Views of Nature of the Universe & Manind

The purpose of this research is to examine three assumptions about the nature of the universe, of man, and of human motivation, with reference to Yoga, Gandhi's beliefs, Vedanta, and sankara. The plan of the research will be to examine each philosophy relative to the assumptions that only the present moment exists; that man starts life fresh, except for limitations set on him by his genetic inheritance, cultural environment, and accidental happenings, all modified by his reactions to them; and that the primary motivations affecting people are desires for power and for sexual pleasure, along with the avoidance of pain.

To discuss assumptions about the nature of man and the universe with reference to Indian philosophies is to understand that they overlap and converge in various ways. The reason for this is that each philosophy can be found in various aspects of Hinduism. Indeed, within, say, Yoga, there are multiple disciplines and divergent doctrines. Nevertheless, there are certain lines of thought that may readily be discerned.

The idea that the only reality is of the present moment in Yoga takes the form of a tendency toward negation of life by way of meditation and an association or unity with absolute spirit. Indeed, Yoga is translated as union or joining ("Hinduism" 1975). The primary fact of existence in Yoga thought, as expressed by the later Upanishads, or mystical teachings, is a world view that seeks "freedom of the soul from the world of sense" and a consc

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the inward greed for food, a satyagrahi must continue to follow a rational vegetarian diet" (Yogananda, 1981, p. 444). The philosophical undercurrent here is that the avoidance of (momentary) pleasure implies an association with the more important question of the avoidance of pain in the world. That explains Koller's comment that Gandhi's idea about realizing Truth "is to also realize God and fulfill the inner law of one's own being . . . At the center of all his efforts at reform was the conviction that freedom, justice, and human dignity could be achieved only through the active forces of truthfastness and love and that these required personal purification, sacrifice, and faith on the part of every individual" (Koller, 1982, pp. 365-7). Here again one can see the connection between ethical concepts and a conception of the universe, and an appeal to mankind to put ethical and spiritual values back in their rightful place in human life. The Vedanta philosophy dominates Hindu thought in the modern period. Vedanta has three schools: Sankara, Ramanuja, and Madhva. Sankara, which rejects divine-human dualism, will be treated hereafter. The relevant point is that Vedanta in general terms appears to have made the greatest inroads

Category: Philosophy - V