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Tag: Buddhism

  • What Is Truth Its Twelve Aspects Hinduism

    Truth is generally believed to the understanding of a Fact , Event , reporting them.

    Truth Quote Mahatma Gandhi.
    Truth Quote Mahatma Gandhi.

    The attributes of Reality are  Truth Consciousness and Bliss, as enumerated in Indian Philosophy.other Religions , Jainism, Buddhism, Christianity,Judaism and Islam also speak of these as the Attributes of God, though by different names.

    When one thinks of Truth, speaking what is, what is a Fact, is what one comes to one’s Mind.

    Life does not consist of only Speech.

    One performs actions, which repeated become Habits, and then there is the Thought process.

    Where do we find Truth in these and what are its characteristics?

    Truth is perceived from the perspective of the individual.

    Everyone looks at it or reports it from one’s angle.

    Then what is Truth?

    Truth has many facets or perspectives which can be perceived and in fact is perceived to suit one’s dispositions.

    How does one find the attributes of Truth is all its glory?

    Hinduism classifies Truth into Twelve Categories,Types.

    This is explained in the Bruhat Purana.

    They are:

    1.Amityavada-Not speaking facts.

    Here again there is a problem.

    There are times when speaking the fact harms the speaker , the listener and those who are not involved in any way.

    One can not afford to speak at all times to every one at any place.

    There are instances when keeping quiet or divulging information in such a way that it does not hurt any one involved.

    Tamil Saint Thiruvalluvar explains it eloquently .

    ‘One has to speak the facts after evaluating the place where he is speaking, to whom  he is speaking to, the time he is speaking about it’

    ‘Even a Lie is considered as the Truth as That which does not cause harm anyone’

    So speaking the fact is the first aspect of Truth with all the points mentioned here.

    2.Sathyam.The Absolute Truth.If one were to report facts, it should be in its full form,; no partial understanding or reporting is enough.

    We can see it in operation in our daily Life.

    We say things about what has happened to suit our convenience.

    This is not Truth.

    3.Sweekarapradhipaaalanam.

    Completing a job one has under undertaken to do.

    4.Priyavaakyam

    Speaking Kind words.

    Being bluntly is not correct for one must remember the one who hears it is a Human Being.

    Though what you speak is the  Truth , it has to be presented in such a way that it please the ear.

    ‘Speaking harsh words is like plucking unripened fruits when ripened fruit is available’ Thiruvalluvar.

    5.Guro: Seva

    Serving the Preceptor, Teacher, Guru.

    Teacher is considers Father as he gives you Knowledge , opens your mind while Biological father gives you  physical Life.

    One knows the Father through the Mother, Guru through Father, God through The Guru.

    Hinduism therefore accords prime place for worship in the following order, following the above principle.

    Mother, Father, Guru and only then God.

    There will be nothing auspicious for those who neglect the First Three, the Fourth God may even be ignored.

    6.Drudam Cha Eva Vratham Krutham.

    Following one’s determined decision without wavering.

    7.Astikya,

    Faith in God.

    There is no Happiness either in this world or  in the other world for the One who doubts,-Bhagavad Gita.

    8.Sadhu Sanghascha.

    Mixing with people of Good Culture.

    9.Pitur mathu: Priyankara:

    Fulfilling parents’s desires.

    10.Suchitvam Dwividam cha Eva.

    Being clean in Mind and Body.

    In the Mind -by being non jealous, without lust, anger,desire, Bullheadedness,hatred, and filled with Love.

    11.Hree:

    Ashamed of doing things which are bad.

    12.Asanchaya Eva, Aparikgraha.

    Non acceptance things ,more than one requires at the minimum.

     

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  • Concept Of God In India Vedas Other Systems

    All In One, Virat Rupa

    Hinduism and in India The concept of God is wide and varied.

    Broadly speaking Indian Thought is classified into two groups.

    The Astika and The Nastika.

    Astika (means who is devoted) Systems are those which believe in the authenticity of the Vedas and take them as the founding facts, Axioms, they are not questioned,

    Under these categories come  The Vedas, containing Brahmnanas,Arnayakas Uoanishads, The Bhagavd Gita , Brahma Sutra.

    Of these the Vedas, The Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutra are called The Three Jewels, Ratna Traya.

    These are unwavering in their adherence to The Vedas.

