In our daily life, many of us interact with a Hindu in one way or another. Either your doctor, a coworker, a classmate, a close friend, a neighbor, a teacher, a business owner, or even a spouse. Some of us have witnessed a caricature of a Hindu in a TV serial or a cartoon. If you have ever wondered what the Hindu faith is or are curious to know more about your fellow Hindu Americans, this is a golden opportunity.
Let me ask you a question. What do we all want? We all want to be happy. All our endeavors are in that direction. We seek material goods, pleasant experiences, power over others, suitable mates, and many other things which give us fleeting moments of happiness. But is it possible to have everlasting joy? The ancient Hindu sages meditated on this question and came to this answer. Yes, it is possible. We can be permanently happy by discovering our true divine nature. How do we do that?
Hindus believe that the entire creation is made of pure consciousness. Our true nature is pure consciousness. Unfortunately, we have forgotten our true nature. Hinduism’s purpose is to return to our original selves and be permanently happy in our divine state.
The first step is to base our life on an ethical foundation called Dharma. A few qualities of ethical living are described in the Hindu scriptures. The main ones are Ahimsa, non-injury; Satya, truth; and Brahmacharya, a disciplined life of nonindulgence. These are not commandments but are nuanced guidelines. The guidelines are context-based. Our Dharma depends on our social situation. Dharma for a policeman will be different than that of a teacher. In the same person, the Dharma today differs from the Dharma tomorrow. It is different depending on our role at that moment. Our Dharma as a child is different from our Dharma as a husband or parent. It is different when we are working at our job. Dharmic living is doing our duty at the present moment, thereby pouring our hearts out every time we do something, all the time and without attachment. There are lots of Hindu scriptures that help us decide what is ethical in a given situation. Dharma is the internal nature of everything. On a more profound scale, Dharma sustains everything, including us individually, our family, our community, our country, our earth, and the cosmos. Dharma has a much more nuanced definition which the actual exhibition will illustrate.
The second step is Sewa which is selfless service. Also called karma yoga. For many of us, yoga is a contortion of body parts into postures. This aspect of yoga is just a small portion of the concept of yoga. The word yoga means union. It is the union of ourselves with our divine nature. Karma yoga is the action that unites us with our divine nature. We should do our duty because it is the right thing to do and not be result-oriented. Do everything as if it is an offering to the Divine. Hinduism understands that the path of connecting with divinity is difficult and has lots of steps. It needs mastery over oneself. It takes a long time which can span this life, but it also may need multiple lifetimes. In each life, you reach a particular point. In the next life, you begin where you left off and move forward or backward based on your action (karma) in the past birth. Everyone will get there at the end. How long it takes will depend on your actions. What you do now affects the future, either in this life or in the next life. There is accountability and consequence for everything you do. The flip side is that I accept what happens to me; hence I am able to accept sorrows and calamities. What I do and how I deal with my calamities affect my future. This way, we accept what is happening to us and do our best to handle it.
The third step is the choice of three spiritual paths. Hinduism recognizes that all people are different, so there are different paths suited for people based on their different temperaments.
• The first path is called Raj yoga. In this path, there are eight steps, of which the first two deal with practicing ethical restraints and ethical observations. The next three are physical postures and breathing exercises, as well as control of senses., The rest of the steps deal with meditation. This path requires consistent practice and great discipline.
• The second part is Dnyana yoga which is the study of scriptures. Hindus have a massive library of scriptures describing the different paths. This path is intellectually strenuous, and a seeker needs a subtle mind to grasp the concepts.
• The third path is Bhakti yoga, which is the path of Devotion. Essentially, we rest our minds and hearts in God. Anybody can do that, as there are no prerequisites.
This raises the question, Which or what God? In Hinduism, there are varieties of ways in which divinity or God is conceptualized
1) The first concept is pure consciousness which is described by the symbol pronounced as Om. Pure consciousness has no attribute and is infinite. This concept is difficult for many people to wrap their minds around.
2) The second concept is Ishwara which is divinity with attributes. The all-knowing, all-powerful, all-controlling supreme being., which has no physical form, and our mind is open to the abstract.
3) The third concept is the Divine in a personal form. People can connect much more easily to a personal form. With forms comes a personality and a story. If you know a story, you feel intimate with that form. You develop a close personal connection with that particular form of God. This tangible form is called a murti, represented by statues, photos, and physical symbols or objects. The mind stays easily focused on the physical form away from distractions. Although there are many physical forms of God, there is only one supreme being. Hindus worship one supreme being who can appear in many forms. We can use whichever form of divinity the divinity chooses to manifest itself.
Choose any of these paths. Take part of this and part of that. Mix and match. Let’s find the divinity within ourselves and recognize it in the whole creation. Let us be happy.
This is Hinduism in a nutshell. Our Darshana exhibition opens the shell somewhat for us to peer in and glimpse the unlimited.
