| Past Essays by Vedanta Scholars |
| How can we keep thinking good
when so much bad is happening? Consider the cause by Arvind Khetia The human mind has always been preoccupied with the effects of past actions and not the causes that produced these effects. If one looks behind these events, one will recognize that we are simply reaping the fruits of what was sown earlier. The present economic and environmental crises are prime examples of this phenomenon. According to the universal law of karma, every event is a result of an unending chain of cause and effect. Understanding this compels one to stand on rational ground, realizing that instead of fearing God's punishment for bad actions, one is convinced that all wrong actions will eventually be the cause of one's own suffering. It is this awareness that prepares one to respond to bad times in life and helps one to accept the inevitable. Therefore, the belief in the law of karma provides an incentive for ethical behavior. Swami Vivekananda correctly observed that, "Thank God for giving us this world as a moral gymnasium, to help our spiritual development." The secret of happiness is explained in the Bhagavad-Gita as practicing a disciplined detachment from the results of one's actions and thus becoming free. This transforms one's actions into the yoga of self-realization through unselfish action (karma yoga). According to Vedanta, when one attains spiritual wisdom, one transcends both good and evil and lives with a mind filled with equanimity. |
| What are the different purposes of prayer in your faith?
Purifying the heart by A.M. Bhattacharyya As in many religious traditions, prayer is a common spiritual practice among the followers of the Hindu faith. Hindus pray for various reasons and on various occasions. A call for prayer may come from a distressed person seeking strength to face a difficult and painful situation or from a grateful person thanking the Lord for whatever one gains by his mercy and grace. Or it may come from an aspiring soul seeking spiritual knowledge and illumination or from a devout heart simply praising the Supreme Being for his infinite power and glory. A prayer offered sincerely with faith and devotion establishes a communion between a human soul and the divine. As a result one finds spiritual strength, mental peace and abounding bliss. In the Hindu tradition, prayers are offered at any time during the day or night, either individually or collectively. Prayer songs are called "bhajans." Individual prayers are generally offered at a family shrine in the home in front of the family's chosen deity. Collective prayers are usually offered in a temple during a worship service (puja) led by a priest. Prayer mantras are chanted in Sanskrit, which is considered a sacred language. Hindus believe that mantras have special power. The sounds and vibrations of properly chanted mantras can create a spiritual environment and raise one's awareness of the divine. Through prayers, invocations and offerings, Hindus are intent on purifying their hearts and seeking divine blessings for peace, happiness and prosperity for all. |
| How do you respond to people who say the human mind
created God to explain the unknowable? True knowledge lies within us by Arvind Khetia In the beginning, the fierceness of natural events caused by sun, rain, wind or fire inspired awe and fear. The forces behind these events were unknowable at that time. Eventually, these forces were personified and worshipped to earn their grace. Thus, this anthropomorphic idea of God was a result of man's hopes and fears. Since that time, the human mind has continued to search for the meaning and purpose of human life and its relation to the divine. The pursuit to unfold this mystery has resulted in varying and competing ideas of the divine. The vision of the sages of ancient India transcended this limited notion of the divine. They pursued their search by looking inward to transcend the limitations of the senses. During deep meditation, they experienced an ecstatic state of mind, which is only known in the spiritual realm, detached from the material universe. In the process, they realized the infinite nature of reality, which is also the inner Self (Atman) in all beings. They concluded that true knowledge of the divine comes from the realization of one's inner Self. Swami Vivekananda has said that, God is the eternal subject of everything. He is one with us; and that which is one with us is neither knowable nor unknowable, but infinitely higher than either, for He is our real Self. |
| What does your faith say about the origin and fate of the universe?
