Indian Philosophy

The Upanishads form the final development of the Veda. Thus they are sometimes called the Vedanta, or 'end of the Veda'. They Upanishads define themselves within the vedic tradition as a reinterpretation of the ritual process and an elucidation of its inner meanings. Emphasis is placed upon a more personal religious experience through meditation and the direct transmission of teachings from teacher to student.

There is an increased importance placed upon knowledge of secret correspondences between ritual action and the cosmos. Emphasis moves from the external performance of the ritual to internal meditation. Ritual becomes internalized in that the true meaning of a ritual is not its external performance, but knowledge of its deeper meaning. The true sacrifice becomes the sacrifice of the self within the self.

In the Upanishads we see the beginning of speculation about the true nature of ritual, the self and the cosmos. One idea that emerges is that there is a single underlying Being supporting all three. This being is called Brahman and is identified with the sacred sound OM.

In the Brahmanas (section of the Vedas), the term Brahman means the power of ritual. According to Gavin Flood, 'In time a process of abstraction occurred whereby brahman became a principle not only to the power of the ritual, but also to the essence of the universe; the very heart of all appearances' (Flood, 'Introduction to Hinduism', p. 84).

Some thinkers believed that Brahman is not only the essence of the ritual and the world, but also the true essence of the self (Atman).

The most famous saying from the Upanishads occurs within a dialogue between Yajnavalkya and his son Shvetaketu. He states, 'That which is minute, the totality is that self. That is truth. That is the self. That you are, Svetaketu'.

This phrase, 'That you are', 'That art Thou', or 'that's how you are' (tat tvam asi) is understood to mean that Shvetaketu's true self (and everyone's true self) is not different from the essence of the world (Brahman).

Thus, that

The Self (Atman) = The World (Brahman)

is one of the fundamental insights of the Upanishads.

Some asserted that Brahman is the ultimate reality beyond all appearances. Later Advaita philosophers maintained that its nature is pure:

Being (sat), Consciousness (cit) and Bliss (ananda)

This is called 'impersonal monism' (the idea that there is a single, impersonal, underlying reality to everything).

Because the true Self and Ultimate Reality are one and the same, this Reality must be realized through knowledge that is a direct and immediate intuition. This means that ultimate truth and happiness lie within. The realization of Brahman is liberation from the endless cycle of rebirth.

This view becomes important to the later Advaita Vedanta school and also to Neo-Hinduism. It is often portrayed as simply 'Hindu Philosophy'. As we shall see, this is a gross simplification that distorts the tradition.

By the 5th century BCE, we see the beginnings of a number of different philosophical systems developing within India. A common distinction is made between two types of these schools:

astika vs. nastika

nastikas ('is-not-ers') were not Hindus and neither recognised the Vedas as infallible, nor tried to establish their own validity on their authority. They are often called the heterodox schools. The two most important of these were the Jains and the Buddhists.

astikas ('is-ers') are the orthodox Hindu schools that recognised the infallible authority of the Vedas. They are traditionally six in number:

1. Samkhya
2. Yoga
3. Vedanta
4. Mimamsa
5. Nyaya
6. Vaisheshika

Collectively they are known as the six systems (darshana).

Due to the similarities in their systems Samkhya-Yoga, and Nyaya-Vaisheshika are often grouped together.

Fundamental Points of Agreement

There are several fundamental points of agreement between the various schools. The main ones are outlined below.

Karma and Rebirth

Karma (Sanskrit: karman; literally 'action') is the notion that there is a cause and effect relation between one's intentional actions and the results of those actions. In other words actions possess a certain potency which leads to positive or negative results in the future.

In the orthodox systems there exists the belief that only particularly virtuous or wicked acts result in reward or punishment in this life. Most actions sow the seeds of their results for future births (what actually gets reborn varies from school to school, but generally the orthodox schools possess some idea of the self, atman, or soul, jiva). It is also believed that the individual may be reborn as a human being or animal.

There is thought to be no ultimate beginning to this process, so everyone has had an infinite number of past lives as various things and will continue to do so until liberation (mukti) is attained (see below).

Liberation (moksha)
All the systems maintain that there is an end to the beginningless cycle of rebirths, generally know as samsara.

Freedom from this state of bondage can be achieved by the individual overcoming ignorance and passion. Through various types of ethical development, renunciation, contemplation and meditation, the individual could attain the necessary knowledge into the fundamental nature of reality and thereby achieve a permanent state of freedom. The different schools possess different interpretations of how this is done and what it means but all agree that it is the highest goal and entails freedom from the results of karma. Liberation may be attained during this life (jivanmukti) or after death.

The Doctrine of the Soul
All schools (except Buddhism) accept the belief in the existence of permanent entity (atman, jiva, purusha) which survives the various rebirths and ultimately attains liberation.

Unity in Philosophical, Religious and Ethical Endeavors
Basic Principles shared by the schools are:

1. all passions should be controlled (vairagya)
2. no injury to life in any form should be done (ahimsa)
3. desire for pleasures should be checked
4. the world is sorrowful (duhkha)
5. ignorance (avidya) should be overcome with knowledge (jnana)
6. liberation (mukti) can be achieved

FREEDOM & MAPPING

In Karl Potter's useful little book,'Presuppositions of India's Philosophies' (1991), he outlines some basic ideas relating to Indian philosophy. The most important of these is
FREEDOM.

According to most schools what is required for freedom is the attitude of nonattachment and a path of renunciation.

In the Hindu schools three main paths were recognised for the attainment of liberation:

1. Path of Activity (karmayoga). This is the Performance of the correct rituals according to the Vedas.
2. Path of Devotion to God (baktiyoga). This is achieved through an intense personal love of one's chosen deity.
3. Path of knowledge (jnanayoga). This is achieved through ascetic practice and mental discipline.

The path of Knowledge is the path of the philosopher.

MAPPING

Potter raises the question of how speculative philosophy fits in with the idea that there is a path to liberation. He states (p.53), '%u2026Indian philosophers want to find a mapping scheme, a set of categories and relationships, in terms of which they can plot a route from here to complete freedom. The production of such a scheme, if it can be produced, will provide a definite answer to the doubt, "is freedom possible?"'

According to Potter, there are a number of requirements for the map:

1. Adequate (must translate all the judgements we care about-those which presuppose freedom's possibility.
2. Accurate (must be a map of our universe)
3. Consistent (if there are contradictions it is no good as a map)
4. Clear (vagueness will make our route to freedom obscure and create doubts)

In our examination of the Indian systems, remember the ideas of freedom and mapping and attempt to provide an account of each system based on these basic concepts.