Early Hindu Philosophy

This is a summary of the book A History of Indian Philosophy: An Introduction to the Eight Major Philosophies of Ancient India by S. N. Dasgupta. This book will go over Buddhist and Jainist philosophy as well as six systems of Hindu thought: the Samkhya, the Yoga, the Nyaya, the Vaisesika, the Mimamsa, and the Vedanta. Most systems can be traced from between 600 to 100 BC. Hindu history is kind of confusing so I'll summarize as best as I understand it.

The earliest Hindu literature is the Vedas which are mainly hymns in praise of nature gods. Here are a few main points from them:

• The Vedas are believed to be divinely created.

• They are the highest religious authority in Hinduism.

• There are four canons in the Vedas showing the development of Hindi thought over time:

  • Samhita - Earliest writings composed of four sections.

    • Rigveda - Hymns about the gods for the sacerdotal class.

    • Sama-Veda - Stanzas from the Rigveda which were meant to be sung, a book of chants.

    • Yajur-Veda - Sacrificial prayers.

    • Atharva-Veda - Spells and incantations appealing to the demon world/ witchcraft.

  • Brahmanas - Intricate sacrificial ceremonies that had to be performed extremely precisely.

  • Aranyakas - Meditations that took the place of sacrifice once an individual expanded beyond the need for sacrifice.

  • Upanisads (Upanishads) - Most recent addition containing philosophical and ontological knowledge.

The gods began as gods of nature, or expressions of nature, and developed over time. When Hinduism began it was Henotheistic which is “a belief in single gods, each in turn standing out as the highest.” Each of them were rulers in their own sphere and assumed supreme dominion in their spheres. Despite the separation of gods, the gods were seen as unified. As Hinduism progressed their beliefs became more monotheistic. Three gods were identified as being the supreme god and I’m honestly not quite sure which took precedence as the book described them all as being the supreme being or ultimate creator being. The three gods are Prajapati, Visvakarma, and Brahman. One unique thing about early Hinduism is that sacrifice was viewed as being superior to the Gods, I’m assuming besides the supreme beings but possibly not, and the Gods were assumed as gaining their rank through their own sacrifice. In other words, godhood was attained and developed through sacrifice which made it more important than the gods themselves. Karma and reincarnation were present in early Hinduism (as they are today) and the creator was believed to be held in a cosmic golden egg (a repeating pattern in multiple religions). Interesting fact, the Department of Defense did a study on meditation and energy and found the universe to be shaped in an egg-like shape which you can find on page 18 here.

The Upanisads are the most recent addition to the Vedas and contain the philosophy of Hinduism. They changed religious practice from rituals to the knowledge of ultimate truth and reality which immediately emancipates man, knowledge which Brahman originated. The Upanisads are for those who are already above the world and for who the Vedic sacrifices are no longer relevant. They focus on the true self of man rather than the gods and focus on Atman, the supreme essence of man. Atman is comprised of five parts: physical essence, breath, will, consciousness, and the essence of self as pure bliss.

Eight Systems of Philosophy

1) Early Indian Philosophy

Early philosophy had two branches, Nastika and Astika. Nastika contains three schools namely Buddhism, Jainism, and Carvaka. They believed that the Vedas had no direct claim to authority and that the Vedas were therefore not infallible. Astika held orthodox beliefs and contained six schools. Yoga viewed mysticism as the path to liberation and believed in Isvara (Ishvara) as a supreme god. Samkhya saw philosophy as the path to liberation and didn't believe in Isvara. Vedanta upheld the general views of the Upanisads. Mimamsa emphasized the principles of sacrifice. Nyaya believe in logic as an art important to liberation. Vaisesika concentrated on metaphysics and physics.

Regardless of the branches or schools they all agreed upon a couple things. They all believed in Karma, the idea that one's actions determine their next reincarnation with good deeds being rewarded and bad punished. Within karma they believed that only extremely good or evil actions can be reaped in this life while all others will be reaped in the next. They believed in spiritual liberation called mukti, atman which is the essence of the self, and they believed that everything is sorrow until emancipation and ascension.

2) Early Buddhist Philosophy

Early Buddhist philosophy, while not Hindu philosophy, impacted it, which is why it's covered in the book. There are a couple things that they seemed to agree upon as well as some they didn't. They agreed that the thirst of the senses stood in the way of nirvana, that ignorance was the primary cause of sorrow, that everything in existence was created by different ratios of the four elements, that there is not such thing as a whole but rather everything is a sum of its parts, that nothing is permanent and everything is in a constant state of change, and a general denial of the external world. They disagreed on what can be perceived and how, the belief of whether or not there is a soul, whether time is universal and happening simultaneously, and the continuity of life (whether or not it's eternal).

