The Joys of Hinduism

Tonight we want to speak on the joys and happiness in Hinduism, our ancient religion which bring forth the wonderful feeling of belief in the cosmic processes of reincarnation coupled with knowledge of the laws of karma and the wisdom of dharma in which everyone has his rightful place and purpose in life. It brings the broadmindedness of total acceptance of all other religions as expressions of the One God's creation, the blessing of a complete devotional path revolving around powerful temples, the fulfillment of profound mystical teaching founded on yoga and brought forth by the seers and saints and gurus, and so much more, our religion is so strong, so rich and varied that very few can claim to understand it in its completeness. It is immense, an immense religion, so immense that we have difficulty sometimes explaining it to those who hold to a simpler doctrine, especially if they have been subjected to erroneous concepts about our religion promulgated by invaders and missionaries of a score of alien religions. 

It is time that the world know of the greatness of Hinduism, knew it as it is. Of course, we cannot explain it in an evening.The great Siva Yogaswami say, "The time is short and the subject is vast" But we can have a look at some of the aspects of Hinduism that bring such joys and happiness to over a billion devotees around the world. Each hindu's belief in reincarnation is so strong that it totally eliminates the fear and dread of death. No true Hindu really fears death; nor does he look forward to it. The word death in the vocabulary of Hindus holds a different meaning. He does not take death to be the end of existence, nor does he look upon life as singular opportunity to be followed by eternal heavenly existence for those souls who do well and by unending hell for those who do no. Death for the Hindu is merely transition, simultaneously an end and a new beginning. Over two thousand years ago, saint Truvalluvar wrote, "Death is like falling asleep, and birth is like awakening from the sleep". 

In one of the ancient languages of our religion, the physical body had a name which literally meant "that which is always dropping off" The Hindu's knowledge of reincarnation gives him the hope of attaining a future birth and in that making further progress toward the perfection that he intuitively knows is his atman, his soul. He is working in his life to gain enough good merit, enough punya, to deserve welcome into fine religious family as a good soul that will not upset the family but add to its love and harmony and productivity. That is one aim ever on the mind of the devout Hindu, to live well that he may live even more perfectly in a future life on this planet. 

 

That is our aim; and our other beliefs, our accumulated knowledge and the many facets of our religion, give us the strength and the wisdom to believe in such a far-reaching way, to look beyond the immediate day-to-day concerns into our ultimate objective, which is realization and liberation, Moksha. Nor is this belief in the cycle of earthly existence, in reincarnation, merely a belief. It is a certain knowledge for those who have had even a tiny glimpse into their origins to the point of remembering another life or just intuiting that the soul did not come into existence just before one's birth. The Hindu believes that the soul undertakes many sojourns on the planet. We see the wisdom in this cycle of birth, death and rebirth.