Relativity In Indian Philosophy

Relativity and opportunism in the nature of Indian philosophy1

Introduction Especially the "insignificantness" of this book, its niche position in the large opera of Indian cults and religions, its potential sectarian character appears valuable for becoming acquainted with Hinduism, to a 'Hindu ethics'. Krishnamurthy’s book "Ten Commandments of Hinduism" deals with examining the entwinement of the individual parts, which only together constitute an "Indian religion". A thesis reads that these individual

parts

(doctrines)

would

behave

completely

differently in a Christian-European context, either becoming annihilated or suppressed. Through these Ten Commandments of Hinduism, which have been formulated by Krishnamurthy - in comparison effects

on

to

the

our

Christian

collective

commandments

and

subconsciousness

-

their

deep

additional

knowledge may be gained about Hinduism and new approximations to the phenomena of Indian culture. These thoughts continue to lead into ideas about an Indian-religious relativism, as well as the particular difference of holistic philosophies of South East Asia to those of the western hemisphere. We call ‘philosophy’ what some would declare “religion”.2 Because of the fundamental difference from western spiritual

1 2

Seminar work for Professor Dr. Franz Martin Wimmer's "Intercultural Philosophy" (2002)

In the West, e.g. Nagarjuna is rather put into the philosophical subcategory, while Shankara has been linked with "religion".

2 traditions the first seems more appropriate, though Hinduism never exactly fits our terms. But compared to Christianity, Judaism and Islam – the main “religious” influences in the western

civilisation

–

Hinduism

seems

more

open

to

philosophical systems and constructions than being based on “belief”

only.

It

lacks

both

founder(s)

and

centralised

theological systems.

With "western world" or "western hemisphere" is meant in the following

our

‘civilisation’

with

Greek

and

Christian

foundations, similar to common definitions like that of Samuel Huntington3. Europe and North America being the geographical confinement.

In

mental

regards

this

civilisation

is

represented by all devices (e.g. western science, economy, etc.) which are aligned along this tradition, subordinate under it and are substantially penetrated by it.

Krishnamurthy - Hinduism Krishnamurthy held a professorship for mathematics at the Birla Institutes of Technology and Science in Rajasthan, India. He was brought up in a traditional background and taught the classical Hindu scriptures from early childhood. Within Hinduism he confessed himself to be heavily influenced by Shankara’s school of Advaita Vedanta. From a western point of view one would probably say that he is in the first instance Hindu and only in the second scientist – and will at least represent ‘hinduistic science’, which in the Vedantic form claims anyhow to be older than the European one. Hindu science has its foundations in the Veda, the holy writings, whatever in detail one may count under this term. It not only refers substantial inspiration from these classical writings,

3

In Clash of Civilisations.

3 but the Veda is also consulted again and again for the support of proofs. Operating with this kind of science resembles the Islamic

procedure,

where

the

Koran

always

provides

an

authoritative backing and is consulted for advice. But the comparison with Islam or, for example, with the Christian Scholastic system partly limps, since the extent, also in regard to topics, is a tremendously larger one in Indian classical writings, compared to Islam and Christianity. Thus it is not wise to call for secularisation of Indian science after the western paradigms without learning the special kind of connection of religion, bibliography and science in India. The traditional ‘Hindu sciences’ not only cover theology, ethics, philosophy, but also generated schools of mathematics, logic, astronomy, astrology and medicine. The culture-philosopher Julius Evola distinguished between ancient holistic civilisations, which include all sciences within a theocratic system, calling them “traditional” – and, on the other hand, more recent societies like Christianity, Islam,

which

(worldly)

tend

science

to or

distinguish magic.

