Transcript Bulleh! To me, I am not known

Topics Voted for
Hindu Ecosystem
Evolution of Hinduism
Evolution of Hinduism
The Persians…
The Persians…
The Persians…
Pronounced Sindhu as Hindu
Hindus: People on the other side
of the river Sindhu
The Greeks
Further mispronunciation: Indus
Greek Ambassador to the court of
Chandragupta Maurya:
Megasthenes
Wrote the book “Indica”
describing the people on the other
side of the Indus.
Greek Ambassador to the court of
Chandragupta Maurya:
Megasthenes
Indica became popular in the
west as India
What have we called the land?
Bharat Varsh: The Land of Bharat (an ancient
Sage-King who realized his Self)
Aryavarta: Land of the Aryans
Jambudweep: Blackberry Island (Bhagwad
Puran)
What have we called the religion
of the ancients?
Sanatan Dharma: Eternal Spiritual Principles
Four Tenets
1. Unity of all existence
Four Tenets
1. Unity of all existence
2. Beyond the physical and the mental,
there is a spiritual essence
Four Tenets
1. Unity of all existence
2. Beyond the physical and the mental, there is a
spiritual essence
3. One can realize the unity in one of four ways:
Self-Inquiry (Gyana Yoga), Devotion (Bhakti
Yoga), Psychic Control (Raja Yoga) and
Action (Karma Yoga)
Four Tenets
1. Unity of all existence
2. Beyond the physical and the mental, there is a
spiritual essence
3. One can realize this spiritual essence in one of
four ways: Self-Inquiry (Gyana Yoga), Devotion
(Bhakti Yoga), Psychic Control (Raja Yoga) and
Action (Karma Yoga)
4. Any Hindu system would have to be derivable
from the Upanishads
Hinduism
A work in progress, evolved for 10,000 years and
continues to evolve
Every year, a new sect mushrooms
For us, it is neither the first word, nor the last
There are no words at the level of Unity
The Hindu Ecosystem
A Map to Hinduism
A Map is..
A Map is..
a simplified view
A Map of Hindu Philosophy is..
Reality simplified so as to be expressible in a
limited medium
Hindu Ecosystem
Dualism (Dvaita)
Qualified Non-Dualism
(Vishishtadvaita)
Non-Dualism (Advaita)
Hindu Ecosystem
Dualism (Dvaita)
Waking State
Qualified Non-Dualism
(Vishishtadvaita)
Non-Dualism (Advaita)
Hindu Ecosystem
Dualism (Dvaita)
Waking State
Qualified Non-Dualism
(Vishishtadvaita)
Dreaming State
Non-Dualism (Advaita)
Hindu Ecosystem
Dualism (Dvaita)
Waking State
Qualified Non-Dualism
(Vishishtadvaita)
Dreaming State
Non-Dualism (Advaita)
Deep Sleep
Hindu Ecosystem
Dualism (Dvaita)
Waking State
VEDANTA
PHILOSOPHY
Qualified Non-Dualism
(Vishishtadvaita)
Dreaming State
Non-Dualism (Advaita)
Deep Sleep
Vedanta Philosophy
VEDANTA = Conclusion of the Vedas
They form the Upanishads
Evolutionary
Ideas improve as we go along
Final word reached once and for all when
the state beyond duality has been reached
Nothing beyond that oneness, knowing
which, everything is known
Flavor of Vedanta:
Story from the Chhandogya
Upanishad
Rishi Satyakaam
From Practical Vedanta, Pg. 32
Flavor of Vedanta:
From the Isha Upanishad
That (the Absolute) is the whole. This (the
Universe) is the whole. From that whole
emerges this whole. When the whole is
taken away from the whole, what remains
is the whole.
Dual vs Non-Dual vs Qualified
Non-Dual
• Agree on Unity Principle
• Agree on paths taken to realize unity
• Agree on all aspects except the final nature
of Unity
Final Nature of Unity
• Dualists: You and God are separate. After
realization, you continue to exist separately
Final Nature of Unity
• Dualists: You and God are separate. After
realization, you continue to exist separately
• Non-Dualists: There is actually no "you".
God alone exists. The “I” is a partial
reading of the only thing that is ever
perceived, namely that utter unity or
perfection which we call “God.”
Final Nature of Unity
• Dualists: You and God are separate. After
realization, you continue to exist separately
• Non-Dualists: There is actually no "you". God
alone exists. The “I” is a partial reading of the
only thing that is ever perceived, namely that utter
unity or perfection which we call “God.”
• Qualified Non-Dualists: Also see that
unity and perfection, but within it they perceive
still some internal differences and divisions, which
they claim will never dissolve.
Non-Dual view on Qualified
Non-Dualism
The non-dualist accepts this, but says “Go further
and you will find these internal distinctions in that
unity to become blurred and finally to vanish
altogether” - which is the realm beyond mind and
speech:
Yato vacho nivartante apra-aapya manasaa saha the realm from which speech turns back along
with the mind, unable to reach it (Taittirya
Upanishad).
Popularity
• Dual
• Qualified Non-Dual
• Non-Dual
Non-Dual
• Accepts both Dual and Qualified Non-dual
• If you being the One, choose to be Two,
then that is Your prerogative. That is also
Truth for you.
