Copyright © 2017 by Neha Bali.

ISBN: 978-1-5323-3705-5

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Digital edition published worldwide by East Rock, sole proprietor Neha Bali,

Las Vegas, NV, USA.

Digital edition derived from the hardcover The Hindu Culture: A Clear and

Concise Summary by Mrinal Bali, Copyright © 1997 by Mrinal Bali, ISBN 81-900850-0-

X.

Also by Mrinal Bali

The Swami and the Children: A fictional explanation of the Hindu culture for youngsters.

For my daughter

Neha

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

Knowledge

Divine origins

Texts

Age

Challenges

QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY

Brahman

The Search

Ultimate destination

Only humans

Summary

HOW TO ACHIEVE BRAHMAN

Atmaan

Methods for achieving Brahman

Yoga

Common objective

Patanjali's yoga

Yama

Niyama

Asana

Pranayama

Pratyahara

Dharana

Dhyana

Samadhi

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

CLOSURE

SOURCES

AUTHOR

INTRODUCTION

THE HINDU CULTURE is just that—a culture. It is a way of life, not a religion.

First came the culture. Later came all the deities that Hindus today worship,

such as Rama and Krishna. We will not debate their divinity. In this treatise, we stick to

the facts. The fact is that Rama and Krishna were practitioners of a culture already

existing. Repeat: first came the culture. Therefore, to really know the Hindu culture,

we must study it as originally founded by the founding sages and recorded in the

founding texts—the Vedas and their subtexts such as the Upanisads.

The texts are vast. The foremost Veda, the Rg Veda Samhita, alone has 10,589

mantras or verses. The basics of the Hindu culture are scattered all over the texts.

That’s because the Hindu culture was not founded by any one sage but by many sages

across many generations. The sages observed nature, contemplated on the

observations, then experimented with methods by which to achieve the one

paramount objective that the sages called Brahman, pronounced Brahmaa ending

with the nasal sound of the n. Most Hindus ritually repeat the words Om and Atmaan

without realizing, as you will see shortly, that Om and Atmaan are but different names

for the same paramount objective—Brahman. By trial and error spanning generations,

the sages honed their observations and perfected the methods by which to achieve

Brahman. Read the texts and you can actually sense the maturing of the thinking as

one generation built upon the experience of the generations past. The basics of the

culture are thus scattered all over the vast texts.

From the vast texts, this short treatise extracts the basics of the culture and

presents them in succinct form.

KNOWLEDGE

HUMANKIND’S KNOWLEDGE OF nature has advanced over time. For a culture to

continue to survive, it must make rational sense that fits our present knowledge. If it

doesn’t, discard the culture. This book is for ages high school and up, by when you

have sufficient knowledge to decide if the Hindu culture makes rational sense. If it

doesn’t, discard the Hindu culture, delete this book, and send the author an e-mail for

your money back.

DIVINE ORIGINS

SOME ARDENT FOLLOWERS of the culture emphatically state that the Vedas were

revealed to the founding sages of the culture by some God. Do not believe this. If you

do, read no further and throw away this book, for it will not enlighten you.

Writes Jawaharlal Nehru, a past scholar and statesman of India:

Many Hindus look upon the Vedas as revealed scripture. This seems to me to be peculiarly unfortunate, for thus we miss their real significance—the unfolding of the human mind in the earliest stages of thought. And what a wonderful mind it was!

The Vedas (from the root vid, to know) were simply meant to be a collection of the existing knowledge of the day . . . I could not approach these books, or any book, as Holy Writ which must be accepted in their totality without challenge or demur. Indeed, this approach of Holy Writ usually resulted in my mind being closed to what they contained. I was much more friendly and open to them when I could consider them as having been written by human beings, very wise and far-seeing, but nevertheless ordinary mortals and not incarnations or mouthpieces of a divinity . . .

(The Discovery of India)

Yet India today worships myriad Gods. There is a profound reason for this.

Once you understand the basic culture, you will understand why. Suffice it to say for

now that if you are concentrating on this book with undivided attention, then you are,

at this very moment, practicing the Hindu culture, and if later in the day you

concentrate on something else, no matter what, whether this book or a God imagined

with several heads and limbs or even a piece of asymmetric rock picked off the road,

you are still practicing the Hindu culture.

TEXTS

THIS BOOK DRAWS extensively from the original texts of the Hindu culture, but on

occasion the book also draws from later texts such as Bhagavad Gita if a later text

explains a founding concept more clearly.

The original texts of the Hindu culture are the Vedas. Four Vedas were

composed. Each Veda comprises of sections titled Samhitas, Aranyakas, Brahmanas

and Upanisads. This book draws extensively from the Upanisads.

It is not known how many Upanisads were originally composed. One hundred

and eight have survived. Of these, sixteen were recognized as authentic by Sankara, a

noted past Hindu sage, and on ten of them Sankara wrote extensive commentaries.

These ten are today regarded as the principal Upanisads and are italicized in the list of

texts below.

Atharva Veda

Samhita. Brahmanas & Aranyakas. Upanisads: Kaivalya, Mundaka, Jabala, Mandukya, Prasna.

Rg Veda

Samhita. Brahmanas & Aranyakas. Upanisads: Kausitaka, Aitareya.

Sama Veda

Samhita. Brahmanas & Aranyakas. Upanisads: Kena, Chandogya, Vajrasucika.

Yajur Veda

Samhita. Brahmanas & Aranyakas. Upanisads: Isa, Maitri, Subala, Taittiriya, Brhad-

aranyaka, Katha, Paingala, Svetasvatara.

AGE

IN RECORDED HISTORY, the Hindu culture is the world’s oldest surviving culture. No

precise date, such as the date of birth or death of a founder, can be ascribed to the

Hindu culture, for as stated earlier, it was founded by many sages deliberating over

many centuries. Clues of its age come from astronomy and archeology.

In the original texts of the Hindu culture are noted some astronomical events

that astronomers calculate occurred about 4500 BC.

Historians, however, argue that astronomical events are not reliable indicators

of age because astronomical events can be inserted retroactively to render an older

age. The archeology of human migrations provides another and considered more

reliable estimate of the age of the culture.

The founding sages of the Hindu culture descended from Aryas or Aryans. The

Aryans originated from the steppelands between Poland and central Asia. They

practiced agriculture but were predominantly pastoral. They had tamed the horse and

yoked it to a light spoke-wheeled chariot, the most efficient transport of the time.

We don’t know why, but around 2000 BC the Aryans were on the move. They

migrated east, west, and south. Along the way, they conquered the local populations

and established themselves as the ruling class. Some became ancestors to the Baltic

and Slavonic people. Some migrated to Europe and became ancestors to the Greeks,

Latins, Celts, and the Teutons. Some entered the Iranian tableland and attacked the

Middle Eastern civilizations. Some of this stock then turned eastward and invaded

India.

The Aryan invasion of India was not a single, concerted action but a series of

invasions spanning several centuries and involving many Aryan tribes. Chief among

the tribes was the Bharatas. The Bharatas, along with local Indian thinkers, founded

the Hindu culture. Archeological evidence suggests that the Bharatas migrated into

India about 1500 BC.

Even if we ignore the older evidence of astronomy and consider only the

archeological age, the Hindu culture is still the oldest surviving culture in recorded

history.

CHALLENGES

THE EVOLUTIONARY PRINCIPLES of struggle for existence and survival of the fittest also

apply to religions and cultures. Survival is constantly challenged; only the fit survive.

The Hindu culture has in the past been challenged by three of the world’s major

religions: Buddhism, Islam, and Christianity.

