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Pages Hinduism & Quantum PhysicsHinduism-Brief Sketch
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Top ======= Understanding Hinduism ======= Sanatan Ved Dharma Click on underlined words to open paragraph Swami Vivekananda wrote about: Conversion The Hindus, like the Jews, do not convert others Toleration? Toleration means that, I think that you are wrong and I am just allowing you to live. Is it not a blasphemy to think that you and I are allowing others to live? Dharma - From Virtue Arises Happiness By Swami Nikhilananda Hinduism is the religion and philosophy of Vedanta. Vedanta is
established on eternal and universal The Vedic texts are divided by subject matter into two distinct parts: The work section of the Vedas is devoted to man`s active life, to his search for temporal values, and dwells on the development of life in different stages. In the secular approach to life, one cannot get beyond the cycle of birth, death, and rebirth. Anything that is done for temporal purposes in this world comes under the work section, which is preparatory to the knowledge section. The purpose of the knowledge section is to take man out of this temporary order and establish him in eternal life, absolute peace and blessedness; to take him away from the cycle of birth and death. There is a unity of purpose between the two sections, for both intend to lead man from the search for the transitory to the search for the eternal. In the Vedantic view, there is no inherent contradiction, no unbridgeable gulf, between the secular life devoted to temporal values, and the spiritual life devoted to eternal truths. Being rightly directed, the one leads to the other. According to Vedanta, wordly desires well regulated by ethical principles invariably lead to spiritual awakening. As laid down in the Vedic social codes, the one universal duty of all human beings, irrespective of religious views, social rank, cultural standing, or political status, is the observance of virtue, or Dharma. The word Dharma means "that which upholds." It denotes particularly the "Law or Principle that upholds the world." Dharma is that which leads to the attainment of happiness and prosperity in this world.
It is through Dharma that man can have progress in the true sense, development in the true
sense, and achievement and well-being in all fields. The following quotations are from the Mahabharata: (The Mahabharata is perhaps the world`s longest epic poem with over 90 000 couplets.) "Virtue protects him who protects her. From virtue arises happiness.Virtue is the only friend that accompanies man beyond death." Virtue is the stable basis of every aspect of individual and collective life. A man`s physical, intellectual, aesthetic, as well as spiritual well-being rests on the observance of virtue. Moral conduct sustains man`s inner nature. Unless you observe moral principles -
truthfulness, sincerity, charity, modesty etc.- you cannot maintain soundness of mind. You may gain anything you desire, any transitory pleasure in this world, but you will never be satisfied completely. One cannot have youth only and not old age, light only and no darkness, good only and no evil. We cannot get out of this world of dual experience. In this world there will always be birth and death, growth and decay, construction and destruction; that is the nature of the world. The basic condition of the world does not change. Eventually a person becomes convinced that there is no assurance of security in the temporal order, no prospect of unalloyed joy in this relative universe characterised by a playground of dualities. Eventually one becomes convinced that the Supreme Being alone is eternal, all-free, all-perfect; while all else is short lived, bound and imperfect. Vedanta says there is one Supreme Being who alone is beyond all sorrows, beyond all sufferings, who alone is ever pure, free, immortal - the very perfection of existence. And that Supreme being is not far away from us. He is the all pervading Self of the universe, and dwells within us as the inmost Self of all. To recognise and achieve one`s essential unity with the Supreme Being is the ultimate goal of life. As Swami Vivekananda says,"Religion is the constitutional necessity of mankind. Dharma is that which ultimately leads man to his real nature and the Supreme Goal. Vedanta says the basic truth of all religion is to hold firmly to virtue, to moral
life. Then regardless of what path you choose, it will inevitably lead you to spiritual
life and the Supreme Goal. The Twofold Vedic Religion The Lord created the universe, and wishing to secure order therein, He first created the Prajapatis (Lords of creatures) such as Marichi and caused them to adopt the Pravritti Dharma, the Religion of Works. He then created others such as Sanaka and Sanandana, and caused them to adopt Nivritti Dharma, the Religion of Renunciation, characterised by knowledge and indifference to worldly objects. It is the twofold Vedic Religion of Works and Renunciation that maintains order in the universe. This Religion which directly leads to liberation and worldly prosperity has long been practised by all castes and religious orders (varna ashramas) - from the Brahmins downwards- who sought welfare. How Karma-Yoga is a means to the Supreme Bliss Though the Religion of Works, which, as a means of attaining worldly prosperity, is enjoined on the several castes and religious orders, leads the devotee to the religion of the Devas and the like, when practised in a spirit of complete devotion to the Lord and without regard to the (immediate) results, it conduces to the purity of the mind (sattva-suddhi). The man whose mind is pure is competent to tread the path of knowledge, and to him comes knowledge; and thus (indirectly) the religion of Works forms also a means to the Supreme Bliss. Accordingly, with this very idea in mind, the Lord says: "He who does actions, placing them in Brahman" (the Supreme Reality)
……"Yogis perform actions, without attachment, for the purification of the
self." From Viveka-chudamani of Sri Shankaracharya Work leads to purification of the mind, not to perception of the Reality. The
realisation of Truth is brought about by discrimination and not in the least by ten
millions of acts. Hinduism is God centred Sanatan = Eternal Ved = Knowledge Swami Vivekananda wrote about: Vedas The Hindus have received their religion through revelation, the Vedas. They hold that the Vedas are without beginning and without end. It may sound ludicrous to this audience, how a book can be without beginning or end. But by the Vedas no books are meant. They mean the accumulated treasury of spiritual laws discovered by different persons into different times. Just as the law of gravitation existed before its discovery, and exist if all humanity forgot it, so is it with the laws that govern the spiritual world. The moral, ethical, and spiritual relations between soul and soul and between individual spirits and the father of all spirits, were there before their discovery, and would remain even if we forgot them. The discoverers of these laws are called Rishis, and we honour them as perfected beings. I am glad to tell this audience that some of the very greatest of them were women. Conversion Toleration? Defining the Idea of God Pythagoras and Kapila Related articles Top <To top of this page
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