Purpose of Life

[imranhasan]

Excuse my posting this here. I have posted it on the audarya fellowship forum too, but have not received a clear response. My question is:

 

I would appreciate if someone would kindly help me understand the purpose of life (human as well as other forms), according to Hindu teachings.

 

Serious answers only, please.

 

Regards,

[Guest guest]

In hinduism, one is considered spiritually immortal. It's the body which is the cloak that may keep changing.

 

The spiritual self is immortal. The spiritual self sees the birth of this body and the death of this body as not so significant.

 

The 'You' referred is the spiritual self. The image you see of yourself in the mirror is not the real 'You'.

 

The 'You' don't see this birth of the body or the death of the body as of any real significance. So how come the question of the purpose of life, at all.

 

Anyway, as you asked the question, here is the answer. You're spiritually immortal. The spiritual self is a bigger truth than this changing body and the changing surrounding. Rather spiritual self is the absolute. the body is mithya. Everything else is mithya. The only true significance of this body is action & service. The thoughts & reasoning are unreal as much as this body. One is rendering service through actions as it's his/her own nature.

 

The honey bees make honey as it's their own nature. The actions or service are not to be attributed to the title such as 'I did this', it's only attributed to the nature of the person. That's the actions are to be performed without a sense of doership.

 

One may experience spiritual self, and then one may read bagawat gita 1-6 chapters multiple times, and then get an idea of what's the meaning of karma and bad karma.

 

BG teaches Karma very well, after one attains the experience of spiritual self. It teaches Karma directly. The beauty of Karma is it teaches you to act right-away.

 

This is different from teaching you the purpose of life, and then for you to cross-check validate, weigh pros and cons, and then procastinate to act. Learn karma from Bagawat gita. Bagawat gita can wait. First try and experience the spiritual self. Try focusing on spiritual self through chanting or meditation.

 

Experience of the spiritual self is not guarenteed, whether you go through a sophisticated yoga process or a crude process. So what do you do till you experience your spiritual self. Keep learning the art of discriminating the real from the unreal, the permanant from the immpermanant, the unmoving in the moving, the moving in the unmoving. This quest to learn comes naturally in people after experiencing a serious shock such as a bereavement etc. It's said that it's this wisdom (viveka) that can guarantee you the path to spirituality.

[Yogkriya]

Hinduism pertains to the ageless Vedic Sanatana Dharma as was practiced by the Aryans of India (arya = noble person, race). Ater the muslim invasion of India about 1000 years ago, this ancient spiritual culture of Sanatana Dharma gained popularity as 'Hinduism' after the Indus valley where it has been primararily practiced. The Vedas do not write the religion as Hindu, but Hinduism represents it in its entiriy and not just one stream.

The Vedic culture also contains the peronal as well as impersonal lines of Philosophy. The Islamic philosophy can be said to be impersonal as they don't believe in a personification of God and don't believe in having images of God like in Hindu Temples.

There are also different lines of thoughts and philosophy. But in a nut shell Hinduism represents a culture that has been alive and practiced for about over 50,000 years. The various "avatars" or personifications of God are also worshipped. And there are basically two kinds of spiritual practices 'sakam' and 'nishkam'. the first one, is done to obtain material or spiritual gains, and the second one is done for just pleasing the God and obtaining liberation. Love, devotion, Truth, justice, non-violence, brotherhood and courage are the main pillars that help the spiritual life of a Hindu.

Of course, in this age of Kali-yuga, not everyone is truthful. And this is true for every religion, race or country. But these are the general

principles that do not really differ much from other world religions and Hindus try to follow this religiously and logically without fanatism.

But Hinduism is much much deeper and ancient with the Vedic knowledge touching every aspect of human material and spiritual life and its growth. And a person can uplift himself towards the divine following this tradition and spiritual way of life. It is the way to bring soul to supersoul. To bring human coscsious to divine conscious. May you cal it Krishna Consciousness or Shiva Consciousness. Christians call it the Christ consciousness.