Here are the main schools and their corresponding differing beliefs:

1. Mahayanism

   1. There is no truth, sensations are illusions.

   2. The highest knowledge is that everything is pure void.

2. Tathata

   1. The concept of oneness, that everything is one.

   2. Enlightenment comes as a result of working through all the baggage we are born with as a result of our past lives.

   3. Truth of all beings is that they are in nirvana and ignorance keeps them from recognizing it.

   4. Non-enlightenment comes as a result of three things:

      1. Ignorant action that produces misery.

      2. Ego or perceiver. These are related in that perception is viewed as flawed and that ignorant perception results in an ego.

      3. Creation of external world that doesn’t exist (attachment).

   5. Buddha is a title when one achieves nirvana.

      1. Characterized by a deep compassion for all beings and treating everyone as themselves.

3. Madhyamika/ Sunyavada

   1. Rebirth happens because people buy into the idea that things are true around them (buying into the illusion).

   2. Continued emphasis on selflessness despite the illusion.

4. Vijnanavada

   1. Everything is an illusion on steroids. Absolutely nothing exists and complete nothingness is the reality of literally everything. Nirvana is attained through complete nothingness.

3) Early Jaina Philosophy

Jaina, or Jainism, is as old as Buddhism and was considered its rival and Mahavira was its last prophet. It's also included for its impact on Hinduism. There were two main sects named Svetambaras (wearers of the white clothes) and Digambaras (the naked) but they agreed on almost all points except a few which were inconsequential enough to not merit mention. They had two sets of scriptures, the Purvas which were lost, and the Angas which have eleven books.

Here is a list of some of the essential components of Jainism:

• The Jains don’t believe in hurting any living thing, including bugs like mosquitoes that annoy and harm and are essentially insignificant.

• Unlike Buddhism, objects have permanence even though they are always changing. The core aspect of the thing remains the same even though that within it is constantly changing. Kind of like how the ocean can be calm or rough but it's still the ocean.

• There is only conditional or relative truth as there are limitless positions and interactions between positions based on an infinite amount of viewpoints. Absolute truth is a false belief.

• Knowledge is a revelation of our own self attained through introspection.

• The soul is perceived by introspection and is perfect.

• Inanimate and animate objects have souls. The elements have souls and are reborn into elements. Plants have a group soul made up of several plants. I assume other things follow suit.

• Everything is made of the four elements.

• Even the smallest particles like atoms have their own combination of what we could sense with the five senses.

• Karma is accumulated and passions aid in that accumulation acting like a glue that karma attaches to.

Karma is gained in 5 different ways:

1. Delusions - False beliefs accepted and uncritically followed, uncertainty to the exact nature of truth, retention of a belief knowing it's incorrect, doubt as to right and wrong (denial of what is right and wrong), and the desire for any belief without adequate reasoning (believing something just because you want to, not because it's right or true).

2. Want of (desire for) control - Injury (to others or self), falsehood, stealing, lack of self-restraint, desire to have what is not possessed (non-acceptance).

3. Inadvertence - Bad conversations (I assume conversations involving violating moral principles), passions, bad use of five senses (I assume over indulgence to the point of neglecting what truly matters), sleep (I assume over sleeping), and attachment.

4. Activities of the body, mind, and speech.

5. Passions - Anger, vanity and pride, insincerity and tendency to deceive others, greed.

To control the gathering of karma:

1. One must take “vows of non-injury, truthfulness, abstinence from stealing, sex control (I assume to not value it over others' humanity, treating someone like an object), and non-acceptance of objects of desire (not getting lost in desire).”

2. Actively avoiding injury to other sentiences and the use of gentle talk (kindness in speech).

3. Restraint of body, speech, and mind.

4. Instilling “habits of forgiveness, humility, straightforwardness, truth, cleanliness, restraint, penance, abandonment, indifference to any kind of gain or loss, and supreme sex-control.”

5. Meditation on cleanliness, accountability, and the nature of truth.

6. Conquering physical troubles including heat, cold, and discomforts of any kind.

7. Right conduct.

Karma ceases to be accumulated when the passions are sublimated. Once a person is divested from the passions, they should meditate on universal compassion including indifference to the wickedness of people which I assume is the equivalent of Christian ideals of getting to a state of pure love. The end goal is moksa, a state of infinite happiness and emancipation.

