PHILIP GOLDBERG
Author - Spiritual Coach - Public Speaker
MY BOOKSAMERICAN VEDA: From Emerson and the Beatles to Yoga and Meditation, How Indian Spirituality Changed the West
Forthcoming in November ROADSIGNS: On the Spiritual Path -- Living at the Heart of Paradox
For anyone on a spiritual path THE INTUITIVE EDGE: Understanding Intuition and Applying It in Everyday Life
The definitive book on intuition THIS IS NEXT YEAR
A novel about a family, baseball, and Brooklyn, set in 1955 GET OUT OF YOUR OWN WAY -- and -- THE 6 SECRETS OF A LASTING RELATIONSHIP
Two collaborations with eminent psychiatrist Mark Goulston PASSION PLAY: Ancient Secrets for a Lifetime of Health and Happiness Through Sensational Sex
Collaboration with Felice Dunas ALPHA MALE SYNDROME - and - CREATING MAGIC
Two excellent business books, ghostwritten by me MAKING PEACE WITH GOD - and - MAKING PEACE WITH YOUR PAST
Two collaborations with Harold Bloomfield, M.D. THE BEST THAT I CAN BE
The life of the great Olympic champion, Rafer Johnson OTHER WORKS
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My BlogAre we all Hindus?September 7, 2009
Did you see Newsweek’s August 31 edition? In it, Lisa Miller has a short piece titled “We Are All Hindus Now.” She doesn’t mean that vast numbers of Americans are going to Hindu temples or doing pujas to Ganesh at their home altars. She means that, according to surveys, a large and growing number of people hold a pluralistic world-view, in line with the core principle of Hinduism, as expressed in the ancient Rig Veda: “Truth is one, the wise call it by many names.” I was thrilled to see this for two reasons, 1) I think it’s a sign that the collective consciousness is more evolved than people realize; and 2) it represents mainstream confirmation of the central thesis of the book I’ve been working on, in which I contend that Vedic teachings have transformed American spirituality. The article is at: http://www.newsweek.com/id/212155.
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Comments
Thanks for the invite to blog.
This is an edited version of my response to a Vedantic friend of mine who, among others, sent me the article on "Hinduism":
I have just one issue with this article and that is that we are not "Hindus".
For me, HInduism is simply an ethnic application of Vedanta, the core spiritual views of India as presented in the Upanishads, from which Buddhism, Jainism, and Sikhism, as well as Hinduism all came out - what they call the Dharmic religions nowadays, meaning the indigenous spiritual traditions of India. I think that Taoism also has similar views, and would like to mention it here, too.
For my own use, the more universal the views the more I can use them for my own life. Hinduism rather ties us down to the specific rituals, myths, and observances of one segment of Indian culture, often obscuring the core truths of Vedanta, which for me is the real substance, at least in adjusting to the traditions and current culture of the West.
Swami Vivekananda (the Hindu who first taught Vedanta and yoga in the West, starting in 1893) wanted to replace the word HInduism with Indian Vedanta, so that the West and other cultures could also claim the spiritual insights of Indian Vedanta or core spirituality for themselves. In his mind, HInduism was not synonymous with Vedanta, but simply one application of it under certain circumstances. HIs dream was that, by detaching Vedanta from Hindusim (which he called an ethnic religion) its truths would be more easily accessible to people all over the world.
In practice, Buddhism has succeeded in integrating itself with all of the cultures of the world; but Hinduism, by so strongly emphasizing its rituals and myths, as well as its social views colored by the caste system, has made it much more difficult, I believe.
However, as this article indicates, Eastern and perhaps specifically Indian values have indeed begun to permeate the West. I would give credit for this to the Western savants who studied the texts in Sanskrit and who worked so hard to absorb the meaning of Vedanta when it first came to the West, even before Vivekananda. He fleshed out the vision of Vedanta and jumpstarted the work of its being absorbed in practice (yoga). I personally do not feel that the cult Hinduism which emphasizes specifically Indian culture has really been responsible for this permeation. It is too inflexible, to exclusive, and too hierarchical. Vedanta has worked its own way, independent of, and perhaps in spite of, cult Hinduism.