Buddhism was born in India in the 6th Century BC. The founder of Buddhism,

Siddhartha Gautama, later known as Gautam Buddha, preached his first sermons in

Varanasi, India. In the 300 years after Buddha, Buddhism gained popularity in India

and also spread abroad. It engulfed most of Asia including Tibet, China, Japan, and

the Pacific rim. In its own birthplace, India, however, Buddhism virtually disappeared:

today less than one percent of India is Buddhist.

Next came Islam. After the death of Mohammad, Islam’s last prophet, in 632

AD, Islam spread like wildfire across Mesopotamia, Armenia, Syria, Africa, Persia, and

eventually India. After a series of invasions starting 711 AD, Islam conquered India.

The last Islamic ruler was Bahadur Shah Zafar. The British banished him from India in

1858. If we consider this date as the end of Islamic rule in India, then Islam ruled India

for more than 1,000 years. In that millennium, Islam tried to convert India by consent

and by the sword, yet today, only about thirteen percent of India is Muslim.

Next came Christianity. India has a branch of Christians called Thomas

Christians. They trace their origin to St Thomas, one of Christ’s twelve apostles. In 52

AD, St Thomas landed on the Malabar coast of India and established branches of the

Syrian church. European travelers traveling India in the 7th Century AD record the

existence of well established Syrian churches in southern India. Thereafter came

Dutch, French, and British conquerors, all Christians, of course. The British eventually

conquered all of India and ruled India for more than three centuries. Christianity

today spans most of the world: thirty-two percent of the world’s population is

Christian. In India, however, in spite of more than three centuries of Christian

domination, less than three percent of India is Christian.

Why is it that three major religions of the world, which converted most of the

rest of the world, could not budge the Hindu culture? What is it in the Hindu culture

that stands rock steady?

Read on and find out.

QUEST FOR IMMORTALITY

BRAHMAN

THE HINDU CULTURE has at its roots the paramount desire of any life form—to live

forever, be immortal.

The founding sages of the Hindu culture were no exceptions. They too desired

immortality, and they desired immortality not in some after-life paradise but right

here and now, in this life. The desire for immortality led to the founding of the Hindu

culture.

While the rest of humanity implored myriad Gods for immortality, the founding

sages of the Hindu culture took a different approach. They reasoned that if

immortality was possible, then nature must have created something immortal. If they

could find that something immortal, perhaps they could emulate it and themselves

become immortal. They began a search of the universe for something immortal.

First, however, our ancestors defined immortality. What, after all, were they

looking for? What is immortality?

Our ancestors defined immortality as the state of no change. A change involves

a start and end, a birth and death. Immortality can't change. No start, no end. No

birth, no death.

To the state of no change, our ancestors gave a name: Brahman, pronounced

Brahmaa, the n nasal. Another name for it is Atmaan. (The n is again nasal.) Yet

another name for it is Om, also often spelled as Aum. Brahman, Atmaan, Om—all

three names for the state of no change, without a beginning, without an end, no birth,

no death.

Brahman, said the sages, cannot be described, for any attempt to describe it

limits it, and a limit is a change: it has a beginning and an end. Brahman has no

bounds. Brahman is forever.

. . . This Brahman is without an earlier and without a later, without an inside,

without an outside. This Brahman is the all perceiving. This is the teaching. (Brhad-

aranyaka Upanisad)

The sages said the only way to describe Brahman is in terms of na iti, na iti, not

this, not this.

. . . Now therefore there is the teaching, not this, not this for there is nothing higher than this, that he is not this. Now the designation for him [Brahman] is the

truth of truth . . . (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

Brahman, said the sages, is simply tyat—that.

. . . Which is the one God? . . . He is Brahman. They call him tyat (that). (Brhad-

aranyaka Upanisad)

Note that the one God, Brahman, is not a superhuman, omnipotent,

omniscient, omnipresent God residing somewhere in the stars watching us and

tallying our good deeds with bad deeds and rewarding or punishing us, holding us

forever in fear. This God, Brahman, is instead a state of existence—the state of no

change.

THE SEARCH

HAVING DEFINED IMMORTALITY and given it a name, Brahman, the founding sages of

the Hindu culture set out to observe the universe for something that never changes.

A modern high school student, armed with the knowledge of the atom and its

characteristics, would immediately conclude this search as futile. All matter is

composed of atoms, and the atom suffers ceaseless change: the particles in the

nucleus constantly rearrange themselves; electrons orbit; electrons change orbits and

jump between orbits; electrons also jump between atoms; atoms close together repel

each other; atoms far apart attract each other through gravitational forces that exert

across space and tug at every other atom in every corner of the universe. All matter in

the universe thus suffers ceaseless change.

The founding sages of the Hindu culture did not know the atom. After much

time spent searching the universe, the sages came up with naught. Everywhere they

looked, the sages observed that the universe suffers ceaseless change.

This observation, that the universe suffers ceaseless change, led the sages to a

profound conclusion about how we perceive the universe. What our five senses

perceive, they concluded, is not the real universe but the apparent universe. The

distinction is important. Look around you. Whatever you observe is changing even

while you observe it. It may be changing visibly or deep down at atomic levels, but it is

changing. The material universe that we see is, therefore, apparent, not real.

Back to the search for something unchanging.

Having exhausted the search for something that never changed, our ancestors

then asked: Is there something that at present changes endlessly but that can be

brought under control and made unchanging?

Since the material universe suffers ceaseless change, nothing material can be

immortal. What's left? Only one thing. In the entire universe, there is really only one

creation of nature left that can be controlled and made unchanging, and that is the

mind—the thought process, the consciousness.

You are not your body but your mind. All humans have the same basic body.

What distinguishes one human from another is the mind.

The five senses of your body provide inputs with which your mind perceives the

universe. This is important: it is not with the senses that you perceive the universe; it is

with your mind.

It has happened with us all that we missed seeing something right before us or

did not hear somebody calling us. When somebody called you, your eardrums

vibrated; your inner ear magnified the vibrations; your auditory nerve conveyed the

vibrations to the brain. The organs of your sense of hearing did their work, yet you did

not hear. You did not hear because your mind was elsewhere, and your mind was

elsewhere because you put it there.

. . . (They say) my mind was elsewhere, I did not see, my mind was elsewhere, I did not hear. It is with the mind, truly, that one sees. It is with the mind that one hears. Desire, determination, doubt, faith, lack of faith, steadfastness, lack of steadfastness, shame, intellection, fear, all this is truly mind. Therefore, even if one

is touched on his back, he discerns it with the mind . . . (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

Brahman, the state of no change, or immortality, is, achievable with the mind

and only with the mind. Make your mind steady and unchanging as Brahman, and

you achieve immortality.

ULTIMATE DESTINATION

WHILE SEARCHING THE universe for something that never changes, the sages came to

another conclusion: all matter in the universe seeks Brahman—the state of no change.

Look around you. A rock prefers to remain where it is, where all forces on it balance

each other. If an imbalance makes it change position, it again wants to come to rest

where all forces on it balance out again so that it doesn’t have to change position

again. The sages said that eventually, whether now or after eons of change, all matter

will achieve the state of no change—Brahman. By “all matter” the sages meant literally

all matter—animate and inanimate.

At this point, the sages extrapolated their thoughts to the hereafter. They said

the search for Brahman extends from birth to birth. This too was based on observation

of nature. Nature preserves in the next generation the stronger traits of past

generations, thus making a life form increasingly stronger from generation to

generation. This progression, observed the sages, is heading toward a state when a life

form has conquered all weaknesses and never has to change again—that is, has

achieved Brahman. All life forms are thus progressing toward Brahman from birth to

birth.