In

between

this

Theology

point

he

and

follows

Nietzsche’s critique of Christianity as an underclass religion in search of a lofty paradise in heaven while in constant conflict with any ‘earthly’ origins. A similar borderline between

traditional

civilisations

can

be

–

like drawn

the

Indian

according

to

–

and

Karl

‘new’ Jasper’

“Achsenzeit”4, if we assume that Hindu society has already found its essential shape in antiquity and so represents the last remaining from those times; though this might be a myth too much supported (and created) by nationalistic interests of the Hindu movements itself.5

4

... meaning the period around 500 BC being a certain 'limes' between mythological time and historical time. Like e.g. the extensive worshipping of cows as nationbuilding symbol. (Six, Clemens: "Symbolische Politik und ihre Inszenierung – Ausdrucksformen des Hindu-Nationalismus im gegenwaertigen Indien" in: Preisendanz, Karin / Rothermund, Dietmar. Südasien in der Neuzeit. Promedia Verlag, Wien 2003.) 5

4 Even today we can find representatives of Vedic science in India, sometimes with an additional background in western education, as is the case with Krishnamurthy.

These classical writings, which for us form the materially most understandable backbone of Hinduism start with the four Vedas Rk, Yajur, Atharva and Sama, from which approximately 120 Upanischads are attached like branches; from the latter, 11 appear to be particularly important. In addition, enormous epics have to be added to the canon such as Ramayana and Mahabharata. The Bagavad Gita is a part of the latter standing for itself. The later, at least already ‘temporally limitable’ Vedantic literature in the form of sutras is usually also counted among classical writings, since it is likewise deemed to be inspired and the outpouring of holy beings. These writings only partially refer their still continuing authority from claiming to be ‘inspired’, i.e. in any form of divine

origin.

Usually

the

Veda

is

even

conceived

as

a

manifestation of God and its origin not somewhere in time but in eternity. Parts of it are said to have been visualised by Rishis6 and handed down verbally until later generations gave them a written body. There are quite some parallels to the view on the Thora among the Jewish society, but with less a cleft between writing and legibility, since the tradition to read and interpret the Veda on several levels of understanding and impact seems to be still more alive.

The book The Ten Commandments of Hinduism is an attempt to map out metaphysical territories of the phenomenon ‘Hinduism’ by ten “commandments” or requirements. These commandments are not comparable to the meaning in the tradition of the JewishChristian dekalog. It is rather ten columns on which the

6

A common term for ancient seers.

5 author tries to balance the complex and disputed system of Hinduism. A problem, because at least the word “Hinduism” was introduced from the outside, exactly the same as the word “India”. Formally regarded Hinduism was initially a creation of the British, who tried to establish religious patterns and ethnical categories in order to better rule these enormous colonies; with that they attempted to superimpose a new legal and administrative system which should also have support among the people. Later the Indian independence movement discovered this idea for itself and made “Hinduism” the tool on which to forge national unity. From an immense number of kingdoms, principalities and above all an immense number of languages and religious and cultural shades India developed a state, maybe the world’s most multicoloured patchwork-country beside the USA, with which it has a lot in common, not only the magnificent

Bollywood-machinery

mirroring

the

image

of

Hollywood. This nationbuilding-process is still under way and also constantly endangered, – maintained mainly by this idea of Hinduism. There exist strange tensions between the age and the existing aliveness of religious culture in India and its emergence

to

define

itself.

Much

of

this

unity,

nearly

everything, is attributable to religion. Hinduism

has

a

reputation

for

assimilating

penetrating

religions. Most Brahmins and Pundits claim for it to be the oldest and original “religion” of mankind, actually not at all substantively,

as

religion,

rather

meaning

a

‘religious

attitude’. This, among other things, makes it supple and up to a certain measure indisputable. When, for example, after the occurrence of the Shakyamuni Buddha, who also came from a “hinduistic” caste and tradition, a new ‘religion’ began to split itself off, the Brahmins met the schism by avowing Shakyamuni into the Vishnu-avatars - with at least partial success. Something similar happened when the Jaganath cult became popular in Orissa. This cult existed independently at the beginning, and was likewise integrated into Vaishnaism.

6 The creation of cultural unity concerned both the British and the liberation movement of Gandhi. In some ways we may call India ‘the other America’, not only because it was able to reflect Hollywood in Bollywood, but particularly because of that variety of summarised cultures, peoples, languages and religions.

