I loved reading this book a lot. I think this person should have a garland around him. Aspects of the book that caught my eye.
As a professor of philosophy and religion, I had been well acquainted with the west’s wisdom literature, but I was totally unprepared for the shock of discovering the Vedanta proposes different paths of life tailored to human temperaments –jnana for intellectuals, bhakti for the those emotional, karma for industrious individuals who like to work and raja for contemplative people who profit from meditating (p.11). This is so true. Jna yoga is for the knowledge seekers and understand this world through intellect. Bhakti yoga is for the people who have not had the opportunity of education and reason. Karma yoga, is for people who believe in science of action and karma in their lives past, present and future. And Raja yoga, is yoga and meditation for people who want to bring control of senses to desired aspirations and ideals in personal lives with their bodies. We are to choose or allowed paths that works best for us in our approach to God.
Vedanta quietly surfaces in the daily lives of Americans. Yoga, karma, meditation, enlightenment are now household words. How that came about needed to be documented, and Philip Goldberg has done just that (p.13). Amazing how much I am learning or learned from reading this book about a culture and terms that have evolved into main stream America.
As I plunged deeper into my study and began practicing meditation and yoga, my life changed for the better (p.14). I cannot validate what yoga and meditation does to the body (Bhagavad Gita encourages this in way one would profit from it), and it taps into the greater conscious or to have those connections or conversations that is oneness (or that makes us one) in the universe.
On Lisa Miller’s article “we are all Hindus now.” Certainly, Americans are not becoming Hindus, in the sense of attending rituals in Hindu temples, performing pujas at home altars, celebrating holidays such as Duvali (it is not Duvali or other popular way of referring to it as diwali, it is actually Deepavali, an array of lights or deepas) and shivaratri and praying to Ganesha or Lakshmi. But that is not what miller was referring to. Rather, she argued, large numbers of American have arrived at a world view consistent with a principle articulated in the ancient rig veda, which translated as “Truth is one, but the sages speak of it by many names” (p.15). I never would have understood this statement in my younger years, through my spiritual experience I have realized Truth is one, despite one’s life on timeline. This is true and of vedantic philosophy and not easy concept to understand, can only be understood through the process of spiritual life, though it is through living the natural state of our bodies to be with that spiritual truth.
Moreover, the most influential gurus and yoga masters who came to the west made a big point of saying they were not preaching Hinduism. They were Hindus themselves, ofcourse but they asserted that all could utilize their teachings without deserting their own religions. Indeed, the ideas and practices they proffered did not have to be viewed religiously at all; they could be seen as philosophy, psychology, a science or even a health care modality. This was not a marketing gambit; it was an honest pragmatic adaptation to the west (p.17). I think the popular cultural belief surrounding this is that there are many paths to God and people respect for one’s will what is spirituality in this world.
Buddhism and vedanta-yoga have interacted and overlapped intimately in the lives of American practitioners, many of whom have drawn liberally from both. Each has helped to legitimize the other, smoothing the way to mutual acceptance in the west. Their compatibility makes sense, given that buddhism is part of vedic legacy. Siddhartha Gautama, the man we call Buddha, was brought up in northern India and became a classic renunciate — a yogi, if you will. He was a reformer, much as Jesus was a reformer of the Hebraic tradition, and the religion that developed in his name stands in relation to Hinduism as Christianity does to Judaism (p.18). Very nicely explained.
Today in America limber men and women stride up the street carrying yoga mats. Doctors and therapists recommend meditation to manage stress. Newscasters toss out words like mantra and guru. Pop songs and TV shows refer to karma. Christians and Jews delve into their own mystical traditions on silent retreats. People call themselves “spiritual but not religious” (p.20). I find people calling themselves spiritual and not religious, as a priceless way to practice going inward to reflect on one’s body’s values without rejecting the higher power, and embraces the process of life.
