,Modern Hinduism

A wise man takes the essence of the knowledge of all places just as a bumblebee collects honey everywhere and of every flower", (Srimad Bhagavatam 4.18.2)

Modern hinduism is a complex system of old vedic traditions, of Vedanta, of various yogasystems and tantras and of shaivist traditions with their specific philosophies and exercises.

Today exists six schools of orthodox hindu-philosophy and three heterodox schools. Among the first are Nyaya, Vaisesika, Samkhya, Yoga, Purva mimamsa and Vedanta. Among the heterodox are the Jainas, the Buddhists and the Materialists (Cārvāka).

The hindu literature has several classes :

The Upanishads, the Brahma sutras and the Bhagavad Gita count as three canonical texts (Prasthānatrayī).

The supreme rule for Hindus is to follow the Sanatana Dharma.

There are three branches of Dharma (righteous life, duty): Yajna (sacrifice), Svādhyāya (self study) and Dāna (charity) are the first,
Tapas (austerity, meditation) is the second, while dwelling as a Brahmacharya for education in the house of a teacher is third,
All three achieve the blessed worlds. But the Brahmasamstha – one who is firmly grounded in Brahman – alone achieves immortality.( Chandogya Upanishad 2.23)

Also Taittiriya Upanishad’s hymn 1.9.1 emphasizes the central importance of Svadhyaya in one’s pursuit of Reality (Ṛta), Truth (Satya), Self-restraint (Damah), Perseverance (Tapas), Tranquility and Inner Peace (Samas).

These scriptures contain a limited and therefore often unilateral knowledge, also conditioned by the oral translation and secrecy of the traditionist and of the tantric scools which encryptewd their teachings. Therefore are the Upanishads not generally accepted in India.

Despite from the steps of Ashtanga - Yoga hinduism teaches a path with several steps of consciousness.

Trimurti in OM In the vedic beginnings were the vedic gods Vishnu, Agni and Rudra dominant. Later Hinduism puts more weight on the 'trimurti' of the three big cosmic gods :

* Brahma ( creator of forms - with four faces; earth )

* Vishnu ( penetrating and building, sustaining and destroying; divine electric and magnetic forces and poles; air(Chit) and water(Ananda) )

* Maheshvara( the pure untouched One, Shiva as the dissolving destroyer - spiritual fire - with Rudra as wild and evil aspect )

The dreadful Bhairava, who stands with several aspects in the center of kashmiric shaivism, stands for the divine etheric tattwa (Nada, Shabda, Tatpurusha). Above him is Ishvara/Maheshvari, an emanation of the Sadashiva.

So the Trimurti do not pass the treshold of the 'big emptyness oder mahashunya' ( Avyakta ) beyond the pure Ishvara-Tattwa. Their basis is the Shabda (OM) of Ishvara, whose origin is akasha, and who is the essence of creation.

In Vaishnavism, Vishnu's emanation Krishna is so falsely upheld as 'Param Brahman' or Parameshvara, and Shiva is mostly held down. HIs other meaning is the 'divine child' which starts the samadhi-path, who is accomanied by the transformed and therefore elder prana-kundalini Radha.

In tantric Hinduism the four shaktis are aspects of the ishvara.

Vedanta

Vedanta('end of the Vedas') or Uttara Mīmāṃsā is one of the six orthodox (āstika) schools of Hindu philosophy. Vedanta reflects ideas from the speculations and philosophies within the Upanishads.

In the aftervedic time, master Sri Adi Shankara introduced the Sanatana Dharma and the Advaita-Vedanta system.

The Shankara-Order teaches the steps of the Ashtanga-yoga, which contains the first 16 steps of the 'Universal Doctrine' or 'Universal Path':

"Ashtanga yoga -- Yama, niyam, aasan, praanayaam, pratyaahaar, dhaarnaa, dhyaan, samaadhi. Those are the eight limbs of the yoga. A guru takes a student one after another through this. For that the guru takes NOTHING of its student. He does it out of kindness and out of the feeling to do something good for his student." - Shree Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati (The Illustrated Weekly of India, September 13, 1987) .
The contents of the steps of Asthanga-Yoga are also the standard in most hinduistic systems.

But also modern Vedanta contains errors. An example is the view of the term Maya which in reality means the formativ element-principle: Shankara speaks about the 5 shells of Maya which disguise the Purusha.

Maya is a destructive and little conscious etheric substance, which manifests, perpetuates and governs the phenomenal Universe, which is created under the influence of the Atman (Purusha) on Maya, who so creates the Prakriti(Anthakarana).

Nowadays Maya is mostly seen as a factor which causes delusion (in contrary to Kashmir-Shaivaism) and sometimes it is even mistakenly looked at as the creator of the Pranava-Nada of the buddhic plane out of itself.

Other vedantic systems are Vishishtadvaita-Vedanta of Ramanuja and the Dvaita-Vada-Vedanta.

