Hinduism and Individualism: A Comparative Study

HINDUISM

The Upanishad represent a significant reorientation in the philosophical thinking and approach of ancient Indians towards their understanding of God, the status of individual souls in God’s creation, and their relationship with Him, a development that opened a new chapter in the religious practices and traditions of the Indian subcontinent and epitomized the flowering of human consciousness on a scale that was unprecedented before in the history of human civilization in both the eastern and western hemispheres. The Upanishads teach us to discern the Reality that surrounds amidst the glamour and glitter of life and knows truth from untruth so that we are neither ensnared by its attractions nor repulsed by its vulgarity. They unravel the secrets that are hidden deep within our consciousness and introduce us to ourselves in a different light, equating us with the universal self, Brahman, urging us to overcome our desire to perpetuate our limited selves and transcend our ordinariness to discover the greater self that lies beyond our minds and senses. The word “Upanishad” means sitting near. In ancient India, the Upanishads were taught to few individuals, who were tested for their spiritual inclination and readiness for liberation over a long period of time and only in person. They progressed slowly on the path as they sat near their masters and digested the verses one by one, meditating upon them for months and years. In the following essays, we try to introduce you to some of the concepts and ideas found in the Upanishads and how you can benefit from their study and understanding. The world is immaterial. It is futile. And when one realizes this that day itself spiritualism or bhakti begins. Individualism, on the other hand, is materialist and apart from Bhakti, it believes in the individual soul. In Hinduism, from there itself an individual starts the journey towards the lord. The individual who finds the world’s happiness good, she or he cannot follow the spiritual path in its totality.[1]Yog Vishist believes Guru is important as it is he who guides the disciple. Individualism on the other hand believes in giving prime importance to the individual souls and not a Guru. The world is transient meaning changeable just like the season. It’s like a mirage. Nothing is real. And that way we as individual souls lead a life which ends without achieving salvation. Individualism believes there is nothing like salvation, nothing like heaven and hell. Thus worldly views are unreal only the individual soul is true. Everything is unreal in this world yet the soul relates to every worldly stuff. Just like a rich man becomes poor and feels saddened, similarly, an individual does not achieve real happiness if she gets involved in an illusionary and sad world. Further, you cant be permanently rich in the temporary world but the one who knows the real happiness of atman is rich in both worlds. Thus the individual is immersed in ignorance. He has forgotten his real self. She runs after unreal worldly stuff and becomes sad.

The further individual is egoistic and that’s the biggest flaw. The bodily ego leads to lots of problems. It is better to live without ego in this meaningless world. This mind is really fickle. It runs everywhere. It’s never in peace. So Hinduism focuses on a calm mind rather than one that wonders. Just like bird swoops on meat, mind swoops on several material issues. The mind is a slave of senses. You are the owner of these senses. Individualism lies in the ego, unlike Hinduism.

S/He / God/Atman is the knower, the knowledge, and all that is to be known. He is the seer, the (act of) seeing, and all that is to be seen. He is the actor, the cause and the effect: therefore salutation to Him (who is all) knowledge himself. But it is neither by acts or riches nor by means of progeny, that one obtains his liberation, it is solely by self-denial that Stoics taste the ambrosia (of emancipation) The Yoga Vasistha states that there are four characteristics that mark someone ready for the spiritual journey who:

1.     Senses the difference between atman (soul) and non-atman. Individualismfocuses on non-atman and on individualism.

2.     Is past cravings for anyone or anything, is indifferent to the enjoyments of objects in this world or after

3.     Is virtuous and ethical with Sama (equality), Dama (self-restraint, temperance), Uparati (quietism), Titiksha (patience, endurance), Sadhana (uniting, peace), and Sraddha (faith, trust)

4.     Has Mumukshatawa, that is longing for meaning in life and liberation. Individualism believes in liberation in his planet itself. It does not believe in hell and heaven.

On the process of spiritual knowledge

Yoga Vasistha teachings are divided into six parts: dispassion, qualifications of the seeker, creation, existence, dissolution and liberation. It sums up the spiritual process in the seven Bhoomikas:^[

1.     Śubhecchā (longing for the Truth): The yogi (or sādhaka) rightly distinguishes between permanent and impermanent; cultivates dislike for worldly pleasures; acquires mastery over his physical and mental faculties; and feels a deep yearning to be free from Saṃsāra.Individualism believes in worldly happiness and good.

2.     Vicāraṇa (right inquiry): The yogi has pondered over what he or she has read and heard, and has realized it in his or her life.This is similar to individualism.

3.     Tanumānasa (attenuation – or thinning out – of mental activities): The mind abandons the many, and remains fixed on the One.Individualism is fixated on many.

4.     Sattvāpatti (Unlike duality, Upanishads and individualism focus on oneness and not duality.

On liberation

In Chapter 2 of Book VI, titled The story of Iksvaku, the text explains the state of nirvana (liberation) as follows, “Liberation is peace. Liberation is the extinction of all conditioning. Liberation is freedom from every kind of physical, psychological, and psychic distress. This world is not seen by the ignorant and the wise in the same light. To one who has attained self-knowledge, this world does not appear as samsara, but as the one infinite and indivisible consciousness”.Individualism too believes in the world as infinite and indivisible.

The Yoga Vasistha describes samsara and reality as follows:

World is mundane existence with rebirths.

The universe is full of world driven by Moha (delusion), bondage, Tamas (destructive, chaotic behaviors), Mala (impurity), Avidya and Maya.

Ignorance feeds world, self-knowledge liberates.

