“Who Is a Hindu?”: “A Manifesto of Systematic Spiritualism”

By Lekshmana Chandra

This book enumerates vividly the question Who is a Hindu?.

This question is not properly answered presently. Only after reading the Ceylon to Almora lectures of Swami. Vevekananda I understood that for centuries Hinduism is based on three concrete faiths. I have contemplated and wanted to understand the development of these faiths. Therefore, I have read many books related to Hinduism. Later in my age the books of the Siddhas, the ancient learned men of South India gave me some obvious understanding of the subject.

This understanding gave me some clear ideas regarding the subject Hinduism.
First, it gave me an understanding that Hinduism is not a religion, but a philosophy of life.

Unlike other philosophies of life, it is founded on three systematically enumerated faiths. The way of life adhering to this philosophy of life is Hinduism. It is a process of development of the inner spirit or soul of man. So, it is called Spiritualism. The book reiterates that only those who believe in these three faiths can only be called as a Hindu.

This book chronologies the three faiths of the Hindu and establishes them with the help of the learned men of this land India. This is also done systematically. In doing this it, systematically discusses various philosophical points related to these faiths. This is done intentionally because Hinduism contemplates the internal spiritual world of existence and not the external material world of existence. This book enumerates the ultimate spiritual goal, the methods leading to it and calls it as Spiritualism.

Therefore, as this Book is a systematic analysis of this Spiritual advancement or Spiritualism, it is given another name that is A manifesto of Systematic Spiritualism

• Language: English
• Publisher: AuthorHouse UK
• Release date: Sep 4, 2014
• ISBN: 9781496989086

Lekshmana Chandra

Born in the year of independence of India, I have no knowledge of the suffering and the sacrifices of our forefathers who fought for the independence. As a young man joined as an Assistant Professor of English in Government Arts College, Coimbatore and lived a carefree life for many years. . However, there was an impact of Swami. Vivekananda due to my childhood acquaintances with the Ramakrishna Mission Ashramam at my native place, West Neyyoor . This created an interest in philosophical books that eventually led to an interest in Literary Criticism. This led to understand some of the views of western philosophy. Later after I retired as a Professor of English from Government Arts College, Karur, my son who is a doctor of Siddha Medicine, introduced me to some of the early writings of the the ancient saints of South India. The philosophical enumeration of these siddhars made me to understand the difference between religion and spiritualism. This understanding created an eternal peace in my mind and body which I want to share with others. I hope that this knowledge will enlighten the future generation hope and help them to have good indulgent of their life.

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© 2014 Lekshmana Chandra. All rights reserved.

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Published by AuthorHouse   08/28/2014

ISBN: 978-1-4969-8906-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-8907-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-4969-8908-6 (e)

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Contents

Chapter I Introduction

Chapter II First faith of Hindu Hindu is one who believes in OM and its derivatives, the sacred books

Chapter III Second FaithHindu is one who believes in One God

Chapter IV Third faith of Hindu

Chapter V Principles of Evolution and manifestation

Chapter VI Existence is not the Maya

Chapter VII The impacts of the involution in the marvelous animate form called man

Chapter VIII The Essential Laws of Spiritual Relation of the animate

Chapter IX Different schools of thoughts

Chapter X Desire and action

Chapter XI Existence, Reality, Matter, Life, Desire, Karma and Udanā, Reincarnation, OM and Moksha

Chapter XII The Microcosm and the Macrocosm

Chapter XIII The negation of negation is enumerated by the example of a light

Chapter XIV The pronunciation and spelling the of the OM

Chapter XV Conclusion

Introduction

The word Hindu is a phenomenon. It is a fact of occurrence than a matter with precision. Today, most of the people who call themselves as Hindu also have started to think like this.

The word Hinduism is still more puzzling to them. To make it unambiguous to the people of the world is a matter of importance today. This book is a sincere effort to clear some of its ambiguities.

This book establishes that Hinduism is based on three faiths. It enumerates only those who have belief in these faiths can only be called as Hindu.

To establish this, enumerations are done with the help of the learned sages of the past. Basing on these faiths, they have systematically established their philosophy of life. Basing on this philosophy, the way of life of them is established. This way of life that has been assorted, is called as Hindu culture.

Today a qualified Hindu does have these faiths. There may be some intricacy to arrange them chronologically, but he never denies these faiths. This intricacy is because of the impact of the present day civilization that has assorted with its culture.

Therefore, one can say that even today there is no cultural erosion in India. The impact of civilization in culture is not a new happening in the history of Indian culture. At times of such intricacy, great men are born and set things right. They established these faiths and have established their positions repeatedly.

