Traditionally, rishis are primal Hindu seers mentioned in the Vedas as their authors.
The rishis belonged to an elite class of holy persons said to have received the Veda through revelation. That is, they ‘heard’ and then passed on the sacred Vedic hymns (through oral repetition) to disciples for centuries until the verses were eventually recorded in writing.
For this reason any mention of authorship of the Veda is problematic because no one really knows when the Vedas were orally composed.
Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa - Sri Ramakrishna Ashrama, Mysore: Chetan Hegde M
Sri Ramakrishna (1836-86)
A once obscure and conventionally ‘uneducated’ village boy, Gadhadhar Chatterji, who became a prominent Hindu holy man, emphasizing non-contradiction and unity among all religions.
Ramakrishna claims that he practiced all faiths and discovered that they all lead to the same spiritual place (i.e. they produce the same kind of numinous experience and attitudes toward God, other people and the meaning of life).
Just how thoroughly, however, one can effectively rid oneself of one’s cultural and religious biases remains open to question.
By way of analogy, it almost sounds like a rabbit saying, “I tried being a bird, a fish, a cow and a snake… and all are just the same.”
This phenomenological issue aside, biographers say Ramakrishna often fell into extended ecstatic raptures. These trances were extreme to the point that even Ramakrishna himself sometimes wondered if he’d gone mad.
At such moments the Blessed Mother, Kali, apparently would appear in a mystical vision and console him with her graces.
Before marrying Sri Devi, Ramakrishna prayed that Kali would “root out” all of her sexual tendencies. Not surprisingly, their marriage was never consummated. While this may seem strange to many who can’t see beyond material techno-sexual culture, the two reportedly were united in a purely spiritual sense, making sexual union redundant, perhaps even distasteful.
The Gospel of Ramakrishna, based on the writings of his direct disciples, is widely available in the West. Essentially it’s a wisdom book, full of pithy sayings and examples. In one analogy Ramakrishna notes, for instance, that bad tomatoes rot faster when bashed up and thrown in the garbage heap, referring to the idea that the soul may be purified of ungodly attitudes (i.e. bad tomatoes) through holy suffering (see » Bhagavad Gita, Alchemy).
Conforming to the idea of karma transfer, an Indian biographer writes that Ramakrishna apparently:
had a vision of his subtle body…[with] a number of sores on the back. He was puzzled by the sight, but it was made clear…profane people had caused the sores on his body. They themselves had been purified, but they had left the suffering arising from their own sins with him.¹
This well represents some of the central beliefs regarding the dynamics of Hindu mysticism. Similar but not identical beliefs can be found in the Christian mystical tradition–e.g. that souls close to God suffer for the liberation or salvation of less pure or holy souls (see » Faustina Kowalska).
Further on this point, the common worldly critique that “prayer does nothing” might, from the perspective of a bona fide saint, be seen as an unfortunate misunderstanding perpetuated by ignorance or sin.
On a more publicly visible level, Ramakrishna’s disciples founded the international charity organization known as the Ramakrishna Mission. And his most beloved disciple, Swami Vivekananda, became another pivotal Hindu religious figure.
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¹ Swami Tejasananda, A Short Life of Sri Ramakrishna, Calcutta: Advaita Ashrama [Publication Department], 1990, p. 92.
PDF (downloadable) version: https://advaitaashrama.org/downloads/A%20Short%20Life%20of%20Sri%20Ramakrishna.pdf, p. 105.
» Brahman, Contemplation, Hinduism, Mental Prayer, Spirit, Vocal Prayer
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Thank you for your suffering: Locace / Lena
Suffering
Life usually involves some degree of suffering but human beings have interpreted the experience in diverse ways.
Some believe that suffering is meaningless and something to be avoided. This view is prevalent in Buddhism, where meditation is said to eradicate suffering.
For many Hindus suffering is a necessary teacher. As we work through our personal karma the unpleasant aspects of life can teach us not to do the ethically bad things that, so Hindus believe, caused the suffering in the first place.
Epicureanism attempts to minimize suffering through a life of prudence and termperance.
John Stuart Mill’s utilitarianism minimizes suffering through a cost-benefit analysis of all actions, a position which Mill felt was ethically equivalent to Kant’s categorical imperative.
Freud saw suffering as an inevitable aspect of the human condition. He wrote that “Psychoanalysis can cure neurotic suffering but not normal human unhappiness.” For Freud individuals are, in effect, the walking wounded.
Catholicism recognizes the value of suffering, i.e. unavoidable suffering permitted by God, but doesn’t condone persecution nor advocate the pathological role playing of ‘victim’ or ‘martyr.’ For Catholics suffering may be redemptive and lead to increased purity and wisdom.