    Puranas , signifying very old, are only supplementary to these.

    If there are any conflicts between the Vedas and the Puranas, Views of the Vedas shall prevail.

    The Vedas are called Sruthis,learnt by being heard, not written.

    The others are called Smritis,learnt by memory, indicating historical events recorded and recollected..

    Under these Astika System the Concept of God is not uniform.

    While the Vedas and the others believe in the existence of God,Theistic the other Astika systems like Nyaya, Vaishesika  Samkhya and Purva Mimamsa are Atheistic, though all of  them accept the Vedas as the Authority.

    So we have these  systems in the Astika group.

    Nyaya,

    Vaishesika,

    Samkhya,

    Mimasa(Purva Mimasa) and

    Uttara Mimasa, The Upanishads.

    On the other hand we have the Nastika Sytems,( means denial of God) are those which do not believe in the authority of The Vedas.

    Under this we have,

    The Carvakas,

    Buddhism and

    Jainism.

    While Buddhism and Jainism do not accept the authorit of The Vedas, they follow the Theory of Karma of the Vedas in a great detail.

    While the Carvakas reject out right the Concept of God, Buddhism and Jainism are not as vehement in their  denial of  God.

    The name and attributes of the God  are changed.

    While decrying worship of idols(in fact this was one of their main grouse against Hinduism of The Vedas,) they ended up worshiping their Founders, The Buddha and Mahavira.

    In the case of Mahavira, The Jainism go back to the previous births of Samkhya Muni and worship the Adi Mahavir.

    Now lets us see what the Vedas and Upanishads say on the concept of God.

    The Vedas.

    The Vedas contain the concepts of God as Non Dulaism, Qualified Non Dualism, Dualism_Advaita, Visistsadvaita, and Dvaita.

    Apart from this, we have,

    Polytheism,(worship of many deities).

    Monotheis(worship of One God)

    Henotheism where on God is praised at the cost of another.

    Under Polyheism/Henotheism, we have Varuna, Agni,Vayu,Aditya Maruts Indra Yama,Kubera, Vaiswanara,Prithv,i Brahma , Vishnu, Rudra, Ganapathy Skanda, Saraswarthy, Lakshmi as Sri.

    Of we these, we find Brahma , Vishnu and Rudra being elevated as the Three Supreme Gods.

    Siva and Narayana, on the other hand are considered the direct manifestation of the Reality, Brahman, along with Uma.

    To simplify the method of worship and to avoid confusion Sankaracharya  groupe six as Shanmathas(Six Systems)

    They are ,

    Ganapathyam (Ganapathy)

    Saumaram (Surya, The Sun)

    Kaumaram (Skanda, Subramanya)

    Saivam, Sakthi (Parvati,Uma) and

    Vaishnavam(Vishnu).

    The other deities may be worshiped on individual fancies, but these remain the Main Deities.

    As society developed ther have been additions and continuation of tribal worship as well.

    Under this, we have Village deities, which are responsible for the welfare of the Village,(Sastha, Mariamman worship come under this)

    Boundary Deities(Ellaichamy)-Karuppannasamy worship comes under this.

    We also have Forest Deities, Vana Durga.

    Mountain deities, Muruga, an avatra of Skanda

    In addition we have family deities which a family worships by custom.

    All these myriad of deities come under the the three main Deities along with Uma, Parvati.

    However the Supreme priciple of the Vedas is that Reality Brahman has no attribute, nameless, Formless.

    This is called Nirguna, with out attributes.

    People can find, in important Stothras, Nirgana Aaradhana and Saguna Aradhana.

    We have the Narayana Suktham is a Nirguna Aradhana, Vishnu Sooktham is Saguna Aradhana.

    In Sri Lalitha Sahasranama, one finds Nirguna and Saguna Stuthis.

    And in Attribute-less worship one can find Non dualism,Qualified Non dualism and Dualism.

    It is astonishing to find that all individual views are taken into consideration and are synthesized in the concept of Reality.

    Even Atheism is taken into consideration and the Atheists were not ostracized or ignored.

    This is the greatness of the Indian Thought, that none can arrogate only  themselves to knowledge.

     

     

     

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  • Why Some Yogis are Reborn Yoga Sutra 1.19

     

    YoGa Sutra 1.19
    Yaga Sutra 1.19

    After talking about the Types of Samadhi,Patanjali now goes deeper  into the difference between on who has attained Samadhi,and those who attain it for a flash or intermittently.