This also applies to the entire universe at large. This universe is not the first

universe. Neither is it the last one. Other universes have come before. More will follow

—until the entire universe achieves Brahman, the state of no change, immortality.

You, a human, are no exception. You too have come before. You may have

come in a different form, in a different outer shell or body, but you have come before,

and you will come again and again until you achieve the ultimate destination—

Brahman.

Never was there a time when I [Krishna] did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings;

nor in the future shall any of us cease to be. (Bhagavad Gita)

In whatever condition one quits his present body, in his next life he will attain to

that state of being without fail. (Bhagavad Gita)

If a man fails to attain Brahman before he casts off his body, he must again put on a

body in the world of created things. (Katha Upanisad)

Whether in this birth or after more births, you will achieve Brahman, and then,

merged in Brahman, you, as Brahman, will become immortal.

The sages said that this universe was, in fact, born from Brahman. As all beings

at the end of the day return home, so is the universe striving to return to its roots—

Brahman.

This is the truth. As from a blazing fire, sparks of like form issue forth by the thousands, even so, O beloved, many kinds of beings issue forth from the immutable

[Brahman] and they return thither too. (Mundaka Upanisad)

From me all emerge, in me all exist, and to me all return. I am Brahman—One

without a second. (Kaivalya Upanisad)

ONLY HUMANS

WHILE THE ENTIRE universe is striving for Brahman, the sages said only the human

is the closest to achieving Brahman.

The universe is striving for Brahman without knowing that it is. Only the human

has a consciousness developed enough to be aware of Brahman. All objects are on a

ladder of increasing consciousness. At the bottom of the ladder, with the least

consciousness, are inanimate objects such as rocks. Higher up on the ladder are

animals. At the very top is the human.

. . . [the human] of all beings is most endowed with consciousness. He says what he has known; he sees what he has known; he knows what is to happen tomorrow; he knows the gross and the subtle. In his mortality he desires the immortal. Thus is he endowed. In other animate beings, understanding goes no further than hunger and thirst. They do not say what they have known, nor do they see what they have known. They do not know what is to happen tomorrow, nor do they know the gross

and the subtle. To a certain point they go, but they go no further. (Aitareya

Aranyaka)

Your birth as a human is special. Out of all creation, only you are aware of

Brahman, are the closest to achieving Brahman, and only you can make a conscious

effort to become immortal in Brahman.

Then do it, said the sages. Achieve Brahman, and do it in this very life. Don’t

wait for more births. Do it now.

Self-luminous is Brahman, ever present in the hearts of all. He is the refuge of all, he is the supreme goal. In him exists all that moves and breathes. In him exists all that is. He is both that which is gross and that which is subtle. Adorable is he.

Beyond the ken of the senses is he. Supreme is he. Attain thou him! (Mundaka

Upanisad)

He, the self-luminous, subtler than the subtlest, in whom exist all the worlds and all those that live therein—he is the imperishable Brahman. He is the principle of life. He is speech, and he is mind. He is real. He is immortal. Attain him, O my friend, the

one goal to be attained! (Mundaka Upanisad)

Taking as the bow the great weapon of the Upanisads, one should place in it the arrow sharpened by meditation. Drawing it with a mind engaged in the

contemplation of that, O beloved, know that imperishable Brahman as the target.

(Mundaka Upanisad)

. . . That from which these beings are born; that by which, when born they live; that into which, when departing, they enter. That, seek to know. That is Brahman.

(Taittiriya Upanisad)

He who realizes the existence of Brahman behind every activity of his being—whether sensation, perception, or thought—he alone gains immortality. Through knowledge of Brahman comes power. Through knowledge of Brahman comes victory

over death. (Kena Upanisad)

Let my life now merge in the all-pervading [Brahman]. Ashes are my body’s end . . .

O mind, remember Brahman . . . O mind . . . remember Brahman. (Isa Upanisad)

Whosoever, O Gargi, in this world, without knowing this imperishable [Brahman] performs sacrifices, worships, performs austerities for a thousand years, his work will have an end. Whosoever, O Gargi, without knowing this imperishable [Brahman] departs from this world, is pitiable. But, O Gargi, he who knowing the imperishable

[Brahman] departs from this world is a Brahmana (a knower of Brahman). (Brhad-

aranyaka Upanisad)

This, verily, is that. This indeed was that, the true. He who knows that wonderful being, the first born as the Brahman, conquers these worlds, and conquered likewise may that enemy be and become non-existent . . . (for him) who knows that

wonderful being, the first born as the true Brahman. (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

Brahman may be realized while yet one dwells in the ephemeral body. To fail to realize him is to live in ignorance and, therefore, to be subject to birth and death. The knowers of Brahman are immortal. Others, knowing him not, continue in the

bonds of grief. (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

Let, therefore, the wise aspirant, knowing Brahman to be the supreme goal, so shape

his life and his conduct that he may attain to him . . . (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

In its desire to achieve Brahman in this very life, the Hindu culture stands apart

from all other major cultures and religions. Other major religions promise eternity

after life. The Hindu culture insists on attaining immortality now, in this very life.

SUMMARY

In summary, the founding sages of the Hindu culture defined immortality as

the state of no change and named the state Brahman. All creation is striving toward

Brahman, coming increasingly closer to Brahman from birth to birth. Whether now or

after more births, all creation will achieve Brahman.

Out of all creation, only humans have the consciousness developed enough to

achieve immortality in Brahman in this very life, without waiting for more births.

Says Swami Vivekananda, a noted past sage of the Hindu culture:

Nature’s task is done, this unselfish task which our sweet nurse has imposed upon herself. She gently took the . . . soul by the hand, and showed him all that is in the universe, all manifestations, bringing him higher and higher through various bodies till his glory came back and he remembered his own nature. Then the kind mother went back the same way she came, for others who also had lost their way in the trackless desert of life. And thus is she working, without beginning and without end. And thus through pleasure and pain, through good and evil, the infinite river of souls is flowing into the ocean of perfection [Brahman], or self-realization. Glory unto those who have realized their own nature; may their blessings lie on us all.

(Complete Works of Vivekananda)

This is the foundation of the Hindu culture. The rest is how to achieve

Brahman. Let us go now to the methods that the founding sages suggested for

achieving Brahman.

HOW TO ACHIEVE BRAHMAN

ATMAAN

TO ACHIEVE BRAHMAN, where to find it? The founding sages said Brahman is

everywhere.

Brahman is this immortal. In front is Brahman, behind is Brahman, to the right and to the left. It spreads forth below and above. Brahman, indeed, is this universe. It is

the greatest. (Mundaka Upanisad)

What is called space is the determined of name and form. That within which they are

is the Brahman, that is the immortal . . . (Chandogya Upanisad)

Brahman is in all creations of nature. Brahman is in every rock, in every plant,

in every animal, in every human, in every atom of every creation. To find Brahman,

you need not look far. Look within you. Brahman is there.

He who knows Brahman attains the supreme goal. Brahman is the abiding reality, he is pure knowledge, and he is infinity. He who knows that Brahman dwells within the

lotus of the heart becomes one with him and enjoys all blessings. (Taittiriya

Upanisad)

To help us sharpen our awareness of Brahman within us, the founding sages

gave it another name, Atmaan, but the sages repeatedly emphasized that Atmaan and

Brahman are not different. The Atmaan within and Brahman without are one and the

same.

. . . Know the Atmaan within and the Brahman without, and . . . realize their

identity. The Atmaan is Brahman, and Brahman is all. (Isa Upanisad)

(Note: Atmaan in English is often translated as the Self. In this treatise, we will

stick with Atmaan instead of Self.)