India’s greatest gift has always been the knowledge of its ancient seers, who insights have never lost their power to astound and instruct. In the 1930’s the eminent historian will Durant wrote, “perhaps in the return for conquest, arrogance and spoliation, India will teach us the tolerance and gentleness of the mature mind, the quiet content of the unacquistive soul, the calm of the understand spirit, and unifying, pacifying love for all the living things” (P. 22). That is truly sweet. And to think of it as the India’s anthem the voice of people as India’s destiny and only a “truth seeker” would understand this. The way India understands God and God’s religion is the higher order of thinking that is one’s body journey to discover. Is it not the pacifying love for all living things is how people live without discriminating in this life with topics associated with God or religion or culture of India or that socialization.
The portions of India’s vast spiritual legacy that have most appealed to westerners are the philosophical system of Vedanta and mental and physical practices of yoga (p.22). To include mediation in our daily lives that is been the India’s spiritual legacy in the western world.
Vedanta literally means “end of the vedas” and refers to the culmination of that body of knowledge in the Upanishads, the Brahma sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita. Yoga typically refers to a collection of methodologies aimed at achieving spiritual transformation and culminating in the union of the individual and the divine. (The word derives from the Sanskrit for yoking or “joining”). Taken together, as they usually are in the practice, they constitute a science of consciousness (p.22). Very well said!
The vedantic principles that the west have adapted. 1. Ultimate reality is both transcendent and immanent, both one and many; God can be conceived in both personal and non personal terms, that is, as formless absolute and in numerous forms and manifestations. 2. The infinite divine, while ineffable, has been given number of names (brahman, allah, Lord, et cetera), descriptions and attributes. A line from the Rig Veda is frequently cited in this context: Ekam say vipraha bahudha vadanti, typically translated as “Truth is one, the wise call it by many names” and sometimes summarized as “one truth, many paths.” 3. The Ground of Being is also the essential nature of self. In the mahavakyas (great utterances) of the upanishads we read: ayam atma Brahma of the “This self is Brahman,” and the Tattvam asi or “thou art that.” 4. Our innate unity with divinity is obcured by ignorance; we identify with our individual egos, when our true identity is the transcendent self (which is Atman, which is Brhaman). 5. Individuals an awaken to their divine nature through any number of pathways and practices; no single one is right for everyone. 6. Spirituality is a developmental process, moving though a progressive series of stages; tangible benefits-joy, compassion, wisdom, peace–accrue in each. 7. Fully realizing one’s true nature brings an end to suffering in the state of liberation or enlightenment called moksha (p.24). I find 3 very fascinating from my own spiritual experience of meditating. That this self is the Brahman, to say the God conscious is one. And the idea of thou art that resonates with Adi Shankara’s Telugu song Brahmama oka te to show everyone and to say we are under the same dome of consciousness. I find this fascinating because meditating and tapping into that conscious I have observed that it is one and or the greater consciousness of the dome we are under, the sky, or that blue that you see in the candle light, or the Sun that even looks blue at times from the telescopes at Kittpeak, to me is the one truth with many paths. I am fascinated by the physical nature of bodies as it applies meditation and to one’s bodies transformation.
Perennialists and religious scholar Stephen Prothero, author of God is not one (p.24). I don’t know much about the subject of perennialists and might be interested in reading this.
Sri Aurobindo: “Indian religion has always felt that since the minds, the temperaments and the intellectual affinities of men are unlimited in their variety, a perfect liberty of thought of worship must be allowed to the individual in his approach to infinite” (p.25). In Gita too it says, people understand life according to their position in life. I love this statement and one of the reasons why I like the Vedanta order.
That emphasis on personalized pathway to the divine or for secularists, to personal growth –resonates with the American ethos of individual autonomy and freedom of choice (p.25). Reading this book, I have learned a great deal about myself and my own adaptation.
