The Science of Hindu Spirituality

[Guest guest]

http://iish.org/sanathana_news_detailed.asp?id=6

 

THE SCIENCE OF HINDU SPIRITUALITY

Hindu/sanaathana dharma has its foundation on

scientific spirituality. Ancient Rishies are the

authors of the Vedas, puranaas , itihaasaas and

smruthies which are known as Hindu religious /

spiritual books. Those rishies themselves wrote the

books on economics – artha saastra-, music and dance –

gaandharva Veda-, science of heath and food -

ayurveda-, civil engineering and sculpture –

sthaapathya veda, etc which are the well known

scientific books. In all the ancient Hindu literature

one can see that science and spirituality are

integrated. It is mentioned in the 40th chapter of the

Yajurveda known as Eesaavaasya Upanishad that ‘use the

scientific knowledge for solving the problems in our

life and use the spiritual knowledge for attaining

immortality through philosophical outlook. Avidyayaa

mruthyum theerthwaa vidyayaa amruthamasnuthe . A

detailed description on the scientific and

technological heritage of Hindu dharma has been

separately given and hence it is not included in this

text. Here only the science of spirituality is

described for giving a clear understanding on the

Hindu way of looking into the different order/level of

spiritual science.

 

At all levels in other religions there exist only one

god/ divine power. And that is the one and only one,

without even a second on the pathway to attain that

one. In Hindu dharma also there exists the ultimate

one and only one god. But to attain that one , you can

have different pathways and worship of different

deities. For reaching New Delhi, the capital of India,

there can be many pathways/ roads, but New Delhi

remains the (same ) one location. Some of these roads

may be short cuts, some may be smooth and some other

may not have street lights, etc. Thus the roads and

nature of roads vary but the ultimate goal remains the

same.

 

The one Hindu god and its scientific explanation :

There exists only one god and it is reiterated

throughout the Upanishads and Vedas. Ekam sath vipraa:

bahudaa vadanthi. The ultimate truth is one and only

one, but some scholars may tell that it is many fold .

ekam eva na advitheeyam. The only one without the

second. Further you can see the words of Rigveda:

dyaavaa pruthvi janayan deva eka: the god, who created

the celestial bodies and this earth, is one and only

one. Eka eva hi bhoothaatmaa bhoothe bhoothe

vyavasthithaa ekathaa bhahudaa chaiva drusyathe jala

chandravath. The ultimate divine power is one and only

one which is existing in each and every living being.

It may be said by some as one and some others may say

it as many, but the truth is like this; there is only

one moon and it is reflected in different waters ( of

river, well, a cup of water, sea or ocean). Just like

the reflection of the one moon is seen in all, the

same divine power is manifested in all living being.

Even the whole philosophy of the advaitha is based on

the non duality of the divine power ( a-dvaitha – the

one without a second )

 

The name of ‘that one’ in Hindu dharma is Brahman or

Brahmam. Hindus do have different levels of upaasana/

worship. But the ultimate point where all the pathways

arrive at is this point of Brahman ( do not pronounce

Braahman). The Vedas say Brahma sathyam jagath mithya.