What is called Brahman, that is what the space outside of a person is. Verily, what the space outside of a person is. That is what the space inside of a person is. Verily,

what the space inside of a person is. (Chandogya Upanisad)

What is within is also without. What is without is also within. He who sees difference between what is within and what is without goes evermore from death to death.

(Katha Upanisad)

Now the light which shines above this heaven, above all, above everything, in the highest worlds beyond which there are no higher . . . that is the same as this light

which is here within the person. (Chandogya Upanisad)

He who is the Atmaan in man, and he who is the Atmaan in the sun, are one. He who

knows this truth overcomes the world . . . (Taittiriya Upanisad)

He who glows in the depths of your eyes—that is Brahman; that is the Atmaan of yourself. He is the Beautiful One, he is the Luminous One. In all the worlds, forever

and ever, he shines. (Chandogya Upanisad)

He that has once known the glory of the Atmaan within the ephemeral body . . .

knows that the Atmaan is one with Brahman, lord and creator of all. (Brhad-

aranyaka Upanisad)

. . . He is that luminous form which gives heat in the yonder sun, the wonderful light on the smokeless fire, as also the fire in the stomach which cooks (digests) food. For thus has it been said, he who is in the fire, and he who is here in the heart and he who is yonder in the sun—he is one. He who knows this goes to the oneness of the

one. (Maitri Upanisad)

Throughout the texts of the Hindu culture, the founding sages repeatedly

emphasize the oneness of the Atmaan within and Brahman without. In fact, the sages

often speak of the Atmaan in the same manner as they speak of Brahman.

Now next the instruction in regard to the Atmaan. The Atmaan indeed is below. The Atmaan is above. The Atmaan is behind. The Atmaan is in front. The Atmaan is to the south. The Atmaan is to the north. The Atmaan, indeed, is all this (world) . . .

(Chandogya Upanisad)

. . . This Brahman is without an earlier and without a later, without an inside, without an outside. This Brahman is the Atmaan, the all-perceiving. This is the

teaching. (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

The immortal Atmaan is the sun shining in the sky, he is the breeze blowing in space, he is the fire burning on the altar, he is the guest dwelling in the house; he is in all men, he is in the Gods, he is in the ether, he is wherever there is truth. He is the fish that is born in water, he is the plant that grows in the soil, he is the river that

gushes from the mountain—he, the changeless reality, the illimitable! (Katha

Upanisad)

. . . This Atmaan, who is pure consciousness, is Brahman. He is God, all Gods; the five elements—earth, air, fire, water, ether; all beings, great or small, born of eggs, born from the womb, born from heat, born from soil; horses, cows, men, elephants, birds; everything that breathes, the beings that walk and the beings that walk not.

The reality behind all these is Brahman, who is pure consciousness. (Aitareya

Upanisad)

This is that great unborn Atmaan who is undecaying, undying, immortal, fearless, Brahman . . . Brahman is fearless. He who knows this becomes the fearless Brahman.

(Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

. . . He is never seen but is the seer, he is never heard but is the hearer. He is never perceived, but is the perceiver. He is never thought but is the thinker. There is no seer but he, there is no other hearer but he, there is no other perceiver but he, there is no other thinker but he. He is your Atmaan, the inner controller, the

immortal . . . (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

Containing all works, containing all desires, containing all odors, containing all tastes, encompassing this whole world, without speech, without concern, this is the Atmaan of mine within the heart; this is Brahman. Into him I shall enter on departing

hence . . . he who believes this will have no more doubts . . . (Chandogya Upanisad)

That God, the maker of all things, the great Atmaan, ever seated in the heart of creatures is framed by the heart, by the thought, by the mind. They who know that

become immortal. (Svetasvatara Upanisad)

Concludes Swami Vivekananda:

After long marches here and there, in temples and churches, in earth and in heavens, at last you come back, completing the circle from where you started, to your own soul and find that He, for whom you have been seeking all over the world, for whom you have been weeping and praying in churches and temples, on whom you were looking as the mystery of all mysteries shrouded in the clouds, is nearest of the

near, is your own self, the reality of your life, body and soul. (Complete Works of

Vivekananda)

Knowing that Brahman without and the Atmaan within are one and the same,

the founding sages of the Hindu culture then developed methods by which to reach

within and achieve the Atmaan or Brahman and become immortal in Brahman.

METHODS FOR ACHIEVING BRAHMAN

OVER TIME, SIX methods were developed. In no particular order, they are:

Mimamsa method of Jaimini.

Nyaya method of Gotama.

Samkhya method of Kapila.

Vaisesika method of Kanada.

Vedanta method of Vyasa.

Yoga method of Patanjali.

All six methods are followed today. The most popular is Patanjali’s yoga, to

which we confine this discussion.

YOGA

YOGA, A SANSKRIT word, means union—union with Brahman or Atmaan, both one

and the same. Instructions on yoga are scattered throughout the texts of the Hindu

culture. Patanjali organized the scattered pieces in the coherent system that we know

today.

We don’t know when Patanjali lived. A grammarian by the name of Patanjali

lived in the 2nd Century BC, but we don’t know if he is the one who organized yoga.

COMMON OBJECTIVE

All methods of achieving Brahman have the same objective: disconnect the

mind from the senses.

You and the universe are a chain of three links.

The universe is one end of the chain. The middle link is your body and its

senses. The other end of the chain is your mind.

When one end of the chain rattles, it rattles the rest of the chain: when the

universe changes, your senses sense the change, and your mind is affected.

You cannot control the universe. Neither can you control your senses: as the

above hearing example illustrates, your senses work no matter what. Then there is

only one way to make the mind steady: disconnect it from the senses: that is, remove

the mind link from the chain.

Then what’s left of the chain is just the body and its senses connected with the

universe. When the mind is completely disconnected from the senses and kept

disconnected, Brahman—immortality—is achieved. Then the body will someday

wither away and die, but the mind, steady in Brahman, will live on forever.

It may be that I shall find it good to get outside of my body—to cast it off like a

disused garment. (Complete Works of Vivekananda)

One who is able to withdraw his [mind] from sense objects, as the tortoise draws his

limbs within the shell, is to be understood as truly situated in knowledge. (Bhagavad

Gita)

PATANJALI'S YOGA

MEDITATION IS THE way to disconnect the mind from the senses and achieve

immortality in Brahman. Patanjali’s yoga teaches meditation in eight steps.

YAMA

START WITH YOUR actions. Actions reflect the state of the mind. A restive mind

produces restive actions. The reverse is also true: control the restive actions, and your

mind calms down. Yama is controlling the actions.

Perform no action that ruffles the mind. Be good. Do good. Speak the truth.

Don’t harm others, not in action, not in speech, not even in thought. Good actions

produce a calm, steady mind.

. . . According as one acts, according as one behaves, so does he become. The doer of good becomes good, the doer of evil becomes evil. One becomes virtuous by virtuous action, bad by bad action. Others, however, say that a person consists of desires. As is his desire, so is his will; as is his will, so is the deed he does, whatever deed he

does, that he attains. (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

NIYAMA

NIYAMA MEANS ROUTINE. A routine fixes the tasks performed daily at set times. A time

to wake up, time to eat, time to start work, time to end work, time to sleep, done over

and over again, day after day—this is niyama. The steadiness of a routine develops a

steady mind.

He who is regulated in his habits of eating, sleeping, working and recreation can

mitigate all material pains by practicing the yoga system. (Bhagavad Gita)

Niyama must be balanced. A niyama of excesses is not a niyama.

