Darshan of Swami Krishnananda in 1999

by Swami Krishnananda

46. The Definition of Hinduism

(Darshan given in November 1999)

A visitor: It [Hinduism] is the religious tradition which springs from the revelation of the divine in the Vedas.

Swamiji [to an ashramite}: Is the definition okay? 'Hinduism is the tradition that arises out of the tradition of the Vedas.' That is, he means to say that the whole thing is based on Vedas.

Ashramite: Well, it will not be a complete definition.

Swamiji: There are atheistic Hindus also, like Sankhya. Sankhya philosophers are Hindus, pukka Hindus, but there is no God for them, so Hinduism need not necessarily be identified with a God-fearing set of people. It is a very difficult thing. As he told me just now, it is difficult to define it. Generally Hinduism is connected with God-consciousness, a belief in God, love of God, etc., because minus God there is no Hinduism. This is what anybody would say. But Sankhya is Hindu only. Even Charvakas are Hindus. They are not Christians. But they have no religious values. This is a very, very difficult thing.

Ask any person: “How do you know that you are a Hindu?” What answer comes? No answer will come. Otherwise, how can Charvakas be Hindus, who deny the existence of God, deny religion, and deny all values? It's a peculiar, indescribable concept in the mind which makes one feel that he is a Hindu. It is not possible to define it like that because we must accept that Charvakas are Hindus, only they deny God. Sankhya philosophers, Kapila, all are Hindus only. Even Patanjali has no God – the great yogi. He simply somehow dovetails the concept of God for the purpose of... like a deus ex machina, but the realisation of God is not the aim of Patanjali's Sutras. It is something else. It is based on Sankhya only. But they are all great Hindus. So if you touch it, you will be opening a Pandora's box. You cannot know what is coming out.

It is a deep feeling that one has which makes him feel convinced that he is a Hindu, but he cannot express himself. I am a Hindu, it is true. For instance, I am a Hindu, but I cannot tell you why I am Hindu. That is in my heart, in my very blood and my nerves. That's all I can say. An indescribable thing it is.

Anyway, let us not talk too much about it. Very difficult things we cannot say. It is like a definition of God, definition of the world, definition of the soul, definition of human society, etc.

[Later on]

Swamiji: Whatever meditation you may do, it will not have finally any adequate effect if you believe that the world is outside you. That is the whole tragedy. Our sorrows are arising from one factor: We don't believe that we are part of the world. We are organically related to the whole world as one single living body. The universe is one single living entity, and you are all part of it, as cells are part of the whole body; so, the cell cannot look at the body as an outside object. But this is a terrible, difficult subject. It requires emotional calmness, no frustration, no unfulfilled desires, and you want nothing except freedom, which is ultimate.

So I will repeat, as long as you believe that the world is external to you and you have no connection with it, no meditation will be of any use. It won't work because the world will obstruct any kind of meditation. Deeply you meditate that you are merging in the whole world and the world merges into you, so that the meditator is the whole cosmos. It is not Mr. so-and-so meditating. The whole universe is meditating, and you cannot stand outside it. Then you will see a miracle will take place, miracle, and what miracle it is, you yourself will know.

A visitor: Swamiji, once you reach that state you don't need to meditate anymore?

Swamiji: You should not meditate more. When you have got it, got everything, then what? The king doesn't want to beg further. He won't beg. It is a question of one minute. This kind of meditation is only an adjustment of thought in the prescribed manner, which takes one minute.

Visitor: Swamiji, you can't meditate after you get that state, and once you get that state, you don't have to meditate.

Swamiji: There is no meditation. This is the meditation. What I'm telling now is the meditation. All other meditations you can set aside. They will all follow automatically.