Liberation is a prominent ideology well stressed throughout the formation and development of history Hinduism. In general, the religious school of Indian philosophy is multiform with different tendencies, but mostly focused on explaining critical issues such as the phenomenon of nature, the meaning of life, the source of human suffering, and the path, which is the way to help people liberation from the suffering of the life. Like any other ancient Indian religions’ thoughts, Hinduism also aims at the ultimate liberation. This is well expounded within its philosophies and practices.
For Hinduism, the ultimate liberation is returning to Braham. According to Bhagavad Gita, there are three ways of practice that lead to liberation.¬¬¬¬. These are janna-yoga (the way of knowledge), bhakti- yoga (the practice of devotion) and karma-yoga (the course of action). In other words, one can practice any of these methods to achieve union with God. This paper I will analyze some important aspects of bhakti-yoga and how it can lead one to attain ultimate liberation—return to Atman. In doing this investigation, I hope to help the reader broaden their knowledge on liberation in Hinduism. As Radhakrishnan says we may climb the mountain from different paths, but the view from the summit is identical for all.
II. What does liberation means in Hinduism?
The moksha word is often translated as salvation or liberation. In Longman Dictionary, liberation is defined as the act of freeing prisoners, a city, a country, etc. According to Hinduism, moksha, mukti from the cycle of suffering and rebirth (samsara) is the supreme goal of human existence. Much has been written about the nature and path of release. True liberation means freeing of an individ...
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... to them, take care to bless them with Mukti also.”
In other words, if one loves God and serves Him with wholeheartedly, he or she will be granted with moksha, liberation.
Works Cited
Embree, Ainslie Thomas, Stephen N Hay, and William Theodore De Bary. Sources of Indian Tradition. New York: Columbia University Press, 1988.
Fort, Andrew O, and Patricia Y Mumme. Living Liberation in Hindu Thought. Albany, NY: State Univerasity of New York Press, 1996.
Huyler, Stephen P. Meeting God: Elements of Hindu Devotion. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1999.
Longman Dictionary of American English: A Dictionary for Learners of English. New York, N.Y.: Longman, 1983.
Radhakrishnan, S. Indian Philosophy. New York: Macmillan, 1958.
Tyāgīśānanda. Aphorisms on the Gospel of Divine Love; Or, Nārada Bhakti Sūtras,. Madras: Sri Ramakrishna Math, 1967.
Liberation Theology for Armchair Theologians overall can be included in the genre of Theology. The fact that the genre is in fact Theology transpires into the argument of this book. In order to convey his argument De La Torre, gave a historical background in the beginning of the book to help all readers understand exactly what liberation theology is. From the roots of the Spanish converting the Indians into “civilized” people in order to gain power, economic wealth and to be able to ex...
Smart, Ninian. "Blackboard, Religion 100." 6 March 2014. Seven Dimensions of Religion. Electronic Document. 6 March 2014.
1.) Intro: I decided to focus my Religious Ethnography on a friend whom I recently have become close with. Adhita Sahai is my friend’s name, which she later told me her first name meant “scholar.” I choose to observe and interview Adhita, after she invited me to her home after hearing about my assignment. I was very humbled that she was open to this, because not only was it a great opportunity for this paper, but it also helped me get to know Adhita better. I took a rather general approach to the religious questions that I proposed to the Sahai family because I didn’t want to push to deep, I could tell Hinduism is extremely important to this family. Because this family does not attend a religious site where they worship, I instead listened to how they do this at home as a family instead.
In this paper, I will be explaining how Siddhartha had arrived at the Four Noble Truths. The first paragraph contains how Siddhartha’s life was full of suffering, pain, and sorrow. The second paragraph will be the cause of suffering is the desire for things that are really illusions in Siddhartha’s life. Following, in the third paragraph I will be explaining how the only way to cure suffering is to overcome desire. Finally, I will be explaining that the only way to overcome desire is to follow the Eightfold Path.
