Asia is the cradle of all the living, developed, religions of the world. In Asia, India has been particularly blessed with Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism and Sikhism. It is traditional to contrast the West Asian religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islam, as prophetic and monotheist to the East and the South Asian religions, considered mystic, adding Taoism to the list of Indian religions mentioned above. Another contrast that one can evoke here is between cosmic and metacosmic religions. Cosmic religions tend to divinize the forces of nature and to relate to them through various rituals, whereas metacosmic religions seek to refer beyond the cosmic forces to a metacosmic (beyond the cosmos) Absolute which could be transcendant and/or immanent. Contemplation and/or love would be the way to reach It. The Indian religions I have listed above can be considered metacosmic.
Historians of religions speak of an axial age in the history of the world and suggest that in that period the humans sought to go beyond the cosmic to the metacosmic in understanding themselves in the world. This period is said to occur in the 6th to 5th century BCE. This is the time of the post-exilic prophets like Isaiah and Jeremiah in the Biblical tradition, of Laotzu in China, of the Buddha, Mahavira and the Upanishadic seers in India. Christianity and Islam in West Asia and Sikhism in India will come later. So we have a geographical and historical context of the living religions of the world. I shall now proceed to focus on the Indian religions, though Buddhism is more Asian than Indian, even if it had its origin in India. I am not going to present each religion elaborately, but only focus on what is specific to each religion, from which we can learn something to enrich ourselves.
Jainism
Jainism goes back to Mahavira (c. 540-468 BCE) acclaimed as the 24th in a line of Tirthankaras (ford-makers or guides). He is acclaimed as a Jina (spiritual conqueror) who guides people to conquer the karma-rebirth cycle. Karma is action which is rewarded or punished according to whether it is good or bad. If the recompense does not happen in this life, one has to be born again. The whole world, even matter, is full of life. These lives have to be protected so that they can follow their own course towards liberation. The fruits of their good and bad actions get attached to them and have to be got rid of. This is possible through an ascetic life and austerities. The ascetics take five vows: Ahimsa: not to destroy any life through carelessness; Satya: to speak only what is pleasant, wholesome and true; Asteya: to take nothing which is not given; Brahmacarya: to refrain from sexual intercourse; and Aparigraha: to have no worldly possessions. One has to control one’s mind, speech and bodily movements. Austerities help one both for self-control and for burning off the undesired effects of action. There is no creator God. Every living being or jiva in infinite and has to free itself to attain its natural/original state. Everyone can become divine.
Cf. L. Pereira, “Jainism” in Jesuit Scholars, Religious Hinduism. Allahabad: St. Paul Publications, 1964, pp. 189-196.
Jainism is specially known for its non-violent attitude. The monks cover their noses and mouth so as not to injure any insects, even invisible ones, from being harmed when one breathes or speaks. When a monk walks the disciples sweep the ground in front of them so that they may not step on any living creature as they walk. Jainism was an important influence in the childhood of Mahatma Gandhi for his doctrine and practice of non-violence. Gandhi made it also a political tool. Jainism has made non-violence a value in Indian culture. At a time when peace in the midst of all sorts of violence is very much desired and ecological awareness is strong, we can learn from the Jains the practice of non-violence and the spirit of self-discipline that it requires as well as respect for life in all its forms.
Buddhism
The Buddha (c. 600 – 400 BCE), though born a prince, encounters people who are afflicted by incurable illness, grow old and die. Such an experience of human suffering drives him to search for the way(s) of escaping it. Leaving his palace he comes across sannyasis (renouncers) who are engaged in a similar search. He engages like them in various austerities. But after some years he finds that these lead him nowhere. He then adopts what he terms the middle path between indulgence and renunciation. His meditation finally leads him to enlightenment. He summarises this discovery in four principles: 1. Life is full of suffering, not merely physical, but also the uncertainty of life itself; 2. The cause of suffering is desire for or clinging to the goods of the earth and to wellbeing; 3. In order to get rid of suffering we have to get rid of desire; 4. To get rid of desire we have to follow the eight-fold path: right knowledge, right resolve, right speech, right conduct, right livelihood, right effort, right mindfulness, right concentration. The eight-fold path will lead us to nirvana or fulfilment. He does not keep this discovery for himself, but goes about preaching it to others. He does not deny or affirm, but he refuses to speak about, God.
