Hinduism - ADVAITA

What Is Advaita?

Non-duality or 'not two-ness' is the literal translation.

One of the primary schools of Vedanta, Advaita, advocates a philosophical perspective. 

It is the concept that multiplicity is, in the end, the manifestation of a non-dual reality.

This philosophical stance is sometimes referred to as monism in the West (the belief that reality is one), but the meaning of 'non-duality' in a Hindu context is more nuanced, because it does not involve the postulation of even a single entity, because 'Being' (sat) is said to be beyond all signification, including the postulation of a One.

The non-dual principle of reality underpins the cosmos, yet it is not an entity in the same way that the many objects and entities do.

It is the foundation of their existence.

Furthermore, labeling such schools as monistic is difficult since they often preserve a multi-leveled definition of truth that does not necessitate rejecting the existence of plurality.

The idea is that the ontological substratum that permits such creatures to appear is fundamentally a non-dual principle of being.

The Upanisads include the oldest explicit exposition of non dualist notions, with Brahman as the basic substrate of existence from which the cosmos is believed to originate.

Early Upanisads, such as the Chandogya, compare the connection between Brahman and each individual being's basic self (Atman) to the mixing of salt and water in salty water.

The water tastes like salt that can't be seen, and the difference between the two is undetectable, just as Brahman can't be seen yet permeates the whole cosmos.

'You are That,' the sage concludes (tat-tvam-asi, Chandogya Upanis.ad 6.10.3).

Numerous schools evolved in response to the primary topic of the link between the individual ego and Brahman, the substance of the cosmos, as a result of various efforts to construct a systematic philosophical interpretation of such passages in the Upanisads (veda-anta or 'end of the vedas').

The difference-non-difference school, dualists (who claimed a clear ontological split between the two), qualified non dualists, and non-dualist interpretation were among them.

The Mandukya Karika (also known as the Agamasastra or the Gaudapada Karika) is the earliest unambiguous explanation of Advaitaphilosophy.

It was presumably written about the sixth century of the Common Era.

Sankara, however, is the most well-known Advaita proponent (eighth century CE).

The universe of plurality, according to believers of the Sankarite view, is ultimately nothing more than a magical illusion (Maya).

The specific nature of this illusion was the topic of much debate (and opposing schools' contention), but the general consensus was that maya is unexplainable, being neither completely existing nor non-existent.

The key to grasping this concept is to recognize that there are two degrees of truth for Sankara: ultimate truth (where the non-dual Brahman is the solitary reality) and daily, practical truth (where a variety of diverse things exist).

Maya is a cosmic illusion, but it is not a mental delusion (as in a hallucination or a dream), not least because the concept of an individual self (jivatman) is ultimately illusory from the standpoint of ultimate truth.

The world of waking awareness is not a subjective deception, according to Sankara; it exists and acts on a practical plane of reality.

This universe is unreal in and of itself, but real in the sense that it is identical to Brahman, the source of all existence.

According to Sankara, avidya - metaphysical ignorance – is the root of the universe's seeming manifestation, which is basically our ignorance of the reality that everything is Brahman.

At the individual level, this entails projecting categories or 'adjuncts' derived from previously acquired experiences (including those from prior incarnations) onto the non-dual reality, causing it to look as something it is not.

Sankara utilizes the well-known example of the rope and the snake to convey his point.

In low light, a rope might resemble a snake.

We think we're looking at a snake, but it's only a rope.

We can realize the error that was committed in daylight (that is, with the benefit of knowledge) and no longer project the image of a snake onto the rope.

Similarly, Brahman is the source of all things, but we misinterpret it as distinct objects due to our inability to transcend our ignorance of reality's actual nature.

Sankara's interpretation of Advaita, on the other hand, is far from the sole kind of nondualism found in Hindu traditions.

The Bhagavata Purana (c. eleventh century CE) is centered on the playful figure of Krishna and mixes non-dualistic notions with Vaisnava devotionalism (bhakti).

Non-dualistic philosophies may also be found within the many Saivite movements.

The Pratyabhijna or Recognition School, which is commonly connected with Kashmir but also exists elsewhere, is notable for its clear rejection of Sankara's notion of maya's illumination.

The world is real, according to this school, since it is a vibration (spanda) of Siva's dynamic and creative awareness.

Later works, such as Vasistha's highly poetic Yoga Teachings (Yogavasistha), synthesize themes and concepts from a variety of non-dualist schools (including Buddhist ones), but with a clear orientation towards Vedantic interpretations.

Interest in Sankara's philosophy by various Western Orientalists and Hindu reformers in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries helped to establish non-dualist ideas as important sources. 

Many of the key intellectual figures and gurus of Hinduism in the modern period, including Ramakrishna, his disciple Swami Vivekananda, SarvepalliRadhakrishnan, Ramana Maharshi, Nisargadatta Raj, Sri Aurobindo, and, to a lesser extent, Mahatma Gandhi, advocate non-dualism as a central aspect of their teaching.

Swami Vivekananda, perhaps more than anyone else, was responsible for catching the imagination of Hindus and Westerners alike with his promotion of non-dual ism as Hinduism's basic doctrine and 'spirituality' as the distinguishing quality of Hindu devotion.

~Kiran Atma

Amazon | Goodreads | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Pinterest

See also: 

Atman, Bhakti, Brahman, Buddhism's relationship with Hinduism, Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi,Aurobindo Ghose, Modern and contemporary Hinduism, Kashmiri Saivism, Krishna, Maya, Puranas, Sir Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan,Sri Ramakrishna, Ramana Maharshi,Saivism, Sankara, Siva, Upanisads, Vaisnavism, Vedanta, Swami Vivekananda,Yogavasistha

References And Further reading:

King, Richard. 1999. Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to Hindu and Buddhist Thought. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.

