Mahavira

Leave a Comment / enlightenment, religion, The Limbs of Yoga, Yamas, Yoga Teachers

The Founder of Jainism

Mahavira or Varhamana was the 24th and last Tirthankara (person who has conquered Samsara) of Jainism, therefore the founder, or reformer of the Jain religion. Mahavira, like the legends of the

buddha, was born into a royal family in Bihar, India. The name Mahavira means great warrior, though in youth Mahavira received what he desired, his father being the king. Some traditions state that he was celibate, some that he married, but most agree that he was born in 599 BCE achieved moksha in 527.

Mahavira spent 30 years traveling through India to teach his philosophy with eight cardinal laws. Mahavira abandoned his royal life at the age of thirty. Over the next twelve years, Mahavira honed his senses and killed his desires so that he became all-knowing and all-seeing in the eyes of his disciples. He taught that pursuit of pleasure is endless, equanimity of mind, and self-restraint as a means to obtain enlightenment of the greater population. At the age of 72, in 527 BCE Mahavira died and is said to have obtained nirvana.

Mahavira taught 8 core tenets, which correspond to other teachings you are likely familiar with in the aim to increase quality of life. The eight teachings are: ahimsa (giving the highest respect and most possible kindness to each being), Satya (truthfulness, which leads to confidence), Asteya (non-stealing, one should not take anything if not properly given), Bramacharya (control over sexual pleasure), and Aparigraha (non-attachment). Sound familiar? These are the 5 yamas, or the first limb of yoga. It’s interesting to think that the two religions overlapped, but in truth, all religions do in one way or another.

Mahavira was intensely intellectual and even the Buddha is argued to be one of his mentors. He paved the way for all of Jainism and for the religions of India to flourish during the next hundreds of years. He taught a philosophy of enlightened society that was influential and coincided with traditions that would last India until the modern-day.

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The Buddha

Leave a Comment / Deities, enlightenment, meditation, religion, yoga history

Siddhartha Gautama

Siddhartha Gautama, or the buddha, is the sage whose teachings were interpreted to form Buddhism. ‘Buddha’ means awakened one, or enlightened one and is titular for the first awakened being of an age. Siddhartha is the supreme buddha (Sanskrit सिद्धार्थ गौतम | samyaksaṃbuddha) and taught a middle way between the opposing philosophies of indulgence and asceticism in the eastern regions of India in about BCE. Most of the traditions of Buddhism were passed down by oral tradition through monasteries and about 400 years later were committed to writing. The majority of scholars today believe that he did indeed live during the Mahajanapada|महाजनपद era in India thus making him a younger contemporary of Mahavira, the Jain teacher.

The Buddha had teachers, many that are very notable: Alara Kalama, Udaka Ramaputta who appear to have taught him meditative techniques. He was also influenced by many contemporary thinkers like Purana Kassapa, Makkhali Gosala, Ajita Kesakambali, Pakudha Kaccayana, Sanjaya Belatthaputta, and the Vedic Brahmins. There are many traditional biographies that historians disagree with, but that are very interesting for understanding the religion as a whole.

The Buddhacarita is an epic Sanskrit poem by Asvaghosa, who wrote in classical Sanskrit. The Lalitavistara Sutra, Mahavastu, and the Nidanakatha are other accounts of the Buddha’s life, leading to different traditions and accounts.

He was born a Sakya, either in Uttar Pradesh India, Nepal, or Piprahwa, but tradition states him as being born in Lumbini, Nepal. The Buddha denied being man or god, but the stories of the scholars bring light to the man after whom the religion is based.

His story was elaborated upon time and again in tradition after tradition, but the ending is always the same: Siddhartha sits under the Bodhi tree for 49 days and becomes enlightened. The buddha awakes. He realized the cause of suffering and how to eradicate it with use of the four noble truths striving to attain Nirvana|निर्वाण or the ultimate stillness. Hindus refer to this as an extreme egolessness, or quietness of the mind and unison with Brahman. The buddha described it as perfect peace.

The buddha lived and taught for a long time, and his death seemed to be somewhat voluntary, though his last meal might have been pork. Tradition even dictates that he may have been somewhat sexist, refusing women into his following at first. At first, the buddha didn’t even want to teach! He doubted that human could grasp the subtlety of his message, or the intricate complexity of its meanings.