 

Since Hinduism has many different lines of philosophies and ways to spiritual upliftement, each time some prophet or saint comes following one school of thought only, his followers later on, at times, start drifting away form the mainstream Hinduism that is liberal and more flexible. Such break away sects then try to accentuate their individuality by claiming that they are non-Hindus or Hinduism is not what they practice. Iskcon is an example of this. But in fact the devotion or bhakti we practice is the same and the principles are the same in their essence. Hinduism, Islam, Christianinty all prophesise devotion to God in their own way.

Though there can be volumes after volumes written on the subject, I recommend also reading the lives of important ancient rishies or sages, and the avataras of God. Shiva worship has been major in ancient Vedic culture, whether we see the Satyuga, Dwapar or Treta Yuga. Along with that Vishu and Durga worships have also been important through the centuries. Hinduism chiefly has three important streams - Shivaism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism. Each emanating from their respective forms of the divine, namely Shaivs follow Shiva as the Supreme God, Vaishnavs follow Vishnu (and his avatars Rama, Krishna), and Shakts follow Durga and her different expansions. All the avatars have their premordial energies that control various aspects of nature or prakriti governing the universe and life. The worship traditions have been following through from one generation to another down the ages.

 

The soul is considered to be immortal and changes bodies from one birth to another according to its karmic bondage. Hindus believe in rebirth and re-incarnation. After the demise of the material body, the five elements return back to their individual sources. And the soul continues its spiritual journey. By spiritual practice, one can uplift oneself with the divine mercy and if the soul gets liberation, it is freed from this circle of birth and death, which is mainly the aim of all spiritual practices and devotion. Shiva Gita, Bhagwad Geeta and Shiva Samhita explain these beautifully. There are four Vedas and 108 Upanishads, besides numerous, bhashyas, Puranas, and commentaries written over the centuries by enlightened seers of India.

Whether it is the Vaishnava or Shaiva way of pure devotion, mantric ways of tantra or Yogic ways of chakras, kundalini and pranayama, all are considered important and devotees practice them according to their inclinations, level and aim.

I just explained a very cursory and brief information. This can get more technical and deeper, if needed. But in a nut shell. This is it.

 

Also, Please refer to real Hindu sites and not the ones who "pretend" to be Hindu sites. You can also refer to:

http://www.hinduismtoday.com/

 

Thank you.

 

Om Namah Shivaya !!

 

 

I would appreciate, if someone would kindly enlighten me on what are the essential beliefs ascribing to which, a person becomes a Hindu.

 

Serious answers only, please.

 

Thanks.

[Yogkriya]

Hope that helped.

[Guest guest]

 

Hinduism chiefly has three important streams - Shivaism, Vaishnavism and Shaktism. Each emanating from their respective forms of the divine, namely Shaivs follow Shiva as the Supreme God, Vaishnavs follow Vishnu (and his avatars Rama, Krishna), and Shakts follow Durga and her different expansions.

 

There's four. You forgot to mention Smartas - Adi Shankara's revived sect. They believe only in Brahman and that the various forms of God are different manifestations of Brahman. Although not all Hindus are Smartas, this view tends to dominate Hinduism. And some scholars believe this was the original Vedic approach.

[Yogkriya]

aah... yes the Smartas.... These are the major ones, besides a lot more different branches and schools of thought.

If we take up only Tantra, there are so many different branches too....

The topic is endless ..... can we just write millions of years of evolution in just a few lines? Hardly....!!

 

But yes, we can write that in one word - Hinduism.

 

 

 

There's four. You forgot to mention Smartas - Adi Shankara's revived sect. They believe only in Brahman and that the various forms of God are different manifestations of Brahman. Although not all Hindus are Smartas, this view tends to dominate Hinduism. And some scholars believe this was the original Vedic approach.

