4.

) DEVELOPMENT OF RELIGION (The belief of life after death)

The history of religions on a cross-cultural basis, though it has quite an ancient
pedigree, came into its own in a modern sense from about the time of Max Müller. During
the latter part of the 19th century an attempt was made to place comparative methodology
on a systematic basis (often called the Science of Religion), and in this connection the
work of the Dutch theologians P.D. Chantepie de la Saussaye (1848–1920) and C.P. Tiele
(1830–1902) was important. During this period, various lectureships and chairs in the
subject were instituted. In the Netherlands, following the reform of the theological
faculties in 1876, four chairs in the history of religions were founded. In 1879 a chair
was founded at the Collège de France (followed by others elsewhere in France), while a
number were created in Switzerland. The subject also spread to Great Britain (where chairs
at Manchester and London were instituted), the United States (at Harvard and Chicago), and
elsewhere in the Western world. In Germany, on the other hand, there was strong
resistance, notably from Adolf von Harnack, who thought that theology should avoid what he
regarded as dilettantism and that the subject was sufficiently covered in the study of
biblical religion.

The first congress of Religionswissenschaft (Science of Religion) took place in Stockholm in 1897, and a
similar one in the history of religions at Paris in 1900. Later, the International Association for the History of
Religions, dedicated to a mainly nonnormative and nontheological approach, was formed. Also important was
the compilation of encyclopaedias, notably Hastings’ Encyclopaedia of Religion and Ethics, with many
distinguished contributions. Thus, there were development and progress in the new subject in the latter part of
the 19th and early part of the 20th century. In the 1960s came the next major burst of expansion.

A great amount of the work of scholars in the field has been devoted to exploring particular histories—piecing
together, for instance, the history of Gnosticism (a Hellenistic-Christian heretical sect that emphasized dualism)
or of early Buddhism. In principle, Christianity is considered from the same point of view, but much significant
work has also been comparative and structural. This can range from the attempt to establish rather particular
comparisons, such as Otto’s comparison (in his Mysticism East and West) of the medieval German mystic
Meister Eckehart and the medieval Hindu philosopher Śaṅkara, to a systematic typology, as in Religion in
Essence and Manifestation by the Dutch historian of religion Gerardus van der Leeuw.

There have been many significant scholars in the history and phenomenology of religion since Max Müller.
Rudolf Otto (1869–1937) made a profound impression on the scholarly world with the publication of The Idea
of the Holy (in its German edition of 1917), which showed the influence of Schleiermacher, Marett, Edmund
Husserl, and the Neo-Kantianism of Jakob Fries (1773–1843). More important than the philosophical side of his
enterprise, however, was the excellent delineation of a central experience and sentiment and the elucidation of
the concept of the Holy. The central experience Otto refers to is the numinous (Latin numen, “spirit”) in which
the Other (i.e., the transcendent) appears as a mysterium tremendum et fascinans—that is, a mystery before
which man both trembles and is fascinated, is both repelled and attracted. Thus, God can appear both as
wrathful or awe inspiring, on the one hand, and as gracious and lovable, on the other. The sense of the
numinous, according to Otto, is sui generis, though it may have psychological analogies, and it gives an access
to reality, which is categorized as holy. Otto stresses what he calls the nonrational character of the numinous,
but he does not deny that rational attributes may be applied to God (or the gods or other numinous powers),
such as goodness and personality. The impact of Otto’s work, however, does not depend on the now rather
curious Neo-Kantian scheme into which he presses his data. Not all scholars would agree that the numinous is
universal as a central element in religion, as Otto seems to have supposed: early Jainism and Theravāda
Buddhism, for example, have other central values. Otto’s treatment of mysticism, which is central to Buddhism,
wavers somewhat, and the notions of the “wholly Other” and of the tremendum do not easily apply to the
experience of Nirvāṇa (the state of bliss) or to other deliverances of the contemplative mystical consciousness.
Friedrich Heiler (1892–1967), like Otto a professor at Marburg (Germany), was a strong proponent of the
phenomenological and comparative method, as in his major work on prayer. Heiler, however, went beyond the
scientific study of religion in attempting to promote interreligious fellowship, partly through the Religiöser
Menschheitsbund (Union of Religious Persons), which he helped to found. Heiler believed in the essential unity
of religions—a recurring theme in various guises in the period, though open to question because of the widely
apparent divergences between prophetic and other religions, such as Theravāda Buddhism and Jainism, which
do not believe in a supreme personal being.