And I believe this is so because the West was feeling very keenly the need to develop its spiritual side, just as India desperately needed to develop its pragmatic, practical side. The West was open to Vedanta and allied spiritual systems, and began to assimilate it in its own way. And will continue to do so. We must honor our own spirituality, supported by so many deep thinkers and spiritual practitioners. The HIndus know nothing of these Westen pioneers and so we hear nothing about them from them; but they are there, and I firmly believe that the West will grow spiritually through following its own indigenous methods rather than those of India, which is so utterly different from us in its culture.
A recent interesting documentation of how the West has assimilated Eastern thought in its own way is:
J. J. Clarke: Oriential Enlightenment: The Encounter between Asian and Western Thought. London and New York: Routledge, 1997.
Gayatriprana
You're touching on an issue that I've had to deal with while writing my current book: the definition of Hinduism. You're right, of course, that the title is misleading if, by Hinduism, you mean the image that most people have: temple worship, chanting and praying to images of gods and goddesses, etc. Obviously, we're not becoming Hindus in that respect. But if you define Hinduism the way the writer of that piece did -- as, essentially, Vedanta -- then it makes sense. And many people DO define it that way, treating the word Hinduism as a synonym for Sanatana Dharma. A lot of Hindu activists are in fact trying to rehabilitate the word, and the images that it evokes, in exactly that way. It's an uphill battle, and if they're eventually successful we won't live to see the victory march. They'd love for me to say my book is about Hinduism in America, but for reasons you're very familiar with, that would be a big mistake. I make it very clear that the India-to-America transmission has been Vedanta philosophy and Yoga methodologies -- which they, of course, consider subsets of Hinduism.
I'd love to get other voices in on this blogversation (hey, I invented a word), but I don't quite know how.
I understand that Hindus think Vedanta is a subset of Hinduism - that is their tradition. But for Westerners, having to take Vedanta through a Hindu cultural perspective just is not going to work.
For me, Hinduism is a subset of Vedanta, as is Buddhism, Jainism and Sikhism. The are different cultural and historical modifications of Vedanta; as will be American Vedanta, when it defines itself adequately and gets moving.
Of course, a lot turns on what you mean by Vedanta. For many Hindus it means the medieval philosophical thread begun by Shankaracharya, or even the Puranas, which is of course fascinating, but so tied to medieval Indian concerns as not of much use for folks today.
The Vedanta I care about is the spiritual insights of the Upanishads, which are the original data of the Indic religions, fresh, open, free of cultural baggage and speak directly to my soul. I am compiling a book of Vivekananda's commentaries on these wonderful texts, which to my mind brings their message right up to date, and specifically relates them to Western concerns. It will be published as and when I can get it out.
In the meantime, why don't you get some contacts, perhaps at the Vedanta Society and other more or less enlightened Hindu groups, whom you can invite to participate in this.
That would enlarge the pool of correspondents. It certainly would be good to have a discussion on this subject, which is one closest to my heart.
The more the noetic experiences of the Upanishadic sages go mainstream, the happier I will be. People can use them in their own ways; but their depth, longevity and authenticity, I believe, will speak for themselves. If people know the source they are likelier to become better "Hindus", if you want to continue that term. For me, let them become better, more spiritual, vibrant Americans.
Jean
I have gone through both of your view and do accept them as is. I can certainly say majority of INDIANS doesn’t know what Hinduism actually means and call themselves Hindus. Some people just practice as they have been told from generations. I still remember questioning my parents and others why I should actually follow particular customs? I haven’t got any correct answer when asked. But today I have self learnt and do accept some of the practice Hindus follows possess good values not only for other but for themselves. For eg, I have seen all my uncle and grand father doing breathing exercise (with some chants) in early morning. Term for this in INDIA is called Sandhya vandana. Some people associate with caste, some associate with being very religiosity. In truth, its true purpose is not met or followed. If only they have known pure essence it might have been better. I do accept that I never encountered to read or learn that Hinduism invites new idea. May be I’m ignorant. I do also accept dividing the people in terms of caste is no good for anyone. However, dividing people on status does occur all through out the world.
Having been brought in east (INDIA) and recently moved to west, I find myself much improved and started to value yoga and other INDIAN/ASIAN values more than before. This holds true for most of the people. This might be the reason why most INDIANS when they come to west or were culture is prevalent are willing to make the place their home. West has done excellent and incorporated all the good things. Unfortunately, it didn’t reach deep.