The cycle of evolution and devolution continues by A.M. Bhattacharyya Both philosophy and mythology have made important contributions to the topic of creation in the Hindu faith. I am presenting the philosophical perspective about the origin and the fate of the universe, as expounded in the scriptures, the Vedas and their Knowledge sections, the Upanisads. First and foremost, there is God--the all-pervading, eternal, absolute reality--the infinite source of knowledge, truth and bliss. God is transcendent as well as immanent. He creates the universe out of himself. The Isa-Upanisad says, "In the heart of all things in the universe, dwells the Lord." The universe goes through an infinite series of universal cycles . At the end of a cycle, it becomes latent in God. It remains in a state of quiescence, until by God's creative urge it becomes manifest again. The cosmic process of creation and dissolution continues forever. A hymn from the Rig-Veda says, "The whole series of universes past, present and future express the glory and power of the Universal Being. However, he transcends his own glory." The Mundaka-Upanisad describes the evolution-involution cycle this way, "As from a fire fully ablaze, fly off sparks in their thousands, similarly, from the Imperishable, originate different kinds of creatures, and into him again they merge." In modern terms this may look somewhat remotely like the big-bang theory. However, Hindu scriptures made it abundantly clear that, just as the creator God is eternal, the creation-dissolution cycle will go on throughout eternity. |
| In your faith, what is the nature of God?
Divinity of the soul Arvind Khetia The Vedic sages of ancient India meditated and pondered on the nature of God. In the process, they not only determined the nature of God, but also defined God itself. They determined that behind this ever-changing phenomenal world, there is an infinite, changeless, transcendental reality, known as Brahman (literally, the Immensity). Brahman is omnipresent, therefore, it is also the inner self (Atman) of all beings and the source of unity of all existence. Thus, Hinduism recognizes the divinity of the human soul, and all divine incarnations, such as Rama, Krishna, Jesus, and Buddha, as manifestations of that one reality. In one of the Upanishads, the question is asked, "What is that, by knowing which, all is known?" The answer that follows is profoundly spiritual, universal in its scope and sublime in its poetry. It describes the nature of Brahman, the impersonal God of Vedanta: "The eyes cannot see it, the mind cannot grasp it. The deathless Self has neither caste nor race. The Self is infinite, everlasting and changeless ; the source of life. The lord of Love is above name and form and is present in all and transcends all." According to Vedanta, the knowledge of Brahman, or self-realization, is the culmination of all spiritual knowledge. Swami Vivekananda has said, "He who, in this world of many, sees that one, he who, in this world of shadows, catches that reality, to him belongs eternal peace and to none else." |
 |
| What is Your Concept of Eternity?
Brahman is Eternal by A.M. Bhattacharyya In this ever-changing world of names and forms, is there anything that is changeless, eternal, without beginning and without end? Many millennia ago, ancient Hindu seers did a thorough investigation of this philosophical question. Their findings were recorded in the Hindu scriptures, the Upanishads. The following is the essence of their conclusions: * Brahman (God): The Upanishads say, "Brahman is truth, knowledge and the eternal." Brahman is absolute, changeless, one without a second. He is transcendental, formless, everlasting, all-pervading Holy Spirit and the Lord of all souls. He is the ultimate reality and the first and final cause of creation. *Atman (individual soul): "This atman is Brahman" is one of the four great declarations of the Upanishads. The sages identified the individual soul of every being as divine spirit. Since the soul, also called "self" (atman), meaning "true being," is one with God, it is inherently pure, perfect, immutable, immortal and has no beginning and no end. * Jagat (the universe): The Upanishads say, "Out of Brahman the universe emerges, in him it exists, and unto him it returns." So God is the root cause and support of the universe. The cosmic process of creation does not have an absolute beginning, nor does it have an absolute end. The universe alternates between evolution and involution. Evolution is the manifested state, and involution is the latent state. Thus the universe goes through a cycle of creation, preservation and dissolution. This cycle is repeated throughout eternity. |
 |
 |
| What is the ultimate reality according to your tradition? Brahman is reality by A.M. Bhattacharyya Hindu philosophical scriptures, the Upanisads, identify Brahman (the Impersonal Godhead) with such expressions as one without a second, eternal, all pervasive, without beginning and without end, changeless, absolute truth, pure consciousness and infinite bliss. Absolute reality refers to what is changeless and everlasting. The material world, though a creation of God, is not “real” in the same sense. The names and forms of which the world of phenomena is made are continuously changing, going through their own cycles of creation, preservation and dissolution. Nothing is unchanging and everlasting except Brahman. Hindu scriptures call Brahman the Ultimate Reality. The authors of the Upanisads also found that same changeless reality to be the subtle core of every being. This reality is called “Atman” (Self), the divine guiding spirit within every being. Paul Deussen, a professor of philosophy and a celebrated scholar of the Upanisads, said: “It was here for the first time the original thinkers of the Upanisads, to their immortal honor found God. They recognized one Atman, one inmost individual being, as Brahman, the inmost being of universal Nature and of all her phenomena.” Sri Aurobindo, a modern-day Hindu saint, also expressed a similar sentiment. He said: “This (the knowledge of Atman-Brahman identity) is the fullness of liberating knowledge. It is the knowledge of the divine within us and in the world and, at the same time, of the transcendent infinite.” |
| Where lies the final word, with faith or reason?