• However, if you start in the Dual mode,
then Non-dual appears contradictory
Non-dual Explanations
• When you worship God and your prayers
are answered, it is really you who is
answering your prayers
• It is NOT wrong to worship a form as God
The Realization State (Skip this
for now)
You have to remove all waves in your mind
so you can see what is inside
The Realization State
Reduce to One by focusing on something
(Use Dualism)
The Realization State
Final Step: Remove “I,” and the final
thought dissolves itself
The Realization State: Samadhi
There is another Samadhi which is attained by the constant practice of
cessation of all mental activity, in which the Chitta (mind-stuff) retains
only the unmanifested impressions
(This samadhi when not followed by extreme non-attachment) becomes
the cause of the re-manifestation of the gods and of those that become
merged in nature.
Aphorism 19, Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras, translation by Swami
Vivekananda in Raja Yoga
Asamprajnata Samadhi
Seedless Samadhi
There is nothing left to Quell
No more mind
What stops us from realizing this
Unity?
MAYA
The Greatest Contradiction
Yudhisthira’s Question
King Yudhishthira was once asked, “What is
the most wonderful thing on this earth?”
“Every day people are dying around us, and
yet people think they will never die.”
This is Maya.
The Mother and the Child
The mother is nursing a child with great care. All
her soul, all her life is in that child. The child
grows, becomes a man, and perchance becomes a
brute, kicks her and beats her every day; and yet
the mother clings to the child; and when her
reason awakes, she covers it up with the idea of
love. She little thinks that it is not love, that it is
something which has got hold of her nerves,
which she cannot shake off; however she may try,
she cannot shake off the bondage she is in.
This is Maya.
Death and Life
Death is the end of life, of beauty, of wealth, of
power, of virtue too. Saints die and sinners die,
kings die and beggars die. They are all going to
death, and yet this tremendous clinging on to life
exists. Somehow, we do not know why, we cling
to life; we cannot give it up.
This is Maya.
Happiness and Unhappiness
In every society, we often find that the ignorant,
common man, when abused, does not feel much,
but he feels a good thrashing. But the gentleman
cannot bear a single word of abuse; he has become
so finely nerved. Misery has increased with his
susceptibility to happiness. As we increase our
power to be happy, we also increase our power to
suffer. The more we progress, the more avenues
are opened to pain as well as pleasure.
This is Maya.
Maya is..
Not a theory for the explanation of the
world: it is simply a statement of facts as
they exist, that the very basis of our beings
is contradiction, …
Page 60, Gyana Yoga, 2nd paragraph..
Comparison with Dualism and
Buddhism
Pg. 320, Gyana Yoga, “The Real and the
Apparent Man”
Is Dualism bad?
Where there is teacher and the taught, there is
inherent dualism
I want to learn, so I will accept dualism
However, the non-dual framework helps me
understand that dualism is my friend and not my
destination
Parallel to Christianity
From John 14:1-14:3
Jesus said, “Trust in God; trust also in me. 2In my
Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I
would have told you. I am going there to prepare a
place for you. 3And if I go and prepare a place for
you, I will come back and take you to be with me
that you also may be where I am.”
Parallel to Christianity
From John 15:5-15:7
Jesus said, “I am the vine; you are the branches. If
a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear
much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If
anyone does not remain in me, he is like a branch
that is thrown away and withers; such branches are
picked up, thrown into the fire and burned.”
Parallel to Christianity
From John 14:6-14:10
Jesus said, “If you really knew me, you would know[b] my
Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have
seen him.”
Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be
enough for us.”
Jesus said, “Don't you know me, Philip, even after I have
been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen
me has seen the Father. How can you say, ‘Show us the
Father’? Don't you believe that I am in the Father, and that
the Father is in me? The words I say to you are not just my
own. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his
work.”
Bulleh! To me, I am not known
Not a believer inside the mosque, am I
Nor a disciple of rites
Not the pure amongst the impure
Neither Moses, nor the Pharaoh
Bulleh! to me, I am not known
Not in the holy Vedas, am I
Nor in opium, neither in wine
Not in the drunkard`s intoxicated craze
Neither awake, nor in a sleeping daze
Bulleh! To me, I am not known
In happiness nor in sorrow, am I
Neither clean, nor a filthy mire
Not from water, nor from earth
Neither fire, nor from air, is my birth
Bulleh! to me, I am not known
Not an Arab, nor Lahori
Neither Hindi, nor Nagauri
Hindu, Turk (Muslim), nor Peshawari
Nor do I live in Nadaun
Bulleh! To me, I am not known
Secrets of religion, I have not known
From Adam and Eve, I am not born
I am not the name I assume
Not in stillness, nor on the move
Bulleh! to me, I am not known
I am the first, I am the last
None other, have I ever known
I am the wisest of them all
Bulleh! Do I stand alone?
Bulleh! To me, I am not known
Success
Accept
Scientific
Approach
Experiment
Failure
Reject
Reject
Unscientific
Approach
RAJA YOGA
KARMA YOGA
GYANA YOGA
BHAKTI YOGA
PRACTICAL
VEDANTA
COMPLETE
WORKS OF
SWAMI
VIVEKANANDA
Swami Vivekananda
1863-1902