    To understand this concept one has to understand the Five Sheaths of Atman, Self, which at the Apara or Trancendental level is called Brahman.

    The Five sheaths are,

    Annamaya Kosa, Of Food

    Pranamaya Kosa, Of Vital Breath,

    Manomaya Kosa, Of Mind,

    Vigyanamaya Kosa, Of Intellect and

    Anandamaya Kosa Of Bliss.

    The Atman is covered , as it were, by these sheaths.

    Brahman is beyond these.

    One who attains Samadhi goes beyond these sheaths.

    ( Buddhism also has these layers, but the Reality, in Buddhism,in Sunya or Zero, Nihilism>

    It also describes The Sthula Sareera( Gross Body) The Sooksma sareera(The Subtle Body)

    Hinduism also describes Sthula Sareera and Sookshma Sareera.

    The attachment to the Physical Body or identifying the Atman or self with the Body is called the’ Dehatma Buddhi’

    However much one tries various Yogas, this Dehatma Buddhi is difficult to get rid of.

    Even those who attain Samadhi for a brief period of Time or for some time continuously are not cured of this Dehatma Buddhi.

    Only those who are totally immersed in Samadhi( they can also carry out day-to-day activities of the Physical world) are the true Yogins.

    Others are those who are unable to leave the Dehatma Buddhi.

    These people know the limitations of the Physical  World, know that they are still in the grip of Dehatma Buddhi; but they will be connected to the Sukshma Sareera and be one with nature or Prakriti.

    They are called Prakitilayars, one who is in tune with Nature.

    Being connected and rooted to Suksma Sareera, they can not get rid of the subtle impressions created by the Physical activities.

    Hence, they have to face the consequences of their actions and they carry Vaasanas or the remnants of Impressions.

    So they are caught in the web of Samsara, of Births and deaths

    Real Yogic State is attained only when one leaves the impressions,Chitta Vruttis.

    This is possible only when one performs actions without attachment, as Lord Krishna explains in The Bhagavad Gita.

    This detachment is the prerequisite for Yoga Sadhana.

    Attachment Levels in Yoga.
    The Levels of Attachment.

    I.19. bhava pratyayo videha prakṛtilayānāṁ

    bhava = objective existence, becoming
    • pratyayah = cause, cognitive principle, content of mind, cognition
    • videha = bodiless, disembodied
    • prakriti = creative cause, subtlest material cause, nature
    • layanam = dissolved, merged into
    When such impressions remain, one retains the possibility (and the cause) of birth, even
    after being freed from the present body and after becoming integrated with one’s own or
    the cosmic nature. For, such impressions or memories nurture and perpetuate the
    awareness of continued personal existence.

    Related.

    http://ramanisblog.in/2013/05/07/at-yoga-beyond-yoga-sutra-1-18/

     

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  • Savichara Ananda Samdhis Yoga Sutra

    The second type of Samadhi described by Patanjali in his Yoga Sutra 1.17  is ‘Savichara Samadhi’

    The State of Samadhi attained here is the result of concentrating on Subtle Objects, like the Gods,or the chanting of Pranava OM, where the thoughts in the first case encourages mental picture, while in the later they are produced by the vibrations of the Pranava,

    Couple of points.

    In Buddhism by the Tibetan Monks, Lamas,, the body is explained have three layers,

    Layers of Body, Buddhism. Tibet.
    Layers of Body, Buddhism.

    The Gross Body, which we see,

    The Etheric Body, which extends up to one eights of an inch surrounding the Gross body,

    The Auric Body,which surrounds the Etheric Body for another one eighth of an inch and,

    Aura, which surrounds the whole.

    In Indian Philosophy this phenomenon is explained while describing the Five sheaths of the Atman or Reality, the Five sheaths being,

    Annamaya Kosa (of Food),

    Pranamaya Kosa,(of Vital Breaths)

    Manomaya Kosa,(of Mind)

    Vigyanamaya Kosa (of Knowledge)

    Anandamaya Kosa.(of Bilss)

    It is also interesting to note Japas, the practice of chanting a sacred name or Hymn is three-fold.

    1.Chanting aloud, the first Stage,

    2.Chanting but not aloud; the lips alone should move.