Ram-Prasad, C. 1991. An Outline of Indian Non-realism: Some Central Arguments of Advaita Metaphysics. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Sharma, A. 1993. The Experimental Dimension of Advaita Vedanta. Delhi: Motilal Banarsidass.

Parinamavada

 

 (“transformation-relationship”) The world is described as a genuine transformation of the Ultimate Reality or realities, according to a philosophical viewpoint that explains the link between the Ultimate Reality or realities and the perceivable world.

Proponents of the Samkhya, Vishishthadvaita Vedanta, and Bhedabhada philosophical traditions hold this stance.

All three of them believe in a causal hypothesis known as satkaryavada.

The satkaryavada paradigm believes that effects exist before they manifest in their causes, and that when they arise, they are transformations (pari nama) of those causes.

The transformation of milk into curds, butter, and clarified butter is a famous illustration of this paradigm in action: each of these consequences was previously present in the cause, emerges from it via a natural change of that cause, and is causally tied to it.

Purusha and prakrti are the initial principles for the Samkhyas, deity Vishnu for the Vishishthadvaitas, and Brahman for the Bhedabhadas.

Everyone believes that genuine objects emerge from true transformations of these initial principles.

By making these initial principles part of the universe, Parinamavada allows for an expression of the phenomenal world that compromises their transcendence.

Their philosophical issues stem from attempting to explain how the sublime may become commonplace, then transcendent again.

The Advaita Vedanta philosophical school, which maintains a philosophical viewpoint known as monism, is adamantly opposed to the transformation connection (the belief that a single Ultimate Reality lies behind all things, and that all things are merely differing forms of that reality).

Despite the appearance of distinction and diversity in the universe, Advaita proponents say that reality is non dual (advaita), that is, that all things are "really" the formless, unqualified Brahman.

Because Brahman is the sole true object, and Brahman never changes, the parinama paradigm, which requires genuine change, is a fundamental misunderstanding of the ultimate nature of things.

The Advaita explanation for the nature of the relationship and the universe is known as vivartavada ("illusory manifesta tion"), in which the ultimate seems to change but never changes in actuality.

A Sourcebook in Indian Philosophy, edited by Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan and Charles A. Moore, was published in 1957, and Presuppositions of India's Philosophies, edited by Karl H. Potter, was published in 1972.

Hinduism - Who Was Mandana Mishra?

 

Mandana Mishra (early 9th c.) Founder of the Bhamati school of Advaita Vedanta, who is said to have lived about the same time as Shankaracharya, the Advaita school's greatest figure.

The Advaita school adheres to the philosophical idea of monism, which claims that all things are essentially different manifestations of a single Ultimate Reality.

Despite the appearance of difference and variety, Advaita proponents say that reality is non-dual (advaita)—all things are nothing but the formless, unqualified Brahman (the greatest reality in the cosmos).

The assumption of variety, according to Advaitins, is a fundamental mental misunderstanding of the ultimate essence of things, a symptom of avidya.

Although sometimes translated as "ignorance," avidya is more accurately defined as a lack of actual insight that leads to karmic bonding, reincarnation (samsara), and pain.

Mandana proposes the vivarta ("illu sory manifestation") causal linkage to demonstrate how the unchanging Brahman is linked to the seen universe.

Superimposition (adhyasa) is a notion that describes how people project a faulty understanding onto the correct knowledge.

A piece of rope, for example, is mistaken for a snake.

Despite the fact that this judgment is incorrect, one is genuinely observing something real, in this example the rope, but "superimuting" a false identity on it, therefore "transforming" it into something it is not.

Human awareness, it is believed, starts with the existing reality (Brahman), which is already there, but superimposes something that is not (the judgment of a diverse world).

Mandana also disagreed with Shankaracharya on a number of matters, which caused difficulties for his subsequent disciples.

One of these judgements was that the source of ignorance was in the Self, since it was ludicrous to think of Brahman as ignorant; another was that there were several Selves, because the liberation of one person did not result in the liberation of others.

Mandana's remarks imply the presence of a common (though illusory) reality over which he felt compelled to pass judgment; he eventually dubbed it anirvachaniya—"that which cannot be named." 

Mandana defined two types of ignorance in his analysis: a primary "covering" that prevents one from seeing the truth and a "projective" ignorance in which humans intentionally conceal facts.

You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.

Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.

Hinduism - What Is Limitationism In Hindu Philosophy?

 

Later branches of the Advaita Vedanta philosophical school, one of the "six schools" of traditional Hindu philosophy, employed the Limitationism theory to explain variety.

This school of philosophy promotes monism, or the notion that all things are essentially different manifestations of a single Ultimate Reality known as Brahman.

Despite the appearance of distinction and diversity, proponents say that reality is non-dual (advaita), that is, all things are nothing but the formless, unqualified Brahman.

The assumption of variety, according to Advaitins, is a basic misunderstanding of the ultimate essence of things, and hence a sign of avidya.

Although typically translated as "ignorance," avidya is more accurately defined as a lack of actual knowledge that traps humans in karmic bonds, reincarnation (samsara), and pain.

Is there one avidya that affects everyone, or are there many different avidyas? 

If avidya is a fault that exists inside a person, and if many people may be affected at the same time, is there one avidya that affects everyone, or are there many different avidyas? 

Limitationism claims that there is a single avidya that affects many individuals at the same time.

According to the notion pro, avidya in a person is comparable to the color quality of an item.

Each occurrence of the color blue does not take up a limited amount of "blue ness" in the world; the color blue may be a single attribute of two coexisting things.

Similarly, multiple persons might have the same trait of avidya.

You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.

Be sure to check out my writings on religion here.

Hinduism And Hindu Theology - Matriarchy In India

 

Throughout India's history, there have always been groups where women have played a significant role in society and where the goddess, rather than the deity, has taken precedence in religious systems. 

