My last "short essay" on Hinduism

Well about 2 months ago I set out to do a series of short essays on Hinduism and other major world religions, at the time I rather cockily stated that I should be finished my Hinduism articles within a few weeks (See here). Well I guess my creative and analytical juices have been a bit run down, for I have not achieved this much vaunted target. Still I hope that people have drawn something from the articles that I have managed to do within the last two months, and I can now say with some relief that I have finished my last short essay on Hinduism.

The path of Salvation in Hinduism: moksa

Moksa, in Hinduism, is a term that loosely describes one's liberation from the cycle of life (samsara) and the shackles of karma. Moksa is thus the ultimate goal of Hindu religiosity. The soul is trapped in the cycle of rebirth (samsara). But when a soul reaches enlightenment it is released from this cycle of rebirth, this release is moksa. The methods by which release is obtained differ between schools, but moksa is usually obtained through three main paths in Hinduism. These three main paths (margas) to salvation Hindus are presented in the influential text, the Bhagavad Gita (c. 200 BCE), according to which it is not acts themselves but the desire for their results that produces karma and thus attachment. The way to put aside such desire and thus the attachment that continues to holds us in samsara is to break through maya (illusion). Through these paths one learns from the tradition and understanding of those who have broken through the veil of ignorance. These three ways to liberation are:

• The karma-marga or karma-yoga (“the path of duties”), the discharge of ritual and social obligations. The devotee must perform whatever actions their dharma requires with detachment. Meditation and study are used to bring about true selflessness.
• The jnana-marga or jnana veda yoga (“the path of knowledge”), the use of meditative concentration preceded by systematic ethical and contemplative training, through yoga disciplines, to gain insight into one’s identity with Brahman. The devotee thus seeks moksa through self-realization and through banishing ignorance (avidya). Of course one needs to be able to recognize what is real and what is illusion and ignorance (maya). This is done through study of the scriptures and through meditation that can achieve the self-control, which leads to an enlightened mind.
• The bhakti-marga or bhakti-yoga (“the path of devotion”). Bhakti-Yoga is based on the worship of a personal god (usually it can be any of the Hindu gods). The devotee develops a loving relationship with this personal god. Through doing so one develops divine love and experiences humility as a result. This then leads to peace when one surrenders not only to this god but through this god to the greater reality of Brahman.

Of course the way that various schools interpret how such paths, as these, should be followed can often differ greatly. The Vedanta and Samkhya schools for example are schools that follow “the way of knowledge”. Both philosophies hold that all human existence appears to be trapped in suffering but that this appearance is false. Both seek release from the bondage of illusion through direct experience of the true situation. Both accept that knowledge is the answer - not rituals or asceticism - and that this knowledge is the direct experience of knowing the ultimate reality. Yet here the similarities end for the Samkhya School, like Jainism, teaches a doctrine of dualism – it urges one to separate pure spirit (purusha) from one’s contact with matter (prakriti) - whereas the Vedanta School is non-dualistic. Samkhya teaches that the error in human thinking is that the mind that experiences the world, mistakenly believes it is the purusha whereas the truth that sets one free is the knowledge that one’s purusha is not involved in the material world in any way. To achieve such a state the mental disciplines of yoga are used to block out, stage by stage, the ordinary world of experience until the purusha is aware only of itself. Vedanta also uses yogic mental discipline but teaches by contrast that release is experienced by understanding that Brahman is the only reality, thus that one’s soul is not individual but part of the Brahman. Although very similar to Jainism, the Samkhya Schoolmoksa rather then through the endurance techniques of asceticism. Vedanta on the other hand teaches that that the ritual, ascetic and devotional traditions can be useful for achieving indifference to the world, the necessary condition for “the path of knowledge”. uses yogic mental and spiritual disciplines to achieve

Realistically this search for moksa is not something that all Hindu’s partake in; rather liberation is the religious ideal that one may hope to achieve in a future life. Even undertaking the task in this life does not guarantee release but at the least the hope is that such an undertaking will contribute to the soul’s spiritual evolution and understanding. Nevertheless the ideal of moksasamsara and obtain spiritual freedom has immense value in itself. In other words such an environment creates the freedom of thought required to begin one on one of the paths to moksa, however many lives that may take. has helped to not only fulfill the function of Indian philosophy but also to determine the hierarchical values of Indian social institutions and religious doctrines and practices for the masses. In any case, to discuss what one must do to find fulfillment and what one has to realize, by direct experience, in order to escape from
samsara and obtain spiritual freedom has immense value in itself. In other words such an environment creates the freedom of thought required to begin one on one of the paths to moksa, however many lives that may take.

Sources Used:

· Bowker, John, The Oxford Dictionary of World Religions, New York, Oxford University Press, 1997, p. 650.

· Bush, Richard C. et al. The Religious World – Communities of Faith. Section: Hinduism by Hyla S. Converse. Prentice Hall, New Jersey, 1993, pp. 86-89.

· Rice, Edward, Eastern Definitions: A Short Encyclopedia of Religions of the Orient, Garden City, New York, Doubleday, 1978, p. 255

· Zaehner, R.C. Hinduism, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 1962.