Translated from the
original by Costas Balomenos
The continuous and eternal wheel of reincarnations, from which the
faithful of Hinduism wishes to escape
Hinduism is the traditional
religion of India
Commonplace of all
these religious and philosophical systems of Hinduism is the idea
of reincarnation, according to
which - after death - the soul of man is reincarnated in a new form as a plant,
animal or human. The "karma", i.e. the reward for
human actions in his
previous life,
determines whether the soul will reincarnate favorably or not.
This continuous and perpetual cycle of human reincarnations is called
"samsara». The redemption
from the “samsara”, i.e. the chain of
continuous reincarnations, is called "moxa” and is considered the highest religious pursuance.
Consequently, a basic issue of the Indian religious search was the determination of
the route for redemption. The development and the foundation of the ways and means to achieve this redemption ("moxa"), were the focus of
various religious and philosophical schools of Hinduism. This problem was connected with a
number of other issues on which the discussions and responses during the long evolution
of Hinduism were multicomponent. The three routes towards redemption, which the Indian thought had
appointed, are: "karma - marga
'(the road of works), the" tznana
- marga " (the road of knowledge) and the' bhakti - marga" (the street of of dedication). Or else,
"karma - yoga",
"tznana - yoga",
"Bhakti - yoga". Yoga means exercise, dressage, coupling. Of
course, besides of the foregoing, because the Hindu religion are labyrinthine -
as we have pointed out - there are several other variants and combinatorial
forms of Hindu popular piety, but also many philosophical systems, which
determine the “redemptive” knowledge. Six of these are considered as most
important.
According to the first
road, as was defined by the two dominant currents of Hinduism, the
Vedism and Brahmanism, the salvation is achieved by projects. Among these
projects, and center of religious life which leads to salvation are the
sacrifices to the gods, the study of sacred texts (Vedas), the ceremonially projects, the food supply to the
ancestral spirits, the hospitality to their fellow men and the occupation with
"yoga", a kind of
practice asceticism. The "yoga"
allows - with various methods of breathing and exercises - to found someone in
a trance, in which ceases to exist the duality of subject and object and so you
are becoming one with the divine. For acceptance - on behalf of the
gods - of human demands, the exact observance of the typical is a prerequisite.
The standard is defined in detail in the Code
of Manu. However, according to "karma – marga” the sacrifice to the gods is offering and
produces everything. Later was searched the deeper theological interpretation
of the meaning of these ritual formulas.
The second redemptive direction, who mainly point
out the Upanishads (sacred
explanatory texts of the sacred books of Hinduism Vedas), emphasizes that in the universe there is only one Atman (universal soul). Other, the individual atman (souls), constitutes
differentiations of one. The Indian thought finally identifies the one and only
Atman with Brahman (the Divine). The Upanishads,
referring to salvation, the "moxa»,
emphasize
that final
purpose, which
must seek the man is the redemption from the
uninterrupted flow of rebirth (samsara). And this
succeeds, when realize
the identification
Atman and Brahman. The man, being a spark of the
global soul, the Atman, not separated from this oneness
with disobedience ethical. The supreme authority of the universe,
the Brahman, because it is impersonal, cannot be challenged. Well, for Indian
thought, sin is mainly ignorance of this section, i.e. of the ego and of the
Brahman, the so-called «Avidya». And this «Avidya» must be overcome with
knowledge and experience, so that one can reach the effulgence. The volition conscripted
not for the transformation of the world, but for the removal of
person from this world of fraud. The ideal path towards salvation - in accordance with the "tznana – marga”- passes through
four stations: the student of religion, of married family man, of the hermit
ascetic and finally of the saint, who – with
self-concentration - by achieving the highest knowledge, escapes definitively
of the "karma" and
of the cycle of reincarnations and is absorbed by the absolute Brahman, i.e. arrives in the final state called Samadhi.
The Bhagavad - Gita, one of the
holiest and most beloved texts of Hinduism, describes the third way for the
salvation of man, the “Bhakti – marga”. So, as a way of salvation, simpler and more
direct considers the dedication and complete abandonment to the love of a
personal deity, from the hundreds of thousands of gods and goddesses who
Hinduism has and in her adoration.