I was a political radical, a determined seeker of truth, and a confused mess who could not figure out how to live happily in society, much less comprehend any higher meaning or purpose. I had no use for religion, but I was disillusioned with Marx and Freud too. As the era’s social tension grew, so did my craving for fulfillment and relief. The descriptions of enlightened yogis and sublime faces on Buddhist statuary made me think, I want what those guys had. I wanted bliss. I wanted wisdom, infinite love, and union with the cosmos. I wanted peace and freedom — not just out there in the world, but inside (p.26). I find this intriguing that one could be a determined seeker of truth, want bliss and infinite love, and union with the cosmos and only for me to say and the evidence of it is possible through vedantic principals (or dwelling upon philosophy thought in vedanta books or meditation or yogic practices of India). Also, what one would want from the inside should resonate with the respect they feel for what is true of themselves.
What we hold to be true; try it, test it out, see if it works for you — no leap of faith is required, no belief in fanciful tales is necessary, and you need no wait for an afterlife reward (p26). I actually did not know that Christianity preaches about topics such as after life until recently. The idea I gather here the author wants to make is of being happy here and now rather than an after-life reward. The life here and now I have to say is never going to be constant with all that we have to live in this life, nor does it come in a bottle, medication but rather a physical and mental effort through yoga and meditation can definitely help with that situation, it is the healing process for the body. I must say this though a leap of faith (a belief in God or higher power) is required to conquer process or that mediation. It is kind of like this, all beings are in me and I am not in them as it is said in Gita. I never understood this statement going to temple from the time I was young and bringing my hand together for prayer, but that is what we are connecting to the source that is God. It is through space of mediation we are connecting with God. Only, to find that greater conscious is one is what makes this possible for us.
Form follows function (p.27). This could be debated in vedanta, it is function that follows or form that follows function. In it’s complete form religion serves five basic functions. Transmission, Translation, Transaction, Transformation, and Transcendence (p.27). I love it!
Many people also described an aha! moment upon hearing vedanta philosophy for the first time. It offered a way of understanding the divine that did not offend their sense of reason and require faith in the miraculous (p.27). True.
Each of us is “a spirit in the human body,” Winfrey says, and when she refers to God, she adds that one can just as well call it “source” or “universal energy” (p.31). This I find to be the truth but I am so far fascinated by this idea of spirit and how much of it there is of it in Christianity. Hinduism does not explain afterlife in this way. There is svargam which is associated with Indra, and nadra and diagouge that takes place as a connection between this world and on higher plane, and joy of material life, punishment and curse. There is also brindavan, there is truth to this as well which is also associated with attainment of heaven there really is a such a swing that is frequently depicted with Radha Krishna of Eternal Happiness. It is not the same svarga (heaven or a higher plane) with Moksha or Liberation. My understanding of own experience liberation is with one’s merit to it in this world (which is typical Indian belief). What I came to know is also simply the idea of liberation from this world, or leaving this world could very well be Moksha one’s merit from this world, having lived in this world, and spiritual process of after life to follow thereafter a reward. The existence of this world I want to say is that grand of life and adobes to spiritual life.
And while the word reincarnation is not particularly novel, this startling piece of data is: a 2004 Gallup poll found that 24 percent of American adults believe in it, including 10 percent of born again christians (p.34). I hundred percent believe in reincarnation. How one’s soul cycle’s through this universe and a bigger question I have is how we live in spirit, in the way heavens can hold all those truths.
The self is the indwelling of God (p.36). Very well said and priceless, only to realize this God is the greater consciousness that governs the spirit of this universe.
Today large numbers of people who never heard the word Vedanta are in outlook and practice vedantists. They view spirituality as a developmental process in which each person’s path must be constantly adjusted to suit his or her temperament, circumstances, and ever-evolving needs. What could be more American? (p.36) Did not realize this was American…..I feel included to know I am part of spirituality or culture that embraces our developmental process.
Inevitably the source of any assimilated import grows dim over time. As Americans do their math homework or computer their taxes, how many know that the numerical system they’re using was invented in India? In the case of vedanta-yoga, however, for getting the source would not only be sad — because India, having been demeaned through centuries of colonization, deserves the credit — but it could also diminish its potential benefit. The ideas and practices that shape the human soul are not like a spicy dish that can be altered in the kitchen with impunity. If we are careless in our adaptation, that nuanced principles of vendanta can easily get contaminated, the practices of yoga can lose their efficacy. It’s happening already. One of the purposes of this book is to make more visible the vedic footprint on western spirituality (p.37). People too often borrow ideas for their purpose, it is really sweet to acknowledge the vedic foot print on western spirituality in the way one also feel his affinity for India and people of India.
