An Enthusiastic spiritual seeker will enjoy this.
Basic philosophy of world religion: Two major school: Astika and Nastika.
A. Astika or Theistic school:
Believe in God as a Creator of the Universe. Worship either the God or son of God or messenger of God or a Supreme Consciousness etc....
Main theistic religion are Hinduism, Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Sikhism.
B. Nastika or Atheistic school : Dose not believe in existence of God as a Creator of this world. Dose not believe in worshiping the God. Mainly three school: Jainism, Buddhism and Chavak philosophy.
All religions have their own Scriptures written in different languages according to time, places and circumstances. Fundamental values and messages are pretty much same for all scriptures. Scriptures guide us how to live proper human life and remain happy & peaceful.
Vedic Philosophy:
Hindu religion ( correct word Vedic religion or Sanatana Dharma, Sanatana means eternal:never change) is based on Vedic Philosophy. Veda means knowledge ( knowledge of supreme soul or God, individual eternal soul, Universe, matter and relationship among each other, believe in reincarnation & liberation). Our real identity as per Vedic scriptures is that we are individual eternal soul live in different kind of body( human, birds, beast, trees etc...) based on development of our consciousness. Our individual eternal soul is part & parcel of God. Lord Krshna is seed giving father for all living entities.
Bg 2.13 — As the embodied soul continuously passes, in this body, from boyhood to youth to old age, the soul similarly passes into another body at death. A sober person is not bewildered by such a change.
Bg 2.20 — For the soul there is neither birth nor death at any time. He has not come into being, does not come into being, and will not come into being. He is unborn, eternal, ever-existing and primeval. He is not slain when the body is slain.
Bg 2.22 — As a person puts on new garments, giving up old ones, the soul similarly accepts new material bodies, giving up the old and useless ones.
Bg 14.4 — It should be understood that all species of life, O son of Kuntī, are made possible by birth in this material nature, and that I am the seed-giving father.
Veda originated from God and passed on in disciplic chain to Demigods, Sages, Acharyas or Gurus to the common man. Worldly & mundane materialistic activities can not make us permanently happy & peaceful. Whole purpose of Vedic knowledge is about how to live eternally peaceful & happy life (it is called bliss) and make spiritual advancement to get liberated from birth-death cycle ( that's the ultimate purpose of human life).
All Demigods, Sages, Acharyas and Gurus have accepted Lord Krishna as a supreme personality of Godhead.
Mainly 6 school of Vedic philosophy or Sad ( six) Darshana:
1. Nyaya by Gautam Rushi: The philosophy of logic and reasoning.
2. Vaisesika by Kanad Rushi: Vedic atomic theory.
3. Sankhya by Kapil Muni: Theistic dualism.
4. Yoga by Pantajali: Self discipline for self realization.
5. Karma-mimamsa( purva mimamsa ) by Jaimini : Elevation through performance of duty.
6. Vedanta Sutra ( Uttar mimamsa) by Lord Veda Vyasa: The conclusion of 6 school of Vedic philosophy explained in Vedanta sutra or Brahama sutra.
Lord Veda Vyasa wrote almost all Vedic scriptures(4 Vedas, 108 Upanisad, Mahabharata include Srimad Gita, 18 Puranas including Srimad Bhagavatam the last purana). Ramayana was written by sage Valmiki.
Srimad Bhaghavatam is the nectar & Srimad Gita is the essence of all Vedic scriptures.
The main branches (denominations) of Hinduism mainly based on deity worship are Shaivism, Shaktism, Smartism and Vaishnavism. These four braches may share rituals, beliefs, and traditions.
There are mainly four authorize vaishnava sampradaya described in Shrimad Bhagavatam to pass on Vedic knowledge in disciplic chain.
1. By Lord Brahma: Brahma sampradaya followed by Madhavacharya to Chainya Mahaprabhu (Brahma gaudiya madhva sampradaya).
2. By Goddess Laxami: Shree sampradaya followed by Ramanujaacharya.
3. By Lord Shiva: Rudra sampradaya followed by Vishnu Swami to Vallabhacharya ( Pustimarg).
4. By Kumaras( Sons of Lord Bhrama): Kumara sampradaya followed by Nimbarkaacharya.
* Smarta sampradaya introduced by Sri Adi Shankara, It consists of the worship of five deities: Shiva, Vishnu, Devi or Durga, Surya and Ganesha. He is savior of Vedic philosophy while Jainism & Buddhism were prominent about 600 years BC.
Acharyas or Gurus have wrote their own commentary or Bhasya with devotion to explain Vedanta-sutra to their followers.
Major school of Vedanta thoughts: Mainly five school of thoughts.
1. 1st school of Vedanta thoughts: Advaita vad by Jagadguru Sri Adi Shankracharya: Most prominent Vedic thoughts very well known in world of philosophy.
2. 2nd school of thought: VishishtAdvaita by Sri Ramanujaacharya also followed by Sri Sahajanad Swami ( Swaminarayan sampradaya).
3. 3rd school of thought: SuddhaAdvaita by Sri Vallabhachraya ( Pustimarg Sampradaya).
4. 4th school of Vedanta thoughts: Dvaita vad by Sri Nimbarkaacharya & Sri Madhavacharya
5. 5th school of Vedanta sutra: Acintya-bhedabheda-tattva explained by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ( Brahma gaudiya madhva sampradaya).