[Guest guest]

Yogkriya,

 

You must be a western Hindu? Get your facts straight...Aryan (Noble) is not a race and Sanatana Dharma was already established before the arrival of "Aryans".

[Yogkriya]

Who are you you anyway? Hare Krishna?

A Hindu is a Hindu. Who are the western Hindus?

 

 

 

Yogkriya,

 

You must be a western Hindu? Get your facts straight...Aryan (Noble) is not a race and Sanatana Dharma was already established before the arrival of "Aryans".

[Yogkriya]

Where did the "Aryansarrive" from???

Lord Rama was an aryan too. So was Bhishma.

Are you really living by the Max Muller theory and believe Rama's ancestors like King Harishchandra arrived from Germany or Russia??

I think you need to get your facts straight.

Aryans followed Sanatana Dharma. This is the fact. And Sanatana Dharma is the eternal religion emanating from Bharatvarsha as its epicentre spreading to other parts of the world.

 

 

Yogkriya,

 

You must be a western Hindu? Get your facts straight...Aryan (Noble) is not a race and Sanatana Dharma was already established before the arrival of "Aryans".

[Guest guest]

No I don't follow Max Muller's theory. What I am saying is Aryan is not a race. It never was. It was "White Europeans" who coined the term "Aryan" as a race. The word "Arya" in Sanskrit simply means noble. It has nothing to do with skin color. I think you're the one that believes Max Muller's theory since you're the one that thinks Aryan is a race.You're the one that believes in the division of South and North India. I am not surprised though. You are "White" and your people love to think that Sanatana Dharma comes from them (by calling themselves Aryan). WRONG. You guys are NOT Aryan. Never was and never will be. Don't get mad at me. Get mad at your dumb ancestors that starting calling themselves "Aryan". It's ridiculous! The word noble can be compared to the English word "sir". Now what would it look like if a group of people starting calling themselves a race of sirs? You do the thinking.

[Guest guest]

Yes your correct, a Hindu is a Hindu regardless of their race. However, I am assuming that you are a Western Hindu because there are some (not all) Western Hindus (particularly White) that think Hinduism is an "Aryan" religion and they somehow think "Aryan" is "European" and feel that they have some connection to Hinduism. This bothers a lot of Indian Hindus. Anyone can follow Sanatana Dharma but please don't distort the history of such a beautiful way of life that is dear to many people.

[Yogkriya]

Dear Guest,

 

No I am not white, but Indian Hindu. And understand the Hindu philosophy in practice.

Parts that are lost and parts that were an essential part of the Vedic culture and should represent it.

I believe in sadhnas and that things should be accomplished and can be accomplished with proper sadhnas in life. Whether it is a higher spiritual goal or a compelling problem in life.

Yoga is all about connecting with the higher power and upliftment. And the method is sadhna - whether it strictly keeps to bhakti, mantra or tantra sadhnas.

All are a part of the Vedic culture.

 

I mentioned Max Muller, because the white Aryan Invasion myth has been propagated by people like him. Just like maybe the Taj Mahal love story was propagated by the Mughals. I find it difficult to imagine a man loving a woman so so much if he had 5000 other beautiful women in his harem. How was he left with any energy or imagination to built a Taj Mahal for the next 20 years?

I do not consider this Aryan invasion theory to be true. As I wrote earlier, Lord Rama was an Arya too. But it doesn't make make him a German aryan as propagated.. because then we will have to find out where was Germany or Russia in those days and to what level of development. I think you know the answer to this. From my information, Russia was a jungle at the time. Moscow was totally a forest only 860 years ago. Yes you may say they "coined the Aryan word" to be representing one particular race.

