1. (Smith 13-25) Explain the account of the 4 Hindu wants (what we want vs. really want). How does this relate to the’ path of desire’ Vs.’ Path of renunciation’? What does the Hindu account of desire ultimately assume about its full/ complete satisfaction?
There are four accounts of Hindu wants; this is the pleasure, worldly success, duty and service, and liberation. Pleasure is viewed as a positive and normal desire in Hinduism, although it does not satisfy completely since it is too privatized. Worldly success involves fame and power, just like pleasure it is also viewed as a positive desire. However, it comes with the negative aspects such as one’s success comes at the expense of another, increase in greed, self-centered and Ephemeral. Duty/Service this allows for respect and gratitude, although it is also limited since the community is finite, the community can never be perfected, and duty can never be finally fulfilled or satisfied. Lastly, liberation this include the true and ultimate desire for all human beings, it is total being, absolute knowledge, and joy. The two first paths pleasure and worldly success are paths of desire while the last two are paths of renunciation. According to Hinduism, worldly success cannot satisfy us completely since its achievements are ephemeral. Wealth, fame, and power do not survive bodily death, and it is impossible to take them with you since you cannot keep such things because they never satisfy anyone.
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2. (Smith 26-50) Explain the four yoga stages are giving traits and example for each. Which seems closest to your personality? How/ why?
The four stages of Yoga are Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga, Karma Yoga, and Raja Yoga. These four stages of Yoga are aspects of a whole that are called Yoga, and they all work together hand in hand. Jnana Yoga is the yoga of wisdom, and self-analysis. It involves deep exploration of nature our being by steadily exploring and setting aside false personalities. Bhakti Yoga is the path of dedication, emotion, love, empathy, and service to God and others. All actions are done in memory of the Divine. Karma Yoga is the path of action, service to others, while satisfying our actions or karma in the world. Raja Yoga is a comprehensive method that emphasizes meditation. It directly deals with the meeting and transcending thoughts of the mind. Jnana yoga is close to my personality since it involves knowledge and self-analysis. It provides an opportunity for one to access and analyze themselves on an individual basis.
3. (Smith 50-55) what are the Hindu stages of Life? Explain each briefly.
Student, Householder, Retirement and Sannyasin. Student stage is a period of formal education and lasts until the age of 25.After that, the young male leaves home to stay with a guru to obtain spiritual knowledge. At this period, he is called a Brahmachari. Householder stage this period begins when a man gets married, and assumes the responsibility for making a living and supporting his family. Retirement stage of a man begins when his responsibility as a householder comes to an end. He has graduated to a grandfather, his children are grown up, and have organized their lives. The last stage Sannyasin, a man, is required to be totally dedicated to God. He is a sannyasi; he has no home, no other attachment; he has abandoned all desires, fears, and hopes duties and responsibilities ( Smith and Marranca, 2009).
4. What are the Hindu stations of life/caste system, how does the role of caste influence Arjuna’s dilemma? How does he eventually overcome the dilemma/crisis? Explain.
In Hinduism, society is arranged into a rigid caste system, or jati, this caste structure has four different classes; Brahmins highest caste; priests, Kshatriyas kings and Vaishyas traders, or Dalits, agriculturists, service providers, and some artisan groups; lowest caste. Responding to Arjuna's misperception and moral dilemma, Krishna explains to Arjuna his responsibilities as a renowned warrior and Prince and expounds on some diverse Yogic philosophies, with examples and analogies. This has led to the Gita often being described as a concise guide to Hindu philosophy. During the discourse, Krishna identifies his identity as the Supreme Being Himself Bhagavan, blessing Arjuna with an overwhelming glimpse of His divine absolute form.
5. Explain the personal and the transpersonal Hindu accounts of God in detail. What is the main difference between the personal and transpersonal conception of God? If so distinct, does Smith believe they can still refer to the same object? Are you convinced by his verdict? Explain.
God reveals that He is personal through His actions. Eventually, no human being can know more about God than is understandable, for that matter, say more about Him than is known. A simpler way of finding out what we can know or say about God is by accessing how we relate to Him, and how He relates to us. Hinduism Vaishnavism and Shaivism traditions of Hinduism subscribe to an ultimate personal nature of God. The Vishnu Sahasranama states Vishnu as both the Paramatma (supreme soul) and Parameshwara (supreme God) while the Rudram describes the same about Shiva. In Krishna-centered theology, the title Svayam Bhagavan is used totally to designate Krishna in his personal feature. It associated to Gaudiya Vaishnava, the Nimbarka Sampradaya, and followers of Vallabha, while the person of Vishnu and Narayana is occasionally referred to as the final personal god of other Vaishnava traditions.
6. Give a detailed account of the Hindu view of morality. Include in your response the Hindu view of Karma, moral/spiritual maturation and the role of castes. What is the fatalist objection according to Smith? How does Smith explain that Hinduism would reply? On your views, does the reply to the critique seem adequate? Explain why or why not.
Hinduism explains that humans are moral agents who have the authority of applying their understanding of their religion to their daily lives. Hindu morality preaches the significance of action in daily life, and karma is the principal agent of this morality. If an individual acts morally, by helping others, worshiping idols and acting generously, she gathers positive karma; but when persons fail to live up to that standard and perform acts driven by greed or hatred, they accrue negative karma. Hindus consider that when good things happen to them, it's an effect of positive karma, while bad consequences are a result of negative karma. Fatalist objection according to Smith is a view that we are helpless to do anything other than what we do. In addition to this is that man has no power to impact the future ( Smith and Marranca, R. 2009). The important idea of logical fatalism is that there is a figure of true propositions about what is going to occur, and these are true irrespective of when they are made.
7. List and explain one or more main features of the Hindu approach to cosmology.
The Hindu cosmology specifies that the present cycle is not the start of all but begins with an infinite number of universes and to be replaced by another infinite number of universes. The Hindu timeline is measured by some to be the closest to current scientific timelines. It recommends that the Big Bang is not the beginning of everything, but is just the start of a present cycle lead by an infinite number of universes and to be followed by another infinite number of universes.
8. Describe in detail one or more of the main divisions between jnana and bhakti yoga on the conduct of life.
Bhakti-yoga is the process of inner purity. The lesson of bhakti-yoga is that love is the most basic human emotion. While Jnana yoga is the path of knowledge. The light of knowledge can only dismiss the darkness of ignorance. Knowledge, according to jnana-yoga, has two structures, fire, and light. The fire of knowledge burns all the immoralities of our mind, and concurrently, knowledge informs our inner perception. Bhakti-yoga, on the other hand, asks us to purify and transform our selfish self-love by pouring holy thoughts into our mind and shifting all our love and feelings to God, since God is the one who truly loves us.
In conclusion, it is clear that Smith has given a detailed religious approach to Hinduism that enables us to get to understand Hinduism and compare it to other religions in the world. The Hindu religion teaches some ethical applications for Hindu morality about the stages of life that are important.
Reference
Smith, H., & Marranca, R. (2009). The world's religions . New York: HarperOne.