There is no possibility of one’s becoming a yogi, O Arjuna, if one eats too much or

eats too little, sleeps too much or does not sleep enough. (Bhagavad Gita)

After some months of steady practice of yama and niyama, the early results of

practicing yoga start showing.

Lightness, healthiness, steadiness, clearness of complexion, pleasantness of voice, sweetness of odor, and slight excretions, these, they say, are the first results of the

progress of yoga. (Svetasvatara Upanisad)

ASANA

SO FAR, PATANJALI’S yoga has focused on actions. Asana is the first step toward

meditation.

Asana means the posture of meditation. Asana is the practice of maintaining

your chosen posture of meditation for extended periods of time. The common posture

of meditation is to sit cross legged, spine erect, hands clasped across the front.

Holding the body steady with the three (upper parts, chest, neck and head) erect causing the senses and the mind to enter into the heart, the wise man should cross

by the boat of Brahman all the streams which cause fear. (Svetasvatara Upanisad)

One should hold one’s body, neck and head erect in a straight line and stare steadily at the tip of the nose. Thus with an unagitated, subdued mind, devoid of fear,

completely free of sex life, one should meditate . . . (Bhagavad Gita)

Let the whole weight of the body be supported by the ribs, and then you have an

easy, natural posture, with the spine straight. (Complete Works of Vivekananda)

Any posture which is easy and steady is an asana; there is no other rule. (Sankhya

Sutras)

You may choose any posture, but having chosen it, don’t change it. Brahman

means no change. Don’t change your actions, don’t change your niyama, and once

chosen, don’t change your asana.

Choose a place for the asana, and don’t change the place either. Reserve that

place for yoga only. Allow no other activity there.

In a level clean place, free from pebbles, fire and gravel, favorable to thought by the sound of water and other features, not offensive to the eye, in a hidden retreat

protected from the wind, let him perform his exercises (practice yoga). (Svetasvatara

Upanisad)

To practice yoga, one should go to a secluded place and should lay kusa grass on the ground and then cover it with a deerskin and a soft cloth. The seat should neither be too high nor too low and should be situated in a sacred place. The yogi should then sit on it very firmly and should practice yoga by controlling the mind and the senses,

purifying the heart and fixing the mind on one point. (Bhagavad Gita)

Worship is possible in a sitting posture, because this encourages meditation. The meditating person is compared to the immovable earth. There is no law of place;

where the mind is concentrated, there worship should be performed. (Vedanta

Sutras)

Note that nowhere in the texts of the Hindu culture is written that meditation

must be performed in a temple only. As the above verse emphasizes, “there is no law

of place.” Pick any asana and any place. Once chosen, don’t change either.

PRANAYAMA

THE PACE OF your breathing indicates the state of your mind. A restive mind

effects fast, shallow breathing. A calm, steady mind effects slow, deep breaths. Since

the state of the mind affects breathing, breathing also affects the mind: control your

breathing and you can steady a restive mind. This is what underlies the ancient advice

that when losing your cool, count slowly from one to ten. Counting one to ten slowly

regulates the breathing, which steadies the mind. Pranayama is the practice of

regulating your breathing.

Repressing his breathings here (in the body), let him who has controlled all movements, breathe through his nostrils, with diminished breath; let the wise man restrain his mind vigilantly as (he would) a chariot yoked with vicious horses.

(Svetasvatara Upanisad)

Regulate your breathing: slow in, slow out. Regulate the breathing a few

minutes a day to start with, longer over time until all your waking hours you are

conscious of your breathing and regulating it. Reduce your breathing to as slow as you

comfortably can. Keep that rate of breathing for some time before slowing it further.

The average human breathes twelve to twenty times a minute. Yogis breathe once

every three to four minutes. Some yogis even slower.

Equally important is to smooth your breathing. Avoid jerky breathing. Also

avoid shallow and rapid breathing. Breathe deep, slow and smooth in, slow and

smooth out.

To control your breathing, you must concentrate on it, and concentration

creates a positive loop: concentration on your breathing, or on anything for that

matter, slows your breathing, and slower breathing helps you concentrate better.

No matter where you are, you breathe. Thus you can practice pranayama

anywhere, while driving, riding a train, while shopping, over lunch, in a meeting—

anywhere. Try it, and watch your mind grow steady.

PRATYAHARA

AS NOTED EARLIER, the material universe is undergoing ceaseless change, and your

senses register the changes. You can do nothing to stop your senses from sensing the

universe. Not only do your senses respond to every change in the universe, your mind

reacts too. Certain odors and sights you like; other odors and sights you don’t like.

Likes and dislikes are functions of the mind. Pratyahara is the next step toward

detaching the mind from the senses.

Pratyahara is imposing on the mind two disciplines: conquer desire, and work

without attachment to the fruits of the work.

A desire gratifies the senses. Pratyahara is the determination to resist sense

gratification. Addicted to sugar drinks? Resist sugar drinks. When you develop such

determination, the senses get subdued and your mind breaks free of what Swami

Vivekananda called “the thralldom of the senses.”

He who has succeeded in attaching the mind to the centers of perception at will, or in detaching it from them, has succeeded in pratyahara, which means “gathering towards,” checking the outgoing powers of the mind, freeing it from the thralldom of the senses. When we can do this we shall really possess character; then alone we

shall have taken a long step towards freedom. (Complete Works of Vivekananda)

On this there is the following verse: “The object to which the mind is attached, the subtle Atmaan goes together with the deed, being attached to it alone. Exhausting the results of whatever works he did in this world he comes again from that world to this world for (fresh) work.” This (is for) the man who desires. But the man who does not desire, he who is without desire, who is freed from desire, whose desire is satisfied, whose desire is the Atmaan—his breaths do not depart. Being Brahman he

goes to Brahman. (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

On this there is the following verse: “When all the desires that dwell in the heart are cast away, then does the mortal become immortal, then he attains Brahman here (in this very body).” Just as the slough of a snake lies on an anthill, dead, cast off, even so lies this body. But this disembodied, immortal life is Brahman only, is light

indeed . . . (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

When all the desires that dwell within the human heart are cast away, then a mortal

becomes immortal and (even) here [in this life] he [attains] to Brahman. (Katha

Upanisad)

Material enjoyments, which are due to contact with the material senses, are certainly sources of misery. O son of Kunti [Arjuna], such pleasures have a beginning

and an end, and so the wise man does not delight in them. (Bhagavad Gita)

Pratyahara extends the elimination of desire to also the fruits of work.

We all work. We work for a desired outcome such as money or recognition.

Pratyahara is work for the sake of work, as a duty, but without the desire for the fruits

or results of the work. Do your duty. Let the results fall where they will.

. . . Now listen to the knowledge of yoga, whereby one works without fruitive result. O son of Partha [Arjuna], when you act by such intelligence, you can free yourself

from the bondage of works. (Bhagavad Gita)

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the

fruits of action . . . (Bhagavad Gita)

Be steadfast in your duty O Arjuna, and abandon all attachment to success or failure.

