HINDUISM IN WESTERN LANGUAGE: A BRIEF OUTLOOK

     
    Quite a few thinkers, even inside Hinduism, believe that it is not possible to define Hinduism.  This is evidently not the case with other world religions like Buddhism in the East and Christianity in the West.  Complexity of Hinduism is daunting.  Diversity of Hinduism is overwhelming.  Tolerance of differences and assimilation of alien influences have further added to the state where trying to define Hinduism has become a veritable challenge.
     Yet, this brief outlook on Hinduism will include a definition of Hinduism.  The definition has four points each of which can be found in other religions but, together, they form a unique and salient characterization of Hinduism.  It will be seen that the four points are finely blended and carefully nurtured within the fold of Hindu tradition.  Thus, they encompass the distinct structure and essence of Hindu thought and show that some insightful thinking is not out of place in achieving a workable definition of Hinduism.
     The following brief outlook of Hinduism offers a view of Hinduism that is comprehensive enought to cover all major aspects of human life.  Of course it does it from the Hindu point of view.  The outlook encompasses values and goals of life, recommended virtues and basic standpoints nurtured by the Hindu tradition in its own
salient way.
     The outlook aims at bringing out what is relevant today and it attempts to do it in an accessible language that is familiar to Western thought and culture.  It offers a view of Hinduism that steers clear of two extremes.  It avoids the extreme of conservatism which is afraid of change and the extreme of liberalism which would change Hinduism out of shape.  In sum it proposes a formulation of Hinduism that is moderate, relevant, accessible and comprehensive.
     First, we will take a look at the four values of life that a Hindu seeks to achieve, followed by the fourfold definition of Hinduism.  Next, we will consider the four universal virtues to be practiced by all Hindus and four basic standpoints peculiar to the Hindu tradition.  At the end of this brief outlook we will briefly indicate the chief sources of Hinduism and a short list of recommended readings.

A.  VALUES OF LIFE

     The Hindu view of life takes life to be movement of consciousness toward fulfillment.  It indicates four values of life, called purusharthas.  The four blend together to form an integrated whole meant to provide a balanced and all-round satisfaction to any human being both as an individual and as a member of society.  The Hindu view of the society is that the best arrangement of society occurs where all the four objects of life are made accessible to all its members in harmony with each other.  The four purusharthas or objects of human effort are briefly as follows.
     1.  Kama or physical needs:  These include the individual's immediate needs and desires that do not hurt anyone.
     2.  Artha or social values:  Here are included socioeconomic values that an individual can acquire without shortchanging anyone and, at least making sure that it is earned and paid for.
     3.  Dharma or moral fulfillment:  This ensures that each individual achieves meaningful and mutually fulfilling relationships with everyone that one interacts with.
     4.  Moksha or spiritual freedom:  This is the most important value of life.  While the other values provide a measure of fulfillment, this one is defined as terminal fulfillment and is the ultimate that human life can offer in spiritual and qualitative terms.  It is achieved by following a disciplined spiritual path that leads to the experience of the ultimate.

B.  UNIVERSAL VIRTUES OF HUMAN RELATIONSHIPS

     Our relationships with those around us should enhance our happiness.  To this end we all need to cultivate certain universal virtues, called samanya dharmas in Hindu scriptural texts, that would make the relationships secure and satisfying for all involved.  These are affirmed and validated by each individual's conscience rather than by an external source.  Four such virtues stand out to construct our basic obligations or responsibilities toward our community:
     5.  Dama or self-restraint:  Cultivating this virtue means respecting everyone and controlling our behavior accordingly.  A person without self-restraint obviously is not ready to enter into a mutually fulfilling relationship.
     6.  Satya or truthfulness:  Developing this virtue implies striving to promote everyone's well-being by being truthful in thought, speech and action.
     7.  Ahimsa or nonviolence:  Minimally this involves not harming anyone but, optimally, it involves loving everyone and respecting everybody's right to difference.
     8.  Shuchi or purity:  This can be said to mean keep our body clean, mind open and heart pure.  Taken as cleansing it includes both internal as well as internal pufification.

     It would be seen that the four recommended virtues are well-balanced in that two of them, or satya and ahimsa, are directed toward others while the other two, that is, dama and shuchi, improve one's own character.  These four are articulated by Swami Shivananda as basic samanya dharmas.  It is well known that Mahatma Gandhi enshrined satya and ahimsa as cardinal virtues in his thinking.