For example, among the aaktas, feminine divinity takes priority over male divinity, and the goddess is always mentioned first in dual forms of divine names, such as Lakshmi-Narayan, Gauri-aankar, and Radha-Krishna. 

Whatever their historicity, the many traditions of strirajya, or women-ruled republics, demonstrate that political governance by women was not impossible. 

• The historic reign of queens, particularly in South India, would confirm this practice. 
• Even in northern India, women's roles in society demonstrated that they were not always treated as second-class citizens. 
• Descent was typically traced via the female line among the aakas, Kushans, Pahlavas, and other Central Asian peoples. 

• The ancient Indians had a matrilineal system, and several tribes were named after women. The successors of Kadrii were the Kadraveya; the Vinateya of Vinata; the Daitya of Diti; and the Danavas of Danu. 
• As in the instance of the rishi Satyakam a, the habit of adopting names after the mother may suggest that the father was unknown. 

• In rare cases, such as among some Rajputs, it may hint to the maternal line's better pedigree, causing it to be retained. It usually denotes a matriarchal civilization. 
• The Khasi of Assam's social structure is regarded as one of the most ideal instances of a matriarchal institution. 
• The mother is the head of the family, the major tie of union, the property owner, and inheritance is passed down only via her. 

The Nairs of South India are another modern example, where a family consists of the women, their children, their brothers, and maternal uncles; and daughters, but not boys, pass on inheritance rights to their offspring. 

• Women are the conduits for tracing relationships and ancestry. 
• Polyandry, which allows a woman to have several husbands at the same time, is closely associated with matriarchy. 
• This habit of two or more husbands sharing a common bride, who may or may not be brothers, was popular among non-Aryans, notably the Austrics, and was also seen among brahmins and rishis in ancient India. 

Polyandry is implied in the Atharva-veda texts that suggest a woman may marry even after having 10 husbands. 

• Similarly, the Maruts' and Aavins' shared wives are mentioned in mythology. 
• The ancient rishi clans' scions were said to be "bom of two dads" or "the sons of m any dads," and there are various allusions in Vedic literature to women having multiple spouses or being "given unto spouses." 
• A verse in the Apastamba seems to allude to the tradition of marrying a girl to the whole family's male members. 

• The 10 sons of the Vedic rishi Prachetas married a common bride, Marisha, daughter of Kandu. Gautami married seven rishis and served as a common wife to them. 
• The lady who catches fish Satyavati had two children with one of her husbands, Santanu, and birthed the great sage Vyasa with another spouse. 
• According to the Mahabharata, Jatila, the virtuous daughter of a Vedic rishi, married seven erudite brahmins. 

• Varkshi, the daughter of a sage who married 10 brothers in the Mahabharata, is another example. In the Puranas, there is a narrative of the lovely Madhavi, who was queen to three distinct kings at the same time and gave boys to three distinct families before bearing a son to the sage Viàvamitra. 
• Not satisfied with her performance, she convened a svayamvara and chose the king Haryaava as her spouse, with whom she fled into exile. 

• The princess Kanha chose five spouses during her svayam vara and married them all, according to the Kunala Jataka. 
• According to Sarkar, Sita was the common wife of Ram and Lakshmana in the ancient tradition. 
• Of course, the marriage of the five Pandava brothers to the unrivaled Draupadi is the most famous example of this sort of polyandry. 

• The Pandavas' origins are a mystery in and of themselves, since their father Pandu was forbidden by a curse from having sexual relations with his wives. 
• One of his wives, Kunti, knew multiple "husbands" and had a kid bom with one of them before they married. 

• Drupada was shocked by the Pandavas' polyandry and asked Yudhishthira about the peculiar tradition, which he described as "contrary to principle and morality." Yudhishthira answered, "It is beyond our capability to uncover the root of this conduct." We simply follow the classic and righteous road that our forefathers took. 

Polyandry is common among groups such as the Nairs, tribes such as the Todas, and other tiny societies. 

‘The habit of numerous brothers marrying just one lady is even more frequent in India today than is widely supposed, not just among non-Aryans, but even among brahmins,' says Dr. R. C. Majumdar.

You may also want to read more about Hinduism here.

What Is Pagan And Neopagan?

Today The Terms Pagan And Neopagan Are Used Interchangeably. 

The origins of the name Pagan are a fascinating topic. The phrases "pantheist," "polytheist," "non-Christian," "non-Jew," "non-Muslim," "nonreligious person," "nonbeliever," "atheist," "hedonist," and "heathen" are commonly used in modern English dictionaries to describe Pagan. 

• Many of these descriptions portray a Pagan as someone who is either religiously illiterate or anti-religious (“nonreligious person,” “nonbeliever,” “atheist”). 
• Two definitions imply different sorts of religion (“pantheist” or “polytheist”), however the term hedonist is defined as “a person who lacks morals or self-control.” 

As a result, the majority of the definitions are negative and derogatory. 

• Pagan is defined by the American Heritage Dictionary (2001) as "one who is neither a Christian, Muslim, or Jew," citing the word's origins in the Latin term paganus, which means "country inhabitant." 

The following are four meanings from the Scribner-Bantam English Dictionary (1991): 

1. pagan; 

2. idolator or worshipper of numerous gods; 

3. non-Christian, Jew, or Muslim; 

4. non-believer in any religion.

On the one hand, the Pagan is portrayed as a nonreligious someone who is neither Christian, Muslim, nor Jew, or who has no religious views at all. The Pagan, on the other hand, is portrayed as someone who is not religious; a worshipper of other gods. 

Obviously, the two senses are intertwined. People who do not worship the correct god, the deity of monotheistic religions, are regarded to be either nonreligious or religiously incorrectly and terribly.

Pagan is derived from “Latin paganus, rustic, peasant, citizen, civilian, non-Christian (in Christian literature), non-Jewish, from pagus (rural) district, the country, originally landmark fixed in the earth, from Indo-European *pagas in Latin pangere fix...” according to the Oxford Concise Dictionary of English Etymology (1996). 

