October 6, 2013

We began class today with a discussion on the origins of our values.  Our values are said to be from the breath of God, only revealed to self-realized individuals.  Of these individuals, great gurus such as Veda Vyasa, Adi Shankaracharya, Swami Vivekananda, and Swami Chinmayananda made these teachings more available and understandable for the common man.  Revelations are perceived and acted on, which is the reason we follow them now.

From our source - God, come Srutis and Smritis.  Srutis are revealed knowledge, given to us by ear. Smritis are memories, compared to a secondary source.  There are 18 Smritis that are told as stories, most popular being the story of Manu.

From Srutis, come the Vedas, organized and compiled by Veda Vyasa: Rig, Yajur, Sama and Atharva. Vedas are Hinduism’s oldest scriptures whose creation Hindus accredit to Brahma. The Vedas are hymns and prayers priests chant during poojas.

From Smritis, there are 6 important categories of scriptures we study.

Itihasa is history that inspires us; this includes the Mahabharata and the Ramayana.

Puranas are divine stories centralized on one God that have important morals. Examples of puranas are the Shiva Purana, Ganesh Purana and Vishnu Purana.

Sad Darshana, or six ways to live life, consist of six systems: Nyaya, Vaisheshika, Sankhya, Yoga, Mimamsa and Vedanta.
- The Nyaya Sutras were composed by Gautama and states that one can attain moksha by avoiding illusion and unhappiness.
- The Vaisheshika system was created by Kanada who proposed that everything in the universe is composed of a finite number of atoms.
- Sankhya was founded by Sage Kapila, who believed that the universe has two realities: Purusa (consciousness) and Prakriti (basic nature). When Purusa and Prakriti are put together, the end is moksha.
- Yoga comes from Sage Patanjali, who teaches that yoga is physical, spiritual and mental discipline. - Mimamsa -  started by Jaimini, is the study and following of dharma.
- Vedanta - attributed to Veda Vyasa is the study of spirituality.  At Chinmaya Mission, we focus on Vedanta, which is the path to self-realization.

Next, we learned about the Sad Angas, or six limbs of knowledge. Before the age of technology in India, there was still very developed research. These categories included astronomy, Siksa (phonetics), Kalpa (religious rules), Vyakarna (grammar), Nirukta (etymology) and Chandas (meter for poetry and chanting).

Lastly, we talked about the Upavedas. The Upavedas are the studies of cultural aspects in society. There is Ayurveda (medicine), Dhanurveda (the art of warfare), Gandharvaveda (music, dance, art) and Stapatyaveda (architecture).

To conclude our class, we brought up cause and effect once more as it is always present in our lives. We can question beliefs and procedures, as long as we take time to apply our understandings. The system of learning, analyzing and application is very useful if we use it to focus on our progress and goals.  Success is not far off if we put in the time.

- Mahima Kakani