The Way of Devotion Assignment
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The Way of Devotion Assignment
Three sannyasins, or renouncers, pose for a photo outside the Pashupatinath Temple in
Kathmandu, Nepal. These holy men continue the Upanishadic tradition of leaving worldly life behind in order to dedicate themselves full-time to achieving moksha.
means “sit down near,” which may refer both to students sitting at the feet of teachers and to the hard work of bringing competing ideas into connection with one another. It also carries the connotation of transferring secret teachings or making “hidden connec- tions.”12 Among the concepts and concerns introduced in the Upanishads was the master metaphor of samsara. As has been noted, samsara literally means “wandering through,” but here it refers to the flowing together of creation and destruction. The universe was created and will someday be destroyed, as will the various heavens and hells described in the Vedas. Human beings are also subject to samsara, their souls propelled from birth and death to rebirth and redeath by the fuel of karma.
In Vedic religion, karma referred to ritual action, but as classical Hinduism emerged it started to take on ethical import, referring to moral action and the consequences (good or bad) that flow from it. According to karmic theory, the circumstances of one’s birth were a result of the sum of the debits and credits of one’s moral actions in a prior life. Moreover, karmic logic dictated that everything one did eventually had to be rewarded or punished• Both good and bad actions produced bad karma, which needed to be experienced. If we died with a surplus of bad karma, we had to be reborn in order to be punished. If we died with a surplus of good karma, we had to be reborn in order to be rewarded. Through this endless cycle of moral recycling, the fuel of karma propelled individual souls from rebirth to redeath and back again. Doing good was not a way out. The way out was jnana’ or wisdom.
Among the wandering renouncers seeking this liberating wisdom around the fifth tury BCE were Siddhartha Gautama and Vardhamana Mahavira. These men, who would go on to found (or revive) what we now refer to as Buddhism and Jainism, distinguished
Hindu History 49
themselves from Hindu renouncers by rejecting the authority of the Vedas. Many other
renouncers remained in the Hindu fold and devised their own techniques for achieving
spiritual liberation.
The word yoga, a cognate of the word yoke, means “to unite”—in this case to unite
oneself with the divine. This union can be achieved only through discipline, however, so
this term also connotes the discipline required to yoke with the divine. One such discipline
is hatha yoga, a body posture practice that has been reborn in the modern West as “yoga.”
But ancient Indian renouncers used a variety of “yogas” to achieve their goal of spiritual
liberation. Instead of using the soma plant of Vedic times to conjure up altered states of
yoga (“union”) popular embodied posture
practice loosely rooted in ear-
lier Hindu mental and bodily
disciplines designed to unite a
human soul to the divine
guru personal spiritual teacher
consciousness, they disciplined their bodies through breathing techniques, meditation
strategies, fasting, and abstaining from meat. Through these “interior sacrifices,” ascetics
clairned to be able to generate inside their own bodies the spiritual heat that priests during
the Vedic period had generated on the sacrificial fire. This achievement made spiritual
power portable. So it should not be surprising that these renouncers also cultivated the
yoga of wandering—leaving behind homes, jobs, and families in order to work full time
to cultivate liberating wisdom.
But what was this wisdom? And how was it to be won? One of the most famous sto-
ries in the Upanishads tries to answer these questions in a convenient shorthand. A son,
Svetaketu, has just come home to his father, Uddalaka, after years of hard study in Vedic
texts and rituals. Svetaketu is proud of what he has learned at the feet of his guru, but
his father wants to know whether he possesses true wisdom. He asks Svetaketu whether
he has learned about subtler things, such as how that which is not heard becomes heard
and how that which is not known becomes known. Confused, Svetaketu says no. So his
father asks him to put some salt in water. The next day Uddalaka asks his son to give him
back the salt. But the salt has dissolved into the water. So Uddalaka tells his son to taste
the surface of the water. “How is it?” he asks. “Salty,” Svetaketu replies. Uddalaka tells
him to taste from the middle of the water. “How is it?” he asks a second time. “Salty,”
Svetaketu again replies. Finally, Uddalaka instructs his son to taste from the bottom of
the glass. “How is it?” he asks. “Salty,” the son replies again. Uddalaka concludes his
lesson with one of the most famous passages in the Hindu scriptures: “Here likewise in
this body of yours, my son, you do not perceive the True; but there in fact it is. In that
which is the subtle essence, all that exists has its self. That is the True, that is the Self,
and thou, Svetaketu, art That. 13
The Sanskrit formula that concludes this famous lesson in the Chandogya Upanishad
is “tav tvam asi,” which has been widely translated as “That thou art.” 14 In other words,
the essence of the individual soul (atman) and the essence of the divine (brahman) are
equivalent: You and God are one. If this sounds puzzling, that is because it is, and Hindu
philosophers have puzzled for centuries over precisely what it might mean.
Inspired by the Upanishads, many Hindus came to view samsara as the human prob-
lem and moksha as the human goal. Advocates aimed not to wrest order out of chaos
in this world, as Vedic priests had done, but to unlock the secrets of the next. Together
they sought to cultivate, through various spiritual disciplines, the liberating wisdom that
would allow them to escape samsara and reach moksha. Of that wisdom, the Chandogya
Upanishad observes, “When someone knows it, bad actions do not stick to him, just as
water does not stick to a lotus leaf. “15
This way of wisdom was an extraordinary path. In Vedic religion, a patron could go
to a priest and ask for a sacrifice to be performed on his behalf. Once performed, the
Yoga is an ancient Indian
RUBRIC
Excellent Quality
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Introduction 45-41 points
The background and significance of the problem and a clear statement of the research purpose is provided. The search history is mentioned.
Literature Support
91-84 points
The background and significance of the problem and a clear statement of the research purpose is provided. The search history is mentioned.
Methodology
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Content is well-organized with headings for each slide and bulleted lists to group related material as needed. Use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. to enhance readability and presentation content is excellent. Length requirements of 10 slides/pages or less is met.
Average Score
50-85%
40-38 points
More depth/detail for the background and significance is needed, or the research detail is not clear. No search history information is provided.
83-76 points
Review of relevant theoretical literature is evident, but there is little integration of studies into concepts related to problem. Review is partially focused and organized. Supporting and opposing research are included. Summary of information presented is included. Conclusion may not contain a biblical integration.
52-49 points
Content is somewhat organized, but no structure is apparent. The use of font, color, graphics, effects, etc. is occasionally detracting to the presentation content. Length requirements may not be met.
Poor Quality
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37-1 points
The background and/or significance are missing. No search history information is provided.
75-1 points
Review of relevant theoretical literature is evident, but there is no integration of studies into concepts related to problem. Review is partially focused and organized. Supporting and opposing research are not included in the summary of information presented. Conclusion does not contain a biblical integration.
48-1 points
There is no clear or logical organizational structure. No logical sequence is apparent. The use of font, color, graphics, effects etc. is often detracting to the presentation content. Length requirements may not be met
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The Way of Devotion Assignment