Namaste!

Well, tonight I've totally finished up that essay I told you guys a while ago. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to talk about all the things I wanted, only being allowed a few topics to write about. But nonetheless, here it is, a full 13 pages!! Hope you all enjoy it as much as I did learning the information!

Dhanyavad!

The Hindu Culture
In the misty, freezing Himalayan Mountains, a young, nude baba sits in a cramped cave in profound, deep meditation. Unaffected, detached from his senses, he brings his awareness to the Atman, the God within. An elderly sage, walking through a small Indian village and just arriving from the sacred Mountains, approaches a grieving family, and ask them if he could use their recently deceased son’s body to use as his Jva’s vehicle (or incarnated soul). The family approves. Suddenly, the sage drops dead and a couple minutes later, a young man, proclaimed dead some days ago, exits the cremation building and heads towards the Himalayas. The Hindu culture, the oldest and most mystical of all faiths, is one majorly misunderstood in the West. Discrimination and misunderstanding of foreign cultures, near and far, are a severe problem in the Western Hemisphere. Misunderstandings of the Indian sub-continent’s history, Yoga, Caste System, the Hindu view of God, its influential people, and its scriptures plague the textbooks and minds, the cure being correct study and simply asking questions to natives about their culture.
The Indian sub-continent’s history is mostly known by a famous tale, its true history being that is holds the oldest known civilizations in the world. At the discovery of the Indus Valley Civilization, many scholars came up with a theory called the Aryan Invasion. The Sanskrit language, that used by the Aryans, is so similar to those of Europe, the scholars believed they must have been from either around Germany or Russia. According to this theory, Aryans invaded the native Indus people around 3,000 B.C.E. and imposed their language (Sanskrit), their culture (caste systems, yoga, etc.) and religion (the Vedic Tradition). This theory has been utterly disproven by the absence of evidence of an ‘invasion’, and satellite photos of the Sarasvati River, which was highly praised in the Vedas (Kang 5). The Mehrgarh Civilization is estimated to have begun around 9,000 B.C.E., its culture still not clear today, is usually split into eight different ages. The Neolithic Period (9,000-7,500 B.C.E.), Neolithic II, the first appearance of copper and ceramics (6,500-5,700 B.C.E.), the Chalcolithic Period, or beginning of the Copper Age (5,250-4,800 B.C.E.), Bronze II (4,800-4,500 B.C.E.), and Bronze III (4,500-4,000 B.C.E.) (Weber 42). Around 2,800 B.C.E. the Indian sub-continent natives began to build large cities and eventually its own society, which ended up being the largest in the ancient world (Venkatraman). In 1947, after a long, hard battle, fought without guns and swords, against the British with Mahatma Gandhi’s help, India became its own independent nation (“My Dream India”).
To some, the Hindu society seems strict, everyone following a Yogic path, following the yogic moral laws of conduct, and accustomed into their own Varna, or caste. There are many paths of Yoga, or ‘Union to God’, some being Jnana Yoga, Karma Yoga, Kundalini Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, and Raja Yoga. Jnana Yoga, ‘Union to God through Direct Knowledge’, is the Yoga of the Intellect. It is usually split into a three-step process towards Moksha, or enlightenment. The first step is the Satguru explains Brahman, the Eternal Spirit, to the disciple who carefully listens and takes notes. Second, the disciple reflects on what was heard and tries to understand. The third step, the disciple meditates on Brahman, of the Upanishads (“Jnana Yoga” 2). Jnana Yoga is a very difficult path to follow, so there are four requirements needed in order to qualify to follow this path called the Four Means of Salvation. Viveka, is the first mean, which is where one has the ability to discriminate between Purusha (The Cosmic Spirit) and Prakriti (Nature, or the Material). The second mean is called Vairagya, or the detachment of Prakriti. Shad-Sampat is the third mean, which means the Six Virtues: Sama, the ability to control the mind, Dama, the ability to control the senses, uparti, renunciation of actions that are not duties, titiksha, endurance, shraddha, complete faith in the Satguru, and Samadhana, one-pointed awareness on God (“Jnana Yoga: The Four Means of Salvation” 2). Karma Yoga, ‘Union to God through Action’, is doing one’s dharma, or duty, unattached to their outcomes or their fruits and without helplessly becoming involved in them (Chatterji 106). Kundalini Yoga, ‘Union to God through Awareness’ belongs to the Tantric school of Yoga. Kundalini Yoga expresses the need to purity and