The

summary

of

these

varieties

represents

a

singular phenomenon. Hinduism is seen as a representative of these varieties, though constantly re-created. A substantial aspect is the creation of Hinduism as political construct of recent history. In this point it differs from the large revealing religions Buddhism, Christianity and Islam, however not

so

much

in

its

substantial

contents.

To

this

the

phenomenon of Judaism may serve as the most comparable to the western hemisphere, which as a main parameter of Christianity can

provide

a

key

for

understanding

and

approximating

Hinduism. Judaism can be called a religion of commandments and the dekalog as substantial pillar of the Thora. Hinduism does not match this at first sight, but parallels are ascertainable to the situation of the Jewish people under Moses, in regard to

creation

of

manifestation

social

of

a

new

structure

and

identity,

the

political

effectiveness.

The

propounding of commandments, in whatever form, is inherited by a formative momentum. Be it a state, a people- or religious community founding on this, it is a matter of validity for everybody and so a levelling takes place in favour of a larger body. Humans are seen and treated not as an individual, but as part of the transmission. This is in contrast to the original concept

of

the

release

religions

such

as

Buddhism

and

Christianity. Here the main concern is release from forms, not creation of social structure, - they are reacting, whose founders lifted out the ‘individual’. Even in regard to their historical Judaism Buddhism.

origination

with

and

Christianity

development similarly

one

like

can

confront

Hinduism

with

7 At the beginning of the book The Ten Commandments of Hinduism it is already noticed that the theories of Hinduism address themselves to human beings with different mental disposition and development. This starting point of inequality of humans a hierarchically arranged inequality - forms the basis of the caste system. The concept of a spiritual hierarchy is more pronounced and stronger than it has been and still is in the western world, thus leading inevitably to points of friction with Christianity and the western democratic tradition, since they presuppose a substantial equality of humans up to a certain degree, however at least demand it and put it on their agenda. A reason for the strength of Hinduism and main pillar is the doctrine of reincarnation, which is deeply embodied in the consciousness of the masses, even if it is not always mentioned directly. The rebirth teachings are able to create much

deeper

relationships

to

the

past,

a

much

deeper

conception of long periods of time, at least in imaginations of the mind. The hierarchy attributed to mental arrangements or

consciousness

degrees

develops

only

by

this

chain

of

reincarnations and is thus temporally more deeply embodied than in the west, but on the other hand more otherworldly and thus with less materialistic orientation.

The “Ten Commandments” The ten commandments of Hinduism set up by Krishnamurthy are divided into three head and seven describing commandments. These are: •

OMNIPRESENCE OF REALITY (impersonal and personal)

•

PURIFICATION OF MIND

•

DHARMA

→ KARMA YOGA

8 → ONE GOD WITH MANY NAMES AND FORMS → AVATARA → NAMA SMARANA → SURRENDER → SELF REVELATION → RIGHT ATTITUDES

The seven describing commandments emanate out of the original three. The author claims these commandments, or indicating principles, to represent the mainstream of Hinduism. The idea of

serving

mankind

in

whatever

form

is

thereby

always

presupposed as common principle of all religious behaviour. “Divinity is everywhere”, is the all recapitulatory concept, which

is

contained

in

the

first

commandment

serving

as

foundation for all the following. Whatever one sees, hears, smells,

feels,

touches,

thinks

is

a

spark

of

divinity,

although covered by ignorance. To experience this omnipresent divinity, and to realise it, is regarded as a principal purpose.

Therein in a certain way the conception is implied of never dying souls, which sued their material body with each physical death, taking past habits and characteristics in the form of “vasanas” with them into the next life. The word vasana means smell and determines the tendencies of a soul when born in a new body. The vasanas form a kind of first body of subtle matter around the soul, which is then the building master of the gross-material body. The concept of vasanas consequently forms the starting point for the commandment “Purification of the Mind”. Because it is the vasanas which, through their existence collude the view of the indwelling divinity. Purification is therefore a first condition of liberation from the wheel of reincarnation, from cause and effect. Special attention is not

9 directed however to a ‘suicide of the soul’, in the way it has been interpreted in the beginnings of South Asian Studies in the

West

and,

for

example,

could

support

Schopenhauer’s

‘pessimism’ - but to an inner release of adhering to the world, arriving at internal detachment.

