Smarta Hinduism

Smartism is an ancient brahmanical tradition reformed by Adi Sankara in the ninth century. Worshiping six forms of God, the liberal Hindu path is monastic, nonsectarian, meditative and philosophical. Isvara and man are in reality absolute brahman. Within maya, the soul and isvara appears as two. Jnana, spiritual wisdom, dispels the illusion.

Most smartas belive that moksha is acheived through jnana yoga alone-defined as an intellectual and meditative but non-kundalini yoga path. Guided by a realized guru and avowed to the unreality of the world, the initiate meditates on himself as brahman to break through the illusion of maya. The ultimate goal of smartas is to realize oneself as brahman-- the absolute and only reality. For this, one must conquer the state of avidya, or ignorance, which cause the world to appear as real. All illusion has vanished for the realized being, jivanmukta, even as he lives out life in the physical body. If the sun were cold or the moon hot or fire burned downwards, he would show no wonder. The jivanmukta teaches, blesses and sets an example for the welfare of the world. At death, his inner and outer bodies are extinguished. Brahman alone exists and he is that forever, all in all.

Liberation depends on self-culture, which lead to spiritual insight. It does not come from the recitation of hymns, sacrificial worship or a hundred fasts. Man is liberated not by effort, no by yoga, not by any self-transformation, but only by the knowledge gained from scripture and self-reflection that he himself is brahman. Jnana yoga's progressive stages are scriptural study (sravana), reflection (manana) and sustained mediation (dhyana). Devotees may also choose from three other nonsuccessive paths to cultivate devotion, accrue good karma and purify the mind. These are bhakti yoga, karma yoga, and raja yoga, which, smartas teach, can also bring enlightenment.

Scripture teaches, "For the great-souled, the surest way to liberation is the conviction that "I am Brahman". Sri jayendra saraswati of kanchi peedam, Tamil Nadu, India affirms "That state where one transcends all feelings is liberation. Nothing affects this state of being. You may call it 'transcendental bliss', purified intuition that enables one to see the supreme as one's own self. One attains to Brahman, utterly liberated."