Kunal Singh: What is Hinduism?

Hinduism is not concerned with relative opinions of 'goodness' which varies from person to

person, but the absolute truth described by the structure and relationships of its various deities.  Any cursory reading of the Upanisads will make it

clear that the greatest emphasis in Hinduism is on performing penance to

acquire the Brahman.  Most people so far have had trouble on the definition

of 'penance' and the meaning of the acquisition of Brahman or even a minor

deity in Hinduism.  However, if you search the Vedas and the associated

Upanisads, you will find that Hinduism describes the universe as comprising

of the three-fold realm: the heaven, the middle, and the earthly.  So for

the manifest world for every deity there is a heavenly realm, thus the

planets and their association with Hindu deities.  Then there is the

intermediate realm, thus the seasons, the external elements and their

association with the deities etc.  Then there is the inner realm, the

effects of the planetary rotations on the seasons and the inner body, its

shakti or energy flow, thus the body's association with the deities.  Thus

the definition of penance in Hinduism is 'yoga' or that which unifies the

three, allows the practitioner to realize the unity of all three realms.  A

yoga practitioner is expected to understand the earth realm, both outer and

inner, in other words the effects of the outer on the inner.  He is expected

to understand the middle realm, the effects of the elements on the inner.

And then he is expected to understand the effects of the heavenly realm on

the inner.

 

 

Rules and recommendations relating to dietary control, sexual control, mood

control, are all intended to enable penance so that a person does not give

up penance in pursuit of some personal desire which he enjoys more than

penance.  If a Hindu performs penance, but kills, its OK.  If he continues

to perform penance and has sex, that's OK.  If he continues to perform

penance and drinks alcohol that's OK.  As long as he remains sufficiently in

control to continue performance of penance, he is fine.  Without performing

penance, if he abstains from any kind of food or even sex, his efforts will

be largely in vain.  For he is following the restrictions without performing

what the restrictions were supposed to enable in the first place.  Thus you

have all kinds of vegetarians who despite becoming quite degenerated do not

acquire to any Hindu deity.  You have 'brahamachari' celibate religious

figures who cannot even explain the effects of various yoga techniques.  You

have many book readers well versed in the 'shashtras' who cannot even figure

out what the words mean, at best they can attempt the 'best sounding'

translation. 

 

Hinduism had been handed down to the Hindu priests from ancient Kshatriya

kings who were extremely physical in nature.  Their physical nature, and

their prolonged physical pursuits enabled them to feel the effects of the

planets on the body, the effects of the elements on the body, the effects of

the yoga techniques on the body.  None of the practices recommended in

Hinduism to acquire to various deities are a result of 'empirical' or

'statistical' determination or guess work or worse yet some kind of

superstition.  They are literally the result of being able to feel the

effects on the body, and then have its understanding integrated into the

larger understanding of the universe.  In the beginning there were many

Kshatriyas who were well versed in the science of 'internal training' or

'internal/spiritual energy.'  They taught many techniques to the Hindu

Brahmins so that they could verify their experiences for themselves, thus

you have people such as Ashtavakra or Yajnavalkya in the Upanisads almost

being raised by the Kings in their courts and finally 'acquiring to the

Brahman' by following their teachings.  But as time passed, political

upheavals took their toll, foreigners invaded, and the original kings and

their traditions were largely destroyed and the Brahmins were left with

voluminous works, but no understanding of them.  Thus Hinduism became a

collection of 'rites and rituals.'

 

 Let's take a subject such as astrology, the much maligned and perhaps

considered the most riddled with 'superstition.'  Astrology does not begin

in Hinduism with a rather random guess at what could perhaps be the effects

of the Sun in this position and perhaps sampling about a thousand people to

see if that is indeed true!  Astrology begins with first identifying which

part of the body is affected by the Sun whose position is determined by its

backdrop against the zodiac.  Then recommendations are made for a person

born with the Sun in that position.  Even the mind is deemed controlled by

the planetary positions, certain parts of the body are deemed to lead to

certain kinds of thoughts.  Thus over time, it becomes possible to determine

if a person would tend towards material, sexual, or perhaps sensory

fullfillment.  And before you 'pooh pooh' all astrology because most

astrologers couldn't tell where the Sun is in the zodiac if they weren't

allowed to look at the sky, Capricorns like Vajpayee will tend to have weak

knees!  As to why that would be so, I leave that as an exercise for the

famed vegetarian astrologer Jai Maharaj.  But rest assured that if you

progress in your path of penance for at least three years and if you have a

good understanding of what comprises effective 'penance' then you will be

able to tell where the Sun is in your body!  Finding the 'apsaras' will

probably take a longer time. Similarly the subject of Ayurveda or traditional Hindu medicine also relies

on this understanding of the universe, understanding of the Hindu deities,

their placement within the body, the effects of various substances on the

body.  

 

 

The subject of yoga provides the very understanding which is employed

in both astrology and ayurveda.  Thus the understanding of Hindu deities is

central to the understanding of either subject.  And yet, it seems that it

is this understanding which is thoroughly absent from most of the 'renowned

Hindu religious leaders.'  Though some of the early Hindu religious leaders

were quite excited about yoga, they failed to connect their understanding of

the yogic practices with the various Hindu deities.  Many even recommended

abandoning the deities and particularly the rites and rituals associated

with them.  Even men such as Vivekananda were not able to understand the

relationship.  The reason was, they were not trained Kshatriyas and their

physical capacity was quite limited, their physical purity was nowhere even

close to that of the ancient Kings. Thus let us proceed to the 'mystical' world and make it less 'mystical.'