The authenticity of much of the buddhist religion’s traditions are in question, but they seem to be at least based on the original Gautama. The core principle of buddhism, dhyana, or object-based meditation is maintain across all traditions, as is the concept of liberating insight. However, scholars believe that the buddha’s teachings were likely personal and that the eightfold path and four truths may have been expounded upon after the buddha’s passing. Many find evidence only for a middle path or middle way. Some Hindus regard the buddha as the ninth incarnation of Vishnu.

The stories you have heard and likely largely exaggerations of the buddha’s birth and upbringing. There really was a buddha, very long ago, though his teaching was likely very different from its depiction today and was likely very personalized to each individual, though he never claimed to be a god. This remains one of the core tenets of Buddhism, that there is no god and that the universe is somewhat tailored to each of us individually, though we are part of a larger whole. Humans are subject to the wild laws of karma and continue in samsara until we achieve moksha, or liberation. For more on the religion, please see my article on buddhism.

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ब्रह्मन्/Brahman, God, and Death

1 Comment / enlightenment, Hindu Dieties, hinduism, philosophy, religion, Sanskrit, self-realization, yoga philosophy

Brahman is a Hindu concept describing the energy force behind the universe, the unchanging truth of why the universe is, and the source behind it. This is very different from the god Brahma, who is known as the creation aspect of the divine pantheon and is a part of the Trimurti with Shiva and Vishnu. He is not regarded in quite the same way as the great cosmic spirit, which is everlasting and greater even than the Hindu deities as the source behind creation and sustenance of the cosmos.

Jiva-muktis or liberated beings are human beings that have realized Brahman and thus their become aware of their true self; described as consciousness bliss and the highest achievable reality. However, this type of self-actualization does not accord with the Buddhist ideals of enlightenment, nirvana, which denote an awareness of the nothingness inside and with this awareness great peace and release from suffering.

Brahman in modern-day Hinduism denotes absolute reality, unchanging, the source and return of all things. Within the Hindu religion, this is an argued point and even Buddhism denotes Brahman’s as divine forms having attained Nirvana. Certain Buddhist and Hindu schools seem to collide here, though it happens later in the Buddhist tradition when scholars begin to identify Nirvana with Brahman. But the Buddha seems to have rejected the idea, saying that the desire from Brahman leads to suffering. He could find no evidence of the personal, or cosmic soul. Jains completely reject the idea of a creator god, because the universe has always been.

Brahman denotes the cosmic god that many people of the modern west refer to as “the universe”. It is the idea of cosmic divine energy that is representing when saying Namaste and recognizing the divine in another. In this way, Brahman is inherently Hindu because of their belief in the divine unison of all things.

Atman is a Sanskrit word that means inner-self or inner soul. To obtain liberation, a human must acquire self-knowledge to realize that one’s true self is identical with that of the transcendent Brahman. This refers to the Hindu idea of breaking down the body to get to the divine soul within. This is the Hindu path to enlightenment, through one of the schools of yoga. It is through realization of the Brahman within that on attains enlightenment, according to the Hindu traditions.

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Hinduism vs. Buddhism

2 Comments / hinduism, meditation, mindfulness, philosophy, religion, The Limbs of Yoga, yoga history

Comparing two religions in their similarities, differences, and the in-between

“Can you do a simple comparison of Hindu versus Buddhism at some time in the future?” -Inga D

This article comes from a request from my good friend Inga, thanks for the great idea!

Most of my experience with these two religions is based upon my knowledge of their holy texts and the philosophy I have gained through school and yoga. I am extremely excited to experience these religions more fully in about 3 weeks when I leave for India. Kathmandu is supposedly a fusion of Hindu and Buddhist traditions and I will be there from April 3rd to the 17th.

Hinduism and Buddhism seem to come from a shared ancestry, both place an enormous amount of emphasis on non-violence amongst other core tenets. Both are more lifestyle oriented ways of life rather than simply belief systems and have origins in Ganges culture of northern India during about 500 BCE.

Buddhism supposedly focuses on the teachings of a single teacher while Hinduism’s teachings are from scattered sources, but there are many influences that are shared, or responded to in the Buddhist religion. For instance, the Upanishads seemed to be responded to by many Buddhist tenets and in fact, most Hindus consider Buddhism to be an offshoot of their religion, considering the Buddha to be an avatar of Vishnu.