The ultimate essence of everything is this Brahman and

everything in the universe is the manifestation of

that ultimate truth (which is the Brahmam). Jeevo

Brahmaiva na aparaa: Even the life force / soul itself

is the same Brahaman and nothing else. The Brahmam is

present in everything, in the smaller than the

smallest ( in atoms) and bigger than the biggest (in

the universe) and also present as the jeevaathma in

all living beings: Anoraneeyaan mahato maheeyaan aatma

guhaayaam nihithosya jantho: says Mahanaraayana

Upanishad. One can see pure science in this

explanation: The revolution of electrons and the

spinning of the nuclei in atoms, the rotation and

revolution of earth, the solar system, the galaxy ,

and so on are all guided from within the system and

this force which gives the energy and guidance for

their movement is known as Brahman. It is this same

energy manifested as jeevaathma in the living being

which controls the heart, lungs, the liver, the blood

circulation, the sensory organs, the functional

organs, etc. in animals. In the mahaasankalapa , it is

thus explained achinthyayaa aparimithayaa sakthyaa

briyamaanasya aneka koti brahmandaanaam madhye ; the

billions and billions of galaxies which are revolving/

rotating under the torrential force which is beyond

the level of imagination and limitless … this force is

from within the system and it is the one which guides

the rotation and revolution. Hence the ancient Indian

Rishies said that Brahman is the ultimate

force/energy. Upanishad says that the Brahman is the

one which can not be seen through eyes, heard by ears,

analyzed by mind but the energy which is responsible

for the proper functioning of the eyes, ears and

mind…. Is Brahman. yath chakshushaa na pasyathi yena

chakshoomshi pasyathui……, yath srothrena na srunothi

yena srothra mitham srutham……., yath manasaa na

manuthe yenaahur manomatham…….. thadeva Brahmathwam

viddhi yadidam na idam upaasathe. is the Brahman and

worship that Brahman. In other Upanishads it is

explained that the fire and air (prathyaksham Brahma),

the sound ( sabda Brahman), the Sun, the light (

chaakshu Brahman), and so on are all the manifestation

of this Brahman. This gives a clear definition for

Brahman that it is the energy and manifestation of a

power

 

Brahman is also present as jeevathma/ soul in me hence

I say aham Brahma asmi ( I am the divine power) It is

present in you hence thath thwam asi ( you are also

the same divine power) It is present as life force

hence ayam athma Brahma (this life force/ energy is

the Brahman) and it is manifested as the inherent

intrinsic consciousness and awareness, hence

prajnaanam Brahma (that glorious knowledge is

Brahman). These four sets of words corresponds to

Yajurveda, Saama veda, Atharvaveda and Rigveda

respectively, are known as four Mahaavaakyaas) . The

yogi who could get the experience of the realization

of the Brhaman is known as Brahma jnaani and the

process of realization is known as Brahma

saakshaathkaaram. That state of Brahma jnaani is also

known as kaivalya state, the state in which one knows

that only one is existing (kevalam means only one).

Aksharam Brahma paramam means the Brahman is non

destructible for ever. Brahmakshra samudhbhavam

Brahman arose from the non destructible. There are few

vedic and puranic words connected with Brahman, they

are Brahmaandam ( the universal egg – a state before

the big bang) Lord Brahma ( the creator of this

universe and everything present here from energy)

Brahma vaivartham ( the manipulation and manifestation

of the universal force/ energy)…. Now the word Brahman

may be clearly defined based on the above explanations

using modern science as follows: the intrinsic,

inherent, self guiding, self motivating, self

awareness and self conscious present from each and

every atom to the universe itself, is the Brahman, the

ultimate god of Hindu !

 

It is said that there are two states of Brahaman . The

extremely active state in observation known as saguna

Brahman and the inactive state in observation known as

nirguna Brahman. These two states are complimentary

and never contradictory (as few scholars may say). (

saguna and nirguna may be opposite words just like

lower and upper are opposite words. But lower primary

and upper primary are not opposites, they are

complimentary). In an atom, the electrons are

revolving at a fantastic speed/ velocity (

sagunathwam) but the materials which are composed by

the atoms are seen in nirguna state ( without rotating

and spinning). The earth rotates and revolves at high

speed (saguna state) but the people living on the

globe earth do not feel the speed ( nirguna state in

observation). Our heart/liver/ lungs/ each and every

tissue functions / works for all the 24 hrs ( in

saguna state), but the body does not feel that

(particularly when sleeping) such a series of

biochemical processes are going on inside (nirguna

state). Thus there are observationally two states for

the Brahman one saguna state and other nirguna state.

Sometimes saguna upaasana/ worship also means the

worship in forms and images and nirguna upaasana/

worship means worship without keeping the images.

 

>From the upanishadic explanation that the universe is

filled with the Brahma chaithanyam ( the intrinsic…

awareness and consciousness) it may be difficult for

for a common man to understand this concept. For the

understanding at a lower level and for giving a better

perception for common man, the Brahman has been

symbolically presented as a personified form of

prapancha purusha or viswa roopa ( prapancha –

univers; purusha – human form viswa – univers, roopa –

size and shape) . This is a concept and symbolically

presented, hence it is well defined as prapancha

purusha sankalpa ( sankalpa – concept). It is narrated

as viswaakaraam gagana sadrusam megha varnam… having

the size and shape of the universe, similar in area to

the sky itself and colour that of clouds…. It is

described in Vedas as viswathaschakshurutha vishwatho

mukho viswatho baahurutha viswathaspaath… its face,

brain, hands and legs have spread over the universe

and everything in the universe works under his

guidance and control. Bhagavath geetha gives the power

of viswa roopam like divi soorya sahasrasya bhaveth

yuga pathutthithaa…it looks as though thousands of

Suns are blazing. The size of the prapancha purusha

has been explained na antham na madhyam na

punasthavaadim : there are no beginning, middle and

end for that viswa roopa. Lord Krishna himself tells

in Bhagavath geetha for seeing the universal person/

viswa roopa, one needs the divine eyes ( divya

chakshu). Vedas describe it through purusha sooktha.