Such evenness of mind is called yoga. (Bhagavad Gita)

There is no work that affects me [Krishna], nor do I aspire for the fruits of action. One who understands this truth about me does not become entangled in the fruitive reactions of work . . . All the liberated souls in ancient times acted with this understanding and so attained liberation. Therefore, as did the ancients, you should

perform your duty in this divine consciousness. (Bhagavad Gita)

One is understood to be in full knowledge whose every act is devoid of desire for sense gratification. He is said by sages to be a worker whose fruitive action is burned

up by the fire of perfect knowledge. (Bhagavad Gita)

Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of

undertakings. (Bhagavad Gita)

One who neither hates nor desires the fruits of activities is known to be always renounced. Such a person, liberated from all dualities, easily overcomes material

bondage and is completely liberated . . . (Bhagavad Gita)

One who performs his duty without attachment, surrendering the results unto the supreme God [Brahman], is not affected by sinful action, as the lotus leaf is untouched by water. (Bhagavad Gita)

It is not possible for an embodied soul to give up all activities. But he who renounces

the results of activity is actually renounced. (Bhagavad Gita)

To achieve such control over the mind that one can detach it at will from the

senses and free it from all desires is tough to achieve. The weak cannot do it. Only the

strong, well practiced in yama, niyama, asana, pranayama, and pratyahara can.

O might-armed son of Kunti [Arjuna], it is undoubtedly very difficult to curb the

restless mind, but it is possible by constant practice and by detachment. (Bhagavad

Gita)

DHARANA

BY NOW, THROUGH yama, niyama, pranayama, and pratyahara, the mind is steady

enough for the final effort toward Brahman—meditation. With asana, you have

practiced sitting in your chosen posture of meditation for extended periods of time.

Dharana is sitting in asana and concentrating the mind—meditation.

Concentrate on anything, any object or simply close concentrate on blanking

your mind of all thought. You may also choose a short chant and repeat the chant over

and over again. Whatever you choose as your focus of concentration, don’t change it.

Many yogis concentrate on the symbol of Om, on the cover of this book, or

chanted Om repeatedly. Om, also often spelled Aum, is another name for Brahman.

Brahman, Atmaan, Om—all one and the same. This word Om is no ordinary word.

. . . These letters A, U, M, pronounced in combination as Om, may well be the generalised symbol of all possible sounds . . . All articulate sounds are produced in the space within the mouth beginning with the root of the tongue and ending in the lips—the throat sound is A, and M is the last lip sound; and the U exactly represents the rolling forward of the impulse which begins at the root of the tongue and continues till it ends in the lips. If properly pronounced, this Om will represent the whole phenomenon of sound production, and no other word can do this . . .

(Complete Works of Vivekananda)

Om is a popular symbol and chant that yogis concentrate on for dharana.

He, who knowing it thus, praises this syllable [Aum], takes refuge in that syllable, in the immortal, fearless sound, and having entered it, he becomes immortal, even as

the Gods become immortal. (Chandogya Upanisad)

Of that goal which the Vedas declare, which is implicit in all penances, and in pursuit of which men lead lives of continence and service, of that will I speak briefly. It is Om. This syllable is Brahman. This syllable is indeed supreme. He who

knows it attains Brahman. (Katha Upanisad)

Om is Brahman. Om is all. He who meditates on Om attains to Brahman. (Taittiriya

Upanisad)

Fire, though present in fire sticks, is not perceived until one stick is rubbed against another. The Atmaan is like that fire: it is realized in the body by meditation on the sacred syllable Om. Let your body be the stick that is rubbed, the sacred syllable Om the stick that is rubbed against it. Thus you shall realize the Atmaan, who is hidden

within the body as fire is hidden within wood. (Svetasvatara Upanisad)

The syllable Om, which is the imperishable Brahman, is the universe. Whatsoever has existed, whatsoever exists, whatsoever shall exist hereafter, is Om. And whatsoever

transcends past, present, and future, that also is Om. (Mandukya Upanisad)

Aum is Brahman. Aum is all. Aum, this verily, is compliance. On uttering ‘recite’

they recite. With Aum they sing the saman chants. With Aum . . . they recite the prayers. With Aum the Advaryu priest utters the response. With Aum does the Brahma (priest) utter the introductory eulogy. With Aum one assents to the offering to fire. With Aum, a Brahmana begins to recite, may I obtain Brahman. Thus wishing,

Brahman, verily, does he obtain. (Taittiriya Upanisad)

Sit upright, holding the chest, throat, and head erect. Turn the senses and the mind inward to the lotus of the heart. Meditate on Brahman with the help of the syllable Om. Cross the fearful currents of the ocean of worldliness by means of the raft of

Brahman—the sacred syllable Om. (Svetasvatara Upanisad)

Disciplining the mind to stay focused on your object of concentration is

difficult. Initially, the mind will want to wander.

. . . Let the mind run on. The mind is bubbling up all the time. It is like that monkey jumping about. Let the monkey jump as much as he can; you simply wait and watch. Knowledge is power, says the proverb, and that is true. Until you know what the mind is doing, you cannot control it. Give it the rein; many hideous thoughts may come into it; you will be astonished that it was possible for you to think such thoughts. But you will find that each day the mind’s vagaries are becoming fewer and less violent, that each day it is becoming calmer. In the first few months you will find that the mind will have a great many thoughts, later you will find that they have somewhat decreased, and in a few more months you will find that they are

fewer and fewer, until at last the mind will be under perfect control . . . (Complete

Works of Vivekananda)

From whatever and wherever the mind wanders due to its flickering and unsteady nature, one must certainly withdraw it and bring it back under the control of the

Atmaan. (Bhagavad Gita)

One way to tame the monkey of the mind is to start dharana with puja, a short

worship ritual such as the slow, rhythmic chanting of a hymn, any hymn. This helps

harness the wandering mind. Says Swami Brahmananda, another noted sage of the

Hindu culture:

It is of vital importance that a man begin his spiritual journey from where he is. If an average man is instructed to meditate on his union with . . . Brahman, he will not understand. He will neither grasp the truth that lies behind the instructions nor be able to follow them . . . However, if that same man is asked to worship God with flowers, incense, and other accessories of the ritualistic worship, his mind will

become gradually concentrated on God, and he will find joy in his worship. (The

Eternal Companion)

DHYANA

Dhyana is prolonged dharana, when you sit in concentration for increasingly

longer time. The universe around you will continue undergoing ceaseless change, and

your body senses will register the changes, but you, concentrating your mind in deep

meditation, will not be disturbed.

It is said that Valmiki, the author of the epic Ramayana, was in dhyana when

ants built an anthill around him. (The name Valmiki was apparently given to him later

in life because the name means born of an anthill.) Valmiki’s body must surely have

reacted to ant stings, but his mind, detached from the senses, in dhyana, remained

unchanging, steady, raptly focused on his object of concentration—Rama.

SAMADHI

SAMADHI, THE FINAL step of Patanjali’s yoga, is never coming out of meditation. A

yogi in samadhi merges into Brahman and becomes immortal.

Just as the flowing rivers disappear in the ocean casting off name and shape, even so the knower, freed from name and shape, attains to the divine person, higher than

the high. (Mundaka Upanisad)

The yogi in Brahman himself becomes Brahman, and Brahman is forever,

immortal.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

Q) What are the origins of the word “Hindu?”

Today’s Indus river was at one time called Sindhu. The Islamic invasions

brought invaders who, in their Persian language, pronounced S as H. Thus the

Sanskrit word saptaah for week became haftaah and similarly Sindhu became Hindu

for people living on the other side, east, of the river Sindhu.

Q) Why do Hindus have so many Gods?

There is but one God in the Hindu culture—Brahman. As quoted earlier:

. . . Which is the one God? . . . He is Brahman. They call him tyat (that). (Brhad-

aranyaka Upanisad)

Those who achieve Brahman also become Brahman.

He, verily, who knows the supreme Brahman becomes Brahman himself . . . He crosses over sorrow. He crosses over sins. Liberated from the knots of the secret

place (of the heart), he becomes immortal. (Mundaka Upanisad)

Some of the deities of the Hindu culture are those believed to have achieved

Brahman and are, therefore, themselves Brahman. For example, in the (Bhagavad

Gita), Krishna speaks of himself as Brahman or Atmaan or Om, all one and the same.