Even the meditational 7th and 8th limbs of yoga, Dharana and Samadhi and shared as meditation foundations in Buddhism. Both religions believe that life is full of suffering based on your prior karma and that it is your purpose to follow Dharma, or your righteous path which leads to enlightenment, or freedom from suffering. Both religions reject the idea of angels (protective spirits), or prophets, tend to be extremely open to female ascetics (more so in Buddhism), and both are open to atheists. Click for more information on Hinduism or Buddhism.

Now onto major differences in the religions, we’ll start with what could be the basis of all religions: god and creation. Hinduism believes that god is in everything, that all beings are a part of the Brahman, or eternal energy source of the universe. Therefore, there are a handful of primary deities and many accessory deities in the Hindu pantheon of gods. Buddhism, on the other hand, believes that there is no creator god and that at the core of the human, there is nothing. They explicitly reject a creator god and do not pay heed to any delusions of god that other religions may have, though they respect the beliefs of other religions. Jainism, which has many shared roots with both religions, teaches a sustaining god at the source of the universe who has always been and always will be. This seems to the biggest difference in religions.

The second, and arguably most important difference in the two religions are the tenets of enlightenment. Hindus believe enlightenment is liberation from Samsara to be one with god while Buddhists believe that Nirvana is truly realization of the nothing within, giving freedom from suffering by realizing the freedom of nothingness.

The third major difference is within the meditation practices of each religion, most likely because of the different ways liberation is obtained. Buddhists practice meditation with liberating cognition, or thought patterns, while Hindus practice to slow the mind and to cease thought. Because god is at the source of nothing, focusing on nothing is focusing on god, opposed to Buddhism in which focusing on nothing would not be liberating. The Buddha was the one to express a constant mindfulness, rather than one that would be turned on to practice yoga and meditation, then off during the rest of the day which was a big leap from the philosophy of the Upanishads.

Both religions believe in miscellaneous deities, though Hinduism is the only one to accept them as more than illusion. Hinduism can even have personal gods, as well as personal pantheons of gods. Many Hindu believers belief in thousands, if not millions of different gods, depending on their tradition. Neither puts an intense focus on these devas, or illusory gods, but both are reverent towards the beliefs of the individual.

Hinduism tends to be stricter in practice, at least from the original tenets of Buddhism. Hindus will be extremely mindful while during their rituals, exacting, meticulous, and during yoga you can see that there is a flexion of focus and mindfulness. Buddhists take this concept and apply it constantly, always striving for greater mindfulness, even during things like defecation and chores. Buddhists use the mind as a tool for exploration, while Hindus generally think of the mind as a hinderance from enjoying the pleasures of god.

The most impactful religious knowledge is made more powerful in conjunction with knowledge from different religious traditions and with global perspective on humanity. In other words, combining multiple religions to take the best aspects of each can lead to the most powerful realizations about our shared existence as humans and can help us to unveil our nature and hopefully, to find freedom from the sufferings of this world, in one way or another.

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Questioning Faith

Leave a Comment / art, detachment, holy books, mindfulness, religion, storytelling, Writing

“This is what happens when you give yourself to love completely, my son” the priest sighed, continuing to stare at the crucifix. His own distaste at the particularly vivid depiction was apparent. It was almost like Jesus was there.

The boy, only eight, looked up again at the statue, hung over the altar in the center of the church. He wondered how they had lifted it there. He was so used to seeing the crucifix that it had almost no effect on him. It’s not that he didn’t love Jesus, but he didn’t understand what it meant. Why was this nice man, who had helped many people, killed for what he had done? And why was everyone so concerned about it? He had learned about Albert Einstein in second grade, he had done a book report on him. Why wasn’t Albert Einstein in the church? He had also learned about Gandhi in first grade, and also wondered why Gandhi wasn’t in the church. There were lots of people he had never heard of, Peter, Judas, Luke, Matthew, but none of the people he had learned about in his history classes.

“Father, I don’t understand, why is Jesus the one above the altar? We learned about mother Theresa and Gandhi, and Martin Luther King in school. Why aren’t they in the church, or above the altar?”

“Well, my son, there are really many reasons why Jesus is your savior.”

“My savior?” said the boy. “What does that mean?”

“That means he came to Earth, to save you from your sins.”

“What sins father?” said the boy. He obviously did not understand.

