You may or may not know much about Hinduism. People who know little about it tend to think of a somewhat strange religion with a lot of gods. I can’t hope to explain it entirely, and I don’t claim that all Hindus would agree with my description. It is a complicated and diverse belief system. The main idea in Hinduism is that of Brahman, the universal spirit or principle of existence. All of the world that we perceive, including the various deities: Vishnu, Shiva, etc, are manifestations of Brahman.
This leads to two profound guiding aspects of life. The first is one’s concept of self. You are, in your own way, identical to the ultimate spirit of the universe. This concept greatly affirms your personal value, as well as personal responsibility.
The ultimate goal of a Hindu, moksha, is achieved when you fully realize, accept, and become the truth that your soul is identical with Brahman. This manifests as a great personal strength and sense of identity. No longer must you be defined by others’ perceptions, but by your relationship with your own piece of the ultimate reality.
The other part of this is relationships to others. Since everyone else is also part of the same ultimate spirit as you, they deserve respect and acceptance. This does not mean that you must agree with everything everyone else says, but accept them as a fellow human being, a fellow part of divinity.
During this religion series, I am not particularly trying to convert anyone to anything. The point here is to recognize the good teachings that other faiths have to offer. I don’t expect you to suddenly believe that you are part of the great collective soul of Brahman.
But the ideals hold true. You are a human being, a part of the only race known to have achieved consciousness. And because of that, you are important, and you do have the opportunity to define yourself.
Other humans are also more similar to yourself than you might realize. They deal with similar struggles, both internal and external. When they disagree with you, it is usually not because they are evil or fundamentally different than you. Their human experience has led them, through a thought process perfectly reasonable to them, to different opinions.
I think we can all gain a lot by recognizing the strength and individuality of ourselves and others, as well as the collectiveness that defines us. After all, we are one species living on one planet. Anything that one person does ultimately affects everyone, even if only in a small way.
And affect they do, and we do. I can hold onto the idea that we are all connected in some non mistical way for my actions have repercutions into other people's actions. And anyone can approach to me and have an impact. We all see it in the pollution of our planet, in the studies that reflect into a better way of life. Into religion as a moral compass and into evilness as an ugly expression of one's own desires.
ReplyDeleteGreat post Andrew.