Though Buddhism was born in India, it slowly spreads in the countries to its south, east and north, reaching China, Japan, Vietnam, Thailand, Sri Lanka, etc. After about a couple of centuries it splits into two sects: the Hinayana and the Mahayana – the small and the big vehicle. These differences need not concern us here. After about 9 or 10 centuries it slowly disappears from India. In China and Japan it gives rise to simplified forms of meditation like Zen, which has become popular across the world. The three basic principles that seem to govern Buddhist practice today is achieving egolessness in a life that is in constant movement, the experience of the mutual interdependence of all beings and the constant attempt to live in the present moment. These three principles can give valuable lessons for us in our own lives.
One of the problems that we have in life is our attachment to it or clinging to it. Looking at our own lives and at the lives of others we know that nothing in this world is certain or permanent. Tsunamis, earthquakes, floods, accidents, wars, known and unknown illnesses and finally sudden death make our lives quite uncertain. We cannot really depend on anyone or anything. Yet we amass goods that we cannot depend on and that we cannot take with us, we confide in people whose concern and love for us is not certain, we keep aiming at goals that we may never be able to reach. Selfishness, desires and attachments enslave us. Becoming aware of the impermanence of the world and learning to live in it one day at a time without exaggerated hopes can enable us to take life as it comes and live it peacefully without expectations and regrets. This does not mean a stoic acceptance of life with a sense of fatalism. We try to do what we can, being ready to accept what comes. There is an absence of attachment and an openness to acceptance.
It often happens to us when we are alone and not busy with something, that our mind wanders. If we stop to notice what we are thinking about, our minds will mostly wander around our past memories or future expectations. We cannot change the past, of course. But we cannot stop regretting or imagining what we could have done better. If we are not thinking of the past, we will be imagining the future: about our plans, the favourable circumstances, our hopes in the help that others may give us. We are dreaming, knowing very well from our past experience that things do not work out exactly as we foresee. We are not ready for the unexpected. That will lead to disappointment. But our dreaming has not made us ready to meet such disappointment. What we should do is to live in the present moment, doing well what we are doing, enjoying it and being fully alive, whether we are sitting, walking, thinking, working, eating, whatever. We have to be present to every moment without regrets about the past and unreal expectations about the future. This will be a great source of peace for us. We will do everything well and with concentration. We will be helped to meet any challenges that we may encounter with full attention and commitment. Many Buddhist masters do not tire of teaching us this art of living in the present moment authentically and fully.
Thirdly, if we stop to think about ourselves we will realize how much we are a small link in a global chain of events. We are dependent on so many things and persons. We cannot live without the earth, the light and the heat of sun, the water and the food, the trees, the birds and the animals. We depend on other people as we live, walk along the road, shop or do anything at all. There is a universal chain of being that is essential simply to keep us alive. We will not be here without our parents, our co-workers, the great number of people who keep the world going – the teachers, the doctors, the officers, the police, the cooks, the farmers, the traders, the business people, even the politicians and the police. We are just dependent on people everywhere, all the time. This dependence can become our strength, if we look on it as collaboration. The universe is a vast network of mutually dependent beings. We too are contributing to the lives of so may by what we are living and doing. Bhikku Buddhadasa of Thailand said that the world we live in is socialistic. We are not monads, all on our own and self-sufficient. If we want to live well, we have to live together and help each other. Trying to exploit each other will only lead to violence and mutual destruction.
Buddhism may not talk about God or life after death in another world. But it teaches us to live in this one without regrets, illusions and unrealistic expectations, facing life as it comes.
Sikhism
Muslim groups from West Asia invaded India from the 8th century onwards and (North) India had become a Muslim kingdom from the 11th century. While conflicts were not absent, there was not only an effort between Hindus and Muslims to live together, but also mutual spiritual influence. There were saints like Kabir (1440-1518), who sought to rise beyond the religious differences to reach out to the one God. He sings:
O servant, where dost thou seek me?
Lo! I am beside thee.
I am neither in temple nor in mosque: I am neither in Kaaba nor in Kailash:
Neither am I in rites and ceremonies, nor in Yoga and renunciation.
If thou art a true seeker, thou shalt at once see Me: thou shalt meet Me in a moment of time.
Kabir says: ‘O Sadhu! God is the breath of all breath.’
2. Thich Nhat Hanh, Out Appointment with Life: The Buddha’s Teaching on Living in the Prresent. (New Delhi: Hind Pocket Books, 1997)
3. Bhikku Buddhadasa, Dhammic Socialism. (Bangkok: Thai Inter-Religious Commission for Development, 1986)
Guru Nanak (1459-1538) was a disciple of Kabir and founded Sikhism in an effort to go beyond Islam and Hinduism, while integrating both. A Sikh is a disciple. The morning prayer of the Sikhs reads:
There is one God.
He is the supreme truth.
He, the Creator,
Is without fear and without hate.