 

 

 

 

 

 

No I don't follow Max Muller's theory. What I am saying is Aryan is not a race. It never was. It was "White Europeans" who coined the term "Aryan" as a race. The word "Arya" in Sanskrit simply means noble. It has nothing to do with skin color. I think you're the one that believes Max Muller's theory since you're the one that thinks Aryan is a race.You're the one that believes in the division of South and North India. I am not surprised though. You are "White" and your people love to think that Sanatana Dharma comes from them (by calling themselves Aryan). WRONG. You guys are NOT Aryan. Never was and never will be. Don't get mad at me. Get mad at your dumb ancestors that starting calling themselves "Aryan". It's ridiculous! The word noble can be compared to the English word "sir". Now what would it look like if a group of people starting calling themselves a race of sirs? You do the thinking.

[Guest guest]

Yogkriya,

 

My apologies. I have recently been exposed to a number of books written by various European Scholars proposing this bogus theory. Further, there was a grade school textbook controversy going on here (I live in California) on how Hinduism is portrayed. When the Hindu community fought for changes in the negative portrayal of Hinduism and the State Board of Education accepted the changes, what do you know? We have a "White German" Anti-Hindu Harvard Sanskrit Professor (Michael Witzel) claiming to go legal means if the Aryan Invasion theory along with other negative aspects of Hinduism is not left in the textbooks. Further, he accuses Hindus that stick up for their religion as being somehow involved with the Hindutva Organization (funny because I can't stand Hindutvas). I have read some of this guys official message board announcements in his and was outright disgusted to find out what he privately says about Hindus and Hinduism among his colleagues. Anyway, I feel that it's our job as Hindus to correct people on misconceptions about our faith as we are not represented truthfully in the West. I assumed you were Western and lashed out on you.

Once again, my apologies.

[imranhasan]

Thank you, SM744 for your elaboration,

 

Please correct me if I am wrong. I feel that for human being, especially, actions and expriences must be preceded by understanding. That was the only reason that I asked this question. If we are not even certain of the purpose, how would we even judge what to do or what might we aspire to experience and achieve? Would you not agree?

 

From your answer, would I be correct to derive that the purpose of life is, for instance, to be aware of the permanent and the non-permanent and the moving and the unmoving? Or is that too just a means to the end? Would you consider this to be irrelevant?

[Guest guest]

Thanks Imran. "If we are not even certain of the purpose, how would we even judge what to do or what might we aspire to experience and achieve? Would you not agree?"

 

Ideally the answers to your question on purpose of life should be given by all moms to their children. But moms typically get busy trying to attend to the crying child which wants food or to sleep etc. This goes on & on. The answers on purpose of life are seldom articulated clearly by the moms.

 

So I don't agree with you with your statement above that one cannot aspire of achievements without knowing the purpose of life. Many a moms are proud of their children's achievements in this world.

 

I consider that purpose of life is best understood through spirituality. Without a quest for spirituality, an answer on purpose of life to you has to be quite different, I wonder, from that suggested by me earlier.

[imranhasan]

Thank you, my brother SM744 for contributing your time,

 

Ideally the answers to your question on purpose of life should be given by all moms to their children. But moms typically get busy trying to attend to the crying child which wants food or to sleep etc. This goes on & on. The answers on purpose of life are seldom articulated clearly by the moms.

What I understand from this is that, according to you, just as a child is not intellectually in a position to understand, at an early stage in life, so is man not in a position to understand such concepts as the purpose of life. Just as a child must do what its mother tells, so should we just "live" in a particular way and not try to understand the purpose of life. Is that right?

 

So I don't agree with you with your statement above that one cannot aspire of achievements without knowing the purpose of life. Many a moms are proud of their children's achievements in this world.

Is it not because a mother would only tell a child what to do, according to what she herself sees as the welll being of a child. A mother may not teach a child about the purpose of its life, at its birth. However, it would only guide it to do, what she sees is in its benefit, according to the ends that she wants the child to reach. What I mean is that in the 'mother-child' analogy, even if the purpose may never be expressed, yet it may be very clear and apparent through the actions and the teachings of the mother. Will you not agree that all of man's conscious actions do have a purpose and, subsequently, the success and failures of these actions are only to be judged with reference to this purpose?