Some Acharya explained that all beings are one with God (Advaita vad) and others say that God is different from all beings( Dvaita vad) and some other minor differences.Vedanta philosophers have long argued back and forth about this.
Acintya-bhedabheda-tattva explained by Sri Chaitanya Mahaprabhu ( in disciplic chain of Madhvacharya) include both Advaita vad & Dvaita vad philosophy.
In Bhagavad-gita [ 9.4] Krishna says, maya tatam idam sarvam jagad avyakta-murtina: “I am spread all over the universe in My impersonal feature.” Mat-sthani sarva-bhutani: “Everything is in Me.” Na caham tesv avasthitah: “But I separate from everything.” This is the philosophy of simultaneous oneness and difference ( achintya-bhedabheda-tattva).
Very logical and simple explanation in question & answer format in link below.
Another two major school of thoughts based on Vedic philosophy is God personal vs impersonal?
Personal form include impersonal form. Example: Sun is personal vs sunlight or sun rays are impersonal. Impersonal form Sunlights or Sun rays can not exit without Personal form of Sun. Like that heat and light are impersonal future of fire. Any thing personal or impersonal exit in this world has to be origin from personal form. In same way God has personal and impersonal future. God is everywhere in this world in impersonal form, but at a same time he has his own name,form, quality, abode, associates and activities just like as a individual soul we have our own personality,body, activities etc.....
Bg 7.24 — Unintelligent men, who do not know Me perfectly, think that I, the Supreme Personality of Godhead, Kṛṣṇa, was impersonal before and have now assumed this personality. Due to their small knowledge, they do not know My higher nature, which is imperishable and supreme.
Just like blind person can not able to see or appreciate the expansion of tiny seed into gigantic tree, similarly spiritually blind person can not able to appreciate the impersonal expansion (cosmic manifestation) of personal form of Supreme God throughout the universe.
As per Vedic Scripture each & every living entity in this universe is part & parcel of the God, just like finger is part of our body. Finger has relationship with body similarly we have relationships with the God, our relationship is broken temporarily due to entanglement in this material world. We can not remain permanently happy ( it is called bliss) until we re-establish our broken relationship with the God.
The similarity between all these school is that of bhakti or devotion, which is very essential to reestablish our broken loving relationship with the God.
Bg 12.1 — Arjuna inquired: Which are considered to be more perfect, those who are always properly engaged in Your devotional service or those who worship the impersonal Brahman, the unmanifested?
Bg 12.2 — The Supreme Personality of Godhead said: Those who fix their minds on My personal form and are always engaged in worshiping Me with great and transcendental faith are considered by Me to be most perfect.
Bhakti( Devotion) in nutshell: Scripture hearing & reading( will help us to understand God, also reflect our development & defect), Deity & Guru worship, Saying prayer, Chanting mantra, Eating prasadam ( eating remnant of fresh satvik food after offering the God 1st. Food affect our mind & body ). Implementing divine quality in our life as described in scriptures and Sharing these knowledge with others. All these spiritual activities performed with devotion will help us to build the loving relationship with God and eventually with all other lives including nature (essence of Bhakti).
Deity worship as authorised in scriptures is worshiping personal form of God to express our devotion toward God that my existence & all my opulence is because of you.
Guru worship is essential part of Bhakti. Guru is authorized representative of God. Through the Guru only we can understand Vedic Scriptures.
Bhakti is very active process not a passive. It requires lots of determination and time management skill to practice Bhakti in our daily life. It is all about developing higher taste in our life. Once we develop higher taste in spiritual activities slowly we will detach from mundane worldly activities (ideal speaking it should happen with advancement in our age). By practicing Bhakti daily we remain detach from material bondage in present life and become happy and peaceful. Bhakti leads us toward ultimate goal of human life to get liberated from birth-death cycle ( it is not possible in other forms of lives).
Association with like minded people will help us to achieve above mentioned goal.
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I am inspire to hear & read Vedic Scriptures & other philosophy by regularly listening Sri Pandurang Shashtri Athvale known as Dadaji ( speak on Srimad Bhagavad Gita, Veda based discourses & western philosophy ) and association of Swadhyay Parivar every Sunday in Swadhya Kendra.
FYI: Good source of Vedic literature: Vedabase.com (Srimad Bhagavad Gita is the essence & Srimad Bhagavatam is the nectar of all Vedic scriptures).
I also hear and read discourses & articles on Vedic thoughts & other philosophy from Srila Prabhupada, his disciples & grand disciples (Rasamitra Swami, Chaitanya Charandas Prabhu, Sutapa Das, Amarnath Dasa, Bhakticharu Swami, Urmila Devi Dasi, Radhanath Swami, Lal Govind Prabhu ( Gujarati & Hindi) Prahalad Maharaj in Surat (Gujarati) .......and many more from ISKCON......).
I am posting some article based on Vedic scriptures and literature. Of course I use Google search to collect some data. Thanks to Facebook for providing platform.
It is always good idea to share our good thoughts & knowledge with others. Besides my parents, spouse, teachers, family & friends GREATFUL to EVERYONE WHO HAVE CONTRIBUTED in MY LIFE.
Hopefully my enthusiasm will continue by grace of Guru & God (Absolute Truth).