 

This viswa roopa / prapancha purusha is known in

puranas and other literature (some times in Vedas too)

as Mahavishnu / Vishnu and Naraayana. Puranas give

detailed narration for Naraayana

 

At further lower level there exists a trinity concept

in Hindu dharma. The trinity concept of Hindus is

different from that of other religions. Here the

‘controllers’ of birth, existence / growth and death

are symbolically presented in human forms as Brahma

Vishnu Maheswara – trimoorthy sankalpa in which the

universal laws of life cycle are symbolically

presented . Mahavishnu is the base for the trinity

concept.

 

Explanation for Mahavishnu: The blue colour of Vishnu

denotes the colour of the sky and ocean which means

the infinity/ limitless. The serpent on which Vishnu

is lying denotes the coiled structure of a galaxy. The

name of the serpent anantha means limitless (infinity)

the ksheera saagaram ( ocean of milk) on which Vishnu

is pictured shows milky way galaxy. Anantha sayana

represent the silent universe/ galaxies. Symbolically

Mahalakshmi ( meaning of this word is prosperity) has

been attributed the position of the wife of Mahavishnu

showing that any system can smoothly exist only with

prosperity.

 

>From Mahavishnu comes out through a Lotus

(symbolically) the creator Lord Brahma. This

symbolically presents a connection of Lord Brahma with

the prapancha purhsa similar to the connection of the

baby in the womb of the mother. The baby takes the

energy and nutrition for growing/ cell production from

the mother. Similarly Lord Brahma takes energy and

material from for creation in the world. The four

heads of Lord Brahma represent the four axes required

for any creation: x, y, z and time axes. The Vedas

(the word itself means knowledge) in the hands of Lord

Brahma and the position of Saraswathy (deity of

knowledge) as the wife of the creator symbolically

present that for every creation knowledge/ vidya is

required. The knowledge and creation (knowledge for

creation) are inseparable components.

 

Lord Siva is the deity symbolically presents the

controller of death/ destruction (the destruction is

for further construction). Mahavishnu and Lord Siva

are said to be connected through hearts ( which only

means inseparable) Vishnoasya hrudayam siva: Sivosya

hrudayam vishno – says Upanishads and Yajurveda.

Symbolically Lord Siva has powerful fire in the third

eye, powerful water and torrential air symbolically

tied in the tuft and the snake around the neck (

symbol of international medical association) and thri

sool in hand. All the five respectively present

destruction through fire, water (flood , etc) air (

cyclone/ tempest, etc) diseases and using weapons.

Parvathy (means energy/force/sakti) is symbolically

presented as the wife of Lord Siva . Through this

combination of Lord Siva and Parvathy, it is shown

that the destruction for construction can take place

with powerful application of any one or more of the

above five. (powerful fire, air, water, diseases and

weapon only have the destruction capacity). Thus they

become inseparable hence the concept of

Ardhanaareeswara comes up. In fact the Brahma Vishnu

Maheswara sankalpa and the Lakshmi Parvathy Sarswathi

sankalpa are the symbolic presentation of the life

cycle spiritual- social and physical level when

scientifically explained. Always the Hindus consider

the knowledge, prosperity and sakthi/power in feminine

gender. These explanations (of the gods) are the

connecting layers of Vedic and puranic concepts of

gods.

 

Further going at common mans level, the above six

deities can be seen in different roles of puranic

stories to convey the message of what they represent

symbolically in. However these stories are mainly for

conveying the values and universal truths in our life.

And they are meant for the understanding for less

educated common man who may not be in a position to

understand the Brahman or prapancha purusha concept,

or the symbolic message of Hindu trinity concept, etc.

 

About other deities: In puranas one can read the

stories of Vigneswara having the shape of the cross

section of human brain, worshipped as the Lord who

removes/ protects from the hurdles in the life.