Experience is source of knowledge by Arvind Khetia Faith and reason are uniquely human attributes, essential to discoveries in material and spiritual science. It is generally believed that faith belongs to religion, while reason belongs to science. Progress in science, however, has adversely influenced our faith in faith itself. People of faith feel convinced that reason can never adequately define the Absolute because reason needs something tangible to reason about. People advocating reason see faith as believing in something that is not verifiable. When one is required to believe in certain dogmas, reason either remains ignored or is used only to justify one’s beliefs. In spite of such arguments, it must be recognized that faith and reason are like two sides of the same coin. Faith without reason can turn into blind faith, leading to fanaticism. Reason without faith can lead to cynicism resulting in a negative worldview. Einstein‘s famous words in essence are, “Reason without faith is lame, faith without reason is blind.” Hinduism, based on the philosophy of Vedanta, reconciles faith and reason by its emphasis on critical discrimination and its scientific attitude in the field of religion. It asserts a higher vision of spirituality by recognizing the importance of becoming versus believing, and realizing versus reasoning. Vedanta maintains that it is neither faith nor reason, but experience that is the sure source of knowledge and that it, ultimately, is what validates the truth of religion. |
| Shouldn’t men and women have equal rights and
privileges in a modern society? The Scriptures provide for spiritual equality. by A.M. Bhattacharyya The Hindu scriptures affirm spiritual equality between men and women. Hindus worship both male and female deities as manifestations of God. During the Vedic period (3000 BCE-600 BCE) , women seers made significant contributions to the Vedic scriptures. Toward the end of the Vedic period the philosophical treatises the Upanishads, also known as the Vedanta, were composed. Women were described as equal to men. “Men and women are just two halves of a split pea, each incomplete without the other.” --The Message of the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad, by Swami Ranganathananda During the medieval period (1000 CE-1800 CE), the Hindu lands of South Asia, because of their richness, attracted repeated foreign invasions. During this period women gradually lost their freedom from fear of molestation by the invaders and were kept under the protection of their male family members. Various restrictions imposed on women tarnished Hindu society in that era. The regeneration of Hindu society started in the early 18th century. Rammohan Roy and other reformers after him tried to revitalize the society by returning people to the quintessence of Hinduism and by removing the social evils practiced on women in the name of “religion.” After World War II, Hindu-majority India became a free, modern democratic society. Various laws were enacted by the Indian parliament and by the state legislatures to grant women equal status with men. Rightfully, many women now fill leadership roles in many social and political fields. |
| If this world is God’s creation, why is it filled with sorrow?