The phenomenologist of religion who probably has had the greatest influence after Otto, partly because he is
fairly explicit about method, is Gerardus van der Leeuw (1890–1950), who was somewhat influenced by the
French anthropologist Lucien Lévy-Bruhl (1857–1939) and his notion of prelogical mentality, which he applied
to primitive cultures to distinguish them from civilized cultures. Van der Leeuw emphasized power as being the
basic religious conception. His major work, Religion in Essence and Manifestation, is an ambitious and wide-
ranging typology of religious phenomena, including the kinds of sacrifice, types of holy men, categories of
religious experience, and other types of religious phenomena. The work has been criticized, however, as being
unhistorical. Partly because of his philosophical presuppositions, borrowed chiefly from Husserl, van der Leeuw
held the disputable doctrine that Phenomenology knows nothing of the historical development of religion: it
picks out timeless essences of religious phenomena. Apparently it is not necessary, however, to hold this
doctrine, since one could as well classify types of religious change (i.e., temporal sequences), as indeed Max
Weber attempted to do. Classificatory and historical techniques and conclusions are not incompatible, however.
Thus, the work of Nathan Söderblom, who, as well as being a historian of religions, was prominent in the
ecumenical movement, combined the two aspects in his Living God.

Christianity
Whilst there are different orthodox Christian beliefs – Catholics, Protestants, the Baptists and other Christians,
the core of Christian belief about the afterlife is that there is an afterlife, that conduct on earth – how we behave
- will determine where in the afterlife you will eventually end up. That there is a hell for the wicked ones –
especially the Catholic Church still teaches that hellfire is for eternity and there is heaven for those who
behaved well. Also, the Catholic Church claims there is an afterlife state which is between heaven and hell the
Catholic Church calls ‘purgatory.’ The theological teaching is that after a time of purgation, the spirit will
eventually be progress and will go to heaven. There are other Christians, the Protestants, who do not accept
purgatory. Catholic theology also states that sinners can confess their sins to Catholic priests and those sins are
forgiven for ever – it does not matter how grave the sins might be – including genocide – if the sinner truly
repents, he will be forgiven.

Christian Beliefs about the Afterlife

Buddhism

Buddha accepted the basic Hindu doctrines of reincarnation and karma, as well as the notion that the ultimate
goal of the religious life is to escape the cycle of death and rebirth. Buddha asserted that what keeps us bound to
the death/rebirth process is desire, desire in the sense of wanting or craving anything in the world. Hence, the
goal of getting off the Ferris wheel of reincarnation necessarily involves freeing oneself from desire. Nirvana is
the Buddhist term for liberation. Nirvana literally means extinction, and it refers to the extinction of all craving,
an extinction that allows one to become liberated.

Where Buddha departed most radically from Hinduism was in his doctrine of "anatta", the notion that
individuals do not possess eternal souls. Instead of eternal souls, individuals consist of a "bundle" of habits,
memories, sensations, desires, and so forth, which together delude one into thinking that he or she consists of a
stable, lasting self. Despite its transitory nature, this false self hangs together as a unit, and even reincarnates in
body after body. In Buddhism, as well as in Hinduism, life in a corporeal body is viewed negatively, as the
source of all suffering. Hence, the goal is to obtain release. In Buddhism, this means abandoning the false sense
of self so that the bundle of memories and impulses disintegrates, leaving nothing to reincarnate and hence
nothing to experience pain.

From the perspective of present-day, world-affirming Western society, the Buddhist vision cannot but appear
distinctly unappealing: Not only is this life portrayed as unattractive, the prospect of nirvana, in which one
dissolves into nothingness, seems even less desirable. A modern-day Buddha might respond, however, that our
reaction to being confronted with the dark side of life merely shows how insulated we are from the pain and
suffering that is so fundamental to human existence.