“Whenever a human is born, they are born with sin my son. This is the story of Adam and Eve, in the book of Genesis. Eve, the woman, bit the apple when she was tempted by satan, the serpent, and unearthed the path of knowledge for humanity. This is our essential flaw, that our ancestors chose for us.”

“But I don’t want to be bad father! I want to be good, like Jesus, and Mary, and Joseph!”

“Then ask Jesus for forgiveness, my son. I can help you with this.” The priest said with a kind smile. “I have studied Jesus for my whole life, so we can talk about him together.” The priests smile grew with each word, excited to help this child learn more about god and Jesus.

“Aren’t we talking about him right now?” said the boy.

“Well, you need to confess your sins. Otherwise, god cannot forgive you.”

“But if god already knows my sins, like you said today when you said god is all-powerful, all-knowing, all-knowing and all-forgiving, doesn’t he just forgive me? I don’t mean to forget my homework, or leave my gym shorts at home, so won’t god just forgive me?”

“No my son. You need to recognize your sins as sins in order for them to be forgiven. You have to ask, god will answer in his own way.”

“So if I ask god for a new bike, he’ll give me one if I’m good?!?” the boy said with newfound enthusiasm in his eyes. The priests smile faded into a heart laugh, full of empathy.

“No, my son, god does not work like that.”

“So I can ask for forgiveness and he gives it without question, but he won’t give me a new bike if I’m good? What gives? I thought god was all-powerful and if I’m good, I think I should get a bike. Don’t you, father?”

“Things appear in our lives when they are meant to my son. God will give you this gift if he sees fit to award you with it. And yes son, I think you should get a bike. Maybe you should talk to your parents about it.”

“Good idea!” the boy said enthusiastically, but the priest could tell that he still had questions.

“What else concerns you, my son? Why do you look like you are still in contemplation. Can I answer any more questions for you?” he said slowly, making sure the boy felt comfortable to express his feelings. He prided himself on making his church safe and available for the youth, after all, they are the future.

“Well, I still don’t understand what made Jesus so special. Why can’t I be like Jesus? I want to do miracles and help the poor and teach people about happiness and love, just like him!”

“Jesus was special my son. He is god’s son and he sacrificed himself, despite his own divinity, to show humanity the power of love.” He gestured to the altar. “This is the ultimate love, my son.”

“But so did Martin Luther King and all of the martyrs. I just don’t understand why Jesus was different from them.” the boy looked ashamed and hung his head.

“Doubt is a part of faith my son. It makes you stronger, there is no shame.” He held the boy’s head up and looked into his eyes. “Jesus was different, because he chose. He knew that he was going to die, yet he chose to continue on his path. That is what makes him special, son. That is why he was the son of god.” The priest released his gaze and looked back to the cross. “He chose to suffer, to come to Earth, to teach us how to love, despite knowing that he would be crucified.”

“Wow.” The boy sat for a moment in thought. “So while he was in heaven, he decided that he would go to Earth, even though he would be tortured and killed? So Jesus knows the future?”

“Of course, my son. Jesus and God are the same.”

“But why didn’t god to come to tell us himself? Why did he need to have a son?”

“Because God does not take human form, my son. His divinity is too complete. Jesus needed to be sent so that we could see and understand.”

“But doesn’t that mean that he isn’t all powerful? If he had to send his son instead of himself, then he couldn’t come to teach us, right?” the boy now looked confused and disappointed. His brow was heavy.

The priest took his time to respond. He knew that his answer would be important, “I don’t think it is a question of power, or of god not being powerful enough to come himself. Jesus is god in human form. They are the same, there is no difference.”

“But Jesus died,” the boy said with certainty. “Doesn’t that mean that god died?”

The priest looked down. No one had ever asked him this before. “Well, god can’t die son. In the same way, Jesus can’t die. That’s why he rose from the dead. Because he was God, and death has no power over God.”

“But Jesus isn’t around now… If he was all-powerful, why did he only stay for 40 days after he died and was resurrected, instead of living for all of eternity with humanity? Wouldn’t that be more representative of his love, rather than dying for sins? He could still talk to us and teach us so much! He could be the world leader!”

“That’s not how it works, son.”

“How do you know? You aren’t Jesus, maybe you don’t know him as well as you think…”

“Son, I have spent my life studying Jesus’ work. I eat, sleep, and live by his work. Why do you think I don’t know Jesus?” the priest said with serious consternation. The smile was gone.