“Omnipresence of Divinity” creates Dharma. Fulfilment of Dharma implies purification. Dharma can be translated into “law”. It is the task assigned to an individual unit of consciousness and differs from Karma, which results from actions in preceding lives. Karma is thus within one’s own responsibility and subjected to laws and commandments; while Dharma is designated something which has not been created by humans,

but

was

assigned.

Additionally

to

the

logical

understandable hierarchy formed by Karma - as merits and misdemeanours of the soul (consciousness unit) leading it across innumerable lives away from the lowest up to the highest caste - a hierarchy of Dharma is implicit in Hinduism. This hierarchy of Dharma is thought not to be accessible for human rational understanding, even not for most of the Gods. To act according to Dharma means in agreement with the whole Universe and for the whole Universe. Only from that categories like good and evil, heaven and hell may be derived.

Everything in Hinduism is based on these three principles: Omnipresence and omniscience

of the divinity (God); the

cultivated tendencies and characteristics from birth to birth (Karma); and Svadharma, the Dharma assigned to a soul (unit of consciousness), since the single soul is not thrown into the world bare of purpose and meaning, but instead is subject to a plan of evolution towards perfection and reflection of the divine.

The fourth requirement, “Karma Yoga”, (since it is based on Dharma) therefore reads: Act in the living presence of the

10 divinity, completely detached and devoted, avoiding selfish desires and fears!

The fifth commandment, which is rather a confession that there exists one God in many names and forms, leaves room for tolerance and openness to admire a personally preferred aspect of the divinity. It forms the basis of the Hindu Conviction that all religions are only different ways to arrive at the goal of divine perfection and that is why Krishnamurthy gave it

the

centre-place

arrangement

of

the

in

his

two-dimensional

commandments.

structured

Simultaneously

this

commandment contains the pretension of Hinduism being a metareligion, and thus serves as welcomed constitution for a panIndian state building. Further the admiration of an individual God or aspect of divinity is source of the ‘principle of grace’.7

The

concept

of

Avatara

is

a

further

factor,

which

differentiates Hinduism from other religions. It presupposes that

the

divine

manifests

itself

at

certain

times,

deliberately and planned, in humans beings. Such a descent of the divine by accepting a non-perfect and limited form with the purpose to teach humans and evolve mankind is called Avatara. Rama and Krishna may be taken as example, though outside

of

India,

Jesus

Christ

would

also

have

met

the

requirements. The difference compared to Judaism's and Islam's prophets is, that an Avatara is conscious of his divinity from birth onwards and does not need any higher call during his lifetime

nor

any

inspiration,

as

is

also

the

case

with

Christian saints. He/she comes to earth fully evolved – not even ‘evolved’ but as a pure divine being without past, as a saint or prophet would have, being subject to the law of time.

7

Since grace implies a 'personal' connection with the divine.

11 Nama

smarana

means

the

recitation

of

divine

names,

of

“mantras” - admiration by ritual repetition. Apart from an inwardly directed aspect, which may support a meditative attitude, an outside effect is also attributed to the repeated formula, usually of purifying and protecting character.

Devotion (eighth commandment) is essentially already contained in the first and fourth. A certain element of liberty is entitled to the human will. Nevertheless, (modern) Hinduism does not put that much weight on ‘freedom of human will’, balancing it with the role of fate. The tension between Karma, Dharma and the ‘free will’ forms consciousness and enables evolution of the inheriting spirit, the monad. Devotion in Hinduism means to shift the free will gradually from outside towards the inside, uniting it with the will of the internal God who at the same time represents the will of the universal God. The result is a liberation of the soul; the outwardlydirected

free

will,

which

does

not

coincide

with

the

inheriting self, is united with this internal monad-like divinity, brought into agreement with the universal God.