“The origin of the Latin paganus meaning ‘heathen' is unknown.” 

The term "heathen" is derived from Christian interpretations of an older Gothic-Germanic phrase that meant "one who lives in open land and is a barbarian." 

Many modern Pagans associated in revivals and re-creations of pre-Christian Germanic and Scandinavian religious traditions use the term Heathen because of its Germanic origins and despite its negative connotations (Harvey 2000; Blain 2001; Strmiska 2000). 

Most current dictionaries make it difficult to get a favorable opinion of Pagans or Heathens, who appear to be strange, misguided, and potentially dangerous. 

This exercise in negative classification has its origins in earlier periods of European history when the distinction between officially sanctioned belief and officially condemned heresy could mean the difference between life and death for those accused of religious crimes by state-backed religious authorities. 

We must go back to the Bible to consider one of the labels typically used as a synonym for Pagan: idolator, for even older beginnings of this enmity toward unorthodox believers. 

Those who worshipped deities other than Yahweh, the God of the monotheistic Hebrew tribes, were viewed as ignorant worshippers of empty idols in the Old Testament or Hebrew Bible, a behavior that was harshly punished. 

• When Moses returned from Mount Sinai with the stone tablets holding the commandments reportedly handed to him by God, he saw some of his Hebrew brethren worshipping a Golden Calf, as did other Near Eastern peoples of the period, rather than the God of Abraham and Isaac. 
• The Hebrews who refused to abandon their worship of this "idol" were put to death at Moses' instruction, with the text indicating that 3,000 idol worshippers were killed by Moses' followers (Exodus 32:28). Idolatry became linked with wickedness and perversion as a result of such scriptural origins. 

The biblical prohibition against worshiping non-Hebrew gods was carried over into Christianity, with the exception of depictions of Jesus, Mary, and the saints. 

The taboo on religious pictures was extended even further in Islam, with calligraphic illustrations of Qur'anic verses serving as an alternate form of nonfigurative religious art in mosques and elsewhere. 

The world's attention was drawn to Islamic resistance to creative portrayals of the divine in the spring of 2002, when famed Buddhist sculptures in Bamiya, Afghanistan, were exploded by operatives of the hardline Islamic Taliban regime. 

• When Christianity expanded through Europe and beyond, Christian authorities viewed non-Christian deities' worship as an evil that needed to be eradicated by any means necessary. 
• Many individuals who came to Christianity continued to worship so-called idols symbolizing the spirits and gods of their local, pre-Christian faiths, which alarmed Christian authorities greatly. 
• George Fedotov (1960, 10) used the term "dual faith" to characterize the simultaneous worship of Christian and non-Christian deities in Russian folk religion. 

Consider the sermon of Maximus, the bishop of Turin in the early fifth century, in which he chastised his landowner parishioners for tolerating idolatry among their farmhands and workers: 

• “You should remove all pollution of idols from your properties and cast out the whole error of paganism from your fields,” to give just one example (which could easily be multiplied). 
• Because it is not acceptable for you, who have Christ in your hearts, to have Antichrist in your homes, and for your men to worship the devil in his shrines while you pray to God in his church” (quoted in Fletcher 1997, 39). 

The derogatory definitions of Pagan and Heathen in current dictionaries are historically based on this innate aversion toward any non-Christian or non-biblical kind of divinity. 

• The pessimism with which the dictionaries infuse these phrases is a true representation of many Christians' feelings toward non-Christians throughout European and American history, an antipathy that still exists in certain parts today. 
• As previously stated, the English term Pagan is derived from the Latin pagus, which in ancient Rome originally indicated a rural territory. As a result, a "paganus" was just a person who lived in an area outside of the city—basically, a peasant (Chuvin 1990, 7–13; Fox 1986, 30–31). 
• Scholars believe that Paganism did not begin as a religious designation in ancient Rome; it was only later, following the Christianization of the Roman Empire and the gradual ban of all other faiths, that it became one. 

The bulk of Roman residents followed a traditional but ever-evolving polytheistic religion that incorporated ancestor and emperor worship. 

• There was a large variety of religious groups, some local, others imported, such as the worship of the Egyptian deities Isis and Osiris, in addition to this shared religious heritage. 
• It was precisely because of this theological variety that Christianity was able to gain a foothold in the Roman society and grow in popularity over time, despite periodic persecution (Drake 2000, 94).

Pagan only became a religious word in the fourth century, when Christianity had established itself as the dominant religion in the Roman Empire following Emperor Constantine's battlefield conversion in 312 CE and the imperial capital's move from Rome to Constantinople. 

• With imperial backing for the establishment of churches and communities in Constantinople, Rome, and other major locations, the outlying provinces, or pagus districts, were linked with ongoing adherence to the Roman Empire's ancient polytheistic faith. 
• As a result, the “Pagan” Romans of these regions were viewed as enemies of the newly ascendant religion of Christianity, and their religion, which had previously been the Roman Empire's common religious tradition, was reframed in negative terms in line with biblical hostility toward all nonbiblical faiths. 
• In this way, an originally nonreligious term was transformed into a religious definition with negative and derogatory connotations, which Christian authorities would use to define and defame religious traditions that they wished to replace with their own religion, which they considered to be the One True Faith (Platinga 1999). 
• Given the word's tumultuous past, it's somewhat surprising that current Pagans would pick this title for their religious beliefs, practices, and organizations. 

Why would you wear as a badge of identification a phrase of abuse that your critics and opponents have long used as a rhetorical weapon of mass defamation? 

Why not come up with a fresh moniker that is devoid of all bad connotations? 

The persistence of the label Pagan—and its change from a term of hate to a title of respect—can be attributed to a variety of circumstances and causes.