“Well, what if he is different from the stories. I mean, what makes the Bible different from any other book? I really don’t understand it, because my mom showed me the Veda and some Buddhist scriptures, and they have the same stories as the bible. What makes it so special?”

“Well, son, it was written by God.” The priest’s smile returned in full force.

“How do you know?” The priest’s smile faded into a frown, to match the boy’s seriousness. The priest could tell that he wasn’t going to stop.

“Faith, my son. I believe the Bible was written by god, and therefore I study it and live by it.” the priest talked slowly and deliberately, making sure to put some serious resonance in his voice.

“So you just believe? You don’t think about it? It’s really hard for me to believe that someone was eaten by a whale and lived, or that Jesus rose someone from the dead father. How can you just believe these things?” The boy looked concerned, confused, and frustrated, all at the same time.

“I do think about it son. But my faith is greater. So I believe in these godly. So that my soul can find eternal repose in Heaven, with God and Jesus.”

“Father, I just don’t understand. What if they are wrong and you have wasted your life worshipping Jesus as God when he was like you and me and Martin Luther King? A human, and not a God?”

“Son, now its my turn to play the skeptic.” As the priest spoke, a wry smile came to his lips, though it was a grin of understanding, rather than deceit.

“My boy, I can see God within you, even as we speak. His will is strong in you and the strong question, search, and decide for themselves. So I will tell you what I learned from Voltaire, ‘I believe in God because if he does exist, I will be eternally rewarded in heaven. If God does not exist, then there is nothing after death and my faith will have not mattered in the first place.’”

The boy looked strongly at the priest, as though he was deciding something. Then, without warning, he hugged the priest. “Thank you, father.”

Then the boy walked from the church, unconvinced and uncertain, but knowing that he could return whenever he needed to.

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You don’t need to be Saved

Leave a Comment / happiness, mindfulness, philosophy, religion, yoga, yoga philosophy

This article might offend you if you are Christian, so if you are, you are forewarned.

There is one concept that exists within all of the Judeo-Christian religions that I completely disagree with and I believe is consistently misinterpreted as a foundation for the faith that accompanies the religions that stem from Abraham. Original sin. This cascades from the book of genesis into the entire religious tradition and causes a separation between humans and their environment as “the land of the corrupted”. It makes the entire world evil, because at the core of the human race, there is this flaw described in Genesis as the fruit of knowledge.

I think that somewhere along the line, mis-interpretations led to ignorance of the original meaning behind the story, that man is caretaker of his land. We are unifiers, creators, builders, sustainers, and our gift of intelligence means that we must learn how to sustain the system that we are a part of. And to view the entire world as flawed and sinful by nature, must be very depressing, hopeless, except for the afterlife, which leads to a tremendous fear of death and precipitation upon the moment of exiting this realm of consciousness (or going to heaven, whatever).

So what I am saying is, there is no original flaw, just the chaos of the universe, which people like to interpret themselves as the victim of until they are let into the pearly gates for their subjugation of suffering in this world. The truth is, this world is suffering, and yet, that is what makes it so beautiful. Without conflict, there is nothing. So rejoice in the somethingness, the thereness, the presence, instead of worrying about what is not, what could be or what should be. It’s not that you don’t want to think about how things might be different, but looking back can only take you to imperfect and subjectively biased memory, so let go.

There is nothing wrong with you. You are not a sinner. And that idea was developed by humans to try to teach people how to live more fruitfully and harmonically with their neighbors. That is the biggest reason why the 10 commandments were developed by men, influenced by the code of Hammurabi. You are an animal, like a dog, just a whole hell of a lot smarter. Think of how lazy you like to be, you can sit in bed all day, no problem. We all can, we do it when we are sick. I have this argument with people a lot, but I really don’t think humans are too much smarter than animals. Maybe I am biased because of my language major, but I honestly believe that the only major difference between a human and an animal is our language processing which leads to increased complexity of social interactions which has led us to a collective consciousness, which is now directed mostly by interactions on the internet.

I am a big fan of Jesus’ work, however, I don’t like the church or any formalized establishment that claims to teach Jesus’ work because he was inherently anti-establishment. I don’t think he would be super stoked about the church, at all. I also think that he would be pretty pissed at Joel Osteen for being such a tremendous douchebag. I mean, go to his website, it looks like the ’08 Obama campaign, “Give hope”, “hope now”, “encourage yourself to be more encouraging” and all of that self-improvement bullshit that really only has to do with you wasting your time and money listening to his voice, which is probably really enjoyable for some people.