He, the Omnipresent,
Pervades the universe.
He is not born,
Nor does he die to be born again.
By His grace shalt thou worship Him.
Guru Nanak made a large collection of hymns composed by himself and others, Hindu and Muslim. Called Adi Granth (original book), it became the sacred book kept in their meeting places. It is honoured and the hymns are sung. The Sikhs have no temples, no sacred images or idols, no special religious rituals, no priesthood. All, including women, are considered equal. Singing the praise of God is their only worship. They have a common kitchen in the place where they gather that serve food to all comers, once again affirming the equality of all in the midst of a hierarchical caste society still prevalent in India. At a certain stage they had to organize and defend themselves to preserve their identity. They became a warrior group in this way. They believed in karma and re-birth. Salvation is union with God, attained through getting rid of one’s egoism and receiving the grace of God. “Our own past actions have put this garment (body) on us; but salvation comes only through his grace.”
The Sikhs can help us to reach out to an Absolute that is beyond name and form, not attached to any particular religious tradition and not attained through any ritual observances. Praise is the pure worship of God. Their attachment to the Book and their imageless and ritual-free meeting places remind us of the Muslims. Their devotional singing assimilate them to the Hindus. Sikhism is a model of an ecumenical religion.
Rabindranath Tagore, Poems of Kabir. (New Delhi: Rupa, 2002), p. 1.
Kushwant Singh (translator), Hymns of the Gurus. (New Delhi: Penguin Books, 2003), p. 3.
Cf. L. Pereira, “Sikhism” in Jesuit Scholars, Religious Hinduism, p. 269.
Hinduism
Hinduism has a tradition that goes back to more than 4000 years. In its beginnings it was a cosmic religion, considering natural forces as gods, though a supreme God above all was recognized. There were rituals to honour and propitiate the gods for favours asked for or received. There were hymns of prayer and petition collected into four volumes called the Vedas. Then arrives the axial age. Jainism and Buddhism can be seen as protest traditions that throw away this celestial ‘superstructure’ and focus on the humans and how they should live. But there was also an orthodox tradition that sought to go deeper into reality. Some of the sages, who led this reflection put down their thoughts in shorter and longer texts called the Upanishads. There are more than 100 of them, though about 15 are the more important ones. For example, the Kena Upanishad starts its search.
Who sends the mind to wander afar? Who first drives life to start on its journey? Who impels us to utter these words? Who is the Spirit behind the eye and the ear?
It is the ear of the ear, the eye of the eye, and the Word of words, the mind of mind, and the life of life. Those who follow wisdom pass beyond and, on leaving this world, become immortal.
There the eye goes not, nor words, nor mind. We know not, we cannot understand, how he can be explained: He is above the known and he is above the unknown. Thus have we heard from the ancient sages who explained this to us.
What cannot be spoken with words, but that whereby words are spoken: Know that alone to be Brahman, the Spirit; and not what people here adore.
Another Upanishad, the Brihadaranyaka, also leads us on a quest. King Janaka questions the sage Yajnavalkya: ‘What is the light of man?’ He answers: ‘The sun is his light… It is by the light of the sun that a man rests, goes forth, does his work, and returns.’ The king pursues: ‘When the sun is set, what is the light of man?’ ‘The moon then becomes his light’ is the answer. Questions and answers follow leading us to the fire, the voice and finally to the ‘Soul’ and to the Atman – the inner Spirit. Realizing one’s oneness with this inner Spirit is the goal of one’s search. The union is so intimate and profound that the duality seems to disappear. “As a man in the arms of the woman beloved feels only peace all around, even so the Soul in the embrace of the Atman, the Spirit of vision, feels only peace all around.”
The Absolute is seen, not as transcendent creator outside creation, as in some religious traditions, but as an immanent animator. The search for the Absolute, therefore, should lead us within our own selves. The Katha Upanishad says:
Concealed in the heart of all beings is the Atman, the Spirit, the Self; smaller than the smallest atom, greater than the vast space. The man who surrenders his human will leaves sorrows behind, and beholds the glory of the Atman by the grace of the Creator…
7. Juan Mascaro (translator), The Upanishads. (Harmondsworth: Penguin, 1965), p. 51.
8. Ibid., pp. 133-134.
He is the Eternal among things that pass away, pure Consciousness of conscious beings, the ONE who fulfils the prayers of many. Only the wise who see him in their souls attain the peace eternal…
There the sun shines not, nor the moon, nor the stars; lightnings shine not there and much less earthly fire. From his light all these give light, and his radiance illumines all creation.