This notion of redemptive suffering differs from sheer depair or destitution in that the grace of God enables one to embrace one’s particular ‘cross of suffering’ with dignity and, with some exceptional persons like St. Francis of Assisi, even gladness and joy.
Along these lines, Reinhold Niebuhr’s Serenity Prayer, a prayer accepted by Catholics, asks God for a reasonably happy life here and a supremely happy one in the afterlife.
The idea of redemptive suffering has been further institutionalized by an organization called Knights at the Foot of the Cross (KFC) based on the life of St. Maximilian Kolbe, who died by lethal injection of carbolic acid in a Nazi death camp after willingly accepting the torture of a starvation bunker in place of another prisoner. KFC is an offshoot of The Militia of the Immaculata, an international evangelical movement founded by St. Kolbe in 1917 (http://www.consecration.com/).
Last, we have those positively-minded people who may hold no particular spiritual belief other than the idea that wisdom can come from suffering.
» Alchemy, Book of Job, Buddhism, Candide, Dukkha, Eightfold Path, Eve, Evil, Four Noble Truths, Karma Transfer, Kowalska (Maria Faustina Helena, St.), Magnetizers, Mental Illness, Nirvana, Ramakrishna (Sri), Sacks (Oliver), Skandhas, Teresa of Ávila (St.), Visistadvaita, Voltaire
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spirit catcher: Rannie Turingan
Spirit
One definition of the word spirit points to an incorporeal being which may not be seen, as compared to a ‘ghost’ which allegedly is seen by a living person.
Spirit has several other meanings, such as an animating or vital force within life, the soul or some some kind of invisible force or presence that permeates the created universe.
Spirit arguably becomes an ambiguous concept if assessed merely from a conceptual level of analysis.
Many New Age thinkers, for instance, equate the notion of spirit with that of matter/energy. This is a dubious analog when we consider Rudolf Otto and C. G. Jung’s treatment of the term numinosity and, moreover, the Christian understanding of The Holy Spirit.
It almost seems as if those who haven’t experienced any difference between the perception of matter/energy and spirit tend to automatically equate the two, just as one might equate any seemingly similar variables without having had a significantly direct experience of them.
By way of analogy, if one had never drunk white wine they might look at its color, recognize it as a liquid and say white wine is equivalent to apple juice or perhaps urine. And so it is, many mystics content, with the experience of spirit. Those who know, they claim, realize that spirit’s character may vary significantly, not only because spirit is passing through psychological and cultural filters, but also because of the differences inherent to spirit itself.
serpent spirits: Jeremiah Ketner
Since the experience of ‘the spirit’ may be associated with a ‘particular spirit,’ as in the opening definition, we have the notion of ‘pure and impure,’ ‘holy and unholy,’ ‘good and evil’ spirits, along with their respective abilities to influence human beings for good or ill.
This tremendous diversity as to the meaning of spirit is not just found in Christianity but in most world religions. But again, some well-meaning but arguably unknowing individuals tend to simplify this diversity by making unsupportable claims, as did Sri Ramakrishna, that all paths involve the same type of spirit, lead to the same place, and so on.
This may have been Ramakrishna’s belief when dabbling in different religions from his master perspective of Hinduism but it certainly isn’t everyone’s.
» à Kempis (Thomas), Abyss, Active Imagination, Afterlife, Alchemy, Alice in Wonderland, Alien Possession Theory (APT), Ancestor Cults, Angels, Animism, Anselm (St.), Anthroposophy, Apollinarius, Aquinas (St. Thomas), Archangel, Arius, Ashram, Aurobindo (Sri), Avesta, Ba, Blake (William), Bowie (David), Brown (Michael), Castanada (Carlos), Celibacy, Chakras, Channeling, Clairaudience, Class, Collective Unconscious, Confirmation, Demons, Dionysius the Areopagite, Divination, Eleusinian Mysteries, Evil, Faeries, Fallen Angels, Fasting, Feng Shui, Grace, Hawking (Stephen), Heaven, Hegel, Hell, Henry of Ghent, Intercession, Jedi, Jinn, Kabbala, Karma Transfer, Kundalini, Lennox (Annie), Madness, Mana, Mental Illness, Michael (St.), Miracles, Mysticism, Near Death Experiences (NDE), Obsession, Paranormal, Pollution, Prayer, Psychosis, Quiddity, Randi (James), Roberts (Jane), Samkhya, Shaman, Shapeshifter, Siva, Soul Loss, Soul, Spiritual Attack, Swedenborg (Emanuel), Talbot (Michael), Tantra, Teresa of Ávila, (St.), Third Eye, Tibetan Book of the Dead, Totem, Totem Pole, Tradition, Tramp Souls, Transubstantiation, Trickster, Trinity (Holy Trinity), Underhill (Evelyn), Vampires, Virgin Mary, Voodoo, Wach (Joachim), Wave, Weber (Max), World Tree, Yoda, Yoni, Zombie
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Photo credit: Seth Anderson
Solipsism
This is the philosophical position that only the subject exists and all impressions of others and the outside world are illusory.
