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unless it agrees with your own reasons and your own common sense. -Buddha
Clarity of mind means clarity of passion, too; this is why a great and clear mind loves ardently and sees distinctly what it loves. A dog is not considered a good dog because he is a good barker. A man is not considered a good man because he is a good talker. Buddha All that we are is the result of what we have thought. If a man speaks or acts with an evil thought, pain follows him. If a man speaks or acts with a pure thought, happiness follows him, like a shadow that never leaves him. Buddha All things appear and disappear because of the concurrence of causes and conditions. Nothing ever exists entirely alone; everything is in relation to everything else. Buddha All wrong-doing arises because of mind. If mind is transformed can wrong-doing remain? Buddha Ambition is like love, impatient both of delays and rivals. Buddha An idea that is developed and put into action is more important than an idea that exists only as an idea. Buddha An insincere and evil friend is more to be feared than a wild beast; a wild beast may wound your body, but an evil friend will wound your mind. Buddha Believe nothing, no matter where you read it, or who said it, no matter if I have said it, unless it agrees with your own reason and your own common sense. Buddha Better than a thousand hollow words, is one word that brings peace. Buddha Chaos is inherent in all compounded things. Strive on with diligence. Buddha
Do not dwell in the past, do not dream of the future, concentrate the mind on the present moment. --Buddha Do not overrate what you have received, nor envy others. He who envies others does not obtain peace of mind. --Buddha Ennui has made more gamblers than avarice, more drunkards than thirst, and perhaps as many suicides as despair. --Buddha Every human being is the author of his own health or disease. Buddha Hatred does not cease by hatred, but only by love; this is the eternal rule. Buddha He is able who thinks he is able. Buddha He who experiences the unity of life sees his own Self in all beings, and all beings in his own Self, and looks on everything with an impartial eye. Buddha He who loves 50 people has 50 woes; he who loves no one has no woes. Buddha Health is the greatest gift, contentment the greatest wealth, faithfulness the best relationship. Buddha Holding on to anger is like grasping a hot coal with the intent of throwing it at someone else; you are the one who gets burned. Buddha However many holy words you read,However many you speak,What good will they do youIf you do not act on upon them? Buddha I do not believe in a fate that falls on men however they act; but I do believe in a fate that falls on them unless they act. Buddha I never see what has been done; I only see what remains to be done. Buddha In a controversy the instant we feel anger we have already ceased striving for the truth, and have begun striving for ourselves. Buddha
In the sky, there is no distinction of east and west; people create distinctions out of their own minds and then beleive them to be true. Buddha It is a man's own mind, not his enemy or foe, that lures him to evil ways. Buddha It is better to conquer yourself than to win a thousand battles. Then the victory is yours. It cannot be taken from you, not by angels or by demons, heaven or hell. Buddha It is better to travel well than to arrive. Buddha Just as a candle cannot burn without fire, men cannot live without a spiritual life. Buddha Just as treasures are uncovered from the earth, so virtue appears from good deeds, and wisdom appears from a pure and peaceful mind. To walk safely through the maze of human life, one needs the light of wisdom and the guidance of virtue. Buddha Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn't learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn't learn a little, at least we didn't get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn't die; so, let us all be thankful. Buddha On life's journey faith is nourishment, virtuous deeds are a shelter, wisdom is the light by day and right mindfulness is the protection by night. If a man lives a pure life, nothing can destroy him. Buddha Peace comes from within. Do not seek it without. Buddha Teach this triple truth to all: A generous heart, kind speech, and a life of service and compassion are the things which renew humanity. Buddha The foot feels the foot when it feels the ground. Buddha The only real failure in life is not to be true to the best one knows. Buddha The secret of health for both mind and body is not to mourn for the past, nor to worry about the future, but to live the present moment wisely and earnestly. Buddha The tongue like a sharp knife... Kills without drawing blood. Buddha
The virtues, like the Muses, are always seen in groups. A good principle was never found solitary in any breast. Buddha The wise ones fashioned speech with their thought, sifting it as grain is sifted through a sieve. Buddha The world, indeed, is like a dream and the treasures of the world are an alluring mirage! Like the apparent distances in a picture, things have no reality in themselves, but they are like heat haze. Buddha There are five things which no one is able to accomplish in this world: first, to cease growing old when he is growing old; second, to cease being sick; third, to cease dying; fourth, to deny dissolution when there is dissolution; fifth, to deny non-being. Buddha There are only two mistakes one can make along the road to truth; not going all the way, and not starting. Buddha There is nothing more dreadful than the habit of doubt. Doubt separates people. It is a poison that disintegrates friendships and breaks up pleasant relations. It is a thorn that irritates and hurts; it is a sword that kills. Buddha Those who are free of resentful thoughts surely find peace. Buddha Thousands of candles can be lighted from a single candle, and the life of the candle will not be shortened. Happiness never decreases by being shared. Buddha Three things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth. Buddha To be idle is a short road to death and to be diligent is a way of life; foolish people are idle, wise people are diligent. Buddha To enjoy good health, to bring true happiness to one's family, to bring peace to all, one must first discipline and control one's own mind. If a man can control his mind he can find the way to Enlightenment, and all wisdom and virtue will naturally come to him. Buddha To live a pure unselfish life, one must count nothing as one's own in the midst of abundance. Buddha
