The Hinduism religion - some
vital messages
The topic of this page is Hinduism religion.
To start this page on a personal note, I was born a Hindu
and raised a Hindu. But I never took much interest in Hinduism
religion. I was more attracted to Buddhism. To write this page
I asked my mother for a book on Hinduism that I could refer to.
She gave me The Message of the Upanishads by Swami
Ranganathananda of the Ramakrishna Mission. I had not even read
half the introduction that I had a list of some 9 points about
the philosophy of Hinduism and the Upanishads. All nine points
deal with issues of critical importance to modern society and
the individuals living in it. I was struck by the rationalism
of the message – this is a philosophy and religion of the
present and the future, not of the past. I will definitely make
it a point to read the whole book, though I no longer need to
now for the purposes of this website.
You will excuse me if I do not elaborate on all nine points
mentioned above. The page would be overlong and I need to
discuss only one or two points to give you a taste of the
spirit behind the Hinduism religion and the Upanishads.
In the introduction a distinction is made between sruti and
smrti. The Upanishad are referred to as sruti which address
themselves exclusively to the discovery of essential spiritual
truths and leading man to their realization in his own life.
These teachings are contrasted with smrti, which are another
class of religious literature. A smrti would contain a large
number of rules and regulations, dos and don'ts, which guide
individual conduct in public and private life. In the category
of smrti would fall the Gita, the Mahabharata, the Ramayana and
all the Puranas besides Manu smrti. The significance of these
is merely local and temporary and they are incapable of
universal application and are not relevant for all time.
The book specifically mentions that as socio-economic
conditions change, laws regulations and customs need to be
recast and reinterpreted. A smrti that sustained society in one
period might choke it in another. Hence Hinduism religion makes
this clear distinction between the timeless and timely
teachings contained in its own religious books.
When you look back over the history of the world, with so
many wars being fought over petty disputes in theology and
customs, I can only think that if only leaders of those nations
in those times had made this simple distinction all of those
wars could have been avoided. And you don't even have to read
history. Just the other day I read in the newspapers of a woman
being stoned to death in Afghanistan for adultery. The Muslim
leaders who ordered this punishment have clearly not made the
distinction between sruti and smrti. Another example would be
the prohibition on the use of condoms by the Roman Catholic
Church.
Another message of the Hinduism religion and the Upanishads
which is relevant to our times – in fact to all ages – is it's
emphasis on strength. Swami Vivekananda made this point clearly
and eloquently more than a century ago. A quotation from the
Complete Works Volume III reads as follows: "Strength,
strength is what the Upanishads speak to me from every page.
This is the one great thing to remember, it has been the one
great lesson that I have been taught in my life. Strength, it
says, strength O man, be not weak. Are there no human
weaknesses? – Says man. There are say the Upanishads, but will
more weakness heal them, would you wash dirt with dirt? Will
sin cure sin, weakness cure weakness … and the Upanishads are
the great mine of strength. Therein lies strength enough to
invigorate the whole world. The whole world can be vivified,
made strong, energized through them. They will call with
trumpet voice upon the weak, the miserable and the downtrodden
of all races, all creeds all sects to stand on their feet and
be free. Freedom – physical freedom, mental freedom and
spiritual freedom – are the watchwords of the Upanishads."
I have no wish to criticize other religious faiths but when
I think of the undue emphasis on the concept of sin in both
Islam and Christianity I have to think that they are barking up
the wrong tree. Strength and not weakness is the way out of our
troubles, strength is necessary to make progress on the
spiritual path. And an undue emphasis on sin and encouraging
the belief in men and women that they are sinners only weakens
man.
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