Following death, according to Tibetan Buddhism, the spirit of the departed goes through a process lasting forty-
nine days that is divided into three stages called "bardos." At the conclusion of the bardo, the person either
enters nirvana or returns to earth for rebirth.

It is imperative that the dying individual remain fully aware for as long as possible because the thoughts one has
while passing over into death heavily influence the nature of both the after-death experience and, if one fails to
achieve nirvana, the state of one's next incarnation.

Stage one of the Bardo (called the "Chikai" Bardo), the bardo of dying, begins at death and extends from half a
day to four days. This is the period of time necessary for the departed to realize that they have dropped the body.
The consciousness of the departed has an ecstatic experience of the primary "Clear White Light" at the death
moment. Everyone gets at least a fleeting glimpse of the light. The more spiritually developed see it longer, and
are able to go beyond it to a higher level of reality. The average person, however, drops into the lesser state of
the secondary "clear light."

In stage two (called the "Chonyid" Bardo), the bardo of Luminous Mind, the departed encounters the
hallucinations resulting from the karma created during life. Unless highly developed, the individual will feel
that they are still in the body. The departed then encounters various apparitions, the "peaceful" and "wrathful"
deities, that are actually personifications of human feelings and that, to successfully achieve nirvana, the
deceased must encounter unflinchingly. Only the most evolved individuals can skip the bardo experience
altogether and transit directly into a paradise realm. Stage three (called the "Sidpa" Bardo), the bardo of rebirth,
is the process of reincarnation.

Judaism

Traditional Judaism firmly believes that death is not the end of human existence. However, because Judaism is
primarily focused on life here and now rather than on the afterlife, Judaism does not have much dogma about
the afterlife, and leaves a great deal of room for personal opinion. It is possible for an Orthodox Jew to believe
that the souls of the righteous dead go to a place similar to the Christian heaven, or that they are reincarnated
through many lifetimes, or that they simply wait until the coming of the messiah, when they will be resurrected.
Likewise, Orthodox Jews can believe that the souls of the wicked are tormented by demons of their own
creation, or that wicked souls are simply destroyed at death, ceasing to exist.

Islam

According to the tenets of the Muslim faith, death is the complete end of physical life and the beginning of a
period of rest until the day of resurrection when Allah judges the living and the dead. Many Muslims believe
that the righteous are able to see visions of God after death and that the wicked see visions of hell. Except for
these possible visions of heaven or hell, Muslims believe the soul remains in a kind of "soul sleep" until
Judgment Day. When the Day of Judgment arrives, everyone is judged according to their deeds in life. Many
Muslims believe that non-Muslims can attain heaven only after a period of purification in the fires of purgatory.

In the eighth century, a mystical sect of Islam began which merged the mystical traditions of the Greeks,
Buddhists and Hindus with traditional Islamic faith. Concepts found in Sufism can be found in a great many
near-death experiences which have been reported. The Sufi masters teach that, after death, a person judges
himself thereby bringing about their own heaven or hell. Sufism is known as "the Way of the Heart" and the
"Way of the Pure." It is a means by which one can move from the lower level of self to ascend to the Divine
Light that penetrates the entire universe. This light concept is common to many other religions as well as the
near-death experience. According to Sufi tradition, there are many ways to ascend, but the essence of the path to
God is to find yourself. As the Sufi saying states, "Know yourself, know your Lord."

Hinduism
The Upanishads, the ancient set of Hindu religious texts, postulated an eternal, changeless core of the self called
as the "Atman." This soul or "deep self" was viewed as being identical with the unchanging godhead, referred to
as Brahma (the unitary ground of being that transcends particular gods and goddesses). Untouched by the
variations of time and circumstance, the Atman was nevertheless entrapped in the world of "samsara" (the cycle
of death and rebirth). Unlike Western treatments of reincarnation, which tend to make the idea of coming back
into body after body seem exotic, desirable, and even romantic, Hinduism, Buddhism, and other southern Asian
religions portray the samsaric process as unhappy. Life in this world means suffering.

