Hindu View of God, Individual and World

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Hindu View of God, Individual and World

 

Hindu religious thought is based upon the belief in the Ultimate

Reality (Brahman of the Upanishads), faith in the reality of the

spirit (ãtman), and faith in the spiritual order of the world.

Through their spiritual experiences, the ancient rishis (sages)

discovered that there are different ways to approach the same goal,

catering to different people exhibiting different levels of spiritual

development. Enormous diversity is thus an essential feature of the

religious life of Hindus.

 

 

Hindu View of God

 

Hindu view of the Ultimate Reality is expressed in the following

revelation of the Rig Veda, the oldest Hindu scripture:

 

" Ekam sat vipraha, bahudha vadanti. "

" Truth is one, the wise call It by various names. "

 

This doctrine recognizes that the Ultimate Reality possesses infinite

potential, power and intelligence, and therefore cannot be limited by

a single name or form. Thus, Hindus view the Ultimate Reality as

having two aspects: impersonal and personal. The impersonal aspect of

the Ultimate Reality is called Nirguna Brahman in Hindu scriptures.

Nirguna Brahman has no attributes and, as such, is not an object of

prayer, but of meditation and knowledge. This aspect of the Ultimate

Reality is beyond conception, beyond reasoning and beyond thought.

 

The personal aspect of the Ultimate Reality is known as Saguna

Brahman, that is Brahman with attributes. Saguna Brahman is the

creator, sustainer and controller of the universe. Saguna Brahman

cannot be limited by one form and is therefore worshipped by Hindus

in both male and female forms. As the male aspect, Saguna Brahman is

called by various Sanskrit names, such as Ishvara, Parameshvara,

Paramãtma, Maheshvara, and Purusha. These Sanskrit names

represent more or less the same concept as the word God in other

religions. As the female aspect, Hindus refer to Saguna Brahman by

various names, such as Divine Mother, Durgã and Kãlî. Hindus

further worship the male and female aspects of Saguna Brahman in many

forms, called deities.

 

 

Hindu View of the Individual

 

Hindu scriptures teach that an individual is essentially ãtman

clothed in a physical body. The Sanskrit word ãtman, meaning " God

within, " is usually translated as soul, self, or spirit. If the

physical body of an individual were compared to a computer, the

ãtman would represent the electricity that operates the computer.

Thus, without ãtman, the human body is insentient. In a human body

ãtman is the source of the mind, intellect and ego sense.

 

Hindu scriptures declare that ãtman is immortal and divine. In

Hindu view, therefore, an individual is potentially divine and

eternally perfect. There are two states of existence associated with

ãtman: the bound state and the liberated state. In the bound

state, ãtman is associated with a physical body. As a result of

this association, ãtman is subject to mãyã, which causes it

to forget its true divine nature and commit evil deeds in the world.

The powers of mãyã are two-fold. As cosmic ignorance, mãyã

deludes the ãtman into forgetting its own true nature. As creative

energy (shakti) of Brahman, mãyã is the material cause of the

universe. In the liberated state, ãtman is said to have attained

moksha (spiritual perfection) and consequently enjoys union with God.

Moksha simply means freedom of the individual from ignorance, i.e.

realization of one's own true divine nature, or union with God.

 

Although there are various viewpoints, the predominant Hindu view is

that the same ãtman dwells in all beings. Thus, all human beings

have a common source and are interconnected in a subtle way. The

reason humans are different from each other (or at least think they

are different) is that the manifestation of ãtman in a physical

body depends upon the type and construction of the physical body.

Just as the same electricity manifests as cold in a refrigerator and

heat in an oven, the same ãtman manifests as a saint in one human

body and a sinner in another human body, owing to the past karma.

Thus a sinner of today is a potential saint of tomorrow.

 

In Hindu view, an individual is not born a sinner, but commits sin

due to mãyã. Just as darkness quickly disappears upon the

appearance of light, an individual's delusion vanishes when he gains

self-knowledge. Self-effort and guru's (spiritual preceptor) grace is

all that is needed to dispel one's ignorance and attain self-

knowledge.

 

 

Hindu View of the World

 

The Sanskrit word for creation is srishtî, which means " projecting

gross phenomenon from subtle substance. " In Hindu view, creation

originates from the Ultimate Reality, Brahman. When a potter makes

a pot from clay, he makes the process happen and is the efficient

cause. The wheel he uses to spin and mold the pot is the instrumental

cause, and the clay is the material cause. Unlike Jewish, Christian

and other Western theologies, the predominant Hindu view is that

Brahman is the efficient cause, the instrumental cause, as well as

the material cause of the universe. Thus Brahman is the whole

universe, animate and inanimate. With this thought in mind, Hindus

worship God as abiding in all created things and beings.

 

Brahman manifests as consciousness (ãtman) and nature (matter) in

the phenomenal world. This manifestation is made possible by

mãyã, the inherent creative energy of Brahman. Hindu scriptures

reveal that the manifestation of Brahman as the things and beings of

the world is a divine sport (lîlã). In this eternal sport

Brahman manifests in diverse forms in the phenomenal world

(creation), stays in that mode for a time (sustenance), and reverts

back to the original state (dissolution). This process of creation,

sustenance and dissolution is repetitive and occurs in cycles without

beginning (anãdi) and without end (ananta). Thus, in Hindu view

there is no absolute beginning or end to the universe. Whenever the

words " beginning " and " end " appear in Hindu scriptures, they simply

mean the beginning and end of a particular cycle of creation.

 

In the beginning of creation, consciousness is wrapped up in matter.

Through the process of evolution, consciousness evolves from lower

forms to higher forms of life until it becomes aware of itself in a

human body. From that stage onwards, it struggles to free itself from

physical limitations (through spiritual discipline) and attain union

with Brahman, the original source of consciousness.

 

In Hindu view, individuals go through the repeated cycles of birth

and death, while time goes through the repeated cycles of creation,

sustenance, and dissolution. Thus, the Hindu notion of time is cyclic

and both time and individuals are viewed as non-unique entities. The

Western notion of time is unidirectional and in the Western system

both individuals and time are viewed as unique entities.

 

 

Practical Significance

 

The Hindu view of God allows one to exercise complete freedom in

worship. A Hindu may worship any deity as he chooses based upon his

own mental constitution. He knows that different modes of worship are

just different roads to the same destination of union with God. He

has no quarrel with other religions as he considers them as different

rivers flowing to ultimately merge in the same ocean. As such, he has

no urge to forcibly convert other people to his own faith.

 

The belief in the existence of the all-pervasive Divinity in the

universe creates an attitude of acceptance, reverence, benevolence

and compassion for all things and beings in the mind of a Hindu. He

does not see any intrinsic evil in Nature. He sees the ground, the

sky, the trees, the hills and mountains, and the rivers all sacred.

The Hindu concepts of the individual and the world eliminate the fear

of God or eternal hell from one's mind. A Hindu considers life a

divine pilgrimage from " unreal to real, darkness to light, and death

to immortality. " Being on this road of pilgrimage, a Hindu has no

intention to hurt anyone. He is thoroughly convinced that whatever he

does in this life will come back to him in the next life. Thus he

must do good and be good now, as he will have to come back again and

again in this world until all scores are settled.

 

Hindu View of God, Individual and World

http://www.hindubooks.org/authors/bansi_pandit/hindu_dharm