Many people join or form modern Pagan organizations as a result of their dissatisfaction with Christianity—a dissatisfaction that causes them to abandon the religion of their childhood and family in search of a religious community with a spiritual viewpoint more in line with their particular beliefs (Salomonsen 2002, 5, 111). 

Jews, Muslims, and others who choose to abandon Judaism, Islam, or other faiths in favor of a Pagan religion have a similar purpose. 

• However, the bulk of Neopagans who have had a past religious connection have been former Christians up to this point. 
• This was confirmed by J. G. Melton's (1991) study, which indicated that 78.5 percent of current Pagans in the United States were former Christians, with 25.8% being Catholic and 42.7 percent being Protestant.
• Loretta Orion (1995), four years later, discovered that 85 percent of modern Pagans in the United States were former Christians, with 26 percent once Catholic and 59 percent formerly Protestant. 
• Because it denotes something so definitely non-Christian, something shunned and loathed by Christian authority, modern Pagans may find the name Pagan an attractive identifier of their shift in religious orientation. 

Identifying as a Pagan allows a person to encapsulate his or her decisive rupture with Christianity or other mainstream religions in a single phrase. 

The favorable picture of European Pagan religion and mythology propagated in nineteenth-century Romantic literature and the work of certain anthropologists, folklorists, and historians in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries is a second reason for the term's popularity. 

• As Ronald Hutton has eloquently described in relation to the development of modern forms of Paganism and Witchcraft in the British Isles, works like James Frazer's compendium of global folklore and ethnography, The Golden Bough, and Margaret Murray's purported history of European Witchcraft, The God of the Witches, drew a wide readership and sparked a positive curiosity about pre-Christian cultures. 
• Similar volumes were published in different countries of Europe and North America, imbuing Pagan faiths with a sense of mystery and appeal and instilling patriotic pride in Pagan folklore, mythology, and religious traditions. 
• Even when the facts and results of such scholarly and semi-scholarly writings were contested or dismissed by succeeding generations of researchers, as was the case with Frazer and Murray's works (Hutton 1999, 272–276, 381–383), their impact among the general people did not wane. 

Popular, semi-scholarly publications like The Spiral Dance, authored by Starhawk (also known as Miriam Simos, a dedicated devotee of Judaism in her youth) and initially published in 1989 and reissued several times since, have sparked new interest in the Pagan past and the changing variety of current Paganism. 

• Scholarly critique or rejection of these popular literature, like with previous works, does not damper public excitement, but rather stimulates it by igniting debate about Pagan history and current interpretations, as well as sparking occasional conversations in the media. 
• Neopaganism has become a cultural commodity to some level, with huge American bookstore chains allocating a growing fraction of shelf space to books on Pagan themes, not to mention an ever-growing amount of material available via the Internet. 

An increasing number of Christian authors are condemning contemporary Paganism's expanding popularity as an insidious danger to morals and civilization. 

• Spirit Wars: Pagan Revival in Christian America, for example, written by Peter Jones and released in 1997, makes it plain from the title alone that certain Christian theologians regard modern Paganism as a type of religion that must be battled and overcome. 
• Such works may inadvertently pique the interest of disillusioned or doubting Christians in modern Paganism. 
• A sympathetic response among many readers of Pagan-related literature is sparked by knowledge of how Christian authorities suppressed Pagan religions and persecuted their adherents in the past—and how some contemporary Christians appear ready to do the same—leading to a third major reason for modern Pagans preferring the term Pagan to other possibly less contentious labels.

Today's Pagans aspire to commemorate those long-ago Pagans they consider as their forefathers by adopting a moniker derived from a word that has long served as a term of condemnation and hate.

•  Present Pagans commit themselves to fighting historical and contemporary forces of religious intolerance by expressing and practicing publicly what was formerly outlawed and punished by learning, reinterpreting, and resurrecting old Pagan religious ideas and practices. 
• As a result, claiming a Pagan identity is sometimes interpreted as a rejection of long-standing patterns of religious intolerance and injustice. 

The adoption of the term Witch as a self-designation among adherents of the Wicca and Goddess Spirituality groups follows a similar rationale (Pearson 2002b; Salomonsen 2002). 

• The use of the derogatory term by modern Pagans as a deliberate act of defiance is comparable to African Americans' use of the letter X as a simple but powerful reminder of the loss of surnames and family relationships suffered by Africans brought to America during the cruel centuries of slavery, particularly the 1960s Black Muslim leader Malcolm X. 
• In a related case, some homosexuals in the United States and elsewhere have adopted queer, a term of approval directed at them by hostile heterosexuals, as their preferred self-designation in protest marches and other actions aimed at obtaining civil rights and legal protections comparable to those enjoyed by the "straight," heterosexual majority. 

Pagans have found pride and power in the revaluation of a formerly derogatory name, and, in the same way that African Americans, homosexuals, and other members of repressed social minorities have worked to educate the general public about their respective groups' past achievements and contributions, modern Pagans have begun to assert the accomplishments of past Pagan peoples. 

• This effort necessitates a radically different interpretation of Western history and culture than that often advocated by previous generations (Strmiska 2003), noting, for example, that the exquisite cultures and advanced civilizations of ancient Greece and Rome were the work of Pagans, not Christians. 
• However, not everyone active in Pagan revival groups approaches the term Pagan with the same interpretation of the term, much alone the same purpose of reclaiming a derogatory label and turning it into a source of pride. 
• Others prefer to use a specific name for their religious tradition and avoid any general identification with other Pagan associations. 

Some reject the term Pagan and prefer alternate designations such as Heathen, Witch, or traditional, whereas others prefer to use a specific name for their religious tradition and avoid any general identification with other Pagan associations. 

