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Reuniting with Brahman Emotionally) COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS D A Y 3 COMPLEXITY OF RELIGIONS: VARIOUS DIMENSIONS TO A RELIGIOUS LIFE Experiential Doctrinal Ethical Social The felt The beliefs. How to act. Being with experience. Right and others. wrong. Rituals/Practices Material Mythic Repeated acts, often to Architecture, art, A culture’s foundational worship or express sacred items. story of the nature of reverence. the human condition. OUR APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING RELIGIONS Understanding a religion is like working with a puzzle: “Two men are found dead in their cabin in the woods. The forest around them has been burned down, but the cabin has not. How did they die?” We need to focus on finding the proper context/mythos before we have any hope of really understanding it. MYTHOS OF HINDUISM Brahman Ultimate reality; underlying ground of all existence. Characteristics? “Sat-chit-ananda” MYTHOS OF HINDUISM What do people really want? Sat-chit-anada MYTHOS OF HINDUISM Yoga School vs. Advaita Vedanta Why do we want sat-chit-ananda? How do we achieve it? REVIEW: YOGA SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY Yoga: “Yoke”; to attach, to unite. Reality: Dualistic Material (prakriti) & Spiritual (purusha) Moksha : Freeing ourselves from the material so that we can reunite with spiritual. Realizing that our deepest self IS Brahman. REVIEW: YOGA SCHOOL OF PHILOSOPHY Yoga: “Yoke”; to attach, to unite. How to Reunite? 4 primary types: feeling, doing, experiencing, intuiting. One of the first personality typologies. THE FOUR YOGAS Groups In your own words, summarize the four yogas written about in your readings for today. Explain how each of these yogas may lead to reunification with Brahman. (*Hint one of the yogas may be much more difficult to explain than the others.) BHAKTI YOGA The Way to God through Love/Devotion (Reuniting with Brahman Emotionally) • Has countless followers. • Usually expressed or practiced through: • Devotions to a personal deity. • Rituals & festivals. • Pilgrimages. • Even Cow Veneration (and vegetarianism) • Why so popular? FOR A BRIEF LOOK AT HINDU DEITIES: TRIMURTI The Puranas Divine stories, primarily of the divine Trimurti. Shiva Brahma The “destroyer” or The “creator”. “transformer” Associated with earth. Associated with fire and dance. Vishnu The “maintainer” or “preserver” Associated with water. FOR A BRIEF LOOK AT HINDU DEITIES: VISHNU FOR A BRIEF LOOK AT HINDU DEITIES: SHIVA FOR A BRIEF LOOK AT HINDU DEITIES: BRAHMA Not worshipped much. No holidays. Not much art. Several stories have him cursed. FOR A BRIEF LOOK AT HINDU DEITIES: GANESH (SON OF SHIVA AND PARVATI) Overcoming Obstacles FOR A BRIEF LOOK AT HINDU DEITIES: DEVI The Great Goddess • Many manifestations: • Mother • Protector • Deity of wealth • Powerful Slayer - Kali BHAKTI YOGA 1. Why so many deities? 2. How does Bhakti Yoga help achieve Moksha? 3. Why worship a deity vs. Brahman? BHAKTI YOGA The Way to God through Love/Devotion Hard to express love to the “ground of all being” Easier to express it to somebody or something. BHAKTI YOGA The Way to God through Love/Devotion Hard to express love to the “ground of all being” Easier to express it to somebody or something. BHAKTI YOGA The Way to God through Love/Devotion Hard to express love to the “ground of all being” Easier to express it to somebody or something. BHAKTI YOGA How might you practice (or already practice) Bhakti Yoga? KARMA YOGA The Way to God through Work (Reuniting by Doing Brahman’s Will). • Maybe most common approach. • Performing your dharma (duty), with detachment from the outcome. • Often done along with other yogas (i.e. bhakti) Q: “How do I know what my dharma is? YOUR DHARMA: 1. STAGES OF LIFE Q: But what occupation shall I have? What specific work? YOUR DHARMA: 2. STATIONS OF LIFE (CASTE) But what occupation shall I have? What specific work? “The one that you were born to do.” – What does this mean to you? • Based on Law of Manu. • Based on the concept of reincarnation. • Caste system has decayed. KARMA YOGA 1. How does Karma Yoga help achieve Moshka? • Doing something without attachment to outcome helps separate “you” from your “ego”. • Doing something for Brahman helps bring you to experience something greater than yourself. 