 

 

The subject of Hinduism cannot be even broached without an understanding of

'spiritual power' or 'shakti' termed in other Eastern religions as 'internal

energy.'  I used to think that there were three clear levels of

accomplishment in the realm of 'internal energy' but now I think there are

indeed five.The first stage is that of total ignorance.  You rely entirely on faith and

continue certain practices.  At this point most people view meditation as

some kind of trained visualization technique, perhaps a self-induced

hypnosis.  At this stage the practitioner doesn't really feel anything,

other than the much proclaimed and highly exaggerated 'calming influence.'

However, the practitioner derives some minor health benefits from it, such

as improved circulation etc.  Many such practitioners insist that they felt

this or that sensation, but most such effects do not reproduce easily and

seem quite diverse for various practitioners, as various nerves in their

bodies adjust to the practice causing various 'feelings.'  This feeling, if

proper training is carried on, should not last for more than two years.

After two years, you begin to have an inkling that there is something quite

'real' in the practice, but it comes and goes. 

 

 

The second stage is that of the opening of the kundalini, typically occurs

close to three years or so.  Yes, I know that quite a few people believe

that the opening of the kundalini is the 'highest stage' but I no longer

believe so, it seems to be the beginning stage.  The opening of the

'kundalini' associated with the 'serpent power' is accomplished when one can

circulate the energy along the spine.  This for the first time is a very

real and distinct experience and is common to all practitioners, there is no

longer any variance of experience once it is accomplished.  The practitioner

can now move his internal energy along various energy centers along the

spinal column.  He can tell that if he moves his energy to a particular

point, he has a great sense of that region and he loses sense of the other

regions.  Thus he can determine that if a person was born with his energy

predominant at a certain region, he would be greatly influenced by the

desires of that region.  At this point, the experience of kundalini itself

is uniform, however, as the energy strengthens different practitioners may

feel different regions of the body adjusting.  Some may feel their face

tingling for days, others may find that some physical activity causes energy

to rush to their heads etc.  At this point they cannot move the energy

beyond the region of the spine.  In the realm of Hinduism, the spine is

called the 'Meru danda' and the head 'Mount Meru' the abode of the deities.

 

 

In the Chinese martial culture, which to a great extent has been influenced

by the Buddhist traditions of India as well, this stage is termed achieving

the 'small circulation.' The third stage is that of achieving circulation within the inner body,

excluding the muscles or the skeletal system considered the 'external' body.

Thus within the torso region, one can circulate the energy and move it to

various regions, different organs and feel it quite strongly or sometimes

weakly, depending on the phase of the moon, but with no doubt regarding the

movement..  This point enables the practitioner to achieve greater longevity

and in the Chinese martial tradition is termed achieving the 'grand

circulation.'  At this point from a Hindu point of view, or perhaps I should

say from my personal point of view, ALL MUDRAS, EFFECTS OF DIRECTIONS, HINDU

RITES AND RITUALS, BECOME APPARENT!  It becomes apparent as to what the

purpose of those activities are as one can FEEL THE CHANGE IN THE INTERNAL

ENERGY WITHIN LESS THAN HALF A MINUTE.  However, IT STILL HAS NO MARTIAL

APPLICATION!  At this point, the practitioner is nowhere close to an ancient

Kshatriya.  But he is better positioned to understand the various religious

rites and rituals.  This was the stage commonly achieved by many Hindu

Brahmin officiating priests, actually it would have been a minimal

requirement.  This is also the minimal achievement if one wanted to be a

sorcerer or witch or cast spells.

 

 The fourth stage is that of being able to bring the internal energy to the

external body, giving it unusual physical properties.  And thus it should

become clear why the ancient Kshatriyas pursued this knowledge.  This is the

stage at least desired by many Kshatriyas in Hinduism who wanted to acquire

'divine weapons' or 'divyastra!'  This stage enables a person to possess

unusual strength and stamina.  A person could be hit with a blunt weapon

without incurring injury, sometimes even with sharp weapons and still

protect himself from being pierced.  There are still people in both India

and China who have achieved a level of training within this class.  They can

often be seen pulling trucks etc. have vehicles go over them, tearing some

thin metals, have spears bent at their throats, suspending themselves over a

spear etc. The last stage is that of being able to strike someone with internal energy

from a short distance without any physical contact whatsoever.  This

provides the ability to affect the external world directly with internal

energy with immediate effect.  Thus one can disrupt the energy flow of

another's body without any external implement.  Only martial artists have

been known to possess this for obvious reasons.  Their internal training

combined with the external enables them to externalize the energy over time.

 

Though I've seen my own Kung Fu Grandmaster make people lose physical

control over time, I have never heard of him striking anyone with directed

energy.  The only ones who seem to have publicly demonstrated this ability

are Japanese Buddhist monks. And thus the final point.  Penance is the cultivation of internal energy.

Hinduism enables such cultivation.  However, there is no restriction as to

its usage.  For who will tell such a disciplined person, who will

distinguish for him right and wrong better than him!  It would be like

children trying to teach the master.  Thus the energy can be used to heal

and it can be used to kill and neither is good or bad, it all depends on the

circumstance and the person's judgement.  A person who achieves it is

entitled by definition to use it.