The ninth requirement, forming an antipole to the first, resulted from the development of the preceding commandments. So humans are to become a mirror of the divine, discover it in themselves and bring it to an appearance. To explain this process of self-realisation, Krishnamurthy consults Shankara, the

founder

of

Advaita

Vedanta.

He

describes

different

analogies to make clear the special relationship between the universe on the one hand and Brahman on the other. These analogies are gradated stepwise. A rope appears as a snake: The snake stands for the visible universe. - What seems to be the universe is not the real universe. The second analogy concerns the illusion of water over hot sand (as a fata morgana). In the third analogy the universe is

12 perceived as a dream. It is totally subjective and disappears with the waking person. In

Advaita

Vedanta

the

concept

of

reality

is

always

a

comparative one. Self-realisation takes place in stages8. In the

universe,

Babushka.

The

reality word

is

a

layered

self-revelation

construction

used

by

like

a

Krishnamurthy

refers to this development of the self, which gets rid of its shells, the internal heart being the atman.

In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna differentiates between two purushas9. Sometimes the word purusha can be translated with "ego", sometimes with "self". He is the inhabitant of the city, the body. If he identifies himself with this body and the senses, he is called the experiencing purusha; he enjoys and suffers being transient (kshara). The other purusha is the constant, non-participating witness, the sakshi.

The tenth requirement refers to correct attitude. Mental attitude

is

to

stand

before

rituals,

before

physical

expression and the philosophy, to which one adheres. I tis this attitude which also determines the evolutionary stage, the caste (varna). It is further stated, that each religion should be understood and practised only within its own context to avoid rivalry and jealousy10.

Ramanuja

(1017

-

1137),

another important philosopher after Shankara, stated that jnana (knowledge) and bhakti (devotion, serving) are not essentially

different

and

coincide,

insofar

as

devotion

(bhakti) goes hand in hand with knowledge (Jnana). The correct attitude of the individual is thus bound to its position in

8

On the contrary to the Chinese-Buddhistic tradition of cha´n - which later became Zen in Japan - where a sudden enlightenment (and thus liberation) has been thought, in Hinduism enlightenment comes in stages, the evolution of the soul from its bondage of matter happens stepwise. 9 Bhagavad Gita 15.16 10 Though Krishnamurthy is not very clear about whether he counts Hinduism among "religions" or in which other relationship Hinduism stands to them; He is further not dealing with syncretisms between religions.

13 society (caste); this position again depends on knowledge (jnana) and on past acts (karma).

Substantial about Krishnamurthy's Ten Commandments is the arrangement of groups or casts around them. By no means all commandments apply to everyone, rather certain requirements for certain humans under certain boundary conditions. In Hinduism a particular person can nearly never be fastened to all

commandments

and

also

should

not.

Although

many

prohibitions and restrictions emerge in daily life, at the same time almost complete religious liberty exists, making this system a part of the timeless flexibility of Hinduism. To rectify that concept the author indicates certain types as examples,

like

the

"secular

philosopher",

the

"orthodox

theologian", the "rationalist", the "scientist and vedantin" or the "doubting layman"; in this way he reaches a - rather fictitious - sum of 1023 combinations. Therefore Hinduism does exist but not a single complete Hindu. Naturally this is also the case in other religions; the difference to Hinduism comes in the fact that there is no general form to fulfil standing in the foreground - rather a goal. Hinduism is not to be understood as a demand for an ideal. Rather it is the house being built by individual craftsmen. It is neither necessary nor worthwhile therefore that the bricklayer also frames the roof nor even knows how to do so. Therefore, if one wants to understand Hinduism properly, he should begin with the hypothesis that all commandments are valid. To understand individual groups in the hinduistic context or individual persons, one should not assume that. Relativity

in

Hinduism

therefore

means

not

so

much

distinction, separation into sects and confessions, but has to be seen as gradation, or as aspects of the always central wholeness of the divinity. The opportunism of Hindu 'religion' and philosophy is formulated in a positive and integral way;

14 similar

to

Paul

Feyerabend's

main

and

only

principle,

justifiable under all circumstances and in all stadiums of human development - "anything goes".11

The commandments of Hinduism, which might be seen as aspects of Hinduism, are not arbitrarily arranged in the certain diagram provided by Krishnamurthy. The allocation reminds one of something like a yantra, a geometrical-magic symbol, which is quite common in Hinduism (as well as in occultism and magic generally). A yantra may serve as root-symbol for meditation upon a certain topic and can thus reveal qualities of the observed

subject

writing.