Sage Agustiyar, Sage Thirumoolar, Sage Viyasā, Sage Chandogya, Sage Adi Sankara, Swami. Vivekananda and many eminent men of this sacred land have done this in their ages.

This book is a humble effort to establish these faiths of Hinduism and to arrange them chronologically. By doing this, this book only establishes the philosophy of life of the Hindu only.

To enumerate the other two philosophies; the Social philosophy and the Philosophy of politico economy is a great endeavour. Viyasā and Adi Sankara have done this difficult effort and have established these three philosophies in their ages.

Swami Vivekananda also made an attempt on these and to establish the superiority of Indian culture in the world

Today there are sea changes in the society and in the politico economy of world. A nation that stands against these developments cannot withstand.

The reflections of these developments have a telling effect on the present day Hindu also. The revolutionary spirit imparted by the Communist Revolutions of the last century is still prevalent among the Hindu youngsters.

This book does not undermine this revolutionary spirit. However, this book expresses that the realization of the Hindu philosophy of life and faiths enumerated by this book will enhance them to perceive progressive revolutionary spirit.

The great minds, have attempted to define The Integral Humanism as the Philosophy of society of the Hindu. Some expressed their effort to enumerate the Philosophy of politico economy also.

However, the dominant spirit of empiricism of today’s Globalization does not allow this systematic thinking. The present Indian political think tank, including the followers of these people believes that interference of philosophy will spoil this spirit.

Hence to enumerate the Philosophy of society and Philosophy of politico economy basing on these faiths are also matters of importance.

Fortunately, the Indian culture or Hindu culture that is continuously in existence for thousands of years allows progressive changes freely in society and politics. However, it never allows any change in the faiths of their way of life or philosophy of life. Hence, the Hindu culture exists and will exist.

Another important thing to keep it in mind is, this book is not about a religion. Hinduism contemplated in this book is a not a religion. This is about a way of life of the people in the ecological niche called India for ages. It is the history of the growth and progress of the people internally and externally.

This is primarily a story of spiritual progress. It is about a culture of not achieving but one of becoming. It is a becoming from the coarse seed to the blossoming flower, the blossoming of the inner self of man. Therefore, it does not find any difficulty to accommodate many religions.

As this book enumerates the progress of the inner-self of the man and the inner- spirit of the existence it is given another title as A manifesto of Systematic Spiritualism.

Prof: R. Lekshmana Chandra.

OM

Who is a Hindu?

Chapter I

Introduction

Intuition

Knowledge is power, and the greatest reward of knowledge is knowledge itself. To the world, that believes advancement in life in terms of material prosperity, this statement doesn’t hold well.

The material reward of the power of knowledge can be great but not greatest because before one begins to enjoy the material reward he dies. In fact, the greatest reward comes from the internal, spiritual, and eternal knowledge.

This Gjana or Eternal knowledge is the important subject of this land from time immemorial. This is the knowledge contemplated in the Hindu Dharma or Hindu way of Life. This knowledge is the outcome of the systematic, or scientific and logical researches conducted by the learned men of this land who are called Siddhas, Munies, Rishies, etc.

Standing on these fundamental researches of external, internal and spiritual grounds these men propagated certain definite beliefs. These beliefs make the fundamental faiths of Hindu way of life. Without having the knowledge of these beliefs and faith or in these principles of philosophy, one cannot be called as the ardent follower of Hindu way of life even if he is born to a Hindu.

Today how many of us have the knowledge of these faiths and believe these faiths? How many learned men, research guides and researchers believe in these fundamentals? How many of them do their researches with these systematic thinking? How many of them do their researchers standing on the nano scientific standing of these great men of ours? Even to convince people of these beliefs is a matter of question.

In 1995, the Chief Justice of Supreme Court, Honorable P.B.Gajendragadker, has given an observation, When we think of the Hindu religion, we find it difficult, if not impossible, to define Hindu religion or even adequately describe it. Unlike other religions in the world Hindu religion does not claim any one prophet; it does not worship any one god; it does not subscribe to any one dogma; it does not believe in any one philosophical concept; it does not follow any one set of religious rites; or performances; in fact, it does not appear to satisfy the narrow traditional features of any religion or creed. It may broadly be described as a way of life and nothing more.

However, the Honorable Judge has failed to notice the contradiction in his diction. He cannot conclude, what is Hinduism? He decrees that it is broadly to be described as a way of life. Way of life is philosophy of life. How can there be a way of life without definite faiths?

