Hinduism/Caleb Hoey

The human condition is a red herring in Hinduism. Hinduism proposes the idea that we are all part of one reality where all worldly matters are insignificant relative to the universe as an infinite entity. The more you focus on your human condition, the farther you get from the goal of Hinduism. However, Hinduism does acknowledge humanity as a step towards the infinite, and it gives much advice on how to manage humanity in terms of our emotions, our mind, our actions and so on. While we are in this lifetime, Hinduism teaches us that we can progress towards union with the Atman through discipline in thought and action. Four yogas offer paths through love, knowledge, action and study of the mind. Karma is a principle that explains the happenings of the material world; a caste system explains the hegemony of society; the stages of our life are mapped out for us to follow, and some even go so far as to arrange marriages to ensure we continue towards the ultimate goal. Yet these are all just pages in the owner’s manual to the vehicle that is our human body. All of this is not needed once we discard our worldly body and become released from our “self” and re-join our “Self”, attaining satchitananda. The way to solve the human condition is to realize that it’s only one cycle of an infinite circle of creation, preservation and destruction. All of the meditative practices, scriptures and teachings are eventually focused on this one idea. By tuning ourselves to the frequency of the one, true reality (aum), all worldly matters are drowned out. Hinduism offers its teachings as a way to go from problem to solution, yet it stresses the notion that all problems and all solutions are temporary, and that Atman is the only solution you should ever need. The best way to carry out this solution in our daily lives is to renounce this daily life, any previous ones, and any following ones, and to only focus on the one life that we are all living together and have been forever. The insignificance of this world can only be seen when shown next to the infinite universe as a whole. We all share some of these basic Hindu ideas to a certain extent, voiced through expressions such as “it’s not the end of the world” or “shit happens”. We all are able to gain and maintain some perspective, but we frequently let the eyes of our ego distort our perception. Hinduism can draw many parallels with social sciences like psychology, where both present ideas of different levels of consciousness and the positive effects of discipline on the mind and body. I feel like to define Hinduism in religious terms doesn’t give the whole picture. Hinduism is such that if you start following it like a religion, you almost miss the point. It’s not about worship or prayer, but a deeper realization that can’t be communicated but experienced. We can all find God/Atman/Nirvana or any spiritual goal within ourselves because we are made from it and it is made of us. This is where Hinduism suggests we find it, just like most other religions, generally speaking. The finite world we perceive is nothing compared to the infinite reality inside and outside of us, and Hinduism wants to help us connect those two realities and help us flow with the natural energy of the universe.