If Ralph Waldo Emerson had been the only American ever to read the sacred texts of India, the vedic impact on the nation would still have been huge. Far and away the country’s leading homegrown philosopher, Emerson has been called “the mind of America” by Yale scholar Harold Bloom. But that mind was shaped in large part by Asia. He was the first public thinker to openly embrace Eastern religous and philosophical precepts, which he blended with a range of other sources and his own fecund musings to produce an unrivaled body of work whose influence pervades the culture to this day. Because of Emerson and his direct heirs, Henry David Thoreau and Walt Whitman, millions of educated Americans have been touched by India since the mid-nineteenth century (p.39). So much to learn about here.
Indian philosophy was central to the ongoing education of Emerson and the Transcendentalists. Of the Bhagavad Gita he wrote in his 1831 journal, “It was the first of books; it was as if an empire spake to us, nothing small or unworthy, but large, serene, consistent, the voice of an old intelligence which in another age or climate had pondered and thus disposed of the same questions which exercise us.” He also read Sir William Jone’s poem “A Hymn to Narayana,” the essays and translations of contemporary Hindu reformer Ram Mohan Roy, and other works from and about India. “In all nations there are minds which incline to dwell in the conception of fundamental unity,” he wrote. “The raptures of prayer and ecstasy of devotion lose all being in the one being. This tendency finds its highest expression in the religious writings of the east, chiefly in the Indian scriptures.” The central message Emerson drew from his Asian studies, says Robert Gordon, was that “the purpose of life was spiritual transformation and direct experience of divine power here and now on earth,” That insight would shine from his writings and illuminate the lives of millions (p.45). The purpose of life is for that evolution, spiritual transformation, and connection with the divine in the way there is solace and that freedom to observe allows us the direct experience with the divine.
We are part and parcel of Bhraman, the conscious that is one and the words Aham brahmasmi from the upanishads (p.47 and p.48). Agreed!
In 1836 Emerson published a seminal essay, “nature,” that came to be called the Transcendentalist manifesto. It “was heavily debated, condemned by some, praised by others,” says Richard Geldard, author of The Essential Transcendentalists, and “it launched Emerson’s lecture career and America’s first home grown intellectual movement.” The essay proclaims that the invidual soul and the universal spirit (which he later named the over-soul) were one –a direct echo of vedanta’s “Atman is Brahman.” He backed the claim with his own transcendent experience: “standing on the bare ground, –my head bathed by the blithe air, and uplifted into infinite space, — all mean egotism vanishes. I become a transparent eye-ball; I am nothing; I see all; the currents of the universal being circulate through me; I am part or particle of God” (P.49). We all ultimately have to surrender to God in way our egotism vanishes or be experience to part and parcel of God under God’s greater dome.
As new religious America, “In Emerson himself the perspectives of the ancient Indian upanishads and the nineteenth century Transcendentalists came together, directing our human vision toward the oneness of spirit underlying the whole universe” (p.50).
From original sin to original bliss “Emerson took the revolutionary notion that men are essentially good, not fallen one step furthur,” Robert Gordon told me, “All human beings are essentially divine” (p.51). I don’t know much about original sin, I heard of being born sinners. The vedic religion and people of India think children are born with pure conscious. I don’t think all human beings are essentially divine, according to my experience in life, if I had to think about from the time I was child until now. This world is good and bad. I feel we are only potentially divine. There is ofcourse future in understanding divinity atleast for the people who gravitate to its principals to know they are ultimately the soul. What one has to live is good and bad in this world, though we are born with pure conscious, and there is truth to the idea we are potentially divine only to know we have to connect to that divine or divinity in our lives to understand this of our lives. Perhaps we can tap into that pure conscious and see it play in our lives or we are also free to choose how we want to identify with divinity in our lives also.