== Literature ==

Sri Yuktesvar Giri: The holy science
Comans, Michael, The Method of Early Advaita Vedānta: A Study of Gauḍapāda, Śaṅkara, Sureśvara, and Padmapāda, 2000, Motilal Banarsidass Pvt. Ltd., ISBN 978-81-208-1722-7

Mahabharata and Ramayana

Kriya-Yoga-Guru Sri Yuktesvar Giri said that entire knowledge of India is symbolically coded in the MAHABHARATA epic, on which the Bhagavad-Gita relies too.

* The Indian epic Mahabharata is one of the largest and most important creations of the world literature. In some editions, it comprises up to 100,000 verses. Besides the actual action numerous small episodes are incidentally described.

To them counts also the story of Savitri and Satyavan.
A statement: "Savitri was strong willed to reget her spouse, and she followed Yama into regions, that actually no mortal can enter. In the end she succeeded that to involve Yama into a conversation. Yama was impressed of the imperturbable tenacity, with which Savitri fought for life of its spouse, and he Satyavans soulin the end again free for a further life on earth.
The latter is in this context a description of the step 13 of the 22 steps.
The shorter versions of the Mahabharata (like the version of Biren Roy) show the path of the 22 steps clearer:
The Kauravas and the Pandavas grow up together. After step 6 their pathes seceded. Step 18 of the 22 steps corresponds with the battle of Kuruskshetra , on which also the Bhagavad Gita leans but in a different context.
The Mahabharata ends with step 20 (master).

Ramayana
The next important epos is the Ramyana, which contains 6 books and a 7th later appended book. The allegoric interpretation is :
* Book 1 - Bala-Kanda - includes step 6 of the path........
* Book 5 - Sundara-Kanda - contains step 14 of the Universal path.
* Book 6 - Yuddha-Kanda - completes the step 17
* Book 7 - Uttara-Kanda - completes with step 20 - Rama returns at the end into heaven

Puranas

The Puranas are ancient Hindu texts eulogizing various deities, primarily the divine Trimurti Gods through divine stories. All puranas have allegoric backgrounds.

An example is the the scene of the Gods and demons fighting for the milk ocean(Samudra manthan), which is a parable of the step 10 of the Universal Doctrine. The Tarotcard 10 shows similar gods and demons.

The Ganga

Modern hinduism has often lost the esoteric understanding of the original doctrines. An example are the millions of pilgrims, who proceed to pilgrimage to the Ganga, although this 'bath' which is expected to clean of karmic sins, is in reality the Nada or the Pranava(similar to the 'balneum mariae' of the spiritual alchemists). The beleife is also, that someone who bathes during full moon in May is liberated from rebirth - in reality is the inner 'full moon' meant, which the searcher must first selfrealize, together with the inner spiritual sun of the shabda.

The Supreme Sadhaka, who recites a mantra while holding the rosary of the human skull, holds the eight siddhis in his hand and is like the immortal Shambhu. What does it take to bathe in the Ganges because the Ganges is on top of your head? Those who dedicate themselves to the great rosary of the human skull bone deserve the merit of bathing in all sacred waters such as Varanasi, Kamarupa, Haridvara, Prayaga, the Gandaki River, Vadarika and the Ganges Delta - Matrikabhedatantra IV, 27-29

Hinduism offers a confusing multitude of teachings in the area of the right Tantra (in addition: Prof. A. Bharati: The Tantric tradition; INC and/or Rider CO show) and in the numerous yoga systems.

Shaivism

Shaivism sees Shiva as the highest lord (Sadashiva, primordial shiva and Paramshiva of Shaiva siddhanta and of kashmir shaivism are still higher forms).

After the Kurma-Purana the Trimurti has Shiva cut off the 5th head of the creator god Brahma because Brahma had called himself arrogantly as the supreme God. So Bhairava was created. But above him are Ishvara and Sadashiva with his 5 faces.

Some gurus as the deceased Babaji from Histanapur said, that we live in a destructive time period of Shiva (better of Rudra).

Many of them teach the meditation on the 'Om namaha shivaya' which the Shiva-Purana glorifies as a mantram which is suitable for everyone.

Shiva, Parvati and Ganesha (the divine child born without Shiva) are the holy family (allegory of the end of step 14 of the 'Universal Path').
It was said that Shiva's force is received on the hair tips of the Swamis head. Shiva himself lives in the golden hall in the center of the universe.

Also the Krama - group of Kashmir-Shaivism teaches the last five steps of the Ashtanga-Yoga (the first three are a condition for scholarship). It has the most detailed view of the planes of creation.

== Shaktism ==

Shaktism honours the Devi as the highest Chit-Shakti, who has here forms like Tripura Sundari. But in Hinduism this shakti is not higher than Ishvari of Ishvara. Only in Kashmir Shaivism higher forms of Shakti are mentioned.

Vishnu Avatars

In hinduism, the human development is accompanied by the 10(24) Avatars. But these avatars are also symbols for the steps 7 to 20 of the path.

Buddha Gautama attained the enlightenment individually. He taught the students to use their mind instead of just to beleive. That was 2500 years ago somewhat quite new.