The Upanishads and Hindu Philosophical and Religious Traditions

Themes from the Upanishads

1. Impermanence and Permanence The world of sense objects is impermanent, but there is a permanent, enduring reality. This permanent reality is sat-chit-ananda (being-consciousness-bliss). When sat-chit-ananda is viewed as an external, cosmic reality, it is called “Brahman.” When viewed as the inner reality of the individual person, it is called “Atman.”

2. The Brahman Reality Many of the Upanishads teach that Brahman is non-duality, and identical with Atman. Non-dual sat-chit-ananda appears or manifests as the multiplicity of objects in our experience. What endures is one, but it’s name and form (nama-rupa) is many. The non-dual conception of the Brahman/Atman reality implies ultimate reality has no attributes (nirguna) and is thus not a personal being.

Brahma Vishnu Shiva The Non-Dual interpretation of Brahman implies that “gods” represent different provisional manifestations of formless Brahman. The Trimurti was systematized in the Puranas composed during the Gupta Period (320-540 CE), after the ascendency of the Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, “God forms” were widespread in Indian culture.

Brahma Vishnu Shiva The Trimurti (three forms) represent formless Brahman manifested or immanent in the cosmic processes of creation, preservation, and dissolution/recreation of the cosmos. This is the meaning of the mantra OM or AUM. The Trimurti was systematized in the Puranas composed during the Gupta Period (320-540 CE), after the ascendency of the Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva, “God forms” were widespread in Indian culture.

Brahman as Personal God The Upanishads also refer to Brahman under various attributes (saguna Brahman), including those indicative of personhood: knowledge, will, and moral goodness (Svetasvatara Upanishad, VI.1-23). Some passages in Mundaka Upanishad subordinate imperishable Brahman to the supreme “Purusha” (person). Other later Upanishads emphasize personal theism (e.g. Katha, Isa, and Svetasvatara). See R.C. Zaehner, Hindu and Muslim Mysticism, chapter 2. “Heavenly, formless is the Person [Purusha], He compromises without and within, unborn is he; without breath, without mind, effulgent, higher than the high imperishable [i.e., Brahman].” Mundaka, 2.I.2 Cf. 3.I. 13.

Atman and Personal God Brahman as the Supreme personal being implies that atman (the true Self) and the Absolute are distinct, though intimately related to each other. This also suggests a plurality of atman realities, as multiple finite manifestations of the infinite essence of Brahman. The true Self of each person is to Brahman what a wave is to the ocean.

3. The Human Condition The impermanence of the world is found also in the human disposition to identity Self with the body-mind. The “separate self” is the atman reality conditioned by attachments to sense objects. Attachment = identifying the Self with the body or mind (thinking, perceiving, and sensing).

Unhappiness Where there is a “separate self,” there is unhappiness, lack of peace, lack of satisfaction or fulfillment. By virtue of its self-understanding, the “separate self” is by definition separated from the permanent sacred reality that alone is the peace or fulfillment it seeks. The “self-understanding” of the separate self is really a form of ignorance (avidya).

Attachment to Sense Objects 4. Spiritual Practice The Upanishads refer to a variety of “spiritual practices” by means of which the separate self is dismantled and true peace (ananda) is realized. Unhappiness Separate Self Attachment to Sense Objects

Since the separate self is grounded in attachment to sense objects, the dissolution of the self-separate self is by way of non-attachment, which is facilitated by three practices: Discrimination (jnana) between what is enduring and non-enduring. Meditation (dhyana) on the inner Self or God as the enduring reality. Love or devotional service (bhakti) to the Self or God.

The Upanishads and Hindu Philosophical Traditions

Sankhya Philosophy Oldest systematic philosophy of the Hindu traditions, extending back to the period of the Upanishads. Central concepts: the distinction between matter (prakriti) and consciousness (purusha). Liberation from samsara requires cultivation of practices to realize the Self as consciousness unconditioned by matter. Sankhya is dualistic: there are many true selves. Sankhya is atheistic, since belief in a god is not part of Sankhya. See Flood, Introduction to Hinduism, ch. 10.

Raja-Yoga of Patanjali Patanjali’s Yoga Sutras (circa 100 BCE – 500 CE). One’s true Self is purusha or atman, buried beneath the layers of a separate self. Yoga is chitta-vritti nirodha, stilling the thought forms of the mind by practices of moral virtue, discrimination, meditation, including physical posture and breath control. Belief in a personal god is included in the Yoga Darshan. It’s a marginal element, though, since what is essential for liberation is individual self-effort not the grace of a god.

Vedanta Originating with Shankara (circa 9th century CE) - the systematic elaboration of the Upanishads. Shankara’s tradition of Vedanta is Advaita Vedanta, “advaita” meaning not-two. This school of Vedanta adopts a radically non-dual understanding of reality.