So yeah, I think our friend Jesus would be pretty fucking pissed at how things have turned out with his teachings, from misinterpretations to blatant disregard for metaphorical storytelling and mythological literature. There are no magic tricks, apart from the love the Jesus teaches being transformative in the highest degree, but let me ask you, have you ever felt this love at church? Blinding light, bliss, peace, nothingness? I don’t think this kind of stuff happens at church, but it definitely does in mediation, and if you look back to Jesus’ 40 days in the desert, what the fuck you do think he was doing out there? Enjoying the blistering sun and probably big lack of water and proper sanitation? No way, he was probably breaking down his body and mind so that he could discover the core of his humanity and become aware of the awe-inspiring forces at work inside of his body and mind. (which if you think logically about what humans have written about god, it has to be self-referential to the life that already exists, because we are essentially the top of the food chain)

So why the hell do people go to church, when it wasn’t ever mentioned by the propagator of the religion. “Yeah” he said. “Go once a week, then when you die, you be let into an all inclusive resort on a cloud with a big golden gate and everyone you’ve ever met will be to congratulate you on your life”. The kingdom of heaven that Jesus was talking about had nothing to do with death! He was talking about the mental state of consciousness when you exist in this world. He was explaining relative psychology and true happiness, not some technique for ensure that you can life forever in heaven.

If Jesus were still alive, and you asked him to save you, what do you think he would say? He would probably say something like, “Why do you need me to free yourself to live in the liberation of the kingdom of heaven.” In other words, it’s all in your own head, if you want something to change, then go change it. But there is nothing wrong with you to begin with that you have to change.

Acceptance for the chaos of the world and willingness to continue on will save you from your own thoughts. You don’t have to know what happens after you die, you don’t have to think about the bad things you’ve done to become a better person. All you need is the somethingness of the present moment and a big breath in to enjoy your consciousness.

This is how I think about things so I am really not sorry for expressing myself. Come practice some yoga with me sometime!

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Jainism | जैन धर्म

Leave a Comment / history, religion, yoga, yoga philosophy

Jainism is an Indian religion devoted to the practice of Ahimsa, self-control, and self-discipline and teaches that these are the pathways to liberation. Jainism is non-theistic, and modern Jainism is divided into two sects, Digambara and Svetambara. Jainists are renowned for their literacy and education and have the highest degree if literacy of any religious community in India and their manuscripts are the oldest in the country. Jain’s do not believe in a creator god, rather view the universe as eternal and self-sustaining; their proofs use logic and syllogism to refute creationist theories which have been used as examples in science and literature even in recent times. The goal of the religion is to achieve Moksha, liberation from the cycles of rebirth, where one is no longer interested in the functionings of the universe and attains nirvana.

A long time ago, Jainism was one of the most popular religions in India. Jains trace their lineage through a succession of twenty-four tirthankaras who created the religion, with Rishabha being the first and Mahavira the last. The religion has been in decline since the 8th Century because of the expansions of Hinduism and Islam and their oppression over the Jain religion.

Jainism is derived from the Sanskrit word Jin which means ‘to conquer’. This is a conquest over the desires, passions, and pleasures of the senses to win liberation, a victor is known as a Jina, or conqueror. Jaina Dharma (जैन धर्म) is another name for the religion which prescribes equality for all of life, a path of complete ahimsa, and emphasizes spiritual independence, intelligence, and exploration of subjective truth.

There is a body of wisdom taught by all Tirthankara known as the purvas. Due to the exclusively oral tradition of these teachings, they were lost during the ages due to famine that caused the death of many of the Jainist saints. The Jain Agamas are the canonical texts of the religion, comprised for forty-six works based of Mahavira’s teachings, who was the last Tirthankara. Jains encourage higher education their philosophy has had great impact on Indian culture.

The fundamental doctrines of Jainism are revolutionary: The Jain’s call the universe ‘Loka’ meaning world and say that it was not created, but has existed since infinity and has neither beginning nor end; Jains also believe that the universe is made up of six dravya, or substances called Jiva, Pugdala, Dharma-dravya, Akasa, and Kala; the Kalacakra or spinning wheel of time is eternal and beginningless; there are three dimensions of the universe, Urdhva Loka, upper world, Madhya Loka, middle world, and Adho Loka, lower world; Their concept of truth is called anekantavada, referring to the idea of subjective truths and that life is viewed with very limited perception which humans may have in much more limited quantities than we normally consider. These are only a few of the philosophical subjects that Jainism tackles with its theoretic metaphysics. I will be writing another article on them shortly, check back in a couple weeks.

