Sages who were already ancient to its composers living in 4000 B.C.E.!

[Guest guest]

" Inner Religion

 

One of the great ironies of religious history is that, although the

religions that came out of the Near East--Judaism, Islam,

Christianity--adamantly reject most of Hinduism's fundamental

teachings, their mystical traditions--the Kaballah, Sufism, and

Christian Gnosticism--reflect Hindu insights in almost every detail.

Numerous students of comparative religion, from Muslim scholar Al

Buruni in 1000 C.E. to the world famous writer Aldous Huxley nearer

our own time, have expressed their amazement at the parallels between

the major mystical traditions of the world and Hinduism...

 

Hinduism is by far the most complex religion in the world, shading

under its enormous umbrella an incredibly diverse array of

contrasting beliefs, practices, and denominations. Hinduism is by far

the oldest major religion. It has had more than enough time to

develop a diversity of opinions and approaches to spirituality

unmatched in any other tradition. "

 

Linda Johnsen, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hinduism, pages 76-77

Paperback: 432 pages

Publisher: Alpha; 1st edition (October 11, 2001)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0028642279

ISBN-13: 978-0028642277

 

 

" The Eternal Religion

 

Hinduism is so ancient its origins are lost in the mist of

prehistory. Many sages are associated with it, but none claim to be

its first prophet. Hindus believe their religion has existed forever,

even before the universe came into being. They say the truths of

their faith are inherent in the nature of reality itself, and that

all men and women peering into the depths of their inner nature will

discover the same truths for themselves.

 

The image too many outsiders have of the Hindu tradition is of

primitive, superstitious villagers worshipping idols. As we get to

know the Hindus better, we'll see that their understanding of who and

what is God is is incredibly sophisticated. In fact, their view of

the world and our place in it is so stunningly cosmic in scope that

our Western minds start to boggle!

 

Let's enter the universe of Hinduism, an amazing world where inner

and outer realities reflect each other like images on a mirror, and

the loving presence of the divine is a close as the stillness behind

your own thoughts...

 

Beginningless Truth

 

You might think it takes a lot of chutzpah (if I may borrow a Jewish

term) to claim that your religion is eternal. What Hindus mean when

they say this is their tradition doesn't come from any one founding

father or mother, from any single prophet towering over the bastion

of hoary antiquity. In fact, the first few verses of the Veda, an

incredibly old book, parts of which were composed 6,000 years ago,

acknowledge the sages who were already ancient to its composers

living in 4000 B.C.E.!

 

Very old Hindu texts speak of a time when it became almost impossible

to survive on Earth because of ice and snow. This could be a

reference to the last Ice Age, some Hindu scholars believe.

Archaeologists have unearthed small statues of goddesses from 10,000

years ago (that's about the time the Ice Age was ending) like those

being worshipped in Indian villages today. So even if we're not

willing to grant that Hinduism is eternal, we still have to admit it

got a jump on the other major religions...

 

I'd really like to bring home to you the vastness of the time scale

Hindus are talking about here. One area where Hinduism and Judeo-

Christian tradition agree is in saying that at the moment we're in

the seventh day of creation. But according to the Hindu sages, a day

for God is a bit longer than our human day of 24 hours.

 

The following schema was taught to me by Swami Veda Bharati, a

renunciate who lives in a tiny ashram in Rishikesh in northern India.

He's a devotee of the Divine Mother. (The Goddess is a major league

player in Hinduism, and you'll soon see.)

 

Swami Bharati's time frame, preserved in the Hindu mystical

tradition, starts with a day and a night in the life of our local

creator god. Years here mean human years:

 

> One day and night in the life of Brahma is 8,640,000,000 years.

> The lifetime of Brahma is 311,040,000,000,000 years.

> One day and night in the life of Vishnu equals 37,324,800,000,000,

000,000 years.

> The life of Vishnu is 671,846,400,000,000,000,000,000 years long.

> One day and night in the life of Shiva lasts 4,837,294,080,000,000,

000,000,000,000,000 years.

> Shiva's lifetime corresponds to 87,071,293,440,000,000,000,000,

000,000,000,000 years.

> One glance from the Mother of the Universe equals 87,071,293,440,

000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000,000 years...

 

If you had been around in the third millennium B.C.E., India is where

you would have wanted to be. The quality of life was higher there

than practically anywhere else in the world. In fact, the towns of

North India in 2600 B.C.E. were more comfortable and technologically

advanced than most Europen cities till nearly the time of the

Renaissance!

 

Religious life was vibrant in ancient India. Some of the oldest

surviving spiritual writings came from this part of the world. They

reveal a religion that was both boisterously earthy and

transcendently mystical--not unlike Hinduism today. "

 

Linda Johnsen, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hinduism, pages 1-17

Paperback: 432 pages

Publisher: Alpha; 1st edition (October 11, 2001)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0028642279

ISBN-13: 978-0028642277