yahoo post #3

According to Huston Smith’s understanding of Hinduism, what do people really want?
Smith’s understanding of Hinduism suggests that people want four things out of life, three of which they think they want and one which they truly want. The three things they think they want are pleasure, worldly success, duty, and the one thing they truly want is liberation (moksha).
People think they want pleasure in life. They pursue pleasure because it is a natural tendency. While in pursuit of pleasure, it is wise to not to be morally bankrupt. Only the stupid remain in this stage because of their immorality and tendency to lie, cheat, steal in order to obtain pleasure. That is why Hinduism looks upon pleasure as a means to an end in that eventually people will tire of instant gratification. As previously stated, only the stupid remain in this stage, therefore, it is encouraged to pursue as much pleasure as you wish because eventually you are intended to move past this initial stage in pursuit of something far more meaningful.
Secondly, after the initial stage of pleasure, people think they want worldly success such as fame, wealth, and power. The pursuit of worldly success is a direct result of the fleetingness of pleasure. The pursuit of fame, wealth, and power may be considered selfish behavior in the West but according to the Hindus, the pursuit of fame, wealth, and power has far more substance than merely seeking pleasure and has the potential to help many other people other than one individual. According to the Hindus, the pursuit of worldly success helps stabilize the family, encourages one to be a responsible citizen of society and tend to civic duty, and promotes self-respect. Yet, despite it’s obvious rewards, worldly success, too, is not enough for some. Why? Material possessions cannot be shared without shared. The pursuit of success is time consuming and promotes greed. It can be equated to a form of pleasure. In the grand scheme of things it’s not real. The Hindus consider these first two stages to be the Path of Desire.
The next two stages constitute the Path of Renunciation. This path begins with the third stage, that of religion of duty. People think they want duty because of its tendency to change the individual. In a nutshell, duty is service to man, family, community, and God. Duty is much more fulfilling that pleasure and worldly success in that it gives the spirit genuine meaning. Depending on where in the karmic cycle one is, maturity is a definite asset when partaking in this stage because it brings about rewards such as respect, gratitude, and self-worth and only a mature person can appreciate these kinds of immaterial rewards. Yet, even in service the spirit is left wanting.
The final stage is the one thing people truly want in life. People want liberation, or moksha People seek moksha because they want to be close with God. Moksha removes all obstacles one has in his attempt to be close to God. This can be done by tapping into the hidden self, or Atman. When the Atman is revealed one is able to transcend joy, knowledge, and being, in essence, human nature.
What are the ways to achieve it (moksha)?
Moksha can be achieved by following one of the four paths to the goal. The four paths are four very different practices of yoga. Each practice is suited for a particular personality type that the Hindus view as reflective (knowledge), emotional (love), active (work), or experimental (psychophysical exercises).
Those who are reflective practice jnana yoga. Jnana yoga changes the practitioner from one that knows to one that is what it knows. Jnana yoga has three stages the practitioner must pass. The first stage is hearing, which listening to the saints, sages, and scriptures of the past and present. This is intended to introduce the practitioner that he is Being itself. The second stage is thinking, which is reflecting on one’s use of everyday language. This is intended to make a distinction between person and personality, self and transient self. Finally, the third stage is shifting from "I"to one’s abiding self. Better yet, to see oneself in third person. At this stage, one becomes what they have always been in their heart.
Those who are emotional practice bhakti yoga. In bhakti yoga, the way one feels is much more important than the way one thinks. In bhakti yoga the practitioner is married to God. God receives all the love and devotion one has in their heart. Here, God is the focus. All love is to on God and nothing is left for self. When practicing bhakti, one do so by practicing japam, or the repetition of God’s name, the recognition of the various forms of love one can have, and the worshipping of one’s chosen form, or ishta.
Those who are active practice karma yoga. Karma yoga focuses it’s energy on working towards God, doing work that brings you closer to God. This requires thoughtful and loving action from the practitioner. In essence, the practitioner is mindful of their work. Everything done, works towards is done so in the glory of God.
Those who are experimental practice raja yoga. Raja yoga’s intent is to remove the four layers of self. The first layer is that of the body. The second layer is that of the consciousness. The third layer is that of individual history. In the West we refer to these three layers as the id, ego, and superego. The fourth and final layer is Being Itself, or that which is one with the eternal. To remove these four layers the practitioner much look into the deepest recesses of one’s self until he realizes that he is nothing or no-thing, only one with all that is.
How do Hindus view God, the universe, and life?
The Hindus view of God is that God is you, your reality, and all there is. God is everything and nothing. In essence, God is beyond words and description. Yet, if we had to describe God, it would be different from person to person. For this reason, Hindus have two ways of approaching God, either with attributes (personal) or without attributes (transpersonal). This in turn determines how God interacts with the world. If God is with attributes, God is the creator and destroyer of all there is. If God is without attributes, God is not affected by the imperfections of man and is not deliberate in his omniscience.
Hindus view the universe as that which functions according to law of karma. Although the introduction of the soul is unknown, it’s function integrate itself back into God’s presence. This is done through the process of reincarnation. As a soul works it’s way up the spiritual evolutionary ladder it draws itself closer to God. Each new lifetime is different from the previous because of the accomplishments or failures of the previous lifetime. Therefore, life in the universe is strictly that of personal responsibility. In the karmic cycle, or life in the universe, there are no victims. Moksha is the only way to escape the karmic cycle.
The Hindus view of life is determined by karma. Thus, individuals are destined to be Brahmins, managers, producers, or workers. The first three are thought to have been born and reborn at least two times, whereas, the workers are thought to be souls that are born to this world for the first time.
Drawing
*instructions were very unclear as to what drawing the instructor wanted the student to explain in depth*
Reflections on the Huston Smith film
I found the Huston Smith film very interesting. Smith starts out by explaining that the modern world has lost its sense of the transcendental and that science is unable to pick up on things that are not testable and quantifiable, i.e., beyond rational understanding. Smith thinks science has been given the key to the ultimate truth by it’s practioners and believers. Smith points out that many of the worlds religions have much more in common than in differences. Some of the things they share in common are humility, charity and virtues. Smith thinks that everything that happens to us is due to a purpose and although the happening may be something tragic, there is still purpose in its intent. Smith gave the example of a the little girl dropping her ice cream on the ground and thinking its was the end of world. Like the little girl we tend to get caught up in the moment and lose sight of the bigger picture. I would tend to agree with Smith on this point but I also believe that even in these darkest moments there has to be something to be learned. Even if it’s an experience that reminds us that we’re alive. Finally, Smith stated that because we live in a macro-world it is very difficult to try to explain things from a mega-world and micro-world position because our language in incapable of describing the indescribable.