While many dismiss solipsism as an extreme or strange view, others say it is logically impossible to prove or disprove.
If one believes, however, that God is good and, as such, would not deceive the subject with a chimerical world peopled by phantom others, one would likely reject solipsism.
Although many philosophers maintain that solipsism cannot be proved or disproved, probably because they’ve been taught this in a university course or a philosophy book, there is another way to look at the problem. And this way doesn’t necessarily need the idea of God to reject solipsism on the grounds of it being an impractical and bad way of living.
Basically, we can ask: What if solipsism is false? In the face of this uncertainty, doesn’t it make ethical sense to live as if others are real?
Some have likened solipsism to the Asian concept of maya (Sanskrit = illusion, deception).
Maya is the belief in Hindu, Buddhist and Jain philosophies that the changing, material world isn’t real or is only relatively real. But the meaning of the concept of maya has been debated among different schools for centuries, making its comparison to solipsism somewhat problematic.
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Offerings at the Vulture Peak Buddhist Shrine, Grdhrakuta in Rajgir, where the Buddha inspired Avalokiteshvara to give the Prajna Paramita Hridaya Sutram, the Heart Sutra, requested by Sariputra | Photo by Wonderlane
Skandhas
Buddhist belief posits five skandhas, or aggregates of attachment said to be the source of all suffering.
Taken together, the five skandhas form the impermanent personality and the illusion – so it is believed – of individuality.
Impermanent and subject to change, skandhas may discontinuously reappear from one life to another.
Whether or not one agrees with every aspect of Buddhist teaching, the skandas present a conceptual alternative that may be applied toward a contemporary critique of the Hindu view of reincarnation (See, for instance, Reincarnation: A New Look at an Old Idea – Part 3).
Although the two religions of Buddhism and Hinduism may seem similar at a glance, Buddhism clearly differs from the Visistadvaita school of Hinduism in that the soul, too, and not just its attachments, is usually seen as illusory in the ultimate sense.
» Buddhism, Corruption, Pollution
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Shiva: true2source
Siva / Shiva (Skt: kind, friendly)
A major Hindu god who, according to the dominant theory, evolved out of the mythology of the conquering Aryans in the Indian sub-continent.
A bit of a latecomer, Siva nevertheless replaced the earlier Vedic storm god Rudra by becoming part the Hindu Trimurti of Brahma, Visnu and Siva.
In popular folk mythology, Brahma is said to have created the universe, Visnu preserves it and Siva, through his cosmic dance, destroys it.
But this is only a general outline, for Siva first created Brahma and Visnu. And instead of merely destroying, Siva also regulates the universe.
In an incident with the Pine Forest Sages, Siva breaks the sages’ excessive meditation by literally seducing their wives. Otherwise, the tapas (Skt: heat, or spiritual force) generated by the sages’ prolonged and intense concentration would have disrupted the cosmic balance.
While sexually enticing their wives, Siva quite intentionally angers the Sages, disrupts their meditation and diffuses their excessive spiritual power.
Siva is not only a trickster, however.
The Other Side of Siva: Taran Rampersad
With his third eye, depicted vertically on his forehead, he emits deathly rays of fire, not unlike the ‘phasers’ of Star Trek. Siva’s death ray incinerates demonic opponents residing in highly volatile spiritual realms.
But Siva’s third eye has a more passive aspect, symbolizing the locus of spiritual ’seeing’ and peace. Siva’s third eye is sometimes, perhaps inaccurately, equated with Jesus’ teaching, “Let thine eye be single” (Matthew 6:22, Luke 11:34).
Siva is often depicted in temple carvings ityaphallically (i.e. with erect phallus). His linga (Skt: phallus) symbolizes his control over his divine creative power, just as in Hinduism the female yoni (Skt: vagina) represents the cosmic source or life-giving aspects of the divinity.
Siva also rides the sacred bull, Nandi and has a blue throat due to his partial ingestion of a poison which otherwise would have destroyed the universe.
His wife is Parvati and he’s said to reside at Mt. Kailasa in the Himalayas.
Siva Thandavam: Velachery Balu / Balasubramanian G Velu
In Hindu devotional cults and Western popular spiritualism, Siva is, perhaps uncritically, identified with supposedly ‘active male energy’ that must be united with the Shakti – ‘passive female’ energy – to effect a union of these complementary cosmic energies within an given individual or couple–i.e. balancing the Shiva-Shakti.