Unity can only be manifested by the Binary. Unity itself and the idea of Unity are already two. Buddha Virtue is persecuted more by the wicked than it is loved by the good. Buddha We are formed and molded by our thoughts. Those whose minds are shaped by selfless thoughts give joy when they speak or act. Joy follows them like a shadow that never leaves them. Buddha We are what we think. All that we are arises with our thoughts. With our thoughts, we make the world. Buddha What is the appropriate behavior for a man or a woman in the midst of this world, where each person is clinging to his piece of debris? What's the proper salutation between people as they pass each other in this flood? Buddha What we think, we become. Buddha Whatever words we utter should be chosen with care for people will hear them and be influenced by them for good or ill. Buddha When one has the feeling of dislike for evil, when one feels tranquil, one finds pleasure in listening to good teachings; when one has these feelings and appreciates them, one is free of fear. Buddha Without health life is not life; it is only a state of langour and suffering - an image of death. Buddha Work out your own salvation. Do not depend on others. Buddha You can search throughout the entire universe for someone who is more deserving of your love and affection than you are yourself, and that person is not to be found anywhere. You yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe deserve your love and affection. Buddha You, yourself, as much as anybody in the entire universe, deserve your love and affection. Buddha
Your work is to discover your world and then with all your heart give yourself to it. Buddha
1. Does Hinduism have a founder? 2. What are the sacred texts of Hinduism? 3. Do Hindus worship many gods or one God? 4. What do Hindus believe about the Nature of God? 5. What about Karma, Reincarnation and the Hindu view of Time? 6. What do the different gods represent? 7. Do Hindus worship idols? 8. What is the caste system? 9. How do Hindus view other religions? 10. How do Yoga and meditation relate to Hinduism? 11. What is meant by the AUM symbol? 12. Where can I find out more?
most Hindus would affirm belief in a single all pervading Deity as the ultimate recipient of worship to any god - as expressed in the prayer. AkAshAt patitam tOyam sarva dEva namaskArah kEshavam pratigacchati yathA gacchati sAgaram
(as raindrops falling from the sky all ultmately meet their end in the ocean, prayer to all gods ultimately goes to Lord Keshava). Different sects often revere one God as most identifiable with the Supreme Principle, with other gods being subordinate or facets of the One Supreme God. For example, Vaishnavas revere Lord Vishnu and his various manifestations as the Absolute Truth. For Shaivas, Lord Shiva is the One Supreme God, and for Shaaktas the Mother Goddess (referred to by various names including Parvati, Durga, etc. - often identified as the consort of Shiva) is revered above all other deities. It is probably reasonable to generalise therefore, that most religious Hindus believe in a single Absolute Principle - Brahman - which is accessible in many forms to different people. Back to top
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Vishnu - The Preserver (also known as Narayana, Hari, and by the names of his various incarnations)
Lord Vishnu personifies the aspect of the Deity who preserves righteousness and takes care of the well being of the world. He is portrayed as beneficent, never angry and compassionate. In his role as the
preserver, he is believed to have manifested on earth in human or animal form (avataras) nine times to protect the good and punish the wicked, with one incarnation left for the end of the current age. The Ten Incarnations (as given in the Bhagavata Purana): Matsya Vishnu descended in the form of a giant fish to save the Saptarishis (seven sages), animals and plants from the great flood at the dissolution of the universe before the creation of the current universe. Some similarities can be seen between this story and the story of the Great Flood in the Old Testament. Kurma In this avatara Vishnu assumes the form of a Tortoise. The gods (devas) and demons (asuras) were churning the ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality. Vishnu as Kurma supports the mountain, and then ensures that the nectar goes to the gods and not to the demons. Varaha In this avatara, Vishnu assumes the form of a boar and protects the earth (Bhumi devi) from the demon Hiranyaksha at the dawn of creation. Narasimha Here Vishnu assumes a half-man half lion form to slay the demon Hiranyakashipu, brother of Hiranyaksha. In the process he saved Prahlad, the son of Hiranyakashipu who was a staunch devotee of Vishnu. Vamana In this avatara Vishnu assumes the form of a brahmin dwarf to reclaim the heavens and the earth for the gods and humans from the righteous demon King Bali (grandson of Prahlad). Bali, having promised Vamana three steps of land, is astonished when Vamana grows in size and in his first two steps, claims back the earth and heavens. So as to not go back on his word, Bali offers Vamana his head as the resting place for the third step. Parashurama Here Vishnu incarnates in a priestly family as Rama, but takes up the axe (becoming 'Parashurama', or 'Rama of the