I am the Atmaan . . . seated in the hearts of all creatures. I am the beginning, the

middle and the end of all beings. (Bhagavad Gita)

Unintelligent men, who know me not, think that I have assumed this form and personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know my higher nature,

which is changeless and supreme [Brahman]. (Bhagavad Gita)

I am the father, mother, maintainer and grandfather of all this universe. I am what

is to be known. I am purity, and I am the syllable Om . . . (Bhagavad Gita)

. . . I am the basis of the impersonal Brahman, which is immortal, imperishable and

eternal and which is the constitutional position of ultimate happiness. (Bhagavad

Gita)

There is one other reason why there are so many deities in India. Brahman is

achieved through meditation. Mediation is concentration on any object of your

choice. You may pick a flower, a tree, or a stone idol. You may choose a figure with

multiple arms and legs. You may choose a dragon. It does not matter. The result of

meditating on the object of your choice, no matter what the object, will be the same—

you will achieve Brahman, the ultimate goal.

Q) Why didn’t the Hindu culture spread beyond its place of birth as did Islam, Buddhism, and Christianity?

Hindus found that everywhere in the world, in every religion and culture,

everybody is striving for Brahman. The chanting of hymns, whether in a mosque or in

a church, is the practice of concentration, which is meditation.

Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti. That which exists is one. Sages call it by various

names. (Rg Veda Samhita)

I am in everyone’s heart as the Atmaan, and as soon as one desires to worship the demigods, I make his faith steady so that he can devote himself to some particular

deity. (Bhagavad Gita)

Thus it is that when Buddhism emerged in India, the Hindus accepted Buddha

as an idol to meditate on. Bodh Gaya, in the state of Bihar in India, where Buddha

meditated, is as much a pilgrimage for Hindus as it is for Buddhists. Hindus believe

Buddha achieved Brahman and is, therefore, worthy of worship.

When Christianity came to India, the Hindu culture similarly accepted Christ.

Hindu children freely attend Christian schools.

It is because [the Hindu culture] has been so permeated with the spirit of Ekam sat vipra bahudha vadanti that she has known relatively little of religious fanaticism, of religious persecution, of religious wars. Characteristically, she has sought the truth

in every faith—even in faiths not her own. (The Spiritual Heritage of India)

In its acceptance of other religions and cultures is the Hindu culture’s maturity

and strength. All cultures and religions being equal and striving for the same goal in

their own ways, the Hindu culture found no need to spread beyond India.

Q) Why do names in the Hindu culture often end with an “a?” For example, Ram becomes Rama; Ashok is Ashoka; Krishn is Krishna.

In Sanskrit, names and words often end with a colon. That colon of Sanskrit

effects a fade out rather than an abrupt end of a word. Ram ends abruptly; with the

colon the end fades out. Ashok ends abruptly; with the colon the end fades out.

English has no punctuation that effects a fade out. To simulate the fade out, the

best that English can do is to add “a” to the end of the word. Thus Ram ends abruptly

but Rama simulates Sanskrit’s fade out. Ashok ends abruptly but Ashoka simulates

Sanskrit’s fade out.

Q) Is the Hindu culture casteism?

Let’s understand first what a caste system is.

A society is organized in four groups of people: intellectuals, who foster

knowledge and conceive the order of a society; administrators and warriors, who

administer and protect the order; business people, who produce goods and acquire

wealth; and laborers who perform work and service. Whether it is India or the United

States or Australia or Japan, every society has this basic organization.

The Hindu culture recognized this structure thousands of years ago. In the

Hindu culture, the four groups are called: Brahmanas (intellectuals, also active seekers

of Brahman), Ksatriyas (administrators and warriors), Vaisyas (business), and Sudras

(labor). Dr S. Radhakrishnan, a past scholar and statesman of India, summarized the

work of the four groups:

Wisdom conceives the order, power sanctions and enforces it, wealth and production

provide the means for carrying out the order, and work carries out. (The Principal

Upanisads)

How is it determined who belongs to which group in a society? Is one free to

choose his occupation?

The caste system is determining one’s occupation by birth. If born to

Brahmanas, one’s occupation is Brahmana for life. If born to sudras or laborers, one’s

occupation is sudra for life. One’s choice or ability does not matter. In the caste

system, birth determines occupation.

Did the caste system—that is, determination of one’s occupation by birth—

exist in the Hindu culture at one time? Yes. Does it exist today? In the minds of many

Hindus, yes. By law, determining one’s occupation by birth is banned in modern

India.

India is not alone to have at one time or another practiced the caste system. For

many centuries, the United States had the caste system of slavery: the offspring of a

slave was automatically also a slave by birth. (Slaves are sudras.) The United Kingdom

is another example that to this day practices the caste system: royalty is a caste in the

United Kingdom because royalty is established solely by birth. (In the parlance of the

Hindu culture, the royals of UK would be ksatriyas.)

Note that the Hindu culture has derived one significant benefit from the caste

system: the texts of the culture survived because of the caste system.

The texts of the Hindu culture are vast. They fill many thick volumes. The (Rg

Veda Samhita) alone has 10,589 mantras or verses. The texts were composed when

there was no printing. The only method of preserving the texts from one generation to

the next was by memorizing them and passing on from generation to generation.

Memorizing thousands upon thousands of complex Sanskrit verses is a

mountain of a task. Few would volunteer for such a task. Would you? Would you

dedicate yourself to memorizing thousands of Sanskrit verses for half your life and

then spend the rest of your life teaching the thousands of verses to your children?

Yet in the history of the Hindu culture, that is exactly what happened. This is

exactly how the culture and its voluminous texts were passed on from generation to

generation. The task was accomplished by the caste of Brahmanas.

The occupation of the Brahmanas was to learn, preserve, and propagate the

Hindu culture and its texts. Were it not for the dedication of the Brahmanas to this

task the texts of the Hindu culture might well have been lost to the multiple conquests

that India has suffered over the centuries.

The texts of the Hindu culture were put to print in the 10th Century AD. With the

advent of printing, preservation by memory became obsolete. Furthermore, while

memory was confined to only the Brahmanas, printing made it possible to

disseminate the texts to the masses.

Q) Is the Hindu culture vegetarian?

The Hindu culture encourages a vegetarian diet. There are, however, exceptions

in the ancient texts of the culture.

Now if one wishes that a son, learned, famous, a frequenter of assemblies, a speaker of delightful words, that he should study all the Vedas, that he should attain a full term of life, they should have rice cooked with meat and eat it with clarified butter,

then they should be able to beget (such a son)—either veal or beef. (Brhad-aranyaka

Upanisad)

Apparently, meat was prescribed for certain situations. Note the reference to

beef. Evidently, the reverence given today to the cow came later.

Scientific evidence increasingly suggests that vegetarian diet is more suitable

for the human body. How did the Hindu culture recommend a vegetarian diet

thousands of years ago?

Philosophy states that there are two sources of knowledge: rationalism, which is

knowledge gained by reasoning, and empiricism, which is knowledge gained by

experience. The Hindu culture’s recommendation of a vegetarian diet stems from

centuries of experience.

Q) Why is having a family or personal guru important to many Hindus?

The guru, teacher, any teacher, school teacher or a spiritual teacher, holds a

high place in the Hindu culture. In fact, the word upanisad is derived from the Sanskrit

upa, near, ni, down, and sad, to sit—sitting down near, as a student before a teacher.