    The Mantras give fruits , right from the first stage,

    In the second stage, they give results  hundred times more than the first stage (Satham) and in the Third Stage,

    They give thousand times more(Sahasrapala)

    Savichara Samadhi is practiced after mastering the ‘Savitarka Samadhi’ and understanding the nature of Gross elements.

    Ananda Samadhi.

    This state is reached by using the Mind, and not Knowledge.

    In the earlier Samadhis one uses the Knowledge one has or gains .

    But in Ananada Samadhi Chiththa  is focused upon and laziness and actions are dispensed with.

    This is the third state.

    http://ramanisblog.in/2013/05/03/savitarka-samadhi-patanjaliyoga/

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  • Savitarka Samadhi PatanjaliYoga

    Samadhi, the State of becoming or returning to our original State of Being,that is of Being, Knowledge and Bliss is explained in Patanjali‘s Yoga Sutra 1.17.

    There is a difference between the ‘Nirvana‘, spoken of in Buddhism and The Samadhi of Yoga.

    Buddhism advocates Nirvana, a State of Nothingness, Sunyavada.

    Both Samadhi and Nirvana are Higher or elevated sense of Consciousness.

    Yoga Samadhi is positive in the sense that one reverts to his original state of Being which consists of Being, Knowledge and Bliss.

    Nirvana , on the other hand is the negation of all transient attributes and attaining  a State of being Nothing, without attributes.

    The difference,please do not read philosophical interpretations in this statement,is akin to being fully satisfied after eating and the feeling of Fullness one has without having eaten.

    Types of Brain Waves
    Types of Brain Waves, Delta for Samadhi( near samadhi)

    The Types of Samadhi.

    Some people refer this as Super Consciousness or Supra Consciousness, which is incorrect as Consciousness is One and our lack of realizing it does not make it Super.

    Yoga never calls anything as Super or Supra.

    In Samadhi we return to our original State of Being.

    Savitarka Samadhi,

    Savicara Samadhi,

    Ananda Samadhi,

    Saasmita Samadhi

    Savitarka Samadhi.

    ‘Tarka’ means ‘questioning, logic’

    Samadhi attained by the path of questioning is Savitarka Samadhi.

    This is the first step or type of Samadhi.

    Our minds wander after many objects at the same time and we pay attention to one of them for a brief span of time, at the same time, being aware of the other things as well, both physical and mental.

    To rein in the Mind it is essential to reduce the number of objects we pay attention to , to attain better efficiency.

    This becomes easy when we fix our mind on a single object  at a given time.

    When one thinks of some thing to the exclusion of the others, his concentration and his control over the reactions the object produces increases.

    At this stage one can exercise control over the object.

    The object will be focus of attention to the total exclusion of everything else,(this will be explained in detail when we discuss Pratyahara, Dhyana and Dharana).

    One increase efficiency by performing to his full potential. thus enabling a better result.

    As the number of objects being attended to are less here, so are the impressions in the Mind and later reflected in Chithi.

    So we are reducing the Chitha Vrutthi being spoken of in the second Sutra of Patanjali.

    Yet there is a pitfall here in this state of Savitarka Samadhi.

    Being able to concentrate on a single object  provides one with not so normal powers of being able to dominate the object and literally bend it to one’s Will.

    This is the core of the so-called paranormal abilities like Clairvoyance, Clairaudience , Kinetasis  , which form a part of Asthta Siddis  or Ashtama Siddhis.

    Ashtama or Astha Siddhis.

    • Aṇimā: reducing one’s body even to the size of an atom
    • Mahima: expanding one’s body to an infinitely large size
    • Garima: becoming infinitely heavy
    • Laghima: becoming almost weightless
    • Prāpti: having unrestricted access to all places
    • Prākāmya: realizing whatever one desires
    • Iṣṭva: possessing absolute lordship
    • Vaśtva: the power to subjugate all[3]

    The practitioner gets lost in these Yoga Sadhana by being enamored of these powers and loses the goal of Self Realization.

    So this Samadhi, though the first step,is not of Higher order.

    Patanjali warns that this  Samadhi would increase attachment to Objects and increase one’s attachment to objects and consequently multiply the Chitha Vrutti, instead of reducing it.

    Reference:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Siddhi

     

     

     

     

    http://ramanisblog.in/2013/05/01/yoga-sutra-1-17-samadhi-contemplation/

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