The Isa Upanishad proclaims:
Behold the universe in the glory of God; and all that lives and moves on earth. Leaving the transient, find joy in the eternal… The Spirit filled all with his radiance. He is incorporeal and invulnerable, pure and untouched by evil. He is the supreme seer and thinker, immanent and transcendent. He placed all things in the path of eternity.
The Upanishads are not philosophical texts, but stories of a discovery often expressed in symbolic language, sometimes ambiguous. The philosophers who came later tried to understand more clearly the Absolute in relation to the world. Some thought that the Upanishads preached monism: the Absolute is the only reality; everything else is an illusion. Others thought that the world is related to the Absolute as the body to the spirit in the humans. Still others advocated a dualism between the Absolute and the world. What is important to realize is that in comparison with a Western tradition that looked upon the Absolute – God – as a creator outside creation the Hindu tradition affirms that the Absolute and the world (creation) are not two realities that are totally different from and opposed to each other like the Creator and creation. The world is so totally dependent on God that it is not real in the same way as the Absolute which is the REAL. The Absolute and the world are not one reality. But at the same time, they are not-two, that is, they are one complex reality. This is the principle of advaita (not-two). Human ignorance leads us to think that we are totally different from the Absolute. This is egoism and self-centeredness. Realizing our total dependence on the Absolute and living freely this dependence on and oneness with the Absolute is freedom, joy and fulfilment. (The body-soul analogy may be the easiest to understand.)
Hinduism has a very strong Bhakti tradition, experiencing the love of God for us and our love for God. There are thousands of devotional songs in the many languages of India. They try to sing and live this union with God. Loving devotion affirms a relation that denies any sort of monism. At the same time it seeks to go beyond any dualism. Nammalvar, a Tamil poet of the 9th century CE sings: “My Lord who swept me away forever into joy that day, made me over into himself and sang in Tamil his own songs through me.” The translator-commentator speaks of ‘mutual cannibalism’.
My dark one stands there as if nothing’s changed, after taking entire into his maw all three worlds, the gods, and the good kings who hold their lands as a mother would her child in her womb – and I by his leave have taken him entire and I hold him in my belly for keeps.
9. Ibid., pp. 59, 64.
10 Ibid., p. 49.
11. A.K.Rmanujan (translator), Hymns for the Drowning. (New Delhi: Penguin, 1993), p. 85.
12. Ibid., p. 150
This is neither monism nor dualism, but communion in relationship. In the Bhagavadgita, Krishna – God-in-human-form – shows Arjuna his divine form: “If the light of a thousand suns suddenly arose in the sky, that splendour might be compared to the radiance of the Supreme Spirit. And Arjuna saw in that radiance the whole universe in its variety, standing in a vast unity in the body of the God of gods.”
Such an experience of communion is not foreign to Christianity, though popular experience is characterised by dualistic and devotional ritualism. The traditional texts, often referred to, are Jesus saying “I and the Father are one!” (Jn 10:30) and Paul: “It is no longer I who live, but it is Christ who lives in me.” (Gal 2:20) Paul tells the Athenians: “In him we live and move and have our being.” (Acts 17:28) Jesus himself tells the apostles: “As you, Father, are in me and I am in you, may they also be in us.” (Jn 17:21) If we try to contemplate God, three-in-one, we realize that the intimacy of this communion is beyond our imagination. And when we participate in the Eucharist and eat the body of Christ, could we recall the ‘cannibalism’ of Nammalvar referred to above?
Yoga and Energy
The Hindu tradition speaks of four ways or margas of reaching out to God: jnana (knowledge or intuition), bhakti (love and devotion), karma (action) and yoga (psycho-physical discipline). Yoga is sometimes practiced by itself as a non-theistic system seeking self-integration through postures, breathing and concentration of the self, mind and body. Zen is a Buddhist variation of this. Yoga is also used as a preparation for the other margas. Yoga has eight ‘limbs’: 1. The five abstensions: ahimsa (non-violence), satya (truthfulness), asteya (non-stealing), brahmacarya (chastity) and aparigraha (non-possessiveness). 2. The five observances: sauca (purity), santosha (contentment), tapas (austerity), svadhyaya (self reflection) and iswara-pranidhana (contemplation of God). 3. Postures of the body (asana) 4. Breathing exercises (pranayama) 5. Pratyahara (withdrawal of the senses from external objects. 6. Dharana (concentration of the mind on a single object). 7. Dhyana (meditation) and 8. Samadhi (liberation). From the sixth stage onwards the focus can be God or the self itself. The ethical preparation of the first two stages can be useful for any one. The postures and breathing exercises are widely used to improve bodily health and even to cure diseases. Meditative concentration can focus on anything – a flower, a flame, an image – that can integrate the mind. Any one, therefore, can use this method for their self-improvement. I think that it is so used widely in the world today. Yoga may have been known in the ancient Middle East and used by some Christian groups too.