Jain’s believe strongly in the cultivation of wisdom, knowledge, and education. They believe in five core principles: ahimsa, non-violence; satya, truth; asteya, non-taking; brahmacharya, refrain from sexual activity; and aparigraha, non-possessiveness. Worshippers of Shiva and the Buddha are the main reasons for Jainism’s decline, they were violent and contemptuous towards the Jain ascetics. The Vaishnava sects of Hinduism and the growth of Hinduism itself are what drove the decline of Jainism. Today, there are about 4.2 million around the world, spread throughout mostly Asia.

The Jains primary mantra is that of a prayer towards the good qualities of the gods, monks, and towards their spiritual teachers throughout the universe, praising and respecting their good qualities. The prayer is recited as follows:

Namo Arihantanam
Namo Siddhanam
Namo ayariyanam
Namo Uvajjhayanam
Namo Loe Savva sahunam
Esopancanamokkaro, savvapavappanasano
Mangalanam e savvesim, padamama havai mangalam

Jains fast and meditate often; monasticism is encouraged and respected deeply. Followers have neither possessions nor homes, but wander from place to place traveling barefoot without using any services and only accept food that is offered to them. Jains spend four months not traveling and wandering, known as Chaturmas when they teach the communities they join about religion and observe the rules from the Kalpa Sutra.

Jainism is one of the most interesting and unique religions in the world, currently it is making a resurgence in eastern Europe and various places in Asia. Its concepts are fascinating and I haven’t even gotten to half of them yet, stay tuned for my next article on Jain philosophy and probably another on Jain cosmology. I am really hoping that I can find more information when I get to India, although I don’t know how much of an influence Jainism will have in Mysore.

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Buddhism

1 Comment / happiness, religion, yoga philosophy

Buddhism is named after the Buddha, Siddhartha Gautama, who lived in about 500 CE. He was recognized as the enlightened one, or more literally, “awakened one”. He taught those who followed him how to avoid ignorance and suffering by the paths of knowledge and understanding. By obtaining truth and awareness, they would be granted nirvana, bliss and would become enlightened.

The Buddha was born into a wealthy family; when he was young his father, King Suddhodana, shielded his son from all suffering, because wise men had foretold that the young prince, his son, would become a buddha. His father wanted Siddhartha to become a powerful ruler, so he showered his son in wealth and luxury. But the future Buddha became disillusioned and made four trips outside of his palace free from suffering. On these trips, he saw sickness, then old-age, then death. He despaired; “how can I enjoy luxury when there is so much suffering in the world?” (note the difference between Christ’s acceptance of poverty and suffering in the gardens of Gethsemane). On his fourth trip, the Siddhartha saw a wandering monk who had given up everything he owned to end to suffering. He left his kingdom to wander and find an end to suffering, as the monk had done.

Siddhartha cut his hair and called himself Gautama and for six years he wandered, trying to find the wisest of men to study under. He found no one. For six years he practiced severe asceticism eating almost nothing, until he realized that his hardships would not lead him anywhere. He ended his fast and sat under a Bodhi tree on a full moon, where he began to meditate. But Mara, the evil one, found Siddhartha and tempted him, first with his daughters of desire, then with lightning, rain, wind, and storms, and finally with his demon armies of flame and fire. One by one, the Buddha stood his ground, unmoving from his meditation, defeating them with his virtue.

When the struggle ended, the Buddha gained the most supreme knowledge and wisdom, having cultivated a deep and unceasing awareness. He became the Buddha, or enlightened one, and from then on he was called Shakyamuni Buddha.

“All living beings have the buddha nature and can become buddhas. But you must do your own work, because I can only show you the way.” This is a combination of two quotes from the Buddha that I believe most completely encloses Buddhism. The religion is communally based, on teaching like compassion, love, forgiveness, and teaches detachment from the pleasures of the senses, very similarly to Patanjali’s yoga system. You can see that the Buddha, Patanjali, and Jesus are all very alike in their actual teachings and that there is a tremendous amount of overlap between the three. While they do overlap, each has lessons that are not contained in the other two. All three written collections of work were collected after the death of the primary figure, so much is unknown about each primary figure of the religion. The Buddha’s work was passed down in oral tradition for about 400 years, then transcribed in monasteries.

