Al Biruni (973 C.E) takes notes on Hinduism

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Al Biruni Takes Notes

 

Al Biruni was born in Khwarizm (today's Khiva in Uzbekistan) in 973

C.E. He was a brilliant astrologer and scholar who published books on

optics, mineralogy, chemistry, mechanics, astronomy, mathematics, and

the calendars and dating systems of many cultures.

 

Khwarizm was raided by the Muslim despot Abu-Said Mahmud in 1017. Al

Biruni was taken to India as one of Mahmud's reluctant human prizes,

and lived there for 13 years.

 

Al Biruni despised Mahmud, who he complained wrecked northern India

economically as well as killing Hindus " like specks of dust scattered

every which way. " He found a good use for his time, however, in

purchasing all the Sanskrit manuscripts he could find and consulted

endlessly with Indian pandits about Hindu science and spirituality.

 

The result was the Indika, Al Biruni's monumental study of Hindu

culture and spirituality.

 

Notes on the Hindu God

 

Al Biruni was a good Muslim and was by no means always sympathetic to

Hindu ideas or culture. He thought the Hindus' claim that the

universe was billions of years old was ludicrous, and mocked their

tendency to think in terms of incredibly long cosmic cycles. But he

made a sincere effort to report Hindu beliefs objectively, so that

Muslims interested in India could clearly understand the Hindu

perspective.

 

In the Indika, Al Biruni described the Hindu view of God:

 

- There is one God only Who is without beginning or end. He

cannot be reached by thought but is sublime beyond our ability to

conceive. He is infinitely vast, but not in the spatial sense since

He exists outside of time and space.

- How can we worship this one whom we cannot perceive? He lies

beyond the grasp of the physical senses, but the soul feels His

presence and the mind understands His divine qualities.

- Meditating on Him one-pointedly is true worship. When

meditation is practiced for a long time without interruption, one

attains the highest state of blissfulness.

 

Notes on reincarnation

 

Al Biruni's description of the Hindu view of reincarnation is

particularly interesting:

 

Until it reaches the highest state of consciousness, the soul is not

able to experience all things at once, as if there were no space or

time. Therefore it has to experience the universe piecemeal, one

thing at a time, until it has been through all possible experiences.

An awfully lot of experiences are possible, so this process takes a

very long time.

 

So immortal souls range through the universe in mortal bodies, which

have good or bad experiences depending on whether their behaviour has

been virtuous or evil. The purpose of experiencing heavenly states in

the time between physical incarnations is so that the soul learns

what is truly good, and wants to become as good as possible. The

purpose of experiencing hellish states in the time between lives is

so that the soul learns what evil is, and determines to avoid it all

together.

 

The process of reincarnation begins at very low levels of

consciousness, like minerals, plants or animals, and slowly winds its

way upward toward very elevated states of awareness.

 

The process ends when the soul no longer desires to explore new

worlds, but gains insight into the sublime nature of its own being,

and rests content in itself. At that point the soul turns away from

matter, and its links with physical existence are broken. It returns

to its true home, carrying with it the knowledge it has gained during

its many journeys.

 

Having closely studied all their systems, Al Biruni noted that the

Greek, Indian and Sufi mystics taught essentially the same doctrine.

 

Linda Johnsen, The Complete Idiot's Guide to Hinduism, pages 39-41

Paperback: 432 pages

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

ISBN-10: 0028642279

ISBN-13: 978-0028642277