activate the seven major chakras, or energy points, to attain Moksha. The seven major chakras, all lined up along the spine, are called Muladhara Chakra located at the base of the spine, Swadishthana Chakra located in the sacrum, Manipura Chakra located in the digestive systems, Anahata Chakra located in the heart cavity, Vishuddha Chakra located in the base of the throat, Ajna Chakra located in between the eyebrows, and the Sahasrara Chakra, located on the crown of the head (“Kundalini Yoga”, 2). Another path of Yoga is called Bhakti Yoga. “Bhakti” is translated as devotion to God. To increase ones devotions, the Bhakta follows the Nine Modes of Bhakti (“Bhakti Yoga”, 2). Sravanam, is listening to a god’s lila, or story. Kirtanam is chanting their personal god’s glories. Smaranam is remembering God throughout the day by changing mantras, or sacred sounds. Dadasevanam is serving humanity through direct love for God. Archanam is worshiping God by preforming various rituals such as pooja, havan, or homa. Vandanam is prostration to gain humility. Dasyama is becoming the Lord’s or Mother’s servant. Sakhyam is feeling friendship towards the god. The last mode is Atmanivedaman, or complete surrender the Cosmic One (“Bhakti Yoga: The Nine Modes of Devotion” 2). Raja Yoga means ‘The Royal Road to Union to God’. Focusing on the control and purification of consciousness to realize our true Atman, or Self, and identification to the essential natures of the Universe is the main of Raja Yoga. The control of body by asana, postures, of prana, or breath, the indrayas, or senses, and mind is needed to be successful in Samadha (“Raja Yoga”, 2). While following a path of Yoga, one is to follow the Niyamas and Yamas, or do’s and don’ts of yoga. Saucha is cleanliness, Santosha is contentment in material and spiritual life, Tapas is austerity, Svadhyaya is Self-Study and studying the scriptures and the last Niyama is Ishvara Pranidhana, or the surrendering of the Self to God. The five Yamas are: Ahisma or non-violence, Satya is truthfulness, Asteya is non-stealing, Brahmacharya is sexual responsibility, not only restraining from sex, but restraint from pointless chatter, and Apargraha which is abstention from greed (“Yama and Niyama”). In the Hindu Culture people are split into Varnas and Jatis, or castes and sub-castes. Originally, Jatis were based on birth, while Varna was based on the theory of gunas, or the quality of one’s mind. Brahmins are peaceful, self-harmonious, loving, forgiving and righteous. Kshatriyas are heroic, has courage in battle, generous, and has a noble leadership. Viashyas are businessmen or farmers. Sudras were worker for the other Varnas (Ross, 9).
The Hindu Pantheon has about 300 million deities called devas, but just one God, called Brahman, a formless spirit, that uplifts the entire Multiverse. There is a Triad, called the Trimutri in Sanskrit. It includes Brahma, the Creator (not to be confused with Brahman) Vishnu, the Preserver, and Shiva, the Destroyer (Patel). The three most popular sects in Hinduism are called Vaishnavism, devotees of the deva Vishnu or one of his many avatars, or earthly incarnations, Shaivism, devotees of the deva Shiva, and Shaktism, devotees of Shakti, called Shaktas, worship the Formless Mother Goddess as a devi, or goddess. According to legend, Lord Vishnu was challenged by an asura, or demon, to submerge all land on Earth under water. So Vishnu transformed himself into a boar and brought Earth to the surface along with many shells. That’s why when a sea shell is put to the ear the ocean can be heard, in remembrance of Vishnu’s great work (Linsky, Catherine, et al.)! In one Shaivite myth, Ganga, the goddess of rivers, decided to descend from Svargaloka, or the heaven world of gods, but she worried that her downfall would destroy the Earth. So Shiva broke her fall, and she got entangled in his thick, thrice-matted hair, saving the world from a disastrous flood (Bernbaum). A popular goddess is Mata Lakshmi, Mother Lakshmi, who is a mother goddess of abundance, fertility and prosperity; she is also the protector of the home (“Lakshmi’s Geometry). Brahma, the Creator god, is very rarely worshipped, only having a few temples scattered across India, but why? To aid him in creation, Brahma created a woman who was named Shatarupa. She was so beautiful, that every time Brahma saw her he became infatuated. In every direction she would move, he would create another head, so he could see her, eventually five heads were created. Shatarupa had become every creature on Earth to try to trick him, but he would transform himself into a male form of whatever she was, which is how the animals were created. Eventually, Lord Shiva saw this and cut one of Brahma’s heads off, because of his incestuous nature. Since that day, each of Brahma’s four heads chanted one of the books of the Veda, even to this day (“Brahma”).
