Shri Jay Lakhani, an excellent
communicator of Hinduism in Britain and director of the Hindu academy (the
Vivekananda Centre in London). Over the last 15 years, Shri Lakhani has given
talks on Hinduism to thousands of youngsters at English schools, colleges
and universities. If you wish to get a glimpse of the modern dynamic face of
Hinduism then do not miss this series of talks. Okay, good evening. The sessions we are going to conduct at Eton now for the next ten sessions is going to be Hinduism basics.
So in these ten sessions of half hour each I am going to try and cover
Hinduism in its totality in very simple terms, very simple English. It is possible
to do that in a very structured, systematic manner. The vision of Hinduism
I'm going to give you can be called the most comprehensive vision. That means not
focused on one sectarian movement or one Godhead saying oh we love Krishna. No it's a
very comprehensive vision of Hinduism. It is also very contemporary with vision of
Hinduism because many religions are stuck in a rut. What they've been taught was
taught by their prophets who lived 2000 years ago they're stuck in that! This
religion is a live religion so you will get a more if you like more
contemporary vision of Hinduism. So this is the second aspect. It's comprehensive,
it is very contemporary and the third aspect is most important. It is
comprehensible Hinduism means Hindus that makes sense, doesn't appear like
nonsense, is well thought out and hopefully as rational as any religion
can be. So you're going to get a very rational, structured, comprehensive, if you like
comprehensible vision of Hinduism in the next 10 sessions.
Let us begin the journey. First of all we must look at the historicity - how old is
this religion because we like to exaggerate Hindus love to exaggerate - we're a million year old!
Nobody was million year old. Homo sapiens means thinking human
beings came on earth about fifty or eighty thousand years back and not
earlier. The thinking humans only came, became visible on earth about 80,000 years ago. Then how old is Hinduism let's think about it. The
archeological evidence we have means the digs you do and you find out how ancient people lived. The archeological evidence we have from
the Saraswati river civilization, the Indus valley civilization suggests that
a civilization was already in place, very well organized, which goes back
about five thousand years. So it's about say 3000 BC. This is a rough figure. Archeology is a very exact science - it can really date a particular object,
etc. Saying this is 5,000 years old through carbon dating,
etc. Now we are sure it's definitely I would say 5000 years old,
maybe it is perhaps six or seven thousand years old. Maybe you'll find some more digs later on
which will show that it's eight thousand years old, but nothing much greater than
that. I don't expect it to be a hundred thousand years old. And again another
interesting thing is this - in the Indian subcontinent we had this marvellous
personality called Buddha, who lived about 2,500 years ago.
Now Buddha is not a made up figure. It's not a mythological figure. Buddha is a
historic figure and many ideas Buddha adopted like meditation, etc. were already
visible in his life so that mean Hinduism is already flourishing. He used the Hindu
ideas to produce a new religion. So that means Hinduism is definitely 2,500 years old but very likely goes up to six seven thousand
years in history. This is the historicity you must always keep your feet firmly
planted on ground when you think about such things and so don't exaggerate that we're
million years old! This is nonsense. It's I would say five to seven thousand years
old religion. How did it start? Was it that we suddenly said let's think about
God and let's produce images in temples? How did he start? This is a very
interesting thing and for any anthropologist who looks at the human
condition this is very relevant. This is how it started. It was not looking
for a God. The whole enterprise started to try and make sense of the world that
we live in. What is this all about? We never registered to
be born! We suddenly find ourselves here screaming and crying and all that. What
is going on? What is the nature of reality? What is this all about? Who are
we what are we doing here? It was trying to suss out the human condition and
resolving it. So the enterprise was not searching for a God, etc. The enterprise
started five thousand years ago trying to make sense of the world that we live in
and sorting ourselves out in simple English. This is how it started and this is the foundation of Hinduism and this is very important for
you to know because if you talk to an atheist, a modern thinker,
you say this is what what we are all about. Making sense of the human
condition and resolving it. Not just making sense but trying to sort it out,
sort ourselves out. Nobody can say you are wrong footed. This this is a very clear way of trying to live our lives.