2. What else could it mean to do your “dharma”? RAJA YOGA The way to God through psychophysical mastery (Reuniting Through Meditative Experience). • The royal path of meditation. • Like a king can maintain control over his kingdom, we can reunite with Brahman by controlling our inner Kingdom. RAJA YOGA The 4 Layers of the Self Body Conscious Mind Unconscious Mind The Ground of all Being Through meditative practices can overcome the limitations of the first 3 layers in order to reunite with Brahman. RAJA YOGA DEMONSTRATIONS RAJA YOGA DEMONSTRATIONS RAJA YOGA DEMONSTRATIONS RAJA YOGA DEMONSTRATIONS RAJA YOGA Beyond Physical Limitations Physical Limitations Body Concentrative Limitations Conscious Mind Emotional Limitations Unconscious Mind The Ground of all Being RAJA YOGA Many Different Practices To overcome Limitations of Physical Self Raja Yoga Hatha Yoga: Mantra Yoga: Tantric Yoga: Psychological Physical Energy Sexual Energy Energy COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS HOUR 4 JNANA YOGA The Way to God through Knowledge (Reuniting through the intellect) • To know Brahman through intuitive understanding. • Meditating/study of Sacred texts. • Through intellectual exercise. • Guru teachings. • The hardest path, but quickest. JNANA YOGA What does it look like? JNANA YOGA What does it look like? • Within the Mahabarata Epic • The conversations between Arjuna & Krishna • Most influential literature in Hinduism. Gandhi: “dictionary for life” JNANA YOGA What Does it Look Like? Groups 2-3 What’s Arjuna’s dilemma? (pg 2-6) What is Sri Krishna’s response? (pg10-11) • Pg 10: “Death is certain for the born. Rebirth is certain for the dead. You should not grieve for what is unavoidable.” • Pg 11: “Even if you consider this from the standpoint of your own caste-duty, you out not hesitate; for, to a warrior, there is nothing nobler than a righteous war.” JNANA YOGA What Does it Look Like? Contemplating Pg 13 “In the calm of self-surrender you can free yourself from the bondage of virtue and vice during this very life. Devote yourself, therefore, to reaching union with Brahman. To unite the heart with Brahman and then to act: that is the secret of non-attached work.” JNANA YOGA What Does it Look Like? Contemplating Pg 13 What is it saying? JNANA YOGA What Does it Look Like? Contemplating Pg 13 JNANA YOGA What Does it Look Like? Contemplating Pg 13 JNANA YOGA What Does it Look Like? Pg 8: “The truly wise mourn neither for the living nor for the dead.” Pg 8: “There was never a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor any of these kings. Nor is there a future in which we shall cease to be.” Pg 9: “That which is non-existent can never come into being, and that which is can never cease to be.” Pg 11: “Realize that pleasure pain, gain and loss, victory and defeat, are all one and the same: then go into battle.” Pg 12: “You must be free from the pairs of opposites. Poise your mind in tranquility.” THE BIG PICTURE • One impersonal Ultimate Reality - Brahman Brahman • Your deepest self, soul – Atman • Atman is continually born into this limited world lifetime after lifetime - Wheel of Samsara • Each successive birth condition determined by our actions and level of realization of Born our previous lifetime . - Karma • Trapped in Samsara because we have false, illusory perception of reality – Maya Die Live • We can escape the Wheel of Samsara once we “awaken” to the self-realization that we are it: Atman is Brahman. - Moksha THE BIG PICTURE Can you think of an analogy that you’re familiar with to represent these ideas? A MODERN ANALOGY Why do we want sat-chit-ananda? How do we achieve it? Yoga School vs. Advaita Vedanta But, why don’t I feel like Brahman? Bothered by physical ailments, emotional conflicts with people,… quizzes! THE BIG PICTURE Brahman For Yoga School: Maya is the illusion that we are primarily material, that this world is all there is. Born • We can escape the Wheel of Samsara once we “awaken” to Die Live the self-realization that we are more than physicalphysical. THE BIG PICTURE Brahman For Advaita Vedanta Maya is the illusion that there is a distinction between material and spiritual. Born • We can escape the Wheel of Samsara once we “awaken” to Die Live the self-realization that we are all there isis. THE BIG PICTURE For Advaita Vedanta Maya is the illusion that there is a distinction between material and spiritual. Born • We can escape the Wheel of Brahman Samsara once we “awaken” to Die Live the self-realization that we are all there isis. THE BIG PICTURE For Advaita Vedanta • Unlike the Yoga School, Vedanta is “non-dualistic” Born • Believes in “Monisim” Brahman • Practice: What is reality? Die Live • Neti Neti. THE MAIN DIFFERENCE: HOW TO ACHIEVE MOSHKA Yoga School vs. Advaita Vedanta Detachment from Realization: the material. There is no material & spiritual. Only Brahman. THE BIG PICTURE Brahman •Why would we, Brahman, choose to do this? Born Die Live WHAT’S THE CORE? (EVEN IN NON-RELIGIOUS TERMS) • What is the Ultimate • Brahman • Human Condition? • Trapped in Maya • How to Transcend the Human Condition? • Moksha through self-realization. • What’s the key idea to you? • Authenticity • There’s more to you than you know. • Unity/identity with all people and things. • Do you see similarities with any religions you’re familiar with?.
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