 

I consider that purpose of life is best understood through spirituality. Without a quest for spirituality, an answer on purpose of life to you has to be quite different, I wonder, from that suggested by me earlier.

Please forgive me for my ignorance. What is spirituality? What is the means of attaining it?

[Guest guest]

Well Imran. I am convinced that purpose won't alone be good enough to prompt action/achievement. Purpose alone won't be enough to prompt action is an appropriate path. This is a myth, if you supposed so.

 

I see your point that a you're better off than a child in understanding things. But still, this is not good enough to prove that you are more dynamic to act than a child.

 

I admit that the child may have lesser understanding, or the child may have just enough understanding prior carrying out its petty actions/help. As adults, people like you & me could get into a situation where we could act too little in proportion and ask for too much understanding and explanation from this world. And in the end of all this understanding, we could be stricken with anxiety & uncertainity of our own future, than spring up with dynamism to act.

 

Here is an example. Speaking of anxiety and fear of uncertainity, I have heard a few Imams speak. There is a lot of fear, uncertainity, insecurity, & victim-thinking in them. This is because they sit and gather too much understanding and do too little service through actions to their people. If such imams speak to their muslim audiences regularly and teach them the purpose of life, then we could expect them to preach more and more intolerance to the rest of the non-islamic world. (This said, I sincerely feel palestinians should get their homes, Muslims should get to truely enjoy their oil wealth than goose-chasing populations for islamic following, Kuran minus the interpretations of the insecure imams is a great scripture for peace indeed)

[barney]

May I'm right or may be I'm wrong. As far as I'm concerned the destiny of a person determines the purpose of life. For an example take for instance a person born in Ftance or England takes a trip to another country say like Thailand and dies there in a a natural disaster such as Tsunami, well, his purpose of life is to die not in the country of his birth. As for another example take the life of Mahatma Gandhi, his father died before he could finish schooling and his mother got him married at the age of 13. He went to persue law in England against his family's wish. He experienced all vices while in England and only upon his return and going to Africa was the turning point in his life and the rest is history. But most important his death made him a hero of the Indians and recorded in world hinstory. So his destiniy was his purpose of this life. Every single life in this earth is destine for a purpose. Even a murderer's purpose of this life is determined by his destiny and morever I believe every life form there is a link without us realizing it. A man may have a comfortable life for almost 50 years and than his life ends in a tradgy in te hands of a robber or by accident. In such a case what would you think his purpose of life was? To me he was to die in the hands of the robber at such such time as his previous life there was a link betwen the robber and him. And if it was an accident than there must have been a link between him and the driver of the vehicle in a previous life. It is all there but we fail to see the picture. That is my deduction and hope someone else could give a better understaning of it.

[Guest guest]

Defining the purpose of life from any standpoint, let alone within the context of a single religion or philosophy, is a pretty tall order. Ultimately, it may be something that each person has to define from within themselves, rather than from the words and writings of others.

 

My present take on our purpose in life, for what it's worth, is simply to do the best we can with love and kindness as our motives with the life we are given at any moment during that life.

[Guest guest]

Barney, We can recall Krishna's advice to Arjuna that spiritually we are immortal and the body changes like the cloak. So taking that point, the duty is more important than the start point or end point of body.

 

Ones body and mind gives a false sense of self and one develops a belongingness as distinct from rest of the worldly nature. While actually, that body belongs to the worldly nature and the true self is only the spiritual self.

 

As the body belongs to the worldly nature, it may not be possible to control the destiny of it by one. And for ones spiritual self, the body's end point is not so relevant.

 

For example, a terrorist taking control of his/her destiny, by blowing him/herself up in the name of god, should ideally set an example of his limited understanding of god. In indian scriptures, it is ofcourse an act of bad karma. Bagawat geeta may have ambiguity of whether krishna was preaching advaitha or dwaita. But BG is unambigous on karma. So indians may have less of a struggle classifying a suicide bomber as a sinner overwhelmed by desires.