The early European thinker Gian Bellista Vico who has exalted and broadened the notions of history in his Scienza Nuova expounds the metaphoric and symbolic origin of human thoughts and institutions.

The episteme of this Italian thinker elaborates the versions of a cyclic primitivism of that time and expounds the theory of imaginative institutions.

Even for the creation of these imaginative human institutions or amalgamations, he insists three philosophies, the philosophy of life, philosophy of society and philosophy of politico economy whatever may be the rationale, melioristic, metaphysical, or dialectical.

How can there be a human amalgamation called Hindus for centuries without these philosophies? Or, philosophy of life?

Same is the dilemma we see in the book of Koenorrad Elst’s, Who is a Hindu? The final enumeration of this is not more than an external historical analysis of the different developments and derivatives of the Hinduism and their comparative study.

He has not understood the episteme of Hindu philosophers or religious men who can allow and digest not only different sects and developments but also millions of Gods. So much, they have confidence in their philosophy of life based on definite faith. The western episteme of Koenorrad cannot comprehend this. So is that of our Honorable Judge.

Still more confusing is the definition given to Hinduism in the Britannica Encyclopedia. It defines Hinduism, "Oldest of world’s major religions. It evolved from the Vedic religion of ancient India. Though the various Hindu sects each rely on their own scriptures, they all revere the ancient Vedas, which are brought to India by Aryan invaders after 1200 B.C.

The philosophical texts called Upanishads explore the search of knowledge that would allow mankind to escape the cycle of Reincarnation. Fundamental to Hinduism is the belief in a cosmic principle of ultimate reality called Brahman and its identity with individual soul or Atman.

All creatures go through Samsara or the cycle of rebirth, that can only be broken by spiritual self-realization, after which liberation or Moksha is attained.

The principle of Karma determines a being’s status within the cycle of rebirth.

The greatest Hindu Deities are Brahma, Vishnu and Siva. The numerous other Hindu gods are mostly viewed as incarnations or epiphanies of the main deities though some are survivors of the pre-Aryan era. The major mythologies are Ramayana and Mahabharata.

The hierarchical social structure of cast system is important in Hinduism; it is supported by the principle of Dharma. The major branches of Hinduism are Vaishnavism and Sivaism; each of it includes many different sects.

In 20th century Hinduism blended with Indian nationalism to become a powerful force in Indian Politics".

This definition also tries to explain briefly the geographical growth of the Hinduism in terms of sectarian developments with a decisive intention. Even if we accept Arians came from outside we cannot accept that The Vedas are brought by them from outside.

It is because Vedas are the elixir of knowledge of this land from time immemorial. The brief philosophical contemplation cited is confused in the effort to bring in a brief history and sectarian developments.

The statement that Hinduism blended with Indian nationalism seems to be intentional statement as Hindu believes in universal tolerance. Hindus are the only people in this world who can be killed or butchered in this world like dogs like the Jews of the early twentieth century.

These are some of the contemplations to define Hinduism. Many, Indians and foreigners, have done efforts on this line. Most of their efforts are subject to the epistemic of Greek generalization with heavy dose of subjectivity to suit their decisive intentions.

They conveniently forget to expound, Who is a Hindu? For this, one must have the explicit knowledge of the Hindu faiths chronologically.

Existence of the world has exposed to us to many geographical and historical developments of an institution of thoughts. Many of such institutions have been destroyed or modified by the advent of time. They exemplify that their life cannot hold long unless there are concrete faiths systematically analyzed and established. The Hinduism is eternal because Hinduism does have these.

Hence to define Hinduism as an institution of thoughts for life with eternal existence, one has to enumerate the fundamental faith on which its history and developments rests.

In decades of teaching experience of mine in Government colleges in Tamil Nadu I have raised this question, Who is a Hindu? in many forums and as well as in the classes. Not a single participant or student has answered the question precisely in terms of faiths.

When the questions, Who is a Christian? or Who is a Muslim? are asked almost all have answered, even by the Hindus. They do not have the knowledge of the fundamental faiths of Hinduism, and when asked of these faiths most of them have no idea. What has taken them to this precarious condition? What are the reasons for this state?

We are standing on the crossroad. Post-Colonialism and Post-Modernism have in a sense become irrelevant in the modern concepts of Globalization and Free Market Economy that rules the day. In addition, the social consciousness that dominates the sum total of our nervous system or mind of the present day Indian is predominantly perverted by the influence of Lord Macaulay’s education system.

Education in pre British India

In the 19th century on February 2, 1835 Lord Mecauley the member of the Supreme council of India in his address to the British Parliament explained his proposal to subvert the then prevailing education system in India. He felt that then only the British could control the whole India.