This out there how the enterprise started. How did we acquire the name
Hindu? Because there was no Mr. Hindu. I'm Hindu follow me!
In Christianity there's Christ. In Buddhism there's Buddha. In Hinduism there's no Mr. Hindu. So where did the word Hindu come from? Very interesting. Most Hindus don't
know themselves. If you ask them why? Don't know, we're Hindu we come from Hindustan.
That's not good enough. The reason why or the reason how we
acquired the name Hindu.. It's very interesting. You see in ancient India, in the
northwest part of ancient India flowed a river called the river Sindhu. The
Sindhu word in Sanskrit means a vast amount of water or large river - a huge
amount of water. Sindhu - like a sea. So this huge river that we called Sindhu - it
still flows in that part of the world - but for whatever quirk that particular
name of the river was mispronounced as Hindu and they said people living around
this river the civilisation around this river are people called Hindus. So we acquired the name as a mispronunciation of a name of an ancient
river Sindhu. The story didn't stop there. That name of that river was mispronounced again from the word Sindhu to Hindu to the word Indus. And from the word
Indus we derived the word, people living across the river Indus are people of
Indoi. That's how the word India came into being. So the name of the religion
comes from mispronunciation of the river called Sindhu. Name of the
country is also derived from further mispronunciation of the name of that river and that river still flows in that part of the world called river
Indus. So it's nice for you to know the background to the word Hindu. It doesn't come
directly from what we are all about. So what are we all about? As I said, trying
to make sense of the human condition and the term that the Hindus themselves use to
define their enterprise is Dharma. The word Dharma comes from the Sanskrit root
Dhr- means what is it that's holding everything together what is behind this
creation? What is one out of which everything is
manufactured? Including other nonliving things, the living things,
human beings, intellect, emotions.. What is the foundation to everything? What holds
everything together? Dhr- From the word Dhr- we derived the word Dharma.
So trying to resolve human condition was defined as the enterprise called Dharma.
Making sense of the human condition and resolving the human condition becomes practising Dharma. Sorting yourself out. The word Dharma then also
had an addition. The word Sanatan. Sanatan means we are trying to resolve
the human condition which is not just a temporary fad means only suitable for
one particular group of people during a particular period of history
but, something that has got eternal values or universal values. That is the
word Sanatan. So the word Sanatan Dharma is the real name of
the religion of Hinduism. Sanatana Dharma means we want to try and find resolution to our human condition which is permanent, not just
temporary, not a fad but which is permanent and which is universal so
not only apply to one particular part of the country. It must be universal
phenomena. In fact it should resolve the human condition throughout the world! This is the meaning of the word Sanatan Dharma. Now if you talk to any logician, any clear thinker that this is what we are trying to sort
out.. What is the nature of reality? What are the rules and laws that operate in
the world that I see around me? Let me understand those rules and laws and
harness them for my betterment. They'll say Mr. Lakhani you're talking our language.
Talk to any scientist. A hard scientist who's studying physics and
chemistry or a soft scientist who is looking at psychology and anthropology. They'll say this is our enterprise is trying to make sense the world that we live in.
What are the rules that operate in the world around us. If we can come to terms with those rules we can harness them for our betterment.