The Buddha’s teaching is called the middle-way and calls for balance in every aspect of life especially between sensual indulgence and severe asceticism. He taught that the causes of suffering are greed and ignorance and that cause desire for the wrong things and ignorance of the laws of Karma and the function of the universe.

He taught the four Noble Truths, still held by Buddhists today:

There is suffering that is common to all (babies are born crying, no one wants to die, when we are sick we are miserable, and when we grow old we have pains in the body).
We are the cause of our own suffering
To end suffering, we must stop doing what causes suffering
The path to end suffering can be followed by all, everyone can be enlightened

The path to end suffering is known as The Noble Eightfold Path, which is represented by a wheel with eight spokes (see right), representing the eight parts of the path, which continues to spin throughout one’s life. The goal is to reach the center of the wheel, also known as Nirvana, or the supreme bliss. This can be equated to Samadhi in yoga, or the ultimate bliss of existence, the highest peaks of meditation. In the eightfold path, samyaksamādhi is known as right concentration which is meditation that leads to increased awareness. Just like every spoke of the wheel is needed for a wheel to keep turning, so is every path needed to attain nirvana.

The eight paths are as follows:

Right View – to see the world through wisdom and compassion, or the eyes of the Buddha
Right Thought – we are a result of what we think; clear and kind thoughts build good and strong character
Right Speech – speaking kindly and helpfully creates respect and trust from others
Right Conduct – our words are only words, others know us from the way we behave. Before criticizing others, we must examine ourselves internally
Right Livelihood – choose a job that does not harm others, do not seek happiness in the unhappiness of others
Right Effort – a fulfilling life means doing our best at all times and having goodwill towards others and not wasting efforts on things that harm ourselves or others
Right Mindfulness – being completely aware of your words, deeds, and thoughts to allow cultivation of awareness of your self
Right Concentration – focus on one object or thought at a time, which will lead to a quiet and truly peaceful mind

Following the path is often compared to growing a garden, where the plants are wisdom, the mind is the ground, and the thoughts are the seeds. Deeds are the way one cares for the garden and our faults are weeds. Pulling the faults as close to the seed as we can so they don’t root into the mind will allow for the garden to grow fully and result in a harvest of love, happiness, and fulfillment.

There may be as many as 1.6 billion Buddhists in the world; it is recognized as one of the world’s fastest growing religions. Devotion is an extremely important part of the practice; you will often see people bowing before statues for long periods of time after a pilgrimage is made to a holy site, or chanting while an offering is burned at the feet of an altar. Buddhist monasteries are some of the oldest human organizations on the planet. They follow Dharma, or the eightfold path, and participate in Sangha, or the monk’s order. Most have obtained one of the four stages of enlightenment which are integrally tied to rebirth. For more on rebirth, see my article on Samsara.

Stream Enterer – Recognition of Dharma as the path; these beings will be reborn as at least humans
The Once Returner – one who has had less than seven lives. They have at least one more rebirth before they obtain Moksha, or freedom
The Non-Returner – this person does not come back to the world, but is birthed into one of the five higher planes of existence, known as Suddhavasa worlds, or “pure abodes” and there they obtain Nirvana
Arahant – a fully awakened person. This person has abandoned all sensual desires and will not be reborn; they are free from the clutches of Samsara. An Arahant has attained waking from the teachings of the Buddha; the title “Buddha” is reserved for Siddhartha Gautama, who discovered the path for himself.

This is Buddhism’s structure of enlightenment, you can also see some interesting world views in the teachings. Buddhists believe in reincarnation and are trying to obtain liberation from Samsara, the cycle of suffering and life, to achieve Moksha, freedom. Zen Buddhists are simply Buddhists that place extra emphasis on mediation, mostly in China, Korea, and Japan.

As you can see, there are tons of parallels and similarities in the eastern religions; Hinduism, Buddhism, and Jainism have a tremendous amount of overlap.

Honestly, I could write about this type of stuff all day, I could write a post just on the Buddha, or the eightfold path, or enlightenment, or a comparative article between Hinduism and Buddhism. Let me know what you want to read in the comments!

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