Thus

which

the

can

three

not

be

first

expressed

fundamental

in

ordinary

commandments

together remind of a bowl, which carries other commandments like a roof or including them. This results on the one hand in a circle, which proceeds from the "omnipresence of reality" (1) to "dharma" (3); on the other hand the single God with many names and forms (5) manifests as the hub, the centre of the 'wheel of commandments'.

A similar structure is given by the two stone plates, the tablets

of

the

covenant,

which

Moses

carried

from

Mount

12

Sinai . The Sefer Yezirah it is written analogously:

„Ten Sefirot of Nothingness in the number of ten fingers five opposite five with a singular covenant precisely in the middle ...“13

11

Against Method. Exodus 19-21 13 Kaplan, Aryeh: : Sefer Yetzirah – The Book of Creation in Theory and Practice. Samuel Weiser Inc., York Beach/Maine 1997; p. 32 ff - Aryeh Kaplan (and the Sefer Yetzirah, a text of Jewish Kabbalah) is a similar outsider regarding Judaism or Christianity, like Krishnamurthy may be for Hinduism. - Nevertheless..., (→ introduction). 12

15 Deuteronomy 9.9 talks about tablets of the covenant and here the Sefirot also serve as symbols for the Ten Commandments giving the picture of interlocked fingers. The tablets with writings stand for the palms where the (work-)plan is engraved as a law. Kaplan denominates the place in the middle as "focus of

spiritual

tension"14

and

thus

marks

this

device

of

interlocked fingers as the place where the free will of individuals is able to manifest within the magnetic field of contrasting poles.

Bibliography → Cruesemann, Frank: Bewahrung der Freiheit – Das Thema des Dekalogs in sozialgeschichtlicher Perspektive. Chr. Kaiser / Guetersloher Verlagshaus, Guetersloh 1993 → Feyerabend, Paul: Science in a Free Society. New Left Books, London 1978 Against Method. (London 1975); revised Edition: Verso, London 1988). → Frauwallner, Erich: Geschichte der indischen Philosophie. 2 Bde. Otto Mueller Verlag, Salzburg 1953 (Bd 1) und 1956 (Bd 2) → Huntington, Samuel: The Clash of Civilisations. Simon & Schuster, New York 1996 → Jaspers, Karl: Vom Ursprung und Ziel der Geschichte. R. Piper & Co. Verlag, Muenchen 1949 → Kaplan, Aryeh: Sefer Yetzirah – The Book of Creation in Theory and Practice. Samuel Weiser Inc., York Beach/Maine 1997 → Kirchenrat des Kantons Zuerich (Hrsg.): Die Heilige Schrift des Alten und des Neuen Testaments. Verlag der Zuercher Bibel, Zuerich 1971

14

Sefer Yetzirah p. 35

16 → Krishnamurthy, V.: The Ten Commandments of Hinduism. Wiley Eastern Limited, New Delhi 1994 → Radhakrishnan, S.: Die Bhagavadgita. Holle Verlag, BadenBaden 1958

9 Self-Revelation 4 Karma Yoga

2 Purifcation of Mind

8 Surrender 5 One God with many Names and 6 7 forms Avatara Nama Smarana 1 Omnipresence of Reality (Impersonal or Personal)

10 Right Attitudes

3 Dharma

17

9 8

4

5 2

7

6

1

3

1 Orthodoxe Theologist

Secular-Philosopher

4 ?

10 ?

2 Rationalist

Scientist - Vedantin

Doubting Devotee

9 10

4

8?

4

5

5 3

2 1

2

6

7

10