Concordance with the purpose of the soul is Dharma

[Guest guest]

Namaste.

 

Here is a proposed definition of Dharma (from the point of view of

SanAtana Dharma), for your consideration and discussion.

 

Stand aloof from the mind, say the scriptures, fight its undesirable

tendencies and purify it. Purification of the mind is the purpose of

all religious discipline. TO BE CONCORDANT WITH THE ABOVE PURPOSE OF

LIFE'S JOURNEY IS WHAT IS KNOWN AS DHARMA.

 

Any action of man which reverberates with this concordance is

called `puNya' or Spiritual merit. To be of use to the rest of the

universe is the most exalting form of puNya. Any action or thought on

the other hand, which goes against this concordance, which implies a

discordance with man's evolutionary path to this Realisation, is

termed sinful. Extreme cases of either actions take one to Heaven or

Hell, as the case may be, for a specified period of time after

death. But the vast majority of mankind belong to neither of these

extremes and so are born again on this Earth to pursue the progress

of their own evolution. Even the ones who go to Heaven or Hell have

to come back to be born on this Earth after their specified period of

experience is over on the other side of this world. This is the

principle of transmigration of soul from body to body, death after

death. This is the cultural milieu and structural basis of Hindu

religious ethos.

 

The Divinity inherent in each one of us has a Dharma of its own. It

is to strive to go back to God, from where it came. Every action of

ours must be concordant with this natural order of things. An ideal

such action would be selfless service to humanity. Every dilemma

between what is right and what is wrong, or what is the same thing,

the question about what one's Dharma is, has to be resolved by

testing it on this touchstone of the natural Dharma of the soul in

us. The entire Hindu religion, its theories, its rituals, its

philosophies, in fact everything in the religion is erected on the

foundation of these three principles:

• The omnipresence and omniscience of Divinity

• The cultivated tendencies from birth to birth

• One's own Dharma (Svadharma) of the soulof Man to evolve

towards Perfection.

 

So CONCORDANCE WITH SOUL'S PURPOSE IS DHARMA. I shall come back with

two or three posts elucidating this through two extracts, one from

the Valmiki Ramayana and one from the Mahabharata.

 

PraNAms to all seekers of Dharma.

profvk

[Guest guest]

Dear ProfVK-ji,

 

You say: "But the vast majority of mankind belong to neither of these

extremes and so are born again on this Earth to pursue the progress

of their own evolution. Even the ones who go to Heaven or Hell have

to come back to be born on this Earth after their specified period of

experience is over on the other side of this world. This is the

principle of transmigration of soul from body to body, death after

death. This is the cultural milieu and structural basis of Hindu

religious ethos."

 

I have no argument with this (obviously!) But, to avoid any confusion on

the part of any beginners who are reading (since the 'dharma' topic was

aimed at beginners), should it not be pointed out that reincarnation, though

a tenet of Hinduism in general, only applies 'provisionally' in an Advaitin

sense?

 

I would like to quote the following from Swami Nikhilananda (and

included as one of the extracts in 'Back to the Truth'):

 

"The RRiShi-s speak of two souls: the real soul and the apparent soul.

The real soul is birth less, death less, immortal, and infinite. The same

real soul,

under the spell of ignorance, appears as the apparent man identified with

the

body, mind and senses. This apparent man becomes, on account of his

attachment

to the body, a victim of birth and death, virtue and vice, and the other

pairs of

opposites. The apparent man is bound to the world, and it is he, again, who

strives for liberation. The enjoyment of material pleasures, and the

subsequent

satiation and weariness; the consciousness of bondage, and the struggle for

freedom; the injunctions of the scriptures, and the practice of moral and

spiritual disciplines - all this refers to the apparent man. Again, it is

the

apparent man who performs virtuous or sinful deeds, goes, after death,

to heaven or hell, and assumes different bodies. But it must never be

forgotten

that rewards and punishments are spoken of only with reference to the

reflected

or apparent soul. The real soul is... always free, illumined, and perfect.

The

real sun, non-dual and resplendent, shines brilliantly in the sky, though

millions

of its reflections are seen to move with the movement of the waves."

(The Soul: Further explanations by Swami Nikhilananda,

Ramakrishna-Vivekananda Center of New York Publications.

Electronically available from <http://www.hinduism.co.za/>

http://www.hinduism.co.za.)

 

Best wishes,

 

Dennis

[Guest guest]

--- Dennis Waite <dwaite (AT) advaita (DOT) org.uk> wrote:

 

 

>

> I have no argument with this (obviously!) But, to

> avoid any confusion on

> the part of any beginners who are reading (since the

> 'dharma' topic was

> aimed at beginners), should it not be pointed out

> that reincarnation, though

> a tenet of Hinduism in general, only applies

> 'provisionally' in an Advaitin

> sense?

 

Dennis

Actually this is my next topic in 'Introduction to

Vedanta' - relation between Jiiva and Brahman -

relating to the two birds on the tree,

dvaa suparNaa sayujaa sakhaaya...

Hari Om!

Sadananda

[Guest guest]

advaitin, "Dennis Waite" <dwaite wrote:

>

> Dear ProfVK-ji,

>

> You say: "But the vast majority of mankind belong to neither of

these

> extremes and so are born again on this Earth to pursue the progress

> of their own evolution. Even the ones who go to Heaven or Hell have

> to come back to be born on this Earth after their specified period

of

> experience is over on the other side of this world. This is the

> principle of transmigration of soul from body to body, death after

> death. This is the cultural milieu and structural basis of Hindu

> religious ethos."

>

> I have no argument with this (obviously!) But, to avoid any

confusion on

> the part of any beginners who are reading (since the 'dharma' topic

was

> aimed at beginners), should it not be pointed out that

reincarnation, though

> a tenet of Hinduism in general, only applies 'provisionally' in an

Advaitin

> sense?

>

> I would like to quote the following from Swami Nikhilananda (and

> included as one of the extracts in 'Back to the Truth'):

>

> "The RRiShi-s speak of two souls: the real soul and the apparent

soul.

> The real soul is birth less, death less, immortal, and infinite.

The same

> real soul,

> under the spell of ignorance, appears as the apparent man

identified with

> the

> body, mind and senses. This apparent man becomes, on account of his

> attachment

> to the body, a victim of birth and death, virtue and vice, and the

other

> pairs of

> opposites. The apparent man is bound to the world, and it is he,

again, who

> strives for liberation.

 

Namaste, Dennis-ji and others.

 

Yes, you are right. It is the apparent soul that goes through all the

transmigration. This is what has been referred in my articles

on "Doer-experiencer" as Perishable purusha (PP) and this is the

other bird of Mundaka Upanishad quotation "dvA suparnA ..", which is

called by authors in English as "Enjoyer-soul" or "apparent man" .

The point about what goes through transmigration has been made clear

in my articles. Thank you for focussing on this point.

 

PraNAms to all advaitins.

profvk