13. Juan Mascaro (translator), The Bhagavad Gita. (New Delhi: Penguin, 1994), p. 90.
There is one element of the yoga that we could pay particular attention to today. In the West, when people think of the humans, they tend to think of the body and the spirit (soul). Some may deny the spirit. The yoga points to a third element that is normally ignored, namely the energy field. The yogic masters speak of the 7 chakras or energy nodes in the body, of the circulation of this energy, of the link that we have with the cosmos, with the others and with the divine through our energy. There are healing systems like Pranic healing or Reiki that are used today as alternative therapies. If energy can be used for healing, it can also be used for hurting others. Energy is not something material that you can measure and weigh. So scientists are distrustful of it. It is not ‘spiritual’ either. We can feel it in our breath, in our body, in nature and in the others. I know personally that it can be experienced and I also know a lot of people who can witness to its healing effects, both healers and the healed. It is religiously neutral in itself. It can be used to hurt or to heal. According to its use it becomes bad or good energy. Emotions and energies were not unknown in the West. But the exclusive focus of science on matter and of philosophy on reason has ignored and marginalized the power of energy. This is certainly something that we can learn from India and the East. Not only Hinduism, but also various forms of Buddhism – the Tibetan, the Chinese, the Japanese – and Taoism handle energy. In an ecological age we can explore how energy links us to the cosmos, which is also full of energy.
The Secular and the Sacred
The Buddhists of the Mahayana tradition have a saying “Nirvana is samsara”. Nirvana is the state of liberation that one wants to attain. Samsara is the state that one is normally in. These are not two different worlds. Going from samsara to nirvana is not like going from earth to heaven. If one can control one’s desires and one’s egoism and lives in the present moment in tranquillity one has attained nirvana. Thus, samsara properly lived is nirvana. The secular becomes the sacred.
In the Western tradition the world is seen as God’s creation. God is up above in heaven and the world is outside God. The clock maker is not the clock. Once made, the clock functions on its own. Modern scientists studying the world see it functioning as a machine, understandable in terms of the various forces that keep it in dynamic equilibrium. They do not need an outside force – God – to keep it going. Such a self-sufficient world may eventually deny God altogether. The secular does not need the sacred.
In the Eastern tradition, God is not outside the world. God is in it, immanent, in its depths. One does not need to move from earth to heaven, but can experience Reality in its depths. Becoming aware of and experiencing God as deeply immanent in the world is to experience the secular as the sacred. Rabindranath Tagore, a Nobel-laureate Indian poet sings:
Leave this chanting and singing and telling of beads! Whom dost thou worship in this lonely dark corner of a temple with doors all shut? Open thine eyes and see thy God is not before thee!
He is there where the tiller is tilling the hard ground and where the pathmaker is breaking stones. He is with them in sun and in shower, and his garment is covered with dust. Put off thy holy mantle and even like him come down on the dusty soil!
Deliverance? Where is deliverance to be found? Our master himself has joyfully taken upon him the bonds of creation; he is bound with us all for ever…
Such a perspective is not absent in the West. The Christians believe that God became incarnate in Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ himself told his disciples that he can be encountered each time we feed the hungry, care for the sick, clothe the naked, visit the people in prison, etc. (cf. Mt 25:31-46) Saints like Francis of Assisi and Ignatius Loyola sought and found God in all things. But this is not part of popular awareness. We distinguish between life in the world and seeking God through prayers and rituals. We do not seek to encounter God in the other(s) and in the world. A believing Christian scientist like Teilhard de Chardin saw the whole evolutionary movement of the world as a Christogenesis. But he does not, unfortunately) represent mainstream Christianity.
This brief exploration of Indian religions has shown us the dimension of divine immanence, which may lead at the limit, to ignoring it altogether. The Buddha did not want to take this step. That was why he did not want to talk about God at all, neither affirming nor denying God! The Hindu tradition affirms our advaitic oneness with the Absolute. In the process the Indian religious traditions tend to focus on life in this world, well lived, than on a Transcendent that we have to reach out to through rituals. The secular becomes the sacred. I think that this something worth reflecting upon and living.
14. Rabindranath Tagore, Gitanjali. (Madras: Macmillan, 1913), pp. 6-7
Michael Amaladoss, S.J
Institute of Dialogue with Cultures and Religions,
Loyola College, Chennai, India.