By contrast, Bhakti Vedanta traditions affirm that Brahman is ultimately a personal reality, the true self of each person is distinct from Brahman and each other, even though they are intimately related.

Vedanta in the United States The Advaita tradition came to the United States in the last quarter of the 20th century through the teachings of Swami Vivekananda (right), the great disciple of 19th century guru Sri Ramakrishna (left).

Vedanta in the United States The Bhakti tradition came to the United States in the 1960s under the guidance of A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada, founder of the Hare Krishna movement (a species of Vaishnavism)

Devotional Hindu Religious Traditions

Textual Sources Theism (belief in a single Supreme personal being) emerges in many of the later Upanishads (8th-6th centuries BCE). Theism is an important motif in the Epic literature of India beginning around the 5th century BCE. The Bhagavad Gita (circa 300 BCE), for example, emphasized the ultimately personal nature of ultimate reality (Brahman), as well as its manifestation in human form as Bhagavan (Lord) Krishna.

The Puranas Hindu devotional traditions are also based on the various texts called the Puranas, which were composed largely during the Gupta period (circa 320-500 century CE), and revised during the medieval period. The Puranas are conceptually influenced by aspects of both the Upanishads and Epic literature. As such they are an interesting blend of non-dual philosophy, cosmology, and theism.

The Puranas The Puranas are essential for understanding worship of the gods in the mainline devotional traditions of India today. Although acknowledging many of the different gods of the Hindu pantheon, the Puranas demonstrate the rise in popularity of the worship of Vishnu and the worship of Shiva as the Supreme being. Some of the Puranas are written from a sectarian viewpoint in which Vishnu or Shiva is the Supreme being, and all other gods are subordinate entities. Historically, many Vedantins were Vaishnavas.

Bhakti Renaissance Between the 6th to 9th centuries CE, bhakti traditions grew in intensity in South India among many poets and mystics, and by the 11th century were widespread in North India. The worship of Vishnu (Vaishnavism) and Shiva (Shaivism) as the Supreme being were the prominent general forms of religious worship in the Bhakti traditions. Bhakti traditions emphasized the loss of ego in total surrender and love for God, often rejecting more formalized aspects of religious worship (formal temple worship, yoga, and theology). See Gavin Flood, Introduction to Hinduism, ch. 6.

Contemporary Devotional Traditions

Worship of Vishnu or Krishna as the Supreme Being. Vaishnavism: Worship of Vishnu or Krishna as the Supreme Being. Vaishnavism is allegedly the largest contingent of devotional Hindu religion.

Vaishnava Traditions Vaishnavism designates a variety of different traditions centered on the worship of Vishnu (or Krishna) and his many expansions or manifestations. Some Vaishnava traditions (dvaita) are strongly dualistic in nature, affirming a distinction between God, the world, and souls. Others (Vishishtadvaita) are non-dualistic with qualification: souls are part of God’s being. Others (Gaudiya Vaishnavism) affirm the simultaneous difference and non-difference between the Self and God. For more on Gaudiya Vaishnavism, see “Gaudiya Vaishnava Resources” at michaelsudduth.com.

Shaivism: Worship of Shiva as the Supreme Being. Saiva Siddhanta: Dualistic – Shiva and the devotee are distinct. Kasmir Shaivism: Non-dualism – Shiva and the devotee are non-distinct, whose essential nature is consciousness. Vaishnavism and Shaivism each tend to incorporate aspects of the feminine, which is central to Shaktism. Shaivism draws heavily from its textual tradition of Shaiva Tantra texts.

Shaktism: Worship of Shakti or Devi – the Divine Mother – as the Supreme Being. Rooted in the Puranas and Tantric texts. Less clearly defined than Vaishnavism and Shaivism. Often indistinguishable from Shaivism. See Flood, Introduction to Hinduism, ch. 8. Important textual source, Markandeya Purana (circa 5th-7th century).

Smartism: Worship of one’s own chosen deity as one among many different manifestations of formless Brahman. Philosophically grounded in Advaita Vedanta.

“Truth is one, but the sages call it by different names.” – Rig Veda

References Steven Rosen, Essential Hinduism (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2006). R.C. Zaehner, Hindu and Muslim Mysticism (New York: Schocken Books, 1969), Chapters 2-4. R.C. Zaehner, Hinduism (New York: Oxford University Press, 1972). Swami Prabhavanda, The Spiritual Heritage of India: A Clear Summary of Indian Philosophy and Religion (Hollywood, CA: Vedanta Press, 1979), Chapters 1-3. Gavin Flood, Introduction to Hinduism (Cambridge University Press, 1996). Hans Torwesten, Vedanta: Heart of Hinduism (New York: Grove Press, 1991), Chapter 1. Dominic Goodall (ed.), Hindu Scriptures (Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 1996).