• The distinction between the labels Pagan and Neopagan (or Neo-pagan) that was previously mentioned is much more contentious. 
• To emphasize their link with the Pagans of the past and avoid any separation between themselves and their forefathers, many modern Pagans reject the label Neopagan, defining themselves solely as Pagans, pure and simple. 

The term "Neopaganism" is avoided here at the specific request of modern Pagans who do not want to be labeled as "Neo," which they consider pejorative and unneeded. 

Several Pagan believers interviewed pointed out that modern Christians and Muslims are not referred to as Neo-Christians or Neo-Muslims, despite obvious differences between today's forms of Christianity and those of centuries past: why, they wondered, should Paganism be labeled as such? 

A number of academics have seen the Pagan/Neopagan divide as a valuable tool for exposing a significant historical issue. 

Modern Pagan religious traditions are inspired by or based on historic Pagan religions, although they are not always the same as these old faiths, and they may entail significant deviations from the previous faiths. 

• Even if the word Neopaganism is avoided, this historical issue is crucial and will be a major focus of the pieces here. 
• Because such language is a source of ongoing debate and controversy here I use whichever language—Pagan/ism, Neopagan/ism, or other—I believe is most appropriate to the themes. 
• Such a wide range of vocabulary may irritate or confuse the reader, but it accurately reflects the unsettled, developing character of the public's perception of these religious groups, as well as the self-understanding of these religious groups. 

Modern Pagans are recovering, recreating, and recreating religious traditions from the past that have been suppressed for a long time, sometimes to the point of extinction.

With a few exceptions, today's Pagans cannot claim to be carrying on religious traditions that have been passed down in an uninterrupted line from ancient times to the present. 

• They are modern individuals who have a deep respect for the spirituality of the past, and they are creating a new religion—modern Paganism—out of the ruins of the past, which they interpret, adapt, and alter to fit current thinking. 
• In this way, modern paganism is both old and new: an ancient/modern hybrid, like a tree with deep roots but branches that extend into the sky. 
• Pagan religious traditions may have been practiced in areas of Europe from ancient times to the present day, particularly in Eastern European countries like Lithuania, where many pagan rites have survived in popular culture despite government Christianization efforts. 

Even in such circumstances, however, it is undeniable that the arrival of Christianity wreaked havoc on the Pagan faith. 

• It's also worth noting that Lithuania's current Pagan movement, Romuva, is a twentieth-century construct, not an old one, even if the myths, rites, and other traditions it practices and supports are from medieval or even earlier periods. 
• As a result, although if the religion's substance is taken from extremely old Pagan traditions, it is correct to refer to Romuva's religious movement as a "new" religion, a "modern" Pagan religion. 

As this discussion shows, the fundamental historical condition of these religious movements is that they are a return, rebuilding, and reimagining of religious traditions that were forcibly suppressed—and in many regions, all but erased—with Christianity's rise to supremacy in Europe between 500 and 1500 CE.

You may also want to read more about Paganism here.

Be sure to check out my writings on Religion here.

Battle of Rama and Ravana

Rama is the Self in the Hindu epic narrative Ramayana (Atman). The story's demon king's name, "Ravana," means "ten mouths," which represents the ten sense organs (5 organs of knowledge; eyes, ears, nose, tongue, and skin, and the 5 organs of action; hands, feet, mouth, genitals, and anus), and all of the world's objects are demons who make up the demon king's army. 

All of these items are attempting to defeat Rama, the Self. Hanuman, the monkey, represents the mind. Rama's army is "right ideas," while "Peace," or Sita, is his loyal wife. Ravana has kidnapped Sita and is holding her against her will. When the awareness of sense things fades, then the army of Ravana dies and one receives Peace, or Sita. 

All of the numerous sense objects make up the army of Ravana. Ravana wanted to conduct a battle with the power of his army and destroy Rama. 

Rama's brother, Laxman, is the leader of the army of Rama. "Laksh" implies attentiveness, while "mana" implies thought. Meditation should be done with complete concentration of the mind. Laxman is Indrajit's (the ego's) father-in-law, while Lakshaman was Ravana's aide in his previous life. Ravana had granted Indrajit an unique favor, ensuring that he would die solely at the hands of his in-law and not in any other way. Indrajit is the ego's "I." 

The ego, Indrajit, dies when your intellect wishes to obtain "Knowledge of Brahman." When the mind is fixed on Brahman, the ego dies; when the mind is fixed on sense things, one stays a servant of the senses, or Ravana. Ravana has no fear of death. Shiva had given him the ability to die only if he so desired. 

When his whole army was decimated, he pondered to himself, "What is Sita's purpose in being imprisoned here? I shall be set free if I die at Rama's hands. 

I have not imprisoned Sita to save my life; rather, I have imprisoned her in order to achieve liberation. By just yielding to Rama, I shall not be able to govern over my empire. I have no choice except to die." "I aim my arrow at you in order to taunt and irritate you," Ravana stated to Rama. He did so, and he perished as a result. Pride, by example, is Ravana, who will only die of his own volition. 

This is the Jiva, the person. Individuals grow ready to die by listening to Vedanta (non-dual spiritual doctrine). The sensation of "I Am," which is subtle pride, obscures the true essence of the Self. This pride is like Rahu, who has eclipsed everything (Rahu eclipses the Sun in Vedic astrology). In this case, the Sun represents the Self). 

When pride declares, "I am Brahman," it is just referring to the physical body, which has a name. 

The eclipse of the "True Self" is what it's termed. While the body with a name is born, the individual believes that he, the jiva, is the one who is born. You would die when your body died if you were merely your body. You are the observer of the body, not the body itself. The body passes away. You don't have it. With the aid of Hanuman's army, Laxman defeated Ravana's army. 

The mind comes to comprehend that what appears to be true is not genuine through accurate thinking. 