This is hard sciences and the same thing is true with soft sciences like
psychology and anthropology. Trying to understand the
human condition. What are the rules that operate with human beings individually
or as groups as social groups - sociology. So understanding the rules and
laws that operate in this world and coming to terms with them and harnessing
them for our betterment is the actual definition the word Dharma. Sanatana
Dharma. Now you can see how well it sits with the concept of modern scientific
thinking that's what science is all about the reason why you study physics
because most in this collector electromagnetism is go gravitation I can
understand the rules that are operate and harness them so I can send a man to
the moon and bring him back this is the enterprise of science that's why we
harness nature you see in ancient days when you had thunderstorms all good
sending messages we are crying and cowering in a care with and shuddering
now we say oh no no this is called electricity we harness it put it in
wires and light up our rooms this is harnessing nature and what do by
harnessing in nature in inner nature if you understand what the emotions the
drives that drive human beings like you have tremendous attraction you got some
tremendous desires if we can come to terms so what is the origin of desires
and harness them we are harnessing nature internal you see this is the idea
of cycling of the idea of social sciences so in a way the word thermo
encompasses or uses it like a very very broad term that encompasses if you like
the issues of hard sciences as well as soft sciences it's very very rigorous
term Dharma so what you thought was author modesta name or religious no
religion the word religion is an enterprise Abrahamic enterprises trying
to link or relate humanity with some super personality called Oh Lord your
God what's the link between God and man this is called really John
real realigning humanity with God Hinduism is not that is Dharma let me
also tell you the world therma is a very last term not just used by hindus it is
common to hindus buddhists james and six all the four Indic
religions released they came out of India
relate to the word Dharma they share the word Dharma in Buddhism they don't talk
about God at all but yet is Dharma making sense of the human condition so
in the same one the one term encompasses the four major world religions I would
say half the population the world belong to the Dharma crates it's not a minor
thing and they all relate the world Dharma I said did with the ejectives
anathan means we are looking for permanent solution to human condition
which is temporary fed the suitable for 100 50 years or 20 years and then you
fade away no good if you like this is the foundation of the world Dharma is
very important for you to know lets me come to the next part who are the
founders of hinduism now many many books written by Westerners they will say
Hinduism has no founders now these are - nonsense this really didn't come out of
the sky and fallen over our head so who are the founders he's not that we don't
have one founder you have too many founders to count this we are spoiled
for choice every century produces some supergiant who can talk about
spirituality religion from first and experience we are spoiled for choice you
don't have no founder you're too many to count this is the uniqueness of the this
tradition but the reason why we use the Sanskrit term called up or O'Shea disree
of perugia doesn't mean no farm-raised simply means
it's a principle oriented religion and not founded or if you like you know
linked up with just one personality see if you love Christian Iran's always
founded by Krishna it's a principle oriented religion he says real you
should not be focusing on the personality but the principles is
talking about the principles of Dharma so it's a principle reinter this wise
core of pure shame is not fixated on any individual personality ancient or modern
very open you can become the founders of Hinduism in modern times you don't need
to focus on ancient once it's open system so if you like this is the word
it doesn't a one founder he has too many founders to count is one generic terms
the Hindus are given to their founders or the people with authority of Hinduism
is a very important word Authority if the word is Rishi the term Rishi is
derived from the from the sanskrit root and the rish -
means to encounter to see firsthand so the hindu say that enterprise we called
dharma actually comes about because there are certain individuals who say
what is the underpinning this reality and yet we believe in what we try to
trust or we just intellectualize we actually experience what is under think
this reality we come face to face with it
these are very special individuals and the term hindus use is Rishi these are
the founders of Hinduism ancient and modern and these are traumatic
personalities so the word is Rishi from the term drish first an encounter and
again I have to warn the Hindus please be aware Hindu is because an open system
is open to abuse and there are lots of others who would like to gang up and
said call them selfish ear if he is not a minor town there are very few people
who can say fast and I know what I am talking about not read in a book or just