In his address, he said that India was having a strong cultural background standing on the strong foundations of its education system. Due to the education of this mass education system spread even to the village level, Indians were not lazy and hard working. Hence, they were rich and there was immense flow of wealth everywhere. The culture generated a good society without theft and coerce.

Hence, he had planned to introduce a new education system and using that, he wanted to break the prevailing system and produce new learned pupils who were suitable only to their use.

He added that his system of education would break their cultural leaning if it succeeded and would create slave mentality among the Indians. Then they can conquer the whole of India and administer them easily.

He reiterated that he had toured officially throughout India and seen the report of the education system of India prepared by the officials of different regions of India. The report was astounding.

Designated officers of the region of the south that was the Madras and Malabar regions and the east west that was the Bengal reported that more than sixty percent of the people of these regions were literates and had learned to write and read. There were more than thousand institutions giving higher studies in the southern region. In Bengal, there were more than hundred thousand students in their schools

Same was the account from the Northeast region that was Punjab. There were a million pupils in their Padasalas or schools.

Another astonishing factor was that these were the statistics collected from the people of the lower strata of the society and the marginalized people. It was said even the women of the society were well educated and to the surprise it was informed that the thirty percent of the Muslim women of Malabar were literates.

At the same time in Europe in 18th century, the most literate countries were Italy and France. However, their literary rate was only twenty percent. In England, there were only limited schools and even Oxford University was the chief institution for the poor run on charity. Thomas Arnold was the first Professor of eminence of the Oxford University. It was said he did many efforts for the development of education in England. However, the fact was the literary rate of England was less than twenty percent at that time.

The effect of Lord Mecauley’s education System

Lord Mecaulay’s system of education was introduced in India and it succeeded. It brought down one by one the branches of her old and ancient education system that was described as The Beautiful Tree by Mahatma Gandhi. The days of Padasālas or village schools, Madarasas or schools attached to Mosques Gurugulas or places of high learning under well learned teacher and the universities of Nalanda, Pataliputra, Taxila, Kanchi, etc, the Greek and Chinese travelers have written about were over. They today survive only on the pages of some journals and books.

It was reported that Mahatma Gandhiji was disappointed at the condition of Indian education during the British period and pointed out that India became more illiterate than it was fifty or hundred years before.

In 1947 when we got independence, the literacy rate was blow 30 percent that was below the rate of the Muslim women of Malabar enumerated in the survey of the designated officer of south region. This means that the backbone of ancient system of education is broken.

However, in 19th century, to the surprise of all, the cultural and the spiritual heritage had endured. Among those who got English vernacular education great men of learning like Dayananda Saraswathy, Raja Ram Mohan Roy, and Swami Vivekananda of yester years had done wonderful task to burn constantly the torch of our cultural and spiritual heritage.

These men had not only preached the superiority of our way of life but also had fought against the evil and superstitious beliefs of our society in those days.

In Bengal Dayananda Saraswathy fought against the evil of cast system and established his Ariya Samaj. Raja Ram Mohan Roy established Brahma Samaj, fought against the superstitious beliefs, like Sati, Child Marriage and advocated widow remarriage in the society. He persuaded Lord Bending the then Viceroy to bring legislations to stop these.

Swami Vivekananda went around the world and established the scientific and philosophical superiority of the spiritual heritage of our culture and Spiritualism. He was renowned as the First Hindu Monk of the world. He established the Sri Rama Krishna Order.

To the surprise of the British Educationists, all these great men were the product of their Vernacular education.

The greatest blow to their planning to break the cultural heritage had come from Germany. Prof. Max Muller’s tireless work at Oxford University and his translation of Rig Veda had created a revolutionary change in the mind of the thinkers of the world. The translation of the Rig Veda had crossed even the Atlantic to America and had established itself there in the name of Transcendental philosophy in the hands of Emerson and Thoreau. Therefore, the British plan was not able to subvert or undermine the cultural and the philosophical side of the spiritual heritage of India.

The expansion of British Empire and the import of their Vernacular Education in India may had felled down the branches of Indian traditional education system, but could not cut down the stem that was the Indian mind. Even though the literacy rate dwindled considerably those who had received English education were exposed to the developments of the world like the American War of Independence, The Bolshevik Revolution in Russia, the Material advancement of Science and the literary developments in the world.

These understandings had created an inherent longing within this minority to develop their mother tongues and understand the classical nature of some of their languages. When they had read the words of Carlyle, "Indian Empire or no Indian