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Home , Brahman, Yoga

COMPARATIVE

D A Y 3 COMPLEXITY OF RELIGIONS: VARIOUS DIMENSIONS TO A RELIGIOUS LIFE

Experiential Doctrinal Ethical Social The felt The beliefs. How to act. with . 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 of reverence. the human condition. OUR APPROACH TO UNDERSTANDING RELIGIONS

Understanding a 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

Brahman Ultimate ; 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

Why do we want sat-chit-ananda? How do we achieve it? REVIEW: SCHOOL OF

Yoga: “Yoke”; to attach, to unite.

Reality: Dualistic Material (prakriti) & Spiritual ()

Moksha : Freeing ourselves from the material so that we can reunite with spiritual. Realizing that our deepest IS . 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

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.) YOGA

The Way to through Love/Devotion (Reuniting with Brahman Emotionally)

• Has countless followers.

• Usually expressed or practiced through: • Devotions to a personal . • Rituals & festivals. • Pilgrimages. • Even Cow (and )

• Why so popular? FOR A BRIEF LOOK AT HINDU :

The Divine stories, primarily of the divine Trimurti.

Shiva 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 : FOR A BRIEF LOOK AT HINDU DEITIES: 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 )

Overcoming Obstacles FOR A BRIEF LOOK AT HINDU DEITIES:

The Great • Many manifestations: • Mother • Protector • Deity of wealth • Powerful Slayer -

1. Why so many deities?

2. How does Bhakti Yoga help achieve ?

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? YOGA

The Way to God through Work (Reuniting by Doing Brahman’s Will).

• Maybe most common approach.

• Performing your (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 . • Caste system has decayed.

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”?

The way to God through psychophysical mastery (Reuniting Through Meditative Experience).

• The royal path of .

• 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

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: Yoga: Tantric Yoga: Psychological Physical Energy Sexual Energy Energy COMPARATIVE RELIGIONS

HOUR 4 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. • teachings.

• The hardest path, but quickest.

What does it look like? JNANA YOGA

What does it look like?

• Within the Mahabarata Epic

• The conversations between & • 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: “ is certain for the born. 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- 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 , 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 - Brahman Brahman • Your deepest self, – Atman • Atman is continually born into this limited 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 of reality – 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.

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 • in “Monisim” Brahman • Practice: What is reality? Die Live • 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?