The world is ephemeral and unreal. With birth, death is inevitable This world has come out of the imagination of the mind. The mind itself is imaginary and untrue. If the mind vanishes so does the world. The desire of mind is immense. Further desire gives a lot of pain to the individual.     Minds longings are very dangerous. Mind brings a lot of misery to human beings. As and when a human being gets older his desires to become younger. Even after trying to fulfill all desires, in reality, an individual stays hungry for more desires. Despite the cycle of happiness and suffering the individual still sticks to worldly affairs. Why did Lord Shiva apply Ash on his body? That is because according to him human body after death is going to get transformed into ash Despite that human doesn’t feel shy about enjoying material happiness and stay immersed in it. Thus goes into the lap of death. The fact is that there is no Mother, father, son, a friend in this ever-changing world. End of desire results in evolution in Brahma Gyan. This body is not mine, I am not this body, once an individual understands this, that person achieves peace. Bodies every state is saddening. A child because she is unable to speak, is greedy, unending levels of fear. At a young age, work is what she does. And he enjoys different enjoyments. Different kinds of faults surround the individual. He becomes a slave of senses. Youth is untrue but still looks real. After death, an individual is born as what he dreams to become in his last moment of life. Because of desire we are born again and die again. On the other hand, followers of Individualism and liberalism believe that the young generation is oppressed by the old one, especially the young women are oppressed by older men and women.

There is a world within worlds according to Hindu scriptures that cannot be seen by the naked eye, only gods or Brahma Gyani grace can help the individual to see them.[2]Bhootakash is an element inside the body. Chitakash is where divine beings or God exists. Chidakash is where brahmgyani lives beyond gravity and who helps her disciples reach the space beyond gravity.

Only a Brahma Gyani[3] leaves behavior and sees God in every creation. Only who knows the truth of the universe can leave behavior. Behavior is not wrong but forgetting God in this is not correct. Don’t forget God even while engaging in work. While doing karma[4] don’t forget God. But while doing karma don’t keep desire in it. That karma is your worship. This is explained in Fountain Heads’ hero.

If in reality world exists, then you cannot achieve self realization.Without this you will stay within this worlds bond.

INDIVIDUALISM

Individualism regards man—every man—as an independent, sovereign entity who possesses an inalienable right to his own life, a right derived from his nature as a rational being. Individualism holds that a civilized society, or any form of association, cooperation, or peaceful coexistence among men, can be achieved only on the basis of the recognition of individual rights—and that a group, as such, has no rights other than the individual rights of its members. Do not make the mistake of the ignorant who think that an individualist is a man who says: “I’ll do as I please at everybody else’s expense.” An individualist is a man who recognizes the inalienable individual rights of man—his own and those of others.

An individualist is a man who says: “I will not run anyone’s life—nor let anyone run mine. I will not rule nor be ruled. I will not be a master nor a slave. I will not sacrifice myself to anyone—nor sacrifice anyone to myself.” The mind is an attribute of the individual. There is no such thing as a collective brain. There is no such thing as a collective thought. An agreement reached by a group of men is only a compromise or an average drawn upon many individual thoughts. It is a secondary consequence. The primary act—the process of reason—must be performed by each man alone. We can divide a meal among many men. We cannot digest it in a collective stomach. No man can use his lungs to breathe for another man. No man can use his brain to think for another. All the functions of the body and spirit are private. They cannot be shared or transferred.

We inherit the products of the thought of other men. We inherit the wheel. We make a cart. The cart becomes an automobile. The automobile becomes an airplane. But all through the process what we receive from others is only the end product of their thinking. The moving force is the creative faculty that takes this product as material, uses it, and originates the next step. This creative faculty cannot be given or received, shared, or borrowed. It belongs to single, individual men. That which it creates is the property of the creator. Men learn from one another. But all learning is only the exchange of material. No man can give another the capacity to think. Yet that capacity is our only means of survival.

HINDUISM AND INDIVIDUALISM: A COMPARISON

Hinduism means all dwell in God. While individualism all is indwelt in individual. Hinduism seeks self-realization for individuals by merging into God. Ayn rand looks towards the self-realization of the individual on this earth and not heaven. Individualists say they do not exist for any other being, just for themselves while Hinduism believes in oneness but wanting learned Gurus to help lesser mortals.

HINDUISM AND INDIVIDUALISM: DIFFERENCES

Hinduism regards OM as a whole, That’s beyond, untouched, immeasurable invisible, and unlimited. That is the whole-The source of light. This is whole-This visible you see the whole universe as part of whole God, No? Like the little boy who stood for hours on the seashore and came back disappointed. He said I could not see the ocean because of waves. The waves are the ocean. If we want to enjoy God we will have to view him as a whole in all his things-and in yourself also. While individualists believe God does not exist. In this world individuals only exist on their own and not dependent on God. Individualism is all about taking care of yourself; it is the belief and practice that every person is unique and self-reliant. … In particular, the United States is known for having a strong bent towards individualism because it was founded by people who sought the freedom to practice whatever religion they chose.

SIMILARITY BETWEEN HINDUISM AND INDIVIDUALISM

Throughout the centuries there were men who took step down the new road armed with nothing but their own vision, their goals differed, but they had all this in common that the step was first, the road new, the vision unborrowed and the response they received was hatred. While Ayn Rands protagonist received extreme hatred for being different similarly several gurus and characters such as Prahlad and Dhruv too received hatred on similar lines, more so by their family.

[1]In Hinduism , Bhagwat geeta and yogvishist are the topmost scripture to understand the world.

[2]This story has been illustrated in Yogvishisht where Raja padam and Queen lalawati talk about world within worlds.

[3]Brahma gyani means eternal guru.

[4] Karma means work.

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