Hurdles can be as huge as elephants and it can come

from anywhere just like a rat (mooshika vaahana)

comes. Students who learn the six branches of Vedic

subjects Siksha- nirukta- vyaakarana- chandassastra-

kalpasaastra and Jyothisha, worship Subrahmanya/

Muruka, Subrahmanya is given the Lordship of six

subjects. Hence six heads one for each subject.

Incidentally, I feel it is worth explaining here that

Ravana is said to have ten heads. It is because Ravana

has the capacity of ten heads ( he has learned the

four Vedas and six Vedangas and even he had tried to

master the 11th subject , the Ayurveda too).

Yamadharma raja or Kaala is the controller of death

Yaama and Kaala (yaamasya apathyam pumaan yama: and

kaalasya apathyam puman kaala) both means the

controller of time. Hence the names clearly give the

scientific truth that the death is connected with the

time. Kaala is symbolically presented coming on a he

buffalo ( he buffalo is said to be the most senseless

animal, hence the time of death arrives to us

senselessly – and takes our breath- without looking

the age, religion, sex or any other parameters of the

individual– we say people die just like that)

 

Lord Krishna and Lord Rama and many heroes of the

puranas and epics give us the message for elevating

ouirselves from the ordinary human level to the level

of incarnation/ avathara level. Their message enrich

our life. They stand as role models in our life. Hence

they are worshipped and celebrated as avatharas. In

Hindu dharma none is a sinner. Hence everyone has the

opportunity to elevate/ rise himself to the level of

god. We say krinvantho viswamaaryam; (God will not get

jelous of you if you are getting the level of god

himself, in Hinduism). Let us convert the world into a

great men’s abode. Human being is considered as the

children of immortal ..amruthasya putraa: Every deity

in Hindu dharma has a connected animal, bird, tree,

flower, celestial body or planet (as adhidevatha or

pathyadhidevatha) , colour, metal, medicine, manthra,

gayanthri, letter, dhyaana manthra, moola manthra,

…etc. This gives an excellent message that these re to

be protected. In Hindu dharma there are 33 crore

(koti) devaas ! The meaning of this statement is very

simple but wrongly understood . Koti means part ( not

ten million) and here 33 parts devaas (people with

divine qualities) 33 parts asuraas ( people with

demonic qualities) and 33 parts maanavas ( people with

ordinary human qualities)- it is just like we say 1/3

of the human beings have divine, demonic and ordinary

human qualities each. It is said that Hindus worship

everything ! True in everything we can see the divine

power and that divinity could be felt when we elevate

ourselves into that level . Even a stone / wood /

photo/ image becomes an idol archakasya prabhavena

sila bhavathi sankara ( by the proper method of

worship by a priest/ devotee even a stone can be

converted into Lord Siva /Sankara/vigraha/ idol.

Archakasya aprabhavena siva bhavati sila, by the

improper outlook/ method of worship even the god

itself will become a stone.

 

Hindus worship in temples. The temples are not merely

prayer halls for Hindus, they are the quantum healing

centers (kshayaath thraaythe iti kshetra). In temples

the light, heat, sound and chemical energies are

filled through lighting the lamp, camphor, keeping

mirrors, etc. The sound energy through manthra,

ringing of the bells, musical instruments, bhajans

etc. The chemical energy is from bathies, aromatic

flowers and leaves etc. Thus the temples are

energization centres in Hindu way of worship. A

devotee has to stand for few minutes in the temple

environment in front of the vigraha/ idol with sareera

( body) ,mana ( mind), aahaara (food), vaak (words/

talking ) and karma ( deeds) suddhee (purity) for

energisation.

 

Hindus never allow the cremation or burial of human

body in the temple premises Hindus always keep the

idols or images having smiling faces (Prasanna vadanam

dhyaayeth- meditate on the god having smiling face).