Axe' to exterminate the warrior caste who had become greedy and power-drunk. Rama Rama is the second most well known avatara. Born to King Dasharatha and Queen Kausalya, Rama is seen by many as the embodiment of virtue. After being sent to exile in the forest (due to a plot hatched by one of Dasharatha's other queens, Kaikeyi), his wife Sita is captured by the demon king Ravana, who takes her to his abode at Lanka. To rescue her, Rama enlists the help of the Vanaras (monkeys) including Hanuman, who is venerated today as the ultimate example of devotion to God. Rama is worshipped alongside his brother Lakshmana and wife Sita. Krishna Krishna is far and away the most widely known avatara. Born in prison to Vasudeva and Devaki, by a miracle Vasudeva is freed and he is taken by night to the house of Nanda and Yashoda at Gokul. There he grows up tending the cattle, engaging in various mischievous exploits and becoming the sweetheart of many of the cowherd girls (gopis). Indeed, the love play (lila) of Krishna with the gopis is held by many to
symbolise the eternal yearning of the soul for God. Many Vaishnava mystics wrote extensive poetry on submitting to God in the same way that the gopis submit to Krishna's advances. Later in life, Krishna slays his evil uncle Kamsa, and then goes on to befriend the righteous Pandavas. In the Mahabharata war, where the Pandavas fight to recover their kingdom Hastinapura from their wicked cousins, the Kauravas, Krishna assumes the role of Arjuna's charioteer (Arjuna was the third eldest of the five Pandavas). In this role, Krishna is credited with singing the Bhagavad Gita to Arjuna before battle, where Arjuna is perplexed about the dilemma of choosing between sparing his cousins and fighting for righteousness. The Bhagavad Gita continues to inspire and give solace to many today. Buddha Part of Hinduism's distinct character is the ability to assimilate features of other belief systems. In adopting Buddha as an incarnation of Vishnu, Hinduism legitimised the Buddhist movement despite its rejection of the Vedas. In some schools of thought, Buddha is considered to have preached a false doctrine to deceive those who rejected the Vedas. However, most Hindus and Buddhists find many points of congruence between the two faiths and the concept of ahimsa in particular (non-violence to all living beings) is a case in point; indeed it may be due to Buddhist and Jain influences that vegetarianism became more widespread in hinduism. Kalki According to the Hindu view of time, creation progresses through four ages or Yugas. The first Yuga is known as 'Satya Yuga' and is meant to be an age when righteousness and goodness prevail and religious duty is observed, and the next three (Treta, Dwapara and Kali) see the successive increase of negative or evil influences by a quarter with the passage of each Yuga. The current age, then, represents the nadir for the righteous, and at the end of this age Vishnu is predicted to incarnate as Kalki to purge the world of evil and usher in the next cycle of Yugas, starting with Satya Yuga again. In some versions of the dasha avatara, Buddha is replaced by Balarama, brother of Krishna. Additionally, Vishnu is believed to have many other earthly manifestations, such as Venkateshwara whose temple Tirupati is found at Tirumala in Andhra Pradesh.
For most religious Hindus, idols provide a focus for worship and are a reminder of those facets of the Supreme Being represented by the particular deity. Moreover, if an idol is properly installed according to the Vedic tradition in a temple, it is believed to be a fully real manifestation of the Deity itself. Worship of the idol then becomes direct worship of the Deity; the act of viewing the Deity is known as darshan. Having darshan of the deity is believed to be an act of grace on the part of the deity. Temple worship is understood in the Hindu traditions as a way to engage all of the senses in perception of God - through the aroma of incense, the placing of hands over the camphor flame, the tasting of the sanctified food offered to the Deity (prasaadam), seeing the Deity, and through hearing the Sanskrit hymns. The traditional Vedic Aarti (worship) ceremony which is in widespread use throughout most Hindu traditions venerates the god being worshipped as a revered house guest, and includes symbolic actions such as welcoming the deity into the home, washing the deity's feet and hands, offering the deity new clothes, food and drink. Each of these actions is meant to engender respect and love for God in the mind of the worshipper. Some more recently formed movements such as the Arya Samaj and Brahmo Samaj do not encourage idol worship since it is not mentioned in the Vedas, which to them hold the ultimate authority over the Puranas and other smrti texts. Back to top
Since the seventh century, many seminal movements have served to underline the irrelevance of a person's birth circumstances (particularly the bhakti movement). However it is evident that varnashrama dharma has long been severely misused, and has resulted in the oppression of huge numbers people in the name of religion. Particularly disturbing is the phenomenon of untouchability, whereby people expelled from their jati (meaning 'birth caste' - as opposed to varna, meaning caste by personal characteristics and inclination) have been ostracised by the four recognised varnas. However, modern attitudes have significantly changed amongst Hindus, and certainly outside India caste barriers based on birth are breaking down. In India, where the caste system carries the most authority, large efforts are being made to eradicate caste-based prejudice and redress the historical imbalance between the castes. Playing a large part in this liberalisation is the increased availability of information; the realities of modern life are compelling people to re-assess their interpretation of religion and move towards values which are much less influenced by the constraints of the past.
