The Eternal Cycle: Karma

         Karma is the idea that a person’s actions determine their future life. For Hindu’s the law of karma means that a person’s behaviours and actions lead to a punishment or reward in their next life. I experienced a wad of karma today; I’ll give you an example. I was at home and I didn’t listen to my mother when she asked me to do something, then when I asked her to do something for me… she wouldn’t do it. My negative behaviour caused a negative outcome for me. I believe strongly in the idea of karma and that a positive action will cause a positive outcome later. I also believe that if I do a good job in this life, I will be rewarded in my next life. This also means that I also believe that if I act negatively in this life, I will be punished in my next life. I sure hope I’ve been good so far… I wouldn’t want my soul to return as a donkey, a dolphin might be nice… they’re such free creatures. In conclusion, if you’re good, good things happen to you, but if you’re bad, bad things happen to you. So live the life of a well behaved, positive, just person.

Stages of Life

     There are four life stages in a Hindu male’s life, and each Hindu generally goes through three “ashramas” or stages, for the fourth one is rare to come upon. Women are also included in the four stages, for they play a vital role, however the women are supposed to be dependent on males. The four stages are as follows: The first stage “Brahmacharya” is also known as the Student Stage. The second stage “Grihastha” is also known as the Householder Stage. The third stage “Vanaprastha” is also known as the Hermit Stage. The final, but rare stage is “Sannyasa” or the Wandering Ascetic Stage.

The student stage lasts until a person is 25 years old. In that time a male goes to live with his guru (spiritual teacher) and gains spiritual knowledge as well as practical knowledge. He prepares for his future, his social life and his religious life and his family. I think this is a cool idea, leaving home to go live with a guru; it’s what every teenager wants to do! Twenty-five years is a long time to be a student, but in our society today people go to school for much longer, and at different stages in their life too.

A guru and his students

The Householder Stage begins when a man gets married. He now must earn a living and support his family. Isn’t that a wonderful thought, having a man to provide for you and support your family? I know women have a right to make a living as well, but the thought of always being taken care of is nice. This stage in a males life usually lasts until they’re 50.

A Hindu Family, the parents are currently in the Household Stage

Now this is where things get tough, the Hermit Stage begins when a male becomes a grandfather. Now he must relinquish all physical, material and sexual pleasures and retire from his social and professional life. He leaves his home and lives in a hut in a forest, spending his time praying. Now luckily, he is allowed to take his wife, however he is supposed to maintain little contact with his family. No wonder no one wants to do this stage, imagine living your life one day, then with the birth of a child, your life automatically changes. I can see this stage causing serious psychological problems… some people just don’t adapt to change well.

A Forest Hut

The Wandering Ascetic Stage is very rare and you will discover why. A man is supposed to be totally devoted to Brahman; he has no home and no attachments. He has to break all his worldly ties and his only concern is reaching Moksha. Now personally, I think this is a bad idea. How dangerous could it be to break all your worldly ties and to have no home? Not only could I not complete this, I can’t even imagine myself doing this. It is deeply spiritual, and I believe that if you are truly ready to reach Moksha and end your reincarnation cycle, then you should complete this stage. I also think there should be limits on this stage, such as if a man is extremely sick or delusional. Nevertheless, these are the life stages of a Hindu male. I think it would help keep life organized, no worries about the future because you know what is going to happen.

A Wandering Ascetic

Yoga

        I have previously tried workout yoga and I do it regularly, but I don’t think yoga means the same to me as it does to Hindu’s. To me yoga is a way to relieve my stress, to become more flexible and to shed some extra pounds. Conversely, to a Hindu yoga is a path to Moksha. There are four yogas, or paths a person can choose. They are the path of knowledge, the path of meditation, the path of devotion and the path of good works. Hindu’s to not have to only choose one, and they can be used at different times in their lives. I’m going to focus on meditation-yoga. At first I found this truly excruciating, the purpose of meditation is to clear your mind and I could swear my mind was wandering to every place it could go. To keep focused is a discipline many Hindu’s have, and one I hope to learn. Thanks to meditation-methods.com I learned the steps to meditate. They are provided at the end of my rant. I chose to listen to it, because there is an audio version available, thank Ganesha for modern technology. As I continued to practice the yoga of meditation it because easier and easier and I learned to leave this world behind and focus on my journey towards Moksha. After each session I felt more relaxed, closer to Brahman and closer to achieving Moksha. Meditation is a skill everyone can you, before a big test or a job interview I suggest meditation. It clears your mind, relaxes you and changes your perception.  There is nothing negative I can think of about meditation-yoga. 