The traditions and values of Hinduism and Buddhism when speaking of the liberation of samsara hold many similarities and distinctive differences that highlight the values of both philosophies. Though the path to having a life full of happiness may be different, the end all goal of their respective ideals is to free themselves from the cycle of life and death and have a satisfying experience doing
A disruption of values arises as a powerful factor in the creation of Gandhi’s theory pertaining to spiritual sickness and the gener...
The idea of samsara is roughly that of reincarnation. All souls are trapped in a cycle of life, death, and rebirth. The goal of each of these souls is to escape the cycle of samsara and obtain moksha. Moksha is a reincarnation with a god. In recent Hinduism the moksha that you obtain is with the god of your choice, or whomever you worshipped as your patron deity. The terms of dharma and karma are the tools that we must use in order to obtain moksha and escape samsara.
Eliot, Sir Charles. HINDUISM AND BUDDHISM. 1921. Vol. 1. London: ROUTLEDGE & KEGAN PAUL LTD, 1954. 3 vols. wisdom library. Web. 9 Dec. 2013. .
They define a state which is beyond the ordinary which can only be characterized by achieving a particular spiritual state. It is notable that Moksha is a common belief in the Hindu religion and it describes a state where one’s soul connects with god’s soul. On the other hand, it can be noted that Nirvana can be obtained by individuals who detached themselves from sin. However, it is clear that both require an individual to remain steadfast in their pursuit for spiritual liberation while abandoning the earthly life and desires. Reincarnation is a consequence of life that moksha and nirvana believers wish to avoid in order to overcome the suffering in the death and rebirth cycle, samsara. Hence, the practices have more similarities that
World renunciation is a major theme in Indian civilization, seen by the fact that all major Indic Religions deal with it in one way or another. The ancient Vedic texts laid out a cosmic and social hierarchy – a conception of ‘the world’ – and taught people how to act in accordance with their varna in a way that kept the world in harmony and kept the gods appeased. In the 6th century BCE, world renunciation emerged as a component of religious teachings that would become the heterodox traditions, the two most long-lasting of which are Buddhism and Jainism. Hinduism, which coalesced about a millennium later, included concepts of world-renunciation in the Varnashrama Dharma and other texts, but its best known treatise on world-renunciation is the Bhagavad-Gita. Within the umbrella of Hinduism, the Saiva and Vaisnava sectarian traditions provide distinct ideas of world renunciation, through modeling Siva’s asceticism or through acting in devotion to Krsna and Rama.
Ludwig, Theodore M. The Sacred Paths: Understanding the Religions of the World (4th Edition). 4 ed. Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2005.
PROF. HR NAGENDRA,, . "Karma Yoga Questions & Answers." SVYASA University. n. page. Web. 29 Apr. 2014. .
Many a great saviour have appeared on the world scene from time to time to save humanity from the clutches of evil forces and for giving a message of God, the source of all virtue. Many a religion have been founded by such saviours, sages, saints and prophets. Each religion has played its part to curb evil and spread Dharma. The need has always been in the past. In its right hour there emerged a movement that brought hope, support and inner strength to the entire world. This not only planted a sense of hope and strength in people but became the most characteristic feature of religious development during the medieval period and emphasized on single-minded intense devotion to God. Therefore, the movement that focused on these ideas was the Bhakti Movement. The word “bhakti” is derived from a Sanskrit word meaning “to share”. This talks about sharing of a bond between God and human beings i.e. it signifies the importance of relationship between both God and Man. The group of people belonging
I will now examine what it means to be religious with a critical enquiry into Buddhism, Hinduism and
We have also seen that spirituality is the hall mark of indian culture. Since the beginning of Vedas, the seers and rishis had in innovated the experimental and reflective method of gaining knowledge and establishment of way of life. It is the cultivation of inner states it is the inward exploration and aspiration to materialize the human power ability and