sat down in a coffee in this discussed it I know
these are very special individuals and they are the founders of the other
people of if you like Authority in the Hindu tradition
please remember this don't be gullible and be taken for a ride
then we very good story tell us ottakar's
they some glorified storytellers but they're not Rashi's there may be people
over into highly intellectual pundits you know very clever clogs well just
that there are Rishi's when they talk form authority they really powerful
material comes out of their mouth or out of the lips very powerful personalities
these are the founders ancient in wooden so again no Han no no too many founders
to count then we go to the next issue how does Hinduism how is Hinduism
transmitted from one generation to another over thousands of years we said
there are certain people who were certain titles and the title that we
hear are the word guru guru is the Russian Sanskrit root which means one
who destroys ignorance this is very generic title so guru doesn't mean
necessarily a spiritual teacher it may be it you know a computer guru or
economics guru so guru is a title saying somebody with
ignorance the second term we use very important is Swami Swami means an
individual who is mastered himself again these are very interesting individuals
and how do they impart their knowledge and how it is the process of imparting
knowledge is very important for you to understand this what the ancient Hindus
taught is very relevant for the world that we live in this in order for
knowledge to pass from the teacher to the student there's a particular
methodology you should adopt and you may think is outdated in the old fashion but
is still very relevant he says these are the three Sanskrit term pronoun brush
now say Wow so what's that prana means basically sure respect respect not
necessary to the individual but the knowledge carries and this is a secret
I'm telling you if you pair if you show respect to the subject you are studying
your teacher will soon find out that he was genuine and he will open his heart
and give you all the information so this idea respect is not saying or deities
feet and touch his feet he simply says show respect to the subject he
understands - then you will acquire that knowledge the doorway of communication
will open up so pranaam second part rush now ask ask sometimes people feel shy or
say oh no I look stupid if I ask questions so they don't ask say ask if
somebody knows something more than you do if you don't ask him we will not know
what you look looking what you are like lacking ask the third would be Cupid
they use weakness our again very old-fashioned is always sure not really
respect to the subject but do the carrier of that knowledge
Sehwa simply means making sure that the teacher is very made very aware that you
respect what he stands for these are the three terms you see how relevant are in
a modern world modern education system is struggling in the United Kingdom both
who most of the schools I'm telling you some of they are real nightmare the
teachers get beaten up so the set of renowned Russian of Sehwa is not a minor
thing unless you have discipline first thing is discipline and
show respect to the subject or subject carrier then there are chances that you
will learn you open an opener the doorways of communication so pronoun
pressure save are not ancient ideas discipline and respect are still very
crucial for the modern education system let me tell you how you see you'll find
a lot of youngsters in the Far East save Singapore China Malaysia Korea etc
are doing extremely well they are very focused individuals in the studies and
one reason is this they are disciplined individuals they spend perhaps 10 hours
extra studying every day literally there's definitely work from morning
till night in the second Muslim world they show respect so if a teacher a poor
teacher from this country goes to some of the far is going to strike teachers
to be surprised at the amount of respect he receives well the same teacher coming
from China here you try to teach here will be frightened off by the children
because we try and be debuff they are forgettable respect so you see this
these are very ancient word with a very crucial if you want to acquire knowledge
of any kind including knowledge of religion ok let's go to the next one now you see again a lot of Hindus are
confused about the symbolism that goes with Hinduism so what are the main key
symbols of Hinduism again I give a little Sanskrit etymologies you with a
more stylish the Sanskrit word is Preity from the word Preity which means going
towards we derived two words pratik o and pratima pratik o means a
symbol that we lead me to somewhere and Protima means n if you like an image
that will lead me somewhere where it's talking about becoming spiritual so
around the world prety hindus derive two words pratico pratima means a symbol
that will if you like link me with higher ideals or a image that will lead
me to higher ideal so regarding what is the nature of reality that's our our
search so these are very important the word pratik means if you like images or
symbols so are the symbols of Hinduism the most popular symbol that you must
have across by now is the symbol home now ohm
is very unique symbol it's not only just pictorial that you can see what it looks