Hindus never place the sad/ crying faces or bleeding

bodies for woship. The offerings of the gods, from the

temple are taken as shared prasadams not as body or

blood of the gods. Hindus never pray for unloading/

transferring their sins to the god or representatives

of god or saints. Using the concept, that the sins are

transferable to someone who is a representative of god

and punishing him for our sins is not existing in

Hindu dharma. But Hindus pray for guiding through

correct and dharmic pathway so that one can prevent

committing the sins (thamaso maa jyothirgmaya,….etc)

Hindus never pray to god through intermediate saints,

they submit directly their prayer. The people who

fought for spreading the religion using swords and

bloodshed and denigrated other religions are never

elevated to the level of saints. The offering given to

temples are not the bribes to gods but for pancha

yajna- the offering for gods Deva yajna, Rishi yajna –

for sages, Puithru yajna - for forefathers, bhootha

yajna - for all other living beings and Manushya yajna

for feeding the poor people. The idol and temple are

compared with human body (idam sareeram kountheya

kshetramithyabhidheeyate) and human dwellings. Hence

whatever are required for human body are performed

through thaanthric way to the idols also. In olden

days the temples were the capitals of the villages,

through them the food supply, education, help for the

society, legal consolation, counseling, marriages, etc

were given/ performed. The priest hood of Hindu dharma

and that of other religion are entirely different. The

role of the priests was not political at all but to

advise on dharmic and spiritual way. Hindus are never

god fearing, they have only devotion to god not fear (

daiva bhakti and not daiva bhaya). There are five

bhavas for the bhakti – saantha bhaava, daasya bhaava,

sakhya bhaava, vaalsalya bhaava and maadhurya bhava.

In all these the question of fear does not arise

 

Additional points to remember: Hindus worship the

fire, air, the Sun, the celestial bodies, etc because

they are all the parts of the prapancha purusha. The

same reasoning is given for the worship of mountains,

earth, rivers, etc. Hindus worship animals and plants

and in fact every deity has a plant and animal

associated with them, because all of them have

jeevaathma / life force in it. Hence they are

considered as divine in nature (jeevaathma is a part

of paramaathma). The Vedic way of worship is through

havans /offering through the fire. The puranic way of

worship is the temples and idols and images. Every

temple has a specific vaastu connected with it and

that vaastu resembles the yaaga saala/ house of

yaagaas and fire altars. Hindus say Vedas are holy

because it gives absolutely (no stories ) the

universal laws and truths. Anyone can learn Vedas and

there did not exist a rule that people belonging to

only one caste can learn Vedas. For keeping the

seriousness and for strictly following the rules, the

scholars defined that who has Brahminical qualities

only can learn Vedas, which can be acquired and not

obtained by birth alone. All the Rishies who composed

Vedic manthras were not Brahmins, Sri Krishna or Sri

Rama were not Brahmins. Many ancient Rishies and many

of those Rishies who are living even now are not

Brahmins.

 

Hindus worship books/letters/ because it is the base

for knowledge. Hindus worship the tools and

instruments during aayudha pooja, by performing pooja

once in an year because tools are the lively hood for

human beings. Hindus have given the status of divine

power to many phenomena like: the Sun, because it

gives light and heat for all living beings; the air,

because all living beings are surviving because of it;

the water, because without which life is impossible;

the earth, because it is where all the life is

surviving (not only that they are all parts of

prapancha purusha); our parents, because they gave

birth for us and they are our creators; plants and

trees, because they provide us food, and so on.

 

The Hindu way of life is different from that of the

followers of other religions. Learning and practicing

Hindu dharma should be done directly and it is an

experience. All the Hindu way of life is through

customs and rituals. It is always advised to follow

the relevant and scientific customs and rituals which

are beneficial psychologically, physiologically,

family based relation and social relations

strengthening and also for national integration. All

this customs and rituals put together is known as

sanaathana dharma hence it is said Hinduism is not a

religion but a way of life. Hindu dharma get refined

continuously by the Rishies , hence any superstition

comes into the Hindu dharma, Rishies like Lord Budha,

Jain, Sankara, Madhwa, ……. They refine and make it

more powerful………

 

Thus says Lord Krishna in Bhagavath Geetha: Whenever

the dharma comes down and adharma takes an upper hand,

the god himself will do the needful for the uplift of

Hindu dharma. He will protect the nobles, punish the

bad people and protect the dharma. Perhaps that is the

reason why even after more than one thousand years of

foreign invasion, massacre, destruction, plundering

and looting by the foreigners, this dharma did not

perish. It is fast spreading through out the world

particularly in the developed world. Let us all learn

the basic principles and application of those from the

Hindu dharma scientifically either for practicing it

or for challenging it.

 

 

 

 

________

India Matrimony: Find your partner now. Go to http://.shaadi.com