Indeed, the most eminent theologian, who emphasized the dedication and
the loving attachment to a certain deity, was the great theologian and poet Ramanoutza (11th-12th century
AD). He had give in god Vishnu
his warm love and particularly in Krishna , an incarnation of this in the world.
Nevertheless, all three roads to redemption of
the Hinduism believers are contained in the Code
of Manu, written around 200 p. X. The Bhagavad - Gita is attempting to combine these three roads
in one, putting special emphasis on the wholehearted devotion to God Krishna,
who is also her central hero.
Here's an excerpt
from the Bhagavad - Gita,
which describes how the god Krishna teaches the ways
of union with him:
«To those who ..., dedicating all their acts to me and
considering me as the ultimate purpose they worship me, meditating over to me
with exclusive devotion, who have their mind committed to me, I, without delay,
I am
coming to redeem them from the ocean of this world of death. He placed
your mind only to me, intently to your understanding in me. In me then you
will be resident from there and then without doubt. But if you cannot dedicate
your mind steadily on me, then ... the acts of consoling let him be your
highest purpose. Even by doing acts to propitiate me, you would reach to perfection. If
you cannot do even that, then resorted to the dedication to me, and with
restraint, let all the fruits of your actions ... My faithful, who is
indifferent, pure, impartial, free from grief, leaving all acts [that have as
their object the acquisition of fruits], is very dear to me... He, who is
himself to his friend and to the enemy, is himself to the honor and dishonor,
to the cold and heat, in pleasure and pain, who is free from adhesions, he for whom the praise
and reproach are the same, who is silent, content with whatever, homeless,
with stable mind and full of dedication, he is very dear to me.» Bhagavad -
Gita, XII
Although the
search for “moxa” has never
been an ideal, but only for a small minority of the Hinduism believers, the
release was everything a religious rule for all, that was affected their lives.
That
was happening because the "moxa” was define out not only the hierarchical
values of social institutions, of religious doctrines and religious customs of
the Indians, but also the operating
mode of the Indian philosophy, which must consider what it
should do the
human, to conquer the true happiness and what must be understand
through the
direct experience, to escape from samsara (the bondage) and to gain
spiritual freedom. While those who have not deepen in the Brahmanical thought,
have only an indefinite idea about the doctrine of "karma" and "moxa"
in the lower classes of Indians, these doctrines constituted the motivations of
meditation on a large scale.
For the common
Hindu, the main aim of worldly life is the conformity to social obligations in
ritual functions and traditional behavior rules of caste, namely in social
position belonging necessarily congenital from the religion of Hinduism,
his family and his profession. In these tasks and obligations
included a personal, individual “dharma”
(rule and tasks), i.e. the
stability, the law, the order and the fundamental balance in the
universe, in nature and in society, which must not be violated by the fear of
undesirable results. The "sanatana
(traditional) dharma" - a term
used by every Hindu to his own religion - is a concept similar to the
"religious practice" of Western thought. Thus, for the
Hindu, the religion is a tradition and a way of life and a way of thinking. In
practice, it is
the proper application of methods, which ensure to him the
prosperity in life and a good situation in the "other world".
BIBLIOGRAPHY
1. Anastasios Giannoulatos, Archbishop of Tirana:
"Traces from the browse
of the transcendental"
2. Encyclopedia "Papyrus - Larousse - Britannica»
3. Encyclopedia "Science and Life"
4. "Great Soviet Encyclopedia"
5. "Religious and Ethics Encyclopedia"
6. School Manual of Religious "Christianity and Religions", B' Lyceum, 2009.
2. Encyclopedia "Papyrus - Larousse - Britannica»
3. Encyclopedia "Science and Life"
4. "Great Soviet Encyclopedia"
5. "Religious and Ethics Encyclopedia"
6. School Manual of Religious "Christianity and Religions", B' Lyceum, 2009.
Writer
Christos Pal
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