A Street Puppy's Guide to Indian Religious Wisdom

By Dr. Hari Haran

Vasu has studied and imbibed the philosophy of Advaita Vedanta. He believes that sharing it could help people come to a new understanding of religion and help them live peaceful, harmonious and more fruitful lives for themselves and the world. He longs to share it.

However, he finds himself in a dog's body!

Come and read the funny, illuminating and warm-hearted tale of Vasu, as he shares his life story and his wisdom with you.

• Language: English
• Publisher: One Point Six Technologies Pvt Ltd
• Release date: Feb 21, 2021
• ISBN: 9789354382482

Dr. Hari Haran

Hari Haran is a dermatologist who practises in Coimbatore. He is a sadhak belonging to Sri Ramananda ashram of Palakkad, an ashram of long Advaitic lineage. A former editor of his college magazine, Hari Haran is passionate about storytelling and teaching. He teaches part-time at Yellow Train, a progressive school in Coimbatore, and this book was written in collaboration with Iniya, a tenth-grade student of the school at the time of writing.Iniya is a voracious reader whose writing has won her many competitions and hearts. A lover of good books of fiction, music and art, she blogs at worldofiniya.wordpress.com.You can follow Hari Haran for latest updates on his books/speeches at facebook.com/vedantaforlife. And you can contact him at [e-mail] for the author's previous work:'Hari Haran has a fresh, original approach, a good sense of humour, and his style is lucid, elegant, cliché-free and modern. Above all, he has sraddha.'- Mountain Path (Official Magazine of Sri Ramanasramam)'It has been interpreted by many scholars and spiritual teachers in different ways. However, Hari Haran, the author, finds a fictional way to revisit the trove of ancient wisdom. It is fun to read as a general introduction to the deeper themes.'- Life Positive

Book preview

Preface

What is this book about?

An informal introduction to Advaita Vedanta presented by a dog. That is the short answer. Allow me to explain that statement now.

Advaita Vedanta?

Hinduism is predominantly seen as an expansive mosaic of innumerable sects, with countless gods and rituals. And as a kind of anything-goes religion. Many recent books written by noted public intellectuals, too, keep emphasising this pluralistic nature of the faith. Though there is certainly truth in such a viewpoint, I find that it falls short on a crucial aspect – it misses recognising the philosophical soul of the religion and simply sees it as a mosaic of those sects.

A colourful beaded necklace has a thread that runs through and unites all the beads, a thread that is barely visible to naked eye. Likewise, underpinning all those varied, eclectic sects, there are some sublime philosophical traditions which, surprisingly, not many Hindus are aware of or terribly interested in. At least not from a practical viewpoint.

This book is about one of those philosophies. A philosophy expounded by illustrious seers and saints like Swami Vivekananda, Adhi Shankara and Ramana Maharishi. A philosophy embodied in the Upanishads, Bhagavad Gita and Brahma Sutra. The philosophy of Advaita.

Advaita, Swami Vivekananda asserts, is the very soul of Indian wisdom. When you filter out all the gods and the temples and rituals from it, it would represent arguably man’s highest philosophical as well as psychological achievement. Right up there with, if not higher than, that of the greatest philosophers and the humanistic psychologists of the world.

One of the most ancient and well-regarded among Indian philosophies, it is also uniquely compatible with modern day theories in science, as we will see. In Swami Vivekananda’s striking words, ‘Advaita will be the future religion of thinking humanity.’¹ It is a wisdom that doesn’t require any of our standard religious practices, beliefs or rituals. Not even the gods.

See the answer a Guru in the Upanishad gives his disciple, when the disciple asks him, which form of god he should meditate on–

Brahma, Rudra, Vishnu – some meditate upon one, some upon another. These foremost forms let one meditate upon, praise, and then deny As one moves to deeper understanding.

In that final universal dissolution, he attains unity with the Divine.

Maitri Upanishad 4.5–6

Meditate. Praise. And finally deny.

Swami Vivekananda, rather provocatively, calls the whole ritualistic side of religion centred around belief in gods and their mythologies, the ‘kindergarten of religion.’² For him, all of it is just a preparatory discipline. Though a good starting point, it is a tragedy if we remain stuck there for life, if we don’t get to expand our minds by studying the religion’s deeper philosophical roots.

