Children of Immortal Bliss: A New Perspective On Our True Identity Based On the Ancient Vedanta Philosophy of India

Paul Ph.D Hourihan

Description

PRACTICAL TEACHINGS FOR PEACE AND FULFILLMENT

In this clear introduction to the Vedanta philosophy of India, you'll discover a new perspective that can bring inner peace, inner strength and improve your relationships for a happier life. This spiritual book written by Paul Hourihan, an American, introduces these ancient teachings in a way that Westerners, in particular, can easily relate to and understand.

Why learn about the teachings of Vedanta?
- According to Vedanta, ignorance of our real nature is the cause of our suffering and grief. The practical application of this philosophy is the means to Self-discovery, integration and inner peace for those of all faiths and those with no particular faith.
- By stressing the universal truths common to all religions, they provide a unifying basis for mutual understanding and peace in a world increasingly fragmented by opposing beliefs.
- They provide a foundation for understanding why a moral and ethical life are necessary.
- This knowledge gives us the means for realizing our true identity as Children of Immortal Bliss.

Using the teachings of the Upanishads, this study covers the main principles and core concepts of Vedanta and covers important subjects such as meditation, nonattachment. It also provides an overview of the mysticism of India and a summary of the Yoga system of thought, as well as the Bhagavad Gita, another key Vedantic scripture.

The last section reveals the universality of these teachings through confirmations of great mystics from other traditions including Plotinus, Lao Tzu, Meister Eckhart and the Sufis of Islam.

Vedanta shows the way to inner peace, harmony among all peoples, and respect for all life.

Sujets

• Philosophie et théologie
• Mysticism
• Religion

Informations

• Publié par: eBookIt.com
• Date de parution: 21 février 2013
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9781931816120
• Langue: English

Extrait

A New Perspective on Our True Identity based on the Ancient Vedanta Philosophy of India
PAUL HOURIHAN Edited by Anna Hourihan

