|
Sanatana Dharma
Action is what drives karma rather it's selfless action, daily duties, or anything really. This is a simple technique that anyone can use. Good actions are rewards in themselves. Live with passion and follow your heart. Renunciation is a Hindu approach to gain mastery over the mind body and soul. One with this kind of control can develop supernatural powers.
"If man is to progress spiritually, he must have religious ideals suited to him. Forcing him to follow ideas for which he is not fit will only result in harm and spiritual death. The Gita realizes that for those who are full of desires and want enjoyment, these sacrifices are useful; for such people must have some enjoyment, and have their desires fulfilled to a certain extent, before they can tread the path of desirelessnes, which is the goal of spiritul life."
The Hindu religion is an ocean of spiritual teachings about all aspects of life and consciousness. It's the world's oldest religion, going back to the very dawn of history. It sees its origin in the cosmic mind itself. Yet Hinduism is also perhaps the world's youngest religion because it emphasizes the authority of living teachers and allows for correction and evolution over time.
Hinduism is the most diverse religious tradition in the world. It could be said that there are probably more religions inside of Hinduism than outside of it. It has numerous saints, sages, and yogis, both male and female, from ancient to modern times, and today still has what is probably the largest number of monks and renunciates (including a number of Westerners). The recent Hindu religious gathering, the Kumbha Mela of January 2001, had tens of millions of people in attendance. It was the largest gathering of any type and the largest religious gathering in the history of the world.
Hinduism is the world's largest non-biblical tradition, with nearly a billion followers worldwide. It could be called the world's largest non-organized religion as it emphasizes individual spiritual experience, the realization of the higher Self over any religious institution, book, dogma, or savior. It's also the world's largest native or pagan tradition, reflecting the ancient spiritual traditions that once existed all over the world. Like native traditions everywhere, it honors God or the sacred throughout all nature. It has many insights in harmony with the ecological age, as it affords reverence to the Earth as a conscious and loving presence and asks us to respect our environment.
Hinduism contains the world's oldest and largest tradition of Goddess worship- worshipping the Divine not only as father but also as mother. It recognizes all the diverse forms of the Goddess and her powers of wisdom, beauty, strength, love, and compassion.
Perhaps most notably, Hinduism is the world's largest pluralistic tradition, recognizing One Truth- an eternal reality of Being-Consciousness Bliss in all beings- but also many paths to realize it. Hinduism recognizes theism (the belief in One Creator) but only as one portion of the human religious experience that includes polytheism, pantheism, monism, and even atheism. As the most inclusive of the world's great religions, Hinduism has room for all these views and yet guides us through these to Self-realization that transcends them all.
Hinduism has probably the world's oldest and largest literature of spirituality, mysticism, and yoga. It provides a complete spiritual culture including art, dance, sculpture, medicine, and science, with all these subjects explained according to a science of consciousness.
Hinduism has a view of the universe in time and space that is compatible with modern science. Aspects of the Hindu tradition such as Yoga, Vedanta, Ayurveda, and Vedic astrology are already popular in the West. Hindu terms such as guru, mantra, shakti, prana, kundalini, and chakra have entered into the English language. Great gurus from the Hindu tradition such as Ramana Maharshi, Yogananda, Ramakrishna, Shivananda, Aurobindo, and Mahatma Gandhi have extensive followings and much respect in the West today.
There are now nearly two million Hindus of Indian origin in the United States, as well as significant numbers in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the Caribbean, with Hindu temples in most of the main cities of the United States. this Hindu group is one of the wealthiest and best educated in the West and contains many successful scientists, computer engineers, and doctors. India itself, the home of most Hindus, is the second largest country in the world and is expected to be a major superpower in the coming century.
-Dr. David Frawley (Pandit Vamadeva Shastri)
Author, Yoga and Ayurveda, Hinduism, the Eternal Tradition,
Director, American Institute of Vedic Studies
|