However, Advaita doesn’t negate ritualistic religion. It can, interestingly, embrace ritualistic religion in its fold too! Just like you can graduate from college and still keep using your kindergarten words and alphabets. Sri Ramakrishna was an Advaitin whose devotion towards the Divine Mother Kali is well-known. Advaita is the fulfilment of the ritualistic religion. Not its negation.

And unlike how it is commonly stereotyped, Advaita is not just composed of abstruse metaphysical theories. It is a philosophy of immense practical utility which can illuminate and transform our lives in profound ways.

Informal Introduction?

‘What’s the need for that?’ you might ask. Well, I guess you’d agree that not too many Hindus are aware of the Advaita philosophy. The reason – these deeper truths seem to be locked within the complex gates of religious scriptures. And not all have the time and patience, or an earnest quest, needed to unlock those. So, depending on our exposure in life, we either become indifferent, or lean towards left-wing antagonism towards it all. Or we blindly and conveniently eulogise those masters and those scriptures, all the while keeping them at an arm’s distance from our daily lives, and we keep following the religion at an easy surface level.

Hence the need for such an informal introduction.

The aim of this book is modest. It doesn’t look to cover the Advaitic philosophy in its intricate depths, but just to give a beginner, a taste of it. And to show how it can enrich our work, our relationships, and benefit the world in ways we might not have possibly imagined.

A Dog Narrates?

Yes, a dog.

Why, you ask. Well, it’d be better if you discover the reason yourself as I don’t wish to spoil your reading experience. All I can say here is, the wisdom is shared against the backdrop of a certain social context, and the dog narrating is the natural choice that context made me resort to.

Interestingly, dogs do feature prominently in our epics and in the imagery of our Gods. Lord Siva, as Bhairava, has a dog as his vehicle. The closing chapters of the Mahabharata narrate the tale of Yudhisthira and his dog, who, the epic tells us, is the God of Dharma. Ramana Maharishi’s ashram has a samadhi of a dog alongside those of his preeminent disciples.

I’m a dog lover. And one day, looking at my dog gazing meditatively at a distance, I started wondering, rather randomly, what if the creature had a soul or a mind of a human within, but couldn’t express that. The central idea for this book was born there.

A Quick Overview of The Book

A word on its genre first. It’s a blend of philosophical discourse and fiction. They both come together at the end. The fictional part, as you’ll see, is inspired from the happenings around religion we come across in the news often in our country these days.

Regarding the philosophy part, let me briefly summarise what I’ll cover under it. I intend to share with you the three fundamental postulates of Advaita: the truths about jiva, world and God. And after I share each, I’ll briefly discuss how each postulate can enrich our lives when we embrace it.

Once we cover those three foundational postulates, I’ll next share how a life that is built on this Advaitic wisdom will look like. That would perhaps give us the inspiration and confidence to walk the path.

When Krishna shares this wisdom in the Gita, Arjuna, along similar lines, asks–

O Kesava, what is the mark of a person

Whose inner being is stabilised in wisdom?

How does he speak, sit or walk? 2.54

That is, what happens when a person arrives at this wisdom? How does he act in the world? What will be his inner state when engaging in action? When moving with people? That will be the second part of our discussion.

How to Read It?

Depending on the reader, the postulates may appear as inspiring, sublime truths, or as baseless, fantastical theories. If it is the second case for you, I’d suggest that you approach it as you’d approach any new scientific theory.

Listen to what Krishna tells Arjuna in the Gita at the end of his exposition–

Thus, has knowledge, more secret than all other secrets,

Been declared to you by me. Now reflect on it fully.

Then do as you think best. 18.63

This is the spirit of the philosophical scriptures of Hinduism. They tell us, ‘These are the truths the wise men of the past have discovered and put forth. You are free to hold them in regard or disregard them. But reflect on them fully. Then act as your inner being calls you to.’

Analogous to scientific experiments to confirm a theory, here we are asked to perform inner experiments, meditative inner enquiries, to ascertain what is shared. If we do, we ourselves might perhaps awaken to the truths that are laid out in the scriptures.

After all, the ideas we come across in Vedanta are not ‘striking speculations of a philosophic intellect,’ in the words of Sri Aurobindo, ‘but rather enduring truths of spiritual experience, verifiable facts of our highest psychological possibilities.’³

The purpose of reading and contemplating on the words of a scripture, then, is simply to study and know ourselves. To reawaken to our own inner wisdom. As Romain Rolland put it, ‘No one ever reads a book. He reads himself through books.’ We need the words and guidance of the scriptures only until we can do that.