“If god is guided by man’s moral order then he is not independent.”

4) Early Yoga Philosophy

The soul is pure consciousness and all knowledge is within us but hidden by a veil that lifts as we grow in consciousness. Meditation is used to concentrate on an object of one's desire until it achieves a unity with the object of thought. It is about "perfected discipline of the will and psychological control of the mental states."

There are three types of substances from which everything is composed namely intelligence (sattva), energy (rajas), and mass (tamas), a concept named prakrti (a similar concept exists in Ayurveda). These act and react upon each other with the goal being equilibrium between the three. There are three stages of equilibrium correlating to each of the prakrti, each with their own elements of mastery, accomplished in a specific order. The first attainment of equilibrium is the balance of intelligence which leads to the first transformation of the buddi (intellect or wisdom, a higher state of consciousness, the holy knowledge of a Buddha more or less since Hinduism doesn't believe in Buddha but same idea more or less). The second stage is balancing the energy experienced by the five senses at an atomic level. The third stage is the transformation of matter which happens by removing elemental barriers (such as heat) allowing matter to assume a different state.

Past lifetimes knowledge is manifested in the tastes, instincts, and tendencies of all people. Philosophy is the path to knowing how to eliminate sorrow which then must be backed by practice to attain final liberation. There are five aspects of karma that need to be released in order to achieve liberation.

1. Intelligence (Avidya) - Believing that intelligence leads to happiness.

2. Asmita - Believing in ownership of worldly objects.

3. Raga - Attachment to pleasures and things.

4. Dvesa - Aversion or antipathy to unpleasant things.

5. Abhinivesa - The love of life or will to be (fear of death).

Citta is a focus on the restraint of the senses also necessary to liberation namely cognitive states of perception and inference, false knowledge and illusions, abstraction and imagination, sleep, and memory. Interestingly, yoga claims that these are simultaneously good and bad, preventing growth or aiding in it.

Finally, its core tenants are what is considered saintly with similar concepts to the other philosophies of no harm, indelibly good character, etc.

5,6) Nyaya/Vaisesika Philosophies

Most of this branch of Hindu philosophy dealt with the state of matter and differentiation of states of matter. Honestly, it didn't seem very important to understand so I'm not going to go over it. Suffice to say that this philosophy believed in the construction of matter through atoms of various compositions that remained the same until forced to change. The natural state of being is unmoving as a means of conserving energy.

The two branches of Nyaya dealt with metaphysics and logic/debate, debate being a search for truth through analysis of argument. Vaisesika says that virtue leads to prosperity and salvation.

They believed that Karma is movement but I'm not sure if the movement was good or bad, I'm assuming bad since they believed that the natural state of being is unchanging (plus karma is generally considered bad so...). They believed in four sources of knowledge: perception, inference, testimony, and analogy. They also believed in Isvara, a supreme God that the other philosophies did not believe in. The destruction of false knowledge and attachment resulted in moksha described as a state of painlessness and unfeelingness.

7) Mimamsa Philosophy

All knowledge except memory is valid because all knowledge is perceptual truth but all "objective" truth attained by experience is hypothetical. Memory isn't knowledge because it doesn't lead to new knowledge, it's the remembering of experiences that gave knowledge. Perception is viewed as seeing an aspect of a thing, but that thing can have many aspects to it kind of like a crystal with many polished facets, hence why all knowledge is truth. Hymns, chants, and sacrifice also played a role in this philosophy.

8) Sankara School of Vedanta

A philosophy dedicated to the concept of Brahman and upholding the Upanishads. It viewed detachment from impurity as the ultimate truth and the pure self is pure being. The study of the Vedanta was the means of learning to free oneself. There were three qualifications one had to meet before studying the Vedanta:

1. Discerning knowledge about what was eternal and transitory.

2. Lack of enjoyment of worldly pleasures.

3. "Attainment of peace, self-restraint, renunciation, patience, deep concentration, and faith.

The primary truth of this philosophy is that Brahman, supreme consciousness, is one being. We are all aspects of Brahman and only in recognizing that we are all one can true freedom occur. The illusion of life is not knowing this and the ego is the cause of the veil of knowledge of truth. When the veil is removed through the absolution of the ego, spiritual development happens like flashes of light that illuminates that which was in the dark helping us recognize the truth and free us from illusion. There is no other truth than pure consciousness.