Some scholars translate upanisad as “sitting near devotedly” to a teacher. The Hindu

culture is, in fact, a compilation of the teachings of many, many generations of

teachers to their students. The sages of the Hindu culture asserted that Brahman

cannot be achieved without a teacher to show the path.

There are three branches of duty, sacrifice, study and almsgiving. Austerity, indeed, is the first. The second is the pursuit of sacred wisdom, dwelling in the house of the teacher. Absolutely controlling his body in the house of the teacher is the third. All

these attain to the worlds of the virtuous . . . (Chandogya Upanisad)

“For I have heard from persons like you, revered sir, that the knowledge which has been learned from a teacher best helps one to attain his end.” To him, he [the teacher] then declared it. In it nothing whatsoever was left out, yea, nothing was

left out. (Chandogya Upanisad)

Having scrutinized the worlds won by works, let a Brahmana [seeker of Brahman] arrive at non-attachment. The (world) that is not made is not (won) by what is done. For the sake of this knowledge, let him only approach, with sacrificial fuel in hand, a

teacher who is learned in the scriptures and established in Brahman. (Mundaka

Upanisad)

Unto him who has approached in due form, whose mind is tranquil and who has attained peace, let the knowing (teacher) teach in its very truth that knowledge

about Brahman by which one knows the imperishable . . . (Mundaka Upanisad)

To many it is not given to hear of the Atmaan. Many, though they hear of it, do not

understand it. Wonderful is he who speaks of it. Intelligent is he who learns of it.

Blessed is he who, taught by a good teacher, is able to understand it. (Katha

Upanisad)

Just try to learn the truth by approaching a spiritual master. Inquire from him submissively and render service unto him. The self-realized soul can impart

knowledge unto you because he has seen the truth. (Bhagavad Gita)

Again, there are those not conversant in spiritual knowledge who, by hearing from others [teachers], begin to worship [Brahman]. Because of their tendency to hear

from authorities, they also transcend the path of birth and death. (Bhagavad Gita)

The emphasis everywhere in the words of the founding sages of the Hindu

culture is on finding a guru, a teacher, who is a true yogi, who has to a good extent

progressed toward Brahman.

Q) Are the verses recited by pundits in pujas taken from the original texts of the Hindu culture?

Most are from the Vedas. A common example is the Gayatri mantra or verse.

Bhur bhuvah swah tat savitur varenyam, bhargo devasya dhimahi, dhiyo yo nah prachodayat. We meditate on the adorable glory of the radiant sun; may he inspire

our intelligence. (Rg Veda Samhita)

Q) Is every Hindu expected to renounce the material world, live in seclusion, and seek Brahman?

Seek Brahman only when you are ready. You will know when you are ready.

This Atmaan cannot be attained by instruction, nor by intellectual power, nor even through much hearing. He is to be attained only by the one whom the Atmaan

chooses. To such a one the Atmaan reveals his own nature. (Katha Upanisad)

Q) What does the Hindu culture say about the pursuit of wealth?

Listen to the sage Vasistha tell Rama:

Acquire wealth. This world has for its root wealth. I do not see the difference

between a poor man and a dead one. (Ramayana)

There are numerous other references to wealth in the original texts of the

Hindu culture. Examples:

Resplendent God, grant us fame and wealth acquired in a thousand ways with skill

and honest labor. (Rg Veda Samhita)

To Him alone we pray for friendship, for wealth, and for valor. He alone is powerful,

and He alone can protect us from injury and confer wealth on us. (Rg Veda Samhita)

This dawn whose transcendent and refreshing rays are seen all around us, grant us great riches, fair in form, and blissful wealth that is attained without much struggle.

(Rg Veda Samhita)

Go forward, feet, press quickly on, take us to the houses of our rich relatives. Let

unconquered, unplundered, foremost riches lead the way. (Atharva Veda Samhita)

Acquire wealth, says the Hindu culture, but acquire wealth without getting

attached to it. The greatest character trait of Rama in the Ramayana is that he, a prince

born into royalty and having enjoyed the luxuries of palace life, turned and adapted

immediately to life in exile in a humble hut in a forest because he was never attached

to his wealth.

Wealth is a result, a fruit of work. As stated earlier, you have the right to work,

but you have no right to the fruits of the work. Repeat:

Abandoning all attachment to the results of his activities, ever satisfied and independent, he performs no fruitive action, although engaged in all kinds of

undertakings. (Bhagavad Gita)

You have a right to perform your prescribed duty, but you are not entitled to the

fruits of action . . . (Bhagavad Gita)

Q) What is the status of women in the Hindu culture?

. . . One should not despise any woman. That is the rule. (Chandogya Upanisad)

If she does not grant him his desire, he should buy her (with presents). If she still does not grant him his desire he should beat her with a stick or his hand and overcome her (saying) with (manly) power and glory, “I take away your glory.” Thus

she becomes devoid of glory. (Brhad-aranyaka Upanisad)

In spite of the above diverging views in the original texts of the Hindu culture,

out of the major cultures or religions of the world, the Hindu culture is the only one

that exalts women to the status of God—women who are believed to have achieved

Brahman. Examples are Lakshmi, the goddess of wealth and Saraswati, the goddess of

knowledge.

CLOSURE

NOW THAT YOU know the Hindu culture as it was originally founded by the

founding sages, know also that you are free to, if you desire, choose a different path, a

different culture or religion, one that you may think is more suited to your nature. No

matter which path you choose, you will still be seeking Brahman. The other culture or

religion may have a different name for Brahman, but each time you chant a hymn, you

will concentrate your mind, and that is seeking the unchanging, steady state of

immortality in Brahman.

May you achieve Brahman in this very life. May you become immortal in

Brahman.

SOURCES

CHIEF AMONG THE many sources from which this book is derived are listed below in

alphabetical order by last name of author.

Bhashyananda, Swami. From the Unreal to the Real. Chicago, IL, USA:

Vivekananda Vedanta Society, 1986.

Chand, Devi. The Atharvaveda. New Delhi, India: Munshiram Manoharlal,

1995.

Chand, Devi. The Samaveda. New Delhi, India: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1995.

Chand, Devi. The Yajurveda. New Delhi, India: Munshiram Manoharlal, 1994.

Deussen, Paul. Sixty Upanisads of the Veda. (2 vols.) New Delhi, India: Motilal

Banarsidass, 1995.

Nehru, Jawaharlal. The Discovery of India. New Delhi, India: Oxford University

Press, 13th impression, 1993.

Nikhilananda, Swami. The (Bhagavad Gita). New York, NY, USA: Ramakrishna

Vivekananda Center, 1979.

Prabhavananda, Swami. (The Spiritual Heritage of India). Hollywood, CA, USA:

Vedanta Press, 1979.

Prabhupada, Swami. (Bhagavad Gita) As It Is. Los Angeles, CA, USA:

Bhaktivedanta Book Trust, 1972.

Radhakrishnan, S. The Bhagavadgita. New Delhi, India: HarperCollins, 10th

impression, 1996.

Radhakrishnan, S. The Principal Upanisads. Winchester, MA, USA: Unwin

Hyman, 1989.

Sarasvati, Maharshi Dayananda. The Rigveda. (5 vols.) New Delhi, India:

Sarvadeshik Arya Pratinidhi Sabha, 1984.

Sarasvati, Satya Prakash et al. (Rg Veda Samhita). (13 vols.) New Delhi, India:

Veda Pratishthana, 1977.

Vivekananda, Swami. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda. (8 vols.)

Calcutta, India: Advaita Ashrama, 15th ed, 1977.

AUTHOR

MRINAL BALI IS a retired engineer and school teacher. He lives in USA and India.