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AUM is the most sacred symbol, mantra and sound in all Hindu traditions. Hindu creation myths hold that it is the primordial sound from which all other sounds emerged; it is the mantra which comprises all other mantras. A full description of its significance would run into volumes, so here is a (comparatively brief!) extract from 'The Concise Light on Yoga' by B. K. S. Iyengar (Unwin Paperbacks, 1980): The symbol AUM is composed of three syllables, namely the letters A, U, M, and when written has a crescent and dot on its top. A few instances of the various interpretations given to it may be mentioned here to convey its meaning. The letter A symbolises the conscious or waking state (jagratha-avastha), the letter U the dream state (svapna-avstha) and the letter M the dreamless sleep state (susupta-avastha) of the mind and spirit. The entire symbol, together with the crescent and the dot, stands for the fourth state (turiya-avastha), which combines all these states and transcends them. This is the state of samadhi (1). The letters A, U and M symbolise respectively speech (vak), the mind (manas) and the breath of life (prana), while the entire symbol stands for the living spirit, which is but a portion of the divine spirit. The three letters also represent the dimensions of length, breadth and depth, while the entire symbol stands for the perfect man (a sthita-prajna), one whose wisdom is firmly established in the divine. They represent the three genders, masculine, feminine and neuter, while the entire symbol stands for the Creator, who transcends the limitations of time. They stand for the three gunas or qualities of sattva (goodness), rajas (passion) and tamas (ignorance or darkness), while the whole symbol represents a gunatita, one who has transcended and gone beyond the pull of the gunas. The letters correspond to the three tenses - past, present and future - while the entire symbol stands for the Creator, who transcends the limitations of time. They also stand for the teaching imparted by the mother, the father and the Guru respectively. The entire symbol represents Brahma Vidya, the knowledge of the Self, the teaching which is imperishable. The A, U and M depict the three stages of yogic discipline, namely, asana (2), pranayama (3) and pratyahara (4). The entire symbol represents samadhi (1), the goal for which the three stages are the steps. They represent the triad of Divinity, namely, Brahma - the creator, Visnu - the Maintainer, and Siva - the Destroyer of the universe. The whole symbol is said to represent Brahman from which the universe emanates, has its growth and fruition and into which it merges in the end. It does not grow or change. Many change and pass, but Brahman is the One that ever remains unchanged.
The letters A, U and M also stand for the mantra 'Tat Twam Asi' ('That Thou Art'), the realisation of man's divinity within himself. The entire symbol stands for this realisation, which liberates the human spirit from the confines of his body, mind, intellect and ego. After realising the importance of AUM, the yogi focusses his attention on his beloved Deity adding AUM to the name of the Lord. The word AUM being too vast and too abstract, he unifies his senses, will, intellect, mind and reason by focussing on the name of the Lord and adding the word AUM with one pointed devotion and so experiences the feeling and meaning of the mantra. The yogi recalls the verses of the Mundakopanisad: "Taking as a bow the great weapon of the Upanisad, one should put upon it an arrow sharpened by meditation. Stretching it with a thought directed to the essence of That, penetrate the Imperishable as the mark, my friend. The mystic syllable AUM is the bow. The arrow is the Self (Atma). Brahman is the target. By the undistracted man is It penetrated. One should come to be in It, as the arrow in the mark." Definitions used here: 1. (1) samadhi - a state of super-consciousness brought about by profound meditation, in which the individual aspirant (sadhaka) becomes one with the object of his meditation - Paramatma or the Universal Spirit. 2. (2) asana - posture 3. (3) pranayama - rhythmic control of the breath 4. (4) pratyahara - withdrawal and emancipation of the mind from the domination of the senses and exterior objects Back to top
DISCLAIMER: The above information is provided purely to provide an introduction to some of the various facets of Hindu tradition and religion, and any opinions contained therein do not necessarily reflect the opinions of our membership.