Laxman (properly focusing the mind's attention) realized this, and Ravana's army was decimated. Satya-nash is a Sanskrit term that meaning "to destroy." This means that it does not exist, despite the fact that it looks to be genuine. Thoughts that are correct are like monkeys. The army of Ravana was defeated by Hanuman's (the mind's) monkey army of "good ideas" (the sense objects). 

The "Kingdom of Rama" became conceivable once Ravana perished. 

Sita, the embodiment of peace, returned home. Continue to battle by brandishing the sword of wisdom (spiritual teaching) and reciting Rama's name (meditation). Because of Ravana's dread, all of the gods had fled. Ravana was able to wield absolute power as a result of this. 

The epic Ramayana was composed with the intention of passing on "Spiritual Knowledge." 

In the Kingdom of Rama, there is no wrath or desire; only serenity and pleasure exist. The Kingdom of Rama is the Self. Everything becomes Rama if you grasp it right. If Rama wins, the gods shower him with flowers; if Ravana wins, all the demons begin dancing. The demons are the objects in the world, and the "Self who is God," or Atmaram, is the condition of thought in which there are no objects.

You may also want to read more about Spirituality and Healing here.

Be sure to check out my writings on Religion here.

MUKTI VIDEHA

He has completed the task at hand. As a result, he is a lucky person.

Such an individual achieves Videhamukti after renounceing even Jivanmukti.

No sooner the body wears off, than he obtains the emancipation in a disembodied state,

Videhamukti. The state, as if of moving in the air, he gains.

NON-DUAL BRAHMAN 

That is all that is left after that. That is the deathless, soundless, touchless, formless, and formless.

That is the essence, or Rasa. It is indestructible and odorless. It is bigger than the big, and it has no beginning or end. 

It's the indestructible, indestructible, and indestructible. The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad comes to an end here.

You may also want to read more about Kundalini Yoga here.

YOGA KUNDALINI UPANISHAD

Of the 108 Upanishads, the Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad is the eighty-sixth. It is included in the Krishna Yajurveda. It discusses Hatha and Lambika Yogas in detail. It ends with a summary of a non-qualified Brahman. Both seekers are on a search for the Non-dual Brahman.

The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad is a very important work on Kundalini Yoga, despite being classified as a minor Upanishad. It starts with an examination of Chitta's essence. Samskaras and Vasanas, on the one hand, and Prana, on the other, are said to be the causes of Chitta's life. Prana is automatically controlled if Vasanas are controlled. The Vasanas are automatically monitored if Prana is controlled.

Methods for controlling Prana are presented in the Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad. Vasanas are not dealt with by the Yogic practitioner. He is interested in the methods for monitoring Prana.

Mitahara, Asana, and Shakti-Chalana are the three methods for controlling Prana offered in the Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad. The first chapter covers all three approaches in detail.

Mitahara's diet consists of light, soft, and nutritious foods. Two popular Asanas used by Yogic students are Padmasana and Vajrasana. The Kundalini is being awoken and sent to the crown of the head by Shakti-Chalana.

A two-pronged approach can be used to awaken Kundalini. The two traditions are Saraswati Chalana and Prana Restraint. Saraswati Chalana is the rousing of the Saraswati Nadi.

The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad describes a clear method for arousing Kundalini. The Prana goes out in 16 digits when a human exhales. Inhalation results in just 12 digits, resulting in a 4 digit loss. If one can inhale Prana for 16 digits, the Kundalini is aroused. This is achieved by sitting in Padmasana and lengthening inwards 4 digits further as Prana is streaming through the left nostril.

The Yogic student should exploit the Saraswati Nadi and stir up the Kundalini Shakti with all his might, from right to left, repeatedly, using this lengthened energy. This procedure could take up to three quarters of an hour to complete. All of this is outlined in the Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad in a concise yet thorough manner.

Shaking the Saraswati Nadi has many benefits, the most significant of which is that it cures various diseases that arise in the stomach and cleanses and purifies the system. The Yogic pupil is initiated into the Kevala Kumbhaka after doing the Sahita Kumbhaka. The Prana is fully restrained in these two forms of Kumbhaka.

The Sahita Kumbhaka is divided into four divisions: Suryabheda Kumbhaka, Ujjayi Kumbhaka, Sitali, and Bhastrika. Suryabheda Kumbhaka eliminates intestinal worms as well as Vayu's four types of evils. Ujjayi cleanses the body, eliminates pathogens, and boosts gastric fire. 

It also reduces the heat in the head and the phlegm in the throat. Sitali is a body coolant. Gulma, dyspepsia, pliha, consumption, bile, fever, hunger, and poison are all destroyed by it. These ways of Sahita Kumbhaka cleanse and brace the entire physiological body for Kundalini Sakti stimulation and non-dual Brahman encounter.

Bhastrika Kumbhaka pierces the three knots, or Granthis, in addition to bringing about a host of beneficial physiological improvements. The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad then instructs the Yogic student on how to do the three Bandhas. The Mulabandha is the mechanism by which the spincter muscles of the anus push up the downward inclination of the Apana (breath). 

The Apana is raised by this Bandha. It hits the Agni, or fuel, sphere. The Agni's flame grows long and is blown about by Vayu. Agni and Apana mix with the Prana in a heated state. Agni is a ruthless being.

Via the radiant heat of this fiery Agni, the fire that awakens and arouses the Kundalini appears in the body. The awakened Kundalini makes a hissing noise, stands up, and enters Brahmanadi's hole. This Mulabandha is practiced by the Yogins on a regular basis.

The other two Bandhas, namely the Uddiyana Bandha and the Jalandhara Bandha, also play a significant role in arousing the Sarasvati Nadi and Kundalini Shakti.

The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad outlines the many challenges that Yogic students face after providing extensive knowledge of the Bandha techniques. It also explains how to get through these roadblocks.

There are seven causes of illness in the human body. 