» Aliens and Extraterrestrials (ETs), Anima, Animus, AUM, Chakras, Death and Resurrection, Ganesha, Homeopathy, Kali, Karma Transfer, Linga, Nandi, Parvati, Ramanuja, Shakti, Tantra, Tapas, Underworld, Vishnu, Yin-Yang, Yoni
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Sita Sings the Blues originally uploaded by litherland
Sita (Skt: furrow).
Sita is depicted in the Hindu Veda as an agricultural deity.
In the puranic epic, the Ramayana, she is the daughter of King Janaka and Rama’s wife. Abducted by the demon Ravana to an island in the south (which some believe is Sri Lanka), Sita maintains her fidelity to Rama while he and his half brother, Lakshmana, embark on a journey to liberate her.
Once this is accomplished, Rama is crowned as King yet bends to popular opinion at home, which wrongly supposes that Sita slept with Ravana.
As a result, Rama doesn’t accept Sita since a ruler’s wife must be above suspicion.
As with most myths, there are at least two different endings to the epic. And both of these alternate endings asserting Sita’s fidelity.
In one variant Sita is banished to the forest for 15 years to raise her two children and is recalled once public opinion at home cools down.
Declaring her innocence, Sita invokes the Earth Mother as witness. The Earth Mother affirms Sita’s loyalty but swallows her whole, much to the distress of the doubting Rama.
In the other variant, Lakshmana kindles a fire (on the request of Rama) and Sita is ordered into the flames. The fire-god Agni arises from the flames and adorns Sita with a crown, proclaiming her innocence. Rama then enters the fire and he and Sita are suddenly transported to a heavenly realm where they’ll remain for 14 years, after which time they’ll return to rule the Earth.
According to a Jain version of the tale, Sita is the daughter of Ravana. Not unlike the twist of fate found in the story of Oedipus, Sita is abandoned at birth because it has been foretold that she’ll destroy her father’s kingdom.
In contemporary India, Sita is widely regarded as exemplifying the honorable wife and mother. Meanwhile, Bollywood actor Shilpa Shetty is set to play Sita in her next film, Hanuman.
» Abyss, Hero, Jainism, Mahabharata, Puranas, Rama, Ramayana
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Dance of Shakti by Angela Marie
Shakti
This is a Sanskrit term for female power, sometimes called ‘serpent power’ because it’s said to rise upwards like a serpent through the chakras of the meditating yogi or yogini.
Shakti also denotes a general principle of creative, cosmic energy. When personified it takes the form of a goddess, such as Siva’s consort Parvati, or Krishna’s playmate, Radha.
In New Age parlance the term arguably signifies the empowered, holistic woman, as we find with figures like Shakti Gawain.
» Kundalini, Tantra, Raja yoga
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My Sannyasa Gurudeva Shrila Bhaktikumunda Santa Goswami by Bhaktiratna Sadhu Swami Gaurangapada
Sannyasa
The fourth Hindu asrama (Vedic stage of life) in which the male attains spiritual liberation (moksha).
At this stage the Indian sannyasin practices celibacy, renounces all worldly trappings, and pretty much acquires the legal status of a dead person.
He either travels about freely, helping others to grow in spiritual matters, or enters a monastery.
Typically a sannyasin is either a follower of Vishnu (or one of Visnu’s incarnations such as Krishna) or Sankara.
Traditionally the sannyasin was predominantly male but today things are changing, and women sannyasins are becoming increasingly visible.
The following excerpt from “Arsha Vidya Gurukulam’s Response to “Hinduism Here” and Michele Moritis’s Paper” outlines several important points concerning the evolution of Hinduism.
Except for the role of the priest, women participate equally in all the activities at the gurukulam. As in all religious traditions, there are stipulations for those who officiate at religious ceremonies. In the Hindu tradition, one of these is that the priest must be a Brahmin male and cogent reasons are given for this. However, the status of a sannyasin (a renunciant) is higher than that of a priest, and women are allowed to be sannayasins, as Michele’s report illustrates in her interview with a white American female sannyasin. And these female sannyasins can assume the role of a guru to a male Brahmin priest.
The precedent for lack of gender discrimination is embedded in the iconography of Hinduism. Most deities, including the deity at Arsha Vidya Gurukulam, Lord Daksinamurti, are ardhanarishvara, half male and half female, since the Lord is looked upon as both male and female. In the Vedas, though there are certainly fewer women than men, they are not absent. In the Upanisads there are dialogues on Brahmavidya with women (Maitreyi and Gargi) and there are female rishis (Visvavara and Romasa) composing Vedic hymns (rks).†
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† Arsha Vidya Gurukulam’s Response to “Hinduism Here” and Michele Moritis’s Paper http://www.barnard.edu/religion/hinduismhere/arshresponse.html
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