C.  DEFINING PRINCIPLES

     Now we come to the definition of Hinduism promised earlier.  Four core principles define Hinduism as a distinct religion and spiritual philosophy.  Each can be found in other religions, b ut the four as a whole give Hinduism its defining ground on which each Hindu can stand and proclaim his or her salient individuality and nexus with the human world together with its environment.  Anyone largely sympathetic to the quartet can call oneself a Hindu with moral, spiritual and metaphysical legitimacy.  The four defining principles are as follows.
     9.  One spiritual being (ekam sat, tad ekam, ekam eva advitiyam) underlies the universe, manifesting as a deep bond between all humans that extends to all living beings and beyond to the planet and even the universe.
     10.  There are many ways of speaking about the one spiritual being, such as Ishvara or God that can be viewed as the creator and sustainer and Brahman or Godhead which can be regarded as cosmic consciousness.  In any case the being is ultimately ineffable (neti, neti) because of its ultimacy, infinity and intimacy.  It also is the ground of all existence (sat), consciousness (chit) and bliss (ananda).  Further, not only the distinctly Hindu Brahman, Vishnu, Shiva and Shakti but also the Jewish Yahweh, Christian God, Muslim Allah, Buddhist Shunya, Confucian Heaven and Lao Tzu's Dao are valid ways of speaking about this being.
     11.  There are many ways to realize the one spiritual being in experience.  If viewed as God, the way of love, devotion and worship is proper.  If viewed as Godhead, the way of knowledge, contemplation and meditation is appropriate.  If viewed as ground of human action, selfless service of humanity is legitimate.  All these ways can also be combined to suit invidiual aptitude.
     12.  Humans are accountable for their actions, for there are fair consequences of all actions that affect others.  This is called the law of karma, variously understood as "as you sow, so do you reap" and "what goes around comes around."  Since we do not usually end up reaping the consequences of all our deeds  in this life, we need to reincarnate after death to reap the unrealized consequences.  Since we experience effects we cannot link to, we see that we lived different lives before our birth here.  When we realize the one spiritual being in our experience and feel the impact of the terminal fulfillment it involves, we have broken the cycle of karma and won't have to return in another body.

D.  BASIC STANDPOINTS

     A few basic standpoints that have emerged in the Hindu tradition deserve mention because of their uniqueness and vitality.  They affect the Hindu ways of living, relating and regarding the ultimate.  They also constitute distinct contributions in the development of religion in world history.
     13.  Reconciliation of the universal and the relative:  Universal virtues or samanya dharmas are supplemented and enriched by relative morality or vishesha dharmas.  The latter arise in diverse ways from differences in places, times, subcultures and their needs within Hinduism.  Included also are elements creeping into Hinduism from outside and adapted by Hinduism in its mother-fold.
     Universal virtues are common to all lhuman beings everywhere, while the relative virtues are specific to a person's place in society, time in history and the community to which one belongs.  For example, a Hindu places great priority on the needs of community over one's own liking when it comes to career choice.  A Christian, choosing a life mate based on emotional feeling called love, is also laboring under vishesha dharma or relative morality of one's culture which may not be available in, for example, a Confucian culture.
     14.  Anchoring of ethical in the spiritual:  Ethics is anchored primarily in the spiritual and is a prerequisite for spiritual progress.  If one prefers to look at the one spiritual being as God, one has to regard all humans as God's children and, therefore, as one's brothers and sisters.  If, on the other hand, one regards the one spiritual being as Godhead, one sees the same essence of God or ground of being in all other human beings.  In any case, one must regard all of one's fellow beings equally with respect and friendly concern.  Without this basic ethical attitude, one would not embark meaningfully on any spiritual path toward God or Godhead.
     15.  Spiritual panentheism:  Spiritual is both immanent and transcendent.  Whether viewed as God or as Godhead, the one spiritual being is both immanent or within us and transcendent or beyond us.  It is within us because we can feel it deep down in our hearts. It is beyond us because it is infinite and does not just belong to us.  In the Western language, this position is called panentheism which accepts God as pervading the universe and at the same time exceeding far beyond the perceptible world.
     16.  Compatibility of monism and dualism:  Both monistic and dualistic languages are valid in expressing and approaching the ineffable infinite.  Believers in God, seeking communion, usually maintainthemselves to be small, finite and created beings in comparison to the great, infinite and creator God.  This is dualistic language of the I-Thou type.  Seekers of Godhead, on the other hand, working toward union rather, think themselves as part and parcel or even one with the ultimate spiritual being.  They speak the monistic or non-dualistic language.  The ultimate spiritual experience, whether that of Moses or Meera or of Jesus or Meister Eckhart, is beyond all words and concepts and cannot be neatly boxed in a monistic or dualistic language.  As Meister Eckhart put it so well, "The eye with which I see Him is the eye with which He sees me."  If you disagree, go figure!

E.  SOURCES

     1.  Shruti: Primary scripture, being directly heard by or revealed to the sages of yore.  This includes the Vedas and the Upanishads.
     2.  Smriti: Secondary scripture, being remembered by the sages.  These include the various law books written by different sages in different places and at different times.  Well-known examples are: the Bhagavad-gita, Manu-smriti.
     3.  Itihasa:  Historical narratives.  The most celebrated is the great epic called the Maha-bharata.
     4.  Purana:  Creation narratives.  Includes the Bhagavatam.
     5.  Darshana:  Philosophies or metaphysical visions.  Most notable are Yoga and Vedanta.

F.  RECOMMENDED READINGS

     1.  Bhagavad-gita, bhy Eknath Eashwaran
     2.  My Experiments in Truth, by Mahatma Gandhi
     3.  Window of the Infinite, by Barbara Powell
     4.  Hinduism, by Linda Johnsen
     5.  Philosophy of the Gita, by Ramesh N. Patel
     6.  www.hinduismfortoday.blogspot.com

MAY ALL ACHIEVE THEIR HIGHEST SPIRITUAL GOALS!