/her.


    It is Nishkam Karma (action without desire for fruits) that is the highest purpose for a human! What action should we be performing? Gita's answer: Living by dharma and doing all the actions needed to fulfill these dharmas! We should live our life by dharma and not worry about whether or not we get the fruits (e.g. plus Karma points, or Moksh). Gita even makes it clear that ignoring dharma is a sin, and sinners are definitely re-incarnated. Also, aspiring for Moksh by ignoring dharma is selfishness which indicates that the person's ego is dominant in him/her, and this will certainly lead to re-birth.


    4. Advaita in sanskrit means "NOT TWO", SO ...Is God and Advaita one and the same thing and He is the source of this existence without purpose?


    Yes, God and Advaita (Brahman) is one and same thing but guess what? Humans and Brahman are also one and the same thing! The difference between God and humans is that whereas humans are hypnotized by maya (veil of ignorance), God is not! Wise people pray and ask for God's help in removing this maya. When the maya is removed (vanishes), the human realizes his true nature which is none else but Brahman.
    As mentioned before, there IS a purpose to this existence and it is Leela (play).


    Hope this helped.
    What is the one thing that no beings can do, except humans? Answer: Arts!

  9. #9

    Re: Sanatana Dharma questions

    Namaste Devotee,
    Namaste KnowThyenemy,

    I have heard that Sanatana religion accepts Guatam Buddha as an incarnation of God Vishnu.
    He is personally spoken about a sutra named LOTUS SUTRA.
    This sutra is not openly talked about by Hindus as well as Buddhists'

    IN this sutra He mentions that highest Moksh leads to Arhatship and Arhat is a PITFALL on the way to Buddhahood.
    Hindus have neglected Buddhism because of this.
    Buddhists have had difficulty understanding this sutra and hence they never talk about it.

    Why does Guatam Buddha who is incarnation of VISHNU god condemn Arhatship?
    Instead He suggests that when Arhatship should be protected by developing Sambhogkaya, Nirmankaya and Dharamkaya.
    These three kayas can only be developed by a would be Arhant in the day today involvement in existence.

    These words are very THOUGHT PROVOKING. They give a differen reason and purpose for existence, for pain and sufferings etc.

  10. #10
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    Re: Sanatana Dharma questions

    Namaste Riju Ji,

    You are free to put your 'Sutra' views in the Buddhist sub-forum of HDF and call for comparative discussions there.
    Last edited by Ram11; 09 July 2015 at 07:10 PM.
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