Vedantic Shores Press Redding, CA
Published by: Vedantic Shores Press P.O. Box 493100 Redding, CA 96049 [e-mail] http://www.VedanticShoresPress.com.
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under the Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this book may be used or reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by an information storage and retrieval system—except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews—without the prior written permission of the Publisher.
COPYRIGHT © 2011 by Estate of Paul Hourihan [Epub Edition]. COPYRIGHT © 2008 by Estate of Paul Hourihan [Print Edition].
The OM symbol on the front cover and title page is based on the Shanti Sadan OM and is reproduced by permission of Shanti Sadan, London ( www.shantisadan.org ).
Publisher’s Cataloging-in-Publication
(Provided by Quality Books, Inc.)
Hourihan, Paul.
Children of immortal bliss: a new perspective on our true identity based on the ancient Vedanta philosophy of India / Paul Hourihan; edited by Anna Hourihan.
p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. LCCN 2003117047 ISBN-13: 978-1-931816-12-0 [Epub Edition] ISBN-10: 1-931816-08-5 and ISBN-13: 978-1-931816-08-3 [Print Edition]
1. Vedanta. 2. Self (Philosophy)—India.
I. Hourihan, Anna. II. Title.
B132.V3H68 2008 181'.48 QBI07-600240
Children of Immortal Bliss is humbly dedicated to the swamis of the Ramakrishna Order of India who have left their beloved land to come to the West, and who stand as exemplars of the great Vedantic tradition. Following in the footsteps of Swami Vivekananda, they have carried on the vital work to bring these liberating teachings here where we have so much need of them.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS:
We gratefully acknowledge permission to use excerpts from the following:
The Upanishads, Breath of the Eternal, trans. Swami Prabhavananda and Frederick Manchester. Copyright © 1947, 1957 by the Vedanta Society of Southern California. The Song of God: Bhagavad-Gita, trans. Swami Prabhavananda and Christopher Isherwood, Vedanta Press. Copyright © 1944, 1951 by the Vedanta Society of Southern California, www.Vedanta.com.
The Teachings of the Mystics, Walter T. Stace, Mentor/New American Library. Copyright © 1960, by the Estate of W. T. Stace.
The Upanishads, trans. Eknath Easwaran of the Blue Mountain Center of Meditation. Copyright © 1987. The Swetasvatara passage quoted on the back cover is reprinted by permission of Nilgiri Press, P. O. Box 256, Tomales, CA 94971, www.easwaran.org.
Christian scriptural quotations are taken from the King James version of the Holy Bible .
The editor would like to acknowledge the contributions of the following individuals: I am very grateful to the friends and colleagues who took the time and trouble to help me during the various stages of the editing process. Friends who kindly read an early version of this text and whose responses led to an improved and more comprehensive study: Marianne, Ralph, Nick and especially Durga who read the early and later versions of the book and provided constructive criticism. I’d like to thank Kim for her valuable editorial services and general advice, whose work helped to make the material more accessible to a broader audience. Thanks also to Bruce for his useful editorial comments and help and Ana and Susana for their capable proofreading skills. I’m grateful to Earl for helping with the cover design and especially Mahadevi who provided the layout for the cover, as well as offering helpful suggestions for the cover copy.
EDITOR’S NOTE
Vedanta in modern times is memorably linked with the celebrated Indian mystic Ramakrishna (1836–1886) and his renowned disciple Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902). Many of the insights in the pages to follow have been gleaned from a close study of the lives and works of these preeminent souls.
This presentation is intended to convey the core concepts of the Vedantic thought of India and therefore the emphasis is on its philosophy rather than India’s rich cultural wellsprings that can be studied elsewhere.
The material for this text was derived from the author’s original course notes and lectures given at the University of Guelph, School of Continuing Studies, in Ontario, Canada. The purpose of the lectures was to introduce Vedantic ideas to Westerners and this orientation is carried over into the present text. It has been recast for a reading rather than a listening audience.
The author’s hope and prayer was that the ideas, insights, and promising message of these profound scriptures of India will inspire and encourage the reader to personally test the validity of these universal truths.
It is also hoped that Children of Immortal Bliss will serve as a reminder to India’s own sons and daughters, especially those in the West, of her invaluable spiritual legacy to the world.
– A.H.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Editor's Note
Preface
PART ONE – The Mysticism of India, An Overview
1 - Introduction
2 - Vedanta and Mysticism
3 - The Bhagavad Gita
4 - Yoga
PART TWO – The Upanishads: Thou Art That
5 - The Swetasvatara Upanishad
6 - Mind and Meditation
7 - Maya and the Nature of Reality
8 - The Chandogya and Brihadaranyaka Upanishads
9 - The Katha Upanishad
PART THREE – Brahman
10 - Emerson’s “Brahma”
11 - Brahman and the Individual Soul
12 - The Last Temptation
PART FOUR – Truth is One, Sages Call It by Different Names
13 - Plotinus
14 - Lao Tzu
15 - Meister Eckhart
16 - The Sufis
Conclusion
Notes and References
Bibliography
About the Author
PREFACE
The philosophy of Vedanta is as profound and mysterious as India, the ancient country of its origin. India, a land with unknown beginnings, is a suitable home for such a timeless philosophy.
As we are truly becoming a global village, the universal message of Vedanta’s main principles increasingly resonates with the world at large. Particularly since it stresses the universal truths common to all religions instead of the differences that divide them, its teachings are indispensable to a world fragmented by opposing beliefs, where these apparent differences are causing endless strife, conflict, and war.
The core Vedantic ideas of unity of existence, universality of religious truth and our indwelling divine nature no longer seem as strange to us as they did only 75 or 100 years ago when the general belief was that God was distant, in His heaven, and “the judge of the earth.” Many in the West who want a better understanding of God in human affairs no longer subscribe to this model, but feel that God may not be so distant after all. This is a momentous step forward. These and other related beliefs have been slowly filtering into Western consciousness, principally through the influence of Vedanta and other Eastern wisdom teachings.
An important example of this subtle influence may be seen in our political thinking. The ideal of democracy was unknown, even in the West, just over two centuries ago. So democracy is a rare flowering of political institutions, perhaps achieving its best statement in the Declaration of Independence, powerfully expressed in Thomas Jefferson’s words:
We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights and that among these are life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.
One wonders how Jefferson, an advanced thinker of his time, was inspired by these concepts, which clearly reflect Vedantic principles. Those truths were not self-evident to the mass of humanity then, and to much of it even today. On the other hand, the principle of spiritual democracy—of the divine presence dwelling in all beings—is self-evident to the mystic and the Vedantist.
Swami Vivekananda, the great modern expounder of Vedanta philosophy, spent four years of his short life in the United States. Significantly, after returning to India, he chose to leave his physical body on July 4, 1902, in tribute, we believe, to the American ideals as expressed in the Declaration.
Still, we may ask, what’s the use of this knowledge? How can we possibly apply the insights of these ancient teachings in our day-to-day lives? This knowledge is of great use. We have to know what the Truth, the highest principle is in order to be guided by it during our long voyage over the seas of life. Then, though we may falter many times, we look up, and like the North Star, it is there, guiding us back to the path. Gradually, we begin to incorporate something of the spiritual power of that Truth into the texture of our lives.

Consciousness is Brahman....
He through whom man sees, tastes, smells, hears, and enjoys is verily the immortal Self....
There are two selves, the apparent and the real. Of these it is the real Self, and He alone, who must be felt as truly existing....
He who sees all beings in the Self and the Self in all beings hates none....
This Self is Brahman.

– Upanishads
PART ONE
The Mysticism of India -An Overview-
1
Introduction
India, the country shaped like a heart, is the mystical heart of the world. It is the great reservoir of spirituality for humanity to dip into whenever it tires of the aridity of secular life and materialism, of doctrines and sensuality. Since its precious teachings have been translated and given away to the rest of the world over the last two centuries, perhaps it isn’t as necessary now to go to India to discover them: India is a spiritual territory, a spiritual direction, not a geography. So in this text we will try to capture the spirit of India—the India of the sages, of lofty thoughts, of the highest mysticism—and the essence of that is called Vedanta.
Vedanta is one of the six main schools of philosophy in Hinduis