1. Taking a nap during the day. 

2. Midnight vigils at a late hour. 

3. Excessive sexual activity. 

4. Navigating around crowds. 

5. The consequences of eating unhealthily. 

6. Urine and feces discharge are examined. 

7. Exhausting emotional operations involving the Prana.

Obstacles on the Yogic Path 

1. When diseases strike, the Yogic student makes the error of incorrectly attributing the illnesses to his Yoga practice. This is the first stumbling block in Yoga.
2. The Yogic student starts to question the Yoga Sadhana's effectiveness. This is the second stumbling block. 
3. The third barrier is carelessness or a state of misunderstanding. 
4. The fourth barrier is indifference or laziness. 
5. The connection to sense-objects is the sixth barrier, and sleep is the seventh. 
6. The seventh stumbling block is false belief or illusion. 
7. The eighth is preoccupation with earthly matters.
8. The ninth reason is a lack of confidence. 
9. The tenth impediment to Yoga practice is a lack of aptitude for understanding Yoga realities.

Many of these stumbling blocks should be avoided by diligent investigation and deliberation by sincere spiritual aspirants. The Upanishads go on to explain the method of rousing the Kundalini and transporting it to the Sahasrara by piercing through the Granthis.

The Kundalini, once awakened, pushes upwards, releasing a torrent of nectar. This is something that the Yogi loves, as it takes him free from all sensual desires. On 104, the Yogi takes a decision.

The Atman (Inner Reality), he is in the best possible spiritual state. He achieves equilibrium and devotes himself solely to the Atman or Self.

The Yogi's body achieves a very delicate state of spiritual Consciousness through the whole Kundalini Yoga Sadhana phase. 

All becomes Consciousness to the Yogi who has achieved Samadhi. The Yogi recognizes the macrocosm's and microcosm's oneness.

The Yogi enjoys the greatest Avastha since Kundalini Shakti has achieved the Sahasrara Kamala, or thousand-petalled lotus, and has been unified with Siva. This is the last of the beatitudes.

The Chakras are the essential energy centers of Shakti. Pranavayu manifests Prana Shakti in the living body through these centers.

Kundalini Yoga is for those who want to arouse the Kundalini Shakti in order to experience the Bliss of Union of Siva and Shakti through awakened Kundalini and receive the resulting Powers or Siddhis. 

This Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad is extremely important to them. It provides them with a thorough understanding of the Kundalini Yoga practices and procedures, with a focus on the Khechari Mudra.

Both Bhukti and Mukti are sought by the Kundalini Yogi. In and around the universe, he achieves salvation. Jnana Yoga is an ascetic and liberating course. Kundalini Yoga is a path that leads to happiness and liberation.

The Hatha Yogi aspires to have a body that is as solid as stone, balanced, pain-free, and therefore long-lived. The Yogi is the master of the body, as well as of life and death. His gleaming form exudes the vigor of youth. 

He loves the realm of shapes for as long as he has the will to survive. His death is a voluntary death (Ichha-Mrityu). The Yogi should follow the advice of a knowledgeable Guru.

The Serpent Power is the power that provides the entire body and all of its shifting Pranic powers with a static protection or Adhara. 

Yoga disturbs the balance of bodily identity, whose consciousness is the product of the preservation of these two poles, and therefore destroys the polarity as it resides in and as the body.

The Supreme Power, which is the future pole of Energy in the human body, is roused to motion. In the Sahasrara, the Shakti is shifted upward to join with Siva, the quiescent Consciousness.

The static Shakti is influenced and becomes active by Pranayama and other Yogic processes. The polarization of the body gives way as Kundalini unites with Siva in the Sahasrara and becomes fully dynamic. 

The two poles merge into one, resulting in the state of consciousness known as Samadhi. In the Consciousness, there is polarization. The body does, in fact, continue to exist as a subject of scrutiny from others.

The nectar that flows from the union of Siva and Shakti in Sahasrara sustains the Yogi's body as the Kundalini ascends. Glory to Mother Kundalini, who, through Her Infinite Grace and Strength, gently guides the Sadhaka from Chakra to Chakra, illuminating him and allowing him to realize his identity with the Supreme Brahman. The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad places a high value on seeking out and finding the right Guru. It keeps on worshiping the enlightened Guru as God. Gurus have complete Self-illumination. In deluded people, he lifts the curtain of delusion.

While there are less realized Gurus in this Kali Yuga than in the Satya Yuga, they are still present to assist aspirants. They're still on the lookout for the right Adhikarins.

The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad lists a number of challenges to Yoga practice. Some people begin doing Yoga, but as they run into difficulties, they are unsure how to continue. They have no idea how to get rid of them. On the spiritual route, there are many challenges, hazards, snares, and traps. Sadhakas will make a lot of mistakes on their way to enlightenment.

It is important that they be guided by a Guru who has already walked the journey and achieved the target.

There's one more thing you should know:

The Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad lists a number of challenges to Yoga practice. 

Some people begin doing Yoga, but as they run into difficulties, they are unsure how to continue. They have no idea how to get rid of them. There are many challenges to overcome.

In the spiritual journey, there are many risks, traps, and obstacles to avoid. 

• Sadhakas will make a lot of mistakes on their way to enlightenment.
• It is important that they be guided by a Guru who has already walked the journey and achieved the target.
• The Sushumna Nadi is another significant concept that can be found in the Yoga-Kundalini Upanishad. You must be fully familiar with this Nadi.
• Now, a word about Kundalini, whose stimulation is the primary goal of Kundalini Yoga. 
• The primordial energy or Shakti that lies dormant or resting in the Muladhara Chakra, the body's core, is Kundalini, the serpent-power or sacred light. 
• Because of its serpentine shape, it is known as the serpentine or annular force. 
• It's an occult entity that's electric and fiery, the great pristine energy that underpins both organic and inorganic matter.

You may also want to read more articles on Yoga and Holistic Healing Here.