HomeMy conception of hindu faith
In what consists the ultimate goal : moksha?
I undoubtedly already stated that the ultimate goal of the human existence is to get rid of the cycle of rebirths (samsara), to reach freedom. Of what does consist this freedom? That is not the fate of the gods of the Hindu Pantheon, nor that of the elected men who obtain a temporary stay in their paradise (loka) (5), for their great wisdom and praiseworthy karma. They have all to be reborn at the beginning of a new Kalpa, because that is the path which they have chosen in fact. They will be ready for moksha only once they will have made abstraction of their ego and their attachment to the fruit of their studies or of their acts, even if these acts are purely altruistic. It is said in Bhagvata Purana (XI.25.35).
While strengthening oneself by the absence of desires, one must also take the control of the sattva and free oneself from the 3 modes of the material existence. It is the means to release the jiva from its envelope (dual nature) and to return to its true nature, the aatmaa. The task is not easy in many respects, would it be only to become aware of the fact that even the love which one feels for his relatives is a bond as also the satisfaction of having acted well. Then try to become conscious that you do not belong to this body which remember you its existence at every moment and that you are not even an immaterial individual, but makes part of Aatman who impregnates Nature like a vital or rather spiritual fluid. What is the goal of aatmaa while being invested in a connection with material body (conditioned by this body as a jiva)? Although God is perfectly able to feel without the help of senses, to be in possession of a material body is probably required to experience all kinds of spiritual feelings, including suffering, penance. For the jiva, to get free of this bond is a preliminary condition for becoming also free of ego. Or is it the contrary, since devotional service which is surrender of the self to God is a path to moksha? The texts distinguish sometimes a double presence in us, that of the jiva and the pervading Aatman, the latter remaining immaculate in the contact. They adopt the (erroneous for scientists) image of the air which penetrates in our lungs then exits without undergoing contamination. I will express now a very personal opinion about the personal choice of a life goal. The renunciation of any activity is the very drawn path towards Hell, because what could God propose to the one who has chosen this path for the future else than to undergo passively anything what may happens. There is no fault in the choice of being reborn for satisfying “personal” aspirations, as long as they are praiseworthy. The jiva who makes this choice is also useful for the divine activity and, according to the principle of the rebirths will see itself granted the right to enjoy the pleasures and their consequences. The key of the problem is to be conscious of the transitory character of this ego to cherished by the jiva who chooses this path. If the ego is as transitory as the physical envelope (what is not the opinion of Jews, Christians and Muslims), it does not have a real existence as like to repeat Buddhist philosophers. The later propose to us a release idea, which according to my comprehension is only a dissolution of the soul in a purposeless spiritual flow without end. What is the difference with the idea proposed by Hindu philosophy? That by becoming conscious of our true nature, belonging to the Aatman, we do not have to get free of anything. We have always been, will always be and have nothing to do of this “us”. There is of course nothing to regret giving up on earth nor to escape. This ego has no future to hope or past to remember. The aatmaa inhabiting our body for some time is one with Aatman and continues to take part to His activity, including to enjoy the works of Nature. The physical conditioning as a jiva has no importance since fictitious. In this respect, lets quote first some verses about the eternal nature of the soul:
na tv evaaham jaatu naasam
na tvam neme janaadhipaah
na caiva na bhavisyaanah
sarve vayam atah param
(BH.2-12): God says: Never was there a time when I did not exist, nor you, nor all these kings (whom Arjun must kill during the battle of Kurukshetra just after the Gita dialogue), nor in the future will any of us cease to be.
dehi nityam avadhyo yam
dehe sarvasya bhaarata
tasmat sarvaani bhutaani
na tvam socitum arhasi
(Bh.2-30):O descendant of Bhaarata (ancestor of Arjun), he who dwells in this body can never be slain. Therefore you need not grieve for (the loss of) any living being.
The belonging of our soul to Aatman, so indecent to claim, is often expressed with modesty in the texts:
Tasyaaham, mamaivasau, saevaaham
I belong to You, You are in my heart, I am That.
One finds in the analysis of Ishaavaasya Unpanishad by Vishnu Kant Shastri other quotations of the same type, in particular in the mouth of Hanuman (maybe taken from the version of Raamayana rewritten in Hindi by Tulsidas in 16th century):
Although I know that there is no difference between us, my Lord, I am yours and will not claim insolently that You are mine.
The acknowledged goal of moksha in this spirit state is to acquire the right to prostrate oneself at the feet of God and the ability to discover His inconceivable greatness. But Isha Upanishad goes farther in the analysis of the consequences of human soul identity with the Lord, about which Sri Aurobindo gave clear explanation in his commentaries. Considering again the Hindu conception of creation, Brahman is at same time pure self-existence and self-becoming. He is immutable and eternal outside His creation and projects Himself in various aspects of Nature and Spiritual Worlds, always in states of evolution or involution. Aatman is not only the witness but also the enjoyer. Therefore seeking exclusively non-birth in moksha consists in fact in refusing to be involved in the self-becoming of Brahman, a deny of existence, and should lead to a dissolution into the Nihil. The dissolution of aatma into the Aatman means instead to accept immortality:
Vinaashen martu titvra sambhutyaajhmrtamai nuti
Isha Upanishad 14: By dissolution having crossed over death, by birth one enjoys immortality
Lets conclude in the same terms as Sri Aurobindo in his analysis of the Kena Upanishad. No salvation should be valued which takes us away from the love of God in his manifestation and the help we can give to the world. As the lures of earth have to be conquered, so also has the lure of a pleasant paradise. Two are the objects of the soul, to make one with the Supreme Brahman and to be for ever for the good of all the world; whether here or elsewhere does not essentially matter.
note 5: there exists also a certain number of hells, according to the gravity and the nature of the misdeeds, in which a soul can be relegated for a certain time but in no case for eternity.
Invested during a certain time of a material envelope to enjoy the creation of God, our soul must learn to get freed of this subjection by detachment and meditation for recovering its true nature. "Two are the objects of the soul, to make one with the Supreme Brahman and to be for ever for the good of all the world; whether here or elsewhere does not essentially matter" (Sri Aurobindo).
