FIRST OF ALL, WHAT IS VEDANTA?
Vedanta is the philosophy of the Vedas, those Indian scriptures which are the most ancient religious writings now known to the world. More generally speaking, the term "Vedanta" covers not only the Vedas themselves but the whole body of literature which explains, elaborates and comments upon their teaching, right down to the present day. The Bhagavad-Gita and the works of Shankara belong to Vedanta: so do many of the articles in this volume.
Vedanta is often, but less correctly, called "Hinduism"; a foreign word. The inhabitants of India were described by the Persians as Hindus, because they lived on the other side of the River Sindhu (the Indus). The Persians, apparently. could not manage the sound of the letter .
In India today, as elsewhere, there are hundreds of sects. Vedanta Philosophy is the basis of them all. Indeed, in its simplest form, it may be regarded as a statement of the Philosophia Perennis, the least common denominator of all religious belief, which is defined by Aldous Huxley in his article, "The Minimum Working Hypothesis."
Reduced to its elements, Vedanta Philosophy consists of three propositions. First, that Man's real nature is divine. Second, that the aim of human life is to realize this divine nature. Third, that all religions are essentially in agreement. We shall examine each of these in turn.
"Man's real nature is divine": what does this actually mean? Vedanta asserts that the universe which is perceived by our senses is only an appearance. It is not what it seems. Here, the modern scientist will, of course, agree. Who would ever suppose, in looking at a flower, a rock and a waterfall, that each was merely a different arrangement of identical units? The universe is other than its outward aspect. More-over, this outward aspect is subject to perpetual change. The hills, said Tennyson, are shadows.
Vedanta goes on to assert that, beneath this appearance, this flux, there is an essential, unchanging Reality, which it calls Brahman, the Godhead. Brahman is Existence itself, Consciousness itself. Brahman is also said to be that almost indefinable quality which is called in the Sanskrit language "Ananda," and in the Christian Bible "the peace of God, which passeth all understanding ""Ananda" may be translated not only as "peace" but also as "bliss"; since this absolute peace, when it is known beneath all flux, appearance and unrest, must give the only permanent kind of happiness.
At the mention of Brahman, the scientist will become sceptical. And rightly so; for none of his apparatus is capable of detecting the existence of this fundamental Reality. Vedanta will reply that this proves nothing, either way. The scientist cannot possibly detect Brahman, because scientific analysis depends, necessarily, upon the evidence of the five senses, and Brahman is beyond all sense-perception. Why, it will be asked, should we believe with Vedanta instead of doubting with the scientist? But the answer to this question must be delayed for a moment, until we begin to consider the nature of the mystical experience.
Let us assume, in the meanwhile, that Brahman does exist. If there is indeed an essential Reality, a Godhead, in the universe, then it follows that this Reality must be omnipresent. It must be within each one of us; within every creature and object. It does not matter exactly what we mean by "within": that is a point for theologians to argue. Let us say simply, at the risk of offending the exponents of semantics, that Brahman is our real, essential nature. When speaking of Brahman-within-the-creature, Vedanta uses, for convenience, another term, "the Atmar." The Atman, in Christian terminology, is God Immanent; Brahman is God Transcendent. Atman and Brahman are one.
Vedas (1207)
Upanishads (503)
Puranas (632)
Ramayana (749)
Mahabharata (365)
Dharmasastras (167)
Goddess (510)
Bhakti (248)
Saints (1520)
Gods (1299)
Shiva (383)
Journal (181)
Fiction (61)
Vedanta (372)
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