If, as has been said, Emerson was the mind of America, then perhaps Walt Whitman was its heart and Henry David Thoreau its soul (p.52). To much to learn here. This race is so rich in books, and the way there is so much life to conquer.
In a neat cross-cultural volley, India inspired Thoreau; Thoreau inspired Mohandas K. Gandhi, and Gandhi tossed the ball back to Martin Luther King Jr. (p.58). I did know person named Thoreau inspired by India not necessarily by Gandhi, but did know Martin Luther Kind was inspired by Gandhi.
The ultimate destiny of every individual soul is to awaken to the true source of it’s being –God itself (p.61). Love it and true fact of vedantic thought.
In 1902, when the movement had an estimated one followers, William James labeled it the “religion of healthy-mindedness.” Before mind power was applied to all aspects of good life (P.61). Priceless, the American in this and interest in yoga that popularized yoga among Indians, and in the way India saw all this also though the idea might have been there since the vedic times of the “healthy-mindedness” but not one and same way people popularized it and want to live their lives here.
In his 1930 book Hinduism invades America, Wendell Thomas writes that in the first thirty-three editions Eddy quoted the Bhagavad Gita (P.62). This book and it’s power is a mystery to me to this day!
Blavatsky and Theosophy (p.63) something else to learn.
The impossible-to-categorize Krishnamurti (1895-1986) was a slim, handsome thirteen-year old with haunting eyes when Theosophists discovered him on south Indian beach and declared him as avatar. “The divine spirit has descended once more more on a man,” said Annie Besant (p.65). He was also said to have no guru, no method, and no teacher? Now, I have heard this name before in my life and knew nothing of him, only to find he is from the same state in India as I am from that is Andhra. I would like to read one of his books. (The first and last freedom (1954) and Think on these things (1964)).
Wiltern Theater, published a book called, “The science of mind,” which became the textbook for religious science.
Holmes had become a huge fan of the twentieth-century philosopher and yogi Sri Aurobindo. When Holmes died in 1960, Aurobindo’s magnum opus, The life Divine, was on his chest (p.74). That is so sweet, can only imagine Si Aurobindo’s influence.
One day his mother took him to Science of Mind church. He arrived during the sermon, and when he heard the preacher say “heaven and hell are not places, they are states of consciousness,” he blurted out, “he’s right!” He studied Ernest Holmes, who “had blended the best of the East and West and was teaching it for the western mind” (p.79). Nicely said for a western mind. I am conflicted about this, because I also want to say there is such a thing as hell and heaven. As a matter of fact they are not place but states of consciousness, and that is the higher truth.
In 1881 an English professor told Narendranath Datta about raw, unschooled saint in an ashram outside Calcutta, name Sri Ramakrishna. Admired for his effortless ability to transcend doctrines and sects, Ramakrishna was probably the first well-known exemplar of religious pluralism. He was, for starters, equally at home with austere non-dualism of Advaita Vedanta, the ecstatic emotionality of Bhakti yoga ( a devotee of Kali), and the earthy energy of tantra, paths that are not always seen as compatible. Even more startling for Victorian era, he plunged into Christian and Islamic practices as well, famously declaring that all traditions can lead to the infinite (p.81). I don’t know why this is famous declaration, any Hindu will tell you this is culture’s ability to transcend doctrines and sects.
When in, 1886, Ramakrishna died, —or as they say in India, achieved his Mahasamadhi (great liberation) Naren became a leader of a group of disciples who took formal vows of renunciation or sannyasa. They were the founders of Ramakrishna Mission, which would have an enormous impact on both India and the west. Naren’s monastic name, swami Vivekananda, would soon become synonymous with Vedanta in America (P.82). I love that this organization is able to bring spiritual thought and spiritual life to people who seek it.
To say we are one with the conscious is not easy as saying I am the soul. One has to be a “truth seeker” as Philip Goldberg mentions as was his quest and to experience bliss from through advaita philosophy or vedantic principles.
Stay tuned…. I will more statements to share from the book as I continue reading it.
Iksvakave 