like it is a sound so it engages your eyes as well as your ears so you engages
both your senses and the symbol ohm is not something that the committee sat
down and celesteville a device a symbol for Hinduism this they say in the
deepest of meditation is something that the encounter they feel that when you go
into deep meditation you feel the whole universe as a vibration and this
vibration in deep meditation or these ears is understood when you try and give
it expression when you come out of meditation it sounds like Home Instead
one one person saying it all the founders all the Rishi's say when they
go into deep meditation they hear the whole universe vibrating with a sound
and this is not real uni is not unusual idea modern cosmology is talking about a
vibration that is better if like the background vibration so this is we
unless we hear a vibration it sounds like it's not exactly ohm because what
will he will return the verbal expressions it sounds like ohm so that's
the most universal symbol of Hindus home the second symbol English used is a
symbol swastika and we have seen the images first Iike like physical forearms
and little dots in the middle now it is a swastika all about it comes from the
Sanskrit the root swass T means bring auspiciousness means bring good luck so
the idea is this let us focus and let us try and bring good stuff auspiciousness
good luck from all the four corners of the world so it's core for arms trying
to bring in auspiciousness goodness from all corners of the world this is the
actual meaning of the word swastika bring goodness from all corners of the
world so at a lovely idea but this of course the symbol was
hijacked by Hitler and used as a nasty horrendous symbol of his you know his
particular you know Reich and the same the only way you can distinguish the
hindu swastika with the hitler swastika is very simple the hindu swastika will
always be either orange in color like the color of the Sun the Rising Sun is
very full of illumination or red sometimes cause you know saying
very brilliant bright thus the Nazi swastika will be black this is how you
distinguish them but this one was actually the lot of black deeds if I can
say use that language in the name of swastika so this is the original meaning
of the word swastika you must understand it the third symbol this very popular
Hinduism is a symbol of Lotus you see in every temple there is God's and God is
holding lotuses or sitting on standing on lotuses the Lotus is the reason why
Lotus appears very interesting is this this says even though the Lotus grows in
very muddy places using a very muddy you know Lakes of bones where the Lotus
is grow even though the surround is a very you know not very very helpful the
beautiful Lotus comes up says perfection there is no blemish on it it's absolute
perfection in the middle of all the chaos so the idea of spiritualities even
though we find ourselves in a mass you know this this human condition etc
there's something very special and very pure within us is trying to manifest
itself like a lotus purity so this is the reason why this is the symbol if you
like this the three major symbols ohm swastika and Lotus are central in the
hindu religion now let me come now finally to the central prayer of the
hindus is he loosened vast religion with vast number of different practices North
India South India but one particular prayer that is if you like attracted the
attention of all the Hindus worldwide and throughout India is a prayer called
the Gayathri now normally when we start eating classes I'd normally ask you to
recite the Gayathri with me but I'll just tell you what it means
the Gayathri is the most important potent prayer of the Hindus and the
reason why is very important is this normally prayers are begging say O Lord
helped me I'm in trouble I'm in distress o Lord please give me some more money I
need to pass my even or go to your Sonia's please they're normally begging
prayers the guiity is nothing of the sort
it is simply saying make me illumined doesn't want anything from God but looks
for illumination wants to be illumined so the actual translation is the loose
translation let us meditate because meditation is the powerful way of trying
to make suss out the human condition let us
meditate on the glorious effulgence they don't use the word light on the glorious
effulgence evidence means a light doesn't doesn't require outside source
doesn't require a wire to bring power into it he just self lit let us meet in
the glorious effulgence of that Supreme Being or idea what is underpinning this
reality who is behind this creation may she the word is very interesting the
most important Hindu prior addresses the concept of super personality notice the
he all Abrahamic tradition are stuck with he the Hindu tradition is stuck
with his happy with the word she me and she enlighten of hearts and director of
understanding the two major features we possess our heart and head is saying old
let them both be kind of directed towards making sense of human condition
let me use both my faculties head and heart to understand the nature of
reality this was a very important prayer used by all Hindus and of course at Eton
we of course we start our sessions by reciting the Gayathri you you