There are many, many influential people that have affected the Hindu dharma, some being Mahatma Gandhi, Patanjali, Swami Vivekananda, and Mata Amritandamayi. “An eye for an eye, and soon the whole world is blind. I seek to blunt the edge of the tyrant’s sword, not by putting up against it another shaper-edged weapon, but by disappointing his expectations that I would be offering physical resistance. My method is conversion, not coercion.” (Sudo 2). Mohandas Gandhi aka Mahatma Gandhi, spread the philosophy of ahisma during the struggle to win independence from Great Britain. Mohandas was imprisoned several times during his protest against the British (“Mohandas Gandhi” 4). He organized many strikes, sit-downs, non-payment of taxes, and boycotts that eventually gave Indians more political power than that of the British. He was eventually shot in dead by an angry Hindu Indian, because of Gandhi’s love and extreme tolerance towards the Islamic faith (Sudo 2). Patanjali was a great sage, who wrote an important works on the art of Ayurveda, ‘The Science of Life’, which is an ancient system of Indian medicine, and Sanskrit grammar. To many, he is considered an avatar of the thousand-headed serpent-kind Shesha or Ananta (Rosen). Swami Vivekananda taught religious harmony, the goodness of every faith and encouraged others to live by the truth of their own faith in India and the United States. He taught the philosophy of Yoga and meditation in the West in the late 1800’s (Pettinger). Mata Amritanandamayi, or Ammachi, the “Hugging Saint”, created “The Mother’s Kitchen Service Seva,” a donation program that makes and gives free, warm, purely organic, vegetarian meals to the local poor and needy (Dewhust). Ammachi teaches selfless love to all people. She was born, raised and attain Moksha in a poor fishing village in South India (Prabhath 3).
As diverse as Yoga and the Devas are, the Hindu scriptures are just as diverse, written first chanted for thousands of years than written down. The Veda (pronounced vay-da), the Hindu Bible, is split into four different books called Rig Veda, Sama Veda, Yajur Veda, and the Atharva Veda (Johnsen). “I WILL tell you the manly deeds of Indra, the first that he achieved, the Thunder-Wielder. He slew the Dragon, then disclosed the waters, and cleft the channels of the mountain torrents.” -Rig Veda 1:32:32 (Griffith 19). The Rig Veda contains verses that praise the ancient Vedic deities, not widely worshipped these days. The Sama Veda is additional hymns token from the Rig Veda, though these verses are melodies and are sung. The Yajur Veda describes how to preform different rituals and sacrifices of various objects and the ego, not just minor animals. Lastly, the Atharva Veda contains many mantras to obtain certain goals, almost like the pagan spells (Johnsen 45). “Realizing That from which all words turn back and thoughts can never reach, one knows the bliss of Brahman and fears no more.” –Taittirya Upanishad 2:4:1 (Easwaran 253). The Upanishads are not considered philosophical, but are colorful stories written by great sages representing what they experience in deep meditation (Easwaran 20). The Bhagavad-Gita, The Song of God, is a universal love song, sung by God to his best friend Man. In it, the avatar Krishna, describes the qualities of the true Self within, the nature of Brahman, the Field and its Knower, and the means of liberation (Hawley xxi). “To gain access to this state of utter peace, Arjuna, you must be free of the Ego, and live devoid of craving. You must forget desire!” -1:2:71, Bhagavad-Gita (Hawley 26). The Mahabharata was written by the Deva Rishi, or god-like sage, Vyasa, who also appeared as a character in the Vedic Epic. The Mahabharata is a tale with entertaining and enlightening stories that show how Hindus should live in a very dramatic way (Johnsen 64).This Epic is understood as a moral and philosophical tale, as well as a historical one. The Mahabharata is actually so popular in the East, even the Buddhists and Jains adopted it into their religion (Buck xxi).The Ramayana was written about 3,000 B.C.E. by the sage Sri Valkami, who was actually an ex-theift. It tells the story of the ancient king-to-be Rama, also an avatar of Vishnu, who is exiled from his kingdom, and his wife’s, Sita, kidnapping by the evil King Ravana of Sri Lanka (“Ramayana”). Rama lived his whole life according to dharma; he was the perfect boy, husband, and king. His devotion to rightful living is another reason Rama and his wife, Sita are famous (Johnson). The Yoga-Sutra of Patanjali is made of 195 slokas, or verses, describing a process of liberation called Raja Yoga. The Sutra is split into four parts: Samdhi (absorbtion), Sadhana (practice), Vibhuti (supernatural powers), and Kaivalya (liberation) (Tuma).
There are many cultures, not just the Hindu that is very misunderstood such as the Islamic culture; even test books these days provide unrealistic view of these kinds of cultures. Instead of questioning and making harsh comments on a culture, time should be token to ask questions, study and learn about that culture, even asked about to its natives. By preforming this act of acknowledgement, of the cultures history, its reasons of doing things, and more, peace and the sense of brotherhood could spread around the world, like the beautiful scent of a pond of lotus flowers would be caught in the wind and please a nearby meditator. Om Shanti Om. Peace fill the mind of the chanter and the world.






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