As the first millennium b.c. progressed the Vedic culture settled into the Ganges River basin and developed a more stationary, agriculturally based society. The more mobile nomadic society of their ancestors had faded and the Vedic people were living in one place for longer periods of time. Clans fought with one another and annexed land from neighboring clans creating larger and larger kingdoms. The Vedic religion continued to go through changes as well. Since the society was more stationary Brahmans, holy men of the priestly caste, were making their homes in the forests where they would meditate and contemplate reality and the meaning of life. The fourth and final
of the Hindu Shruti texts was written by these hermit holy men as they practiced their religious meditations.
If you have not read “SACRED part 1” what you essentially need to know is that there are two kinds of Hindu texts: “Shruti” which means “revealed” i.e. from a divine source, and “Smrti” which means “remembered”. There are four Shruti collections of texts; I talked about the first three in "SACRED part 1." The fourth of the Shruti texts is called the Upanishads.
The Upanishads reflect the wider cultural shift taking place in the region being written roughly between 800 and 300 b.c. In the Upanishads there is a distinct turn away from many of the Vedic ideas and practices which mirror the shift in the wider culture. The hermit-sages who composed the Upanishads sought something more-ultimate, eternal salvation. Thus they spoke about and believed in a single, eternal, impersonal, divine force that animates and permeates the entire cosmos - Brahman.
The word "Upanishad" comes from a Sanskrit term that means "to sit near." It refers to a
student sitting near a teacher and learning directly through questions and answers. The Upanishads hold that since everything is Brahman, the individual is also Brahman. Individuals think that the things that make them who they are, such as one's relationships, or appearance, or even thoughts, are real. The Upanishads hold that these are merely elaborate illusions (sounds a little like Platonic dualism).
If one wishes to realize the ultimate, then one must detach oneself from all of these unreal things through ascetic meditation. One must go off and meditate on the reality of Brahman, which begins with meditation on the self, which is in essence the same as Brahman. In doing this you can be free from desire. If you think that sounds like Buddhism you are about to find out why.
And so it was that with the societal changes came the emergence of clan leaders and even kings
who ruled over large areas of land and many people. One particular king, King Suddhodana, ruler of the Sakya tribe, which straddled present day India and Nepal, had a son whom he loved very much. His son was born around 560b.c. When his son had grown up he decided to venture outside of the protective walls of the palace where he lived to see what life was really like. He saw four things that changed his life, the fourth thing he saw is what was crucial. The fourth thing he saw was a person, a hermit actually. One of these priestly seers of the Brahman caste who lived out in the wilds where he would meditate. This hermit-sage had found the Hindu prince and talked with him about contemplation, meditation and the meaning of life. He returned to his palace home but at the age of 29 he left it all and headed for the wilderness himself. This prince’s name was Siddhartha Gautama; he would later become known as Buddha.
Buddhism did not do so well at first. Then Alexander the Great showed up...
of the Hindu Shruti texts was written by these hermit holy men as they practiced their religious meditations.If you have not read “SACRED part 1” what you essentially need to know is that there are two kinds of Hindu texts: “Shruti” which means “revealed” i.e. from a divine source, and “Smrti” which means “remembered”. There are four Shruti collections of texts; I talked about the first three in "SACRED part 1." The fourth of the Shruti texts is called the Upanishads.
The Upanishads reflect the wider cultural shift taking place in the region being written roughly between 800 and 300 b.c. In the Upanishads there is a distinct turn away from many of the Vedic ideas and practices which mirror the shift in the wider culture. The hermit-sages who composed the Upanishads sought something more-ultimate, eternal salvation. Thus they spoke about and believed in a single, eternal, impersonal, divine force that animates and permeates the entire cosmos - Brahman.
The word "Upanishad" comes from a Sanskrit term that means "to sit near." It refers to a
student sitting near a teacher and learning directly through questions and answers. The Upanishads hold that since everything is Brahman, the individual is also Brahman. Individuals think that the things that make them who they are, such as one's relationships, or appearance, or even thoughts, are real. The Upanishads hold that these are merely elaborate illusions (sounds a little like Platonic dualism).If one wishes to realize the ultimate, then one must detach oneself from all of these unreal things through ascetic meditation. One must go off and meditate on the reality of Brahman, which begins with meditation on the self, which is in essence the same as Brahman. In doing this you can be free from desire. If you think that sounds like Buddhism you are about to find out why.
And so it was that with the societal changes came the emergence of clan leaders and even kings
who ruled over large areas of land and many people. One particular king, King Suddhodana, ruler of the Sakya tribe, which straddled present day India and Nepal, had a son whom he loved very much. His son was born around 560b.c. When his son had grown up he decided to venture outside of the protective walls of the palace where he lived to see what life was really like. He saw four things that changed his life, the fourth thing he saw is what was crucial. The fourth thing he saw was a person, a hermit actually. One of these priestly seers of the Brahman caste who lived out in the wilds where he would meditate. This hermit-sage had found the Hindu prince and talked with him about contemplation, meditation and the meaning of life. He returned to his palace home but at the age of 29 he left it all and headed for the wilderness himself. This prince’s name was Siddhartha Gautama; he would later become known as Buddha. Buddhism did not do so well at first. Then Alexander the Great showed up...
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