When your intellect completely pierces the veil of delusion,

You will become indifferent to what has been heard

And what is to be heard. 2.52

A scripture has served its purpose when it becomes redundant for you.

Few Final Words

The German philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer called the Upanishads, ‘the product of the highest human wisdom.’ Henry David Thoreau, one of the towering figures in American philosophical writing, comments about the Gita in his Walden, ‘In the morning I bathe my intellect in the stupendous cosmological philosophy of the Bhagavad Gita, in comparison with which our modern world and its literature seem puny and trivial.’

My hope and prayer is that this little book makes that ‘stupendous cosmological philosophy’, those ‘facts of man’s highest psychological possibilities’ accessible to all. And that it inspires its readers to live harmonious, peaceful and more fruitful lives for themselves and the planet.

Warmly,

Hari

Prologue

Om Namo Bhagwate Rudraay

Kar Charan Kritam Vaa

Kaya Jam Karmajam Vaa

Shravan Nayan Jamva

Shravan Nayan Jamva

Maansam Vaa Paradham

The loud words of his daughter put Kalyan in a trance. With closed eyes, he repeats the words with her, clapping his hands and moving his head rhythmically with her chanting. The little one, even as she is mouthing the verses by heart, is gazing at her father – her eleven year-old-eyes filled with wonder at his action.

Vaibav is waiting for Kalyan in the balcony of that single-bedroom flat. Standing at a corner, Vaibav is looking out at the sudden evening rain coming down in sheets with thunder rolling. The entire Bangalore before him is covered in a grey, hazy mist.

He waits patiently as Kalyan is in the process of finishing chanting the Siva mantras with his daughter. The sound of the chanting is soothing. With an appreciative smile, Vaibav observes how his Kalyan Anna’s bold and deep voice is overpowering his daughter’s, despite the deliberate low volume he is singing in.

‘Appa, you still haven’t answered the question I asked yesterday,’ the little one asks her father, as they both get up ending the chanting.

‘Tell me Chinnu,’ Kalyan says, putting his right hand around her little shoulders – his toned, muscular build, a sharp contrast to the little one. They walk towards the sofa in the hall.

‘Where does Lord Siva live, appa?’ the daughter asks. ‘Above the sky? And what about other gods? They all live in the same place?’

Vaibav, who has now come into the hall from the balcony, flashes a meaningful smile towards Kalyan, hearing Chinnu’s question.

‘Also, how many gods are there in total?’

‘Nodu putta,’ Kalyan addresses her smiling warmly, ‘In our Sanadana dharma, there’s only one supreme God. He has no name or form. You can worship him in any form that you like,’ he says, sitting down softly on the sofa, seating her too near him. ‘He will bless you in that form. Ours is an open-minded religion Chinnu. God is everywhere. You can worship him as Siva ji, Hanuman ji, Krishna ji, or any form you like. We don’t have small-minded gods who will punish you if you don’t obey their words. Where does he live? Well, we can’t understand that with our little minds, my dear. But he blesses us when we worship him.’ Saying that, Kalyan flashes a proud smile at Vaibav.

‘Okay,’ says Chinnu without missing a beat, ‘Shall I now go to the first-floor play-area, appa? Kavi will be waiting for me.’

‘My Chinnu is growing up,’ says Kalyan patting her back and sending her off warmly, before Vaibav comes and sits near him.

Vaibav looks around, and carefully pulls what looks like a photo out of his shirt pocket, with something written behind. Kalyan quickly grasps his hand, pushing the picture back into his pocket.

‘Not here, we’ll talk in the office. I’ll be there in 20 minutes.’

‘It’s planned the second week of December, Kalyan anna,’ Vaibav mutters under his breath. ‘Two months to go.’

Kalyan nods, his face solemn now, his eyes peeping into the kitchen to see if his wife is in ear-shot.

‘Last week alone, more than ten crores money has been pumped into Bangalore by a Christian missionary. If we want to get rich in our country, all we have to do is bad-mouth our religion. It’s high time these fucking pseudo-liberals are taught a lesson, anna. Break that Durga’s writing hand before you stop her breathing,’ Vaibav says, his teeth clenched.

Kalyan presses Vaibav’s hands, gesturing to him gently with his eyes to stop, as he sees his wife walking out of the kitchen.

Matham

Bangalore, October 16th

Okay, first things first, you have to acknowledge