People who wish to come out of their shell and willing to take new ideas and approach towards life is aware about it. Minority of people in INDIA do follow these. According to me east has to come out is comfort level and should introduce new ideas to this generation.
From my observation and other source of knowledge pinpoints that most people are willing to practice and becoming familiar with eastern values when really under go lot of stress. Most of them get introduced through Yoga classes or through therapist. How many people go for yoga/therapist? Most commonly people who is earning well or substantially. This draws us to the conclusion that people who are highly educated.
In conclusion, we all need to accept all good things from all direction irrespective of where it is from. I have been able to give some views as I myself have under gone stress and learnt much of things from book Strong and fear less by Phil Nurenberger. It is this book which lead my way to “The Intuitive Edg e which I needs to still read and practice.
Thank you for your insightful remarks. I think that most religious people just follow what they are given, not just the Hindus. It is the same here in the West.
But, as you say, there is so much stress nowadays people are seeking other ways and means to find meaning and peace of mind. That has opened the door to yoga in the West, and in time people will find the philosophy and discipline that lies behind it. In India, people need to improve their material conditions and acquire more education and then they will start to see their ancestral practices in a much clearer way and how to develop them so everyone is helped.
Swami Vivekananda was a person who tried to start this process, both in India and the West. He was able to put the core of Vedanta into words for the West and to start the process of uplifting the Indians by addressing some of their worst problems so that they could move forward to greater self-understanding and appreciation.
Unfortunately, there are a lot of people who do not see the value of all of this, both in the West and and India, and there is quite a bit of conflict about all of this. But I feel that the value will make itself visible over time.
As you say, the problems are very acute and more and more people will begin to embrace the alternatives that are available.
This thread began because of an article in Newsweek asserting that in many ways the West has begun to model itself on the values of Vedanta, though I wouldn't say HInduism: it is too culture-specific. Nor should India become a carbon copy of the West: it can work out Western principles in its own way, just as the West is absorbing many good things from Vedanta in order to meet its urgently increasing problems, such as addiction and lack of meaning in all spheres of life.
Jean
I Came to know abt this blog through my sister. I think i can give some valuable comments here. The question "Are we all Hindus ?" is a vague one. In some way all the people in the world follow some of the things told in all religions. I would infact concentrate more on the value of religion which it has to offer to human kind like health, mental peace and awareness.
I was born a Hindu and raised a Hindu. Being brought in the Bhramin family I know some of the rituals which usually takes place in a Hindu families. When I was young I was always told to pray to god and follow the rituals. As I grew older and become aware of the world through education, I have started ridiculing the rituals and stopped following them. One of the main reason was i never knew " why I was doing a particular custom?".
One day during my school days I received a lecture from a teacher about the reason why we follow some customs, which I am happy to share it here. In my part of the country whenever we go to Ganesh temple " The elephant god" people use to tap their temple and in some places people roll over the land around the "Sanctum Sanitarium" to show their devotion. Most of those people who follow these don't even know why they follow it. The reason one taps the Temple is, Temple is the place in the face where all the nerves in the body go through. Its is believed that if u tap it one would get brisk and energetic. One rolls over the land to get the earth magnetic field which is good for our health. Like wise there are many scientific reason behind everything one practices in Hinudism.
Since your a author, you can do a research different religions and their beneficial practices so that you make them available for the world.
Regards
Anand " Happy Living"
It is a great pleasure to have you here, and very valuable for me to read the comments of people for whom Hinduism is the tradition of their birth. It isn't clear whether you are in India or the US. I'm eager to know.
I don't know if I mentioned it in my original message, but I am now working on a major book about the influence of Vedanta and Yoga in America. It covers the entire history of the assimilation of Vedic teachings, and looks at some of the issues you brought up: the conversion of the spiritual teachings into forms of therapy, and so forth.
In any event, thank you for your comments. I wish there were more people reading this blog. I am now also blogging on a popular site called Intent.com, which was created by Mallika Chopra, Deepak's daughter. Perhaps I will post a similar message there and see what happens.
Blessings to you both,
Phil