Meditation

The Method

1. Begin the Hindu meditation with your eyes closed and visualizing the letter A. See the letter in your mind’s eye. Try to picture it as clearly as possible, right in front of your field of vision. Keep it in your vision for a moment.

2. Now, visualize just to the right of the letter A, to the next letter, B. See it as clearly as possible, just like the previous letter. See it as solidly as possible in your mind’s eye. Keep it in your field of view for a moment.

3. Shift back into the space between the two letters, A and B, and say the Hindu mantra. To do the mantra, say the sound of “Ahh”. The sound should go for as long as your can. Try to continue this sound for at least 10 seconds. Focus on the sound. Feel the sound leaving your throat. Feel it entering the room. If your thoughts move somewhere else, gently but firmly, bring your focus back to the sound you are making. The sound of the Hindu mantra, the sound of God, the sound of “Ahh”. Keep your focus on the sound of “Ahh”.

4. Make the sound two times, while you’re in the space between the two letters, A and B. Focus only on the sound of “Ahh”.

5. Now put your focus back on the letter B. See the letter in your mind’s eye. Try to picture it as clearly as possible, right in front of your field of vision. Keep it in your vision for a moment.

6. Now, visualize the next letter, C, just to the right of the letter B. See it as clearly as possible, just like the previous letter. See it as solidly as possible in your mind’s eye. Keep it in your field of view for a moment.

7. Shift back into the space between the two letters, B and C, and do the Hindu mantra. Focus on the sound. Feel the sound leaving your throat. Feel it entering the room you’re in. The sound of Japa, the sound of God, the sound of “Ahh”. Keep your focus on the sound of “Ahh”.

8. Make the sound twice while you’re in the space between the two letters, B and C. Focusing entirely on the sound you are making.

9. Continue by visualizing the letter C again. Go through the rest of the letters A – G using the same process to complete the Hindu meditation.

Meditation process thanks to: http://www.meditation-methods.com/hindumeditation.html

Key Beliefs

               Today we are going to learn about the key beliefs of Hinduism. Hindu’s believe that Brahman is the life force of the Universe and that he is manifested as the many Hindu gods and goddesses. Gods just got a lot more difficult, so let’s recap. There are millions of gods, and each person gets to choose which god or goddess they worship but Brahman is manifested as many of the Hindu gods and goddesses. I think I’m beginning to get this religion now. Hinduism is kind of like Catholicism, with both religions having one main being, a head honcho. Brahman is present in the universe and makes everything what it is, just as God created the universe and is always with us in Catholicism. Hindu’s also believe in reincarnation, this is the idea that once we die our souls move on to another body. Personally I think this idea is wonderful, it causes people to think before they act in their present life, in order to be reincarnated into something or someone greater. The goal of every Hindu is to break out of the cycle of reincarnation so their soul can become part of Brahman (this is called Moksha). This is just more motivation to do good deeds, I see this as a way for people to better themselves. If more people believed this we would have a more just world. Everyone would be concerned about Karma and the fact that to reach Moksha, we need to break out of the cycle, and to break out of the cycle, one has to do good deeds. In a perfect world, we would always be doing good deeds to achieve Moksha; however this world is nowhere near perfect. So people may take advantage of the idea of reincarnation, by doing bad things in this life, just because they know that they will be reborn again. Nonetheless with the good comes the bad, and we can’t always get what we want.

Gods and Goddesses

As a Catholic I am used to there being one god, God, The Father Almighty, but then I turn to look at Hinduism and there are literally too many to choose from. In Hinduism a person chooses one main god to worship, and that is their god. They worship this god through their actions, deeds and words. Before learning about Hinduism, I thought this was an odd religion, I mean how could one person worship so many god and goddesses? However now that I think about, I think it is a great idea to be able to choose the one god or goddess you see as most fitting into your life. Catholics are born into life believing in God, but Hindu’s get a choice. As a Hindu in the making, I am going to choose a god to worship. I think this is a special thing to do, because it is like choosing a path in life. Different gods represent different things, so the god you choose to worship is like a reflection on yourself. The god I am choosing to worship is Ganesha. He is in the god family as Shiva’s son. The story of Ganesha (he has the head of an elephant) is that Shiva cut off his head accidentally in a fit of anger. Through this fit of anger, Ganesha’s head was replaced with an elephant head. Who doesn’t like elephants? Also, he is known as the god of wisdom and good fortune, and a person could always use some wisdom and good fortune in their life.