See the divinity in all by Arvind Khetia Bertrand Russell, author and philosopher, wrote, “Unless men increase in wisdom as much as in knowledge, increase in knowledge will be increase in sorrow.” Unfortunately, the human mind has not kept pace in spiritual wisdom as the prevailing malaise would tend to indicate. The world is filled with sorrow because we do not recognize our spiritual oneness. The delusion of separateness creates a false sense of superiority resulting in exploitation, inequality, fear and violence. The Bhagavad-Gita explains this as: “People with a false sense of ego, pride, greed and anger are indifferent to the divinity within themselves as well as in others. Those who see themselves in all and all in them, they live in wisdom.” Vedanta interprets creation as a manifestation of the divine and explains its omnipresence. The divinity in all is the Vedantic vision of spiritual unity, which explains the ideals of humanism and universal ethics. The secret of happiness, then, is to manifest one’s divinity by cultivating spiritual wisdom. This requires the revival of the inner life of simplicity and righteousness . In the words of Swami Vivekananda, “Nature is like that screen which is hiding the reality beyond. Every good thought that you think or act upon is simply tearing the veil, and the purity, the infinity, the God behind manifests itself more and more.” |
| Should antiquated scriptural injunctions be changed to suit modern society? Society Changes by A.M. Bhattacharyya Hinduism, which has been guiding the lives of Hindus for many thousands of years, has a large number of holy books. First came the scriptures known as the Vedas. The Vedas have two kinds of knowledge, ceremonial and spiritual. The ceremonial section includes prayers, rituals, duties and commandments. The spiritual section contains the most profound philosophical thought, dealing with the creation and the Creator and their interrelationship. It has its own series of scriptures, called Upanisads. In a later period many auxiliary scriptures, classified as Smritis, were authored by various sages. Smritis include stories and illustrations, outlines of social structure, codes of conduct and delineations of one’s rights and duties. The wealth of knowledge in the Smirtis helped to bring the messages of Hindu religious principles and practices to the people at all levels of the society. The fundamental precepts of Hinduism in the Upanisads are acclaimed by all Hindus as the eternal spiritual principles revealed by God to the ancient Vedic seers. These spiritual beliefs are the most authoritative and unchangeable. But, according to Swami Vivekananda, “Those religious practices which are based entirely upon our social position and correlation must change with the changes in society.” For example, the caste system served very well within the structure of the old Hindu society. However, in our modern society, the caste system is antiquated. It has created discrimination and division in society. So, it must change to harmonize with the modern era. |
| How can you recognize a genuine
spiritual teacher?
Spiritual knowledge, human compassion by Arvind Khetia In Sanskrit, the language of the Vedas, a spiritual teacher is called “guru,” which means a remover of darkness or ignorance. In Vedic tradition, a guru is worthy of the highest respect and is regarded as the divine, as a guru’s grace can be a source of salvation. To be worthy of such high regard, a genuine spiritual teacher must have a deep knowledge of scripture, be pure in thought and be detached from worldly desires. He or she is self-controlled, calm and an embodiment of compassion and selflessness. A true spiritual teacher, like Shankara, Ramakrishna and Ramana Maharshi, just to name a few, is established in the Self (Atman) and has realized the truths of spiritual life. In ancient India, scriptural teachings and the teaching of spiritual disciplines like meditation and yoga were communicated directly from the guru to the disciple. Therefore, a disciple is also required to have certain qualities to receive such spiritual teachings. The essential qualities for spiritual learning are a deep desire for liberation, understanding the difference between the real and unreal, non-attachment and the six essential virtues: self-control, equanimity, calmness, tolerance, concentration and faith. These qualities are essential to recognize a true spiritual teacher. Divine grace manifests itself in many ways. However, to receive the wisdom of an enlightened master is one of the most blessed experiences of divine grace. |
| How do you know you are making contact with God? Prayer, Meditation are Two Paths by A.M. Bhattacharyya The most common ways to contact God are through prayer and meditation. Prayer may be offered individually at home or by a congregation during a worship service in a temple in front of a deity under the guidance of a priest. Such prayers may be petitionary or more universal in outlook. In a petitionary prayer, one can pray to God for personal gain, saving one from a difficult situation, giving strength to bear a loss, or asking for his grace for spiritual progress. The other type of prayer is offered for universal peace, harmony with nature, and for understanding and brotherhood of mankind. Meditation is a very effective way to contact God. Intense meditation and other spiritual exercises are prescribed in Hindu scriptures for God-realization. The ultimate aim of meditation is to attain the highest level of consciousness. At the stage of transcendental consciousness, called “samadhi,” one can attain the vision of God and be in communion with God. A “God-realized” person’s heart is filled with purity, love, compassion, forgiveness, fearlessness, selflessness and kindness. He or she has no material attachment, no desire for material gain and sees all beings as the children of God. According to Hindu scriptures, God-realization is the real purpose of religion and the ultimate goal of life. |