What keeps us trapped in the samsaric cycle is the law of karma. In its simplest form, this law operates
impersonally like a natural law, ensuring that every good or bad deed eventually returns to the individual in the
form of reward or punishment commensurate with the original deed. It is the necessity of "reaping one's karma"
that compels human beings to take rebirth (to reincarnate) in successive lifetimes. In other words, if one dies
before reaping the effects of one's actions (as most people do), the karmic process demands that one come back
in a future life. Coming back in another lifetime also allows karmic forces to reward or punish one through the
circumstances to which one is born. Hence, for example, an individual who was generous in one lifetime might
be reborn as a wealthy person in the next incarnation.

"Moksha" is the traditional Sanskrit term for release or liberation from the endless chain of deaths and rebirths.
In the southern Asian religious tradition, it represents the supreme goal of human strivings. Reflecting the
diversity of Hinduism, liberation can be attained in a variety of ways, from the proper performance of certain
rituals to highly disciplined forms of yoga. In the Upanishads, it is proper knowledge, in the sense of insight
into the nature of reality, that enables the aspiring seeker to achieve liberation from the wheel of rebirth.

What happens to the individual after reaching moksha? In Upanishadic Hinduism, the individual Atman is
believed to merge into the cosmic Brahma. A traditional image is that of a drop of water that, when dropped into
the ocean, loses its individuality and becomes one with the sea. Although widespread, this metaphor does not
quite capture the significance of this merger. Rather than losing one's individuality, the Upanishadic
understanding is that the Atman is never separate from Brahma; hence, individuality is illusory, and moksha is
simply waking up from the dream of separateness.

Along with heaven realms, Hinduism also developed notions of hell worlds in which exceptionally sinful
individuals were punished. Many of the torments of Hindu hell worlds, such as being tortured by demons,
resemble the torments of more familiar Western hells. Unlike Western hells, however, Hindu hell worlds are not
final dwelling places. They are more like purgatories in which sinful souls experience suffering for a limited
term. After the term is over, even the most evil person is turned out of hell to once again participate in the cycle
of reincarnation.

Spiritualism/ Spiritism
says that all people and animals that have been loved (had their vibrations raised) such as pets, continue to live
after physical death. On crossing over we take three things with us: our etheric or spirit body (a duplicate of our
physical body) all memories and our character.

On crossing we go to a realm that will accommodate the vibrations we accumulated from all the thoughts and
actions of our lifetime. Average decent people go to what is usually termed as the Third Realm. Those who have
been willfully cruel and consistenetly selfish go to the darker, very unpleasant Astral regions because their level
of vibrations would be much lower than the vibrations of the Third Realm.

Information transmitted from the other side tells us that the Third Realm is a place of enormous beauty, peace
and light. There will be scope to continue to spiritually refine indefinitely. Those who earned it can progress to
the fourth level, then the fifth, and sixth and so on. For humans we know that there are at least seven realms
vibrating from the lowest to the highest - the higher the vibrations the more beautiful and better the conditions.

Spiritualists accept the Law of Progress- that those who are in the lower realms will one day slowly go
upwardly towards the Realms of the Light even if it takes eons of time.

Unlike all other religions which require faith and belief (faith in a belief without evidence),
Spiritualistm/Spiritism is the only religion which is based on evidence and direct experience. Spiritism, briefly,
is very similar to Spiritualism and is based on Allen Kardec's research - see below.

Spiritualism is the acceptance of empirically elicited evidence that the human consciousness survives physical
death and that those who survive can communicate with those who are physically on earth in a number of ways.
This communication can be made through at least twenty different empirically validated processes including
mental, physical and direct voice mediumship, telepathy, xenoglossy, Electronic Voice Phenomena, Instrumental
Trans-communication, Apparitions, Ouija Board, Death Bed Visions, Poltergeists (see A Lawyer Presents the
Evidence for the Afterlife).

In addition, Spiritualists follow the universal law of cause and effect, accepting self responsibility and that the
universe is governed by Mind, commonly called God.

Modern spiritualist movement began in 1848 in Hydesville, New York with the Fox sisters who demonstrated
that spirits communicated with them by rapping on tables. The historical record is that finding of a skeleton in
the basement where the Fox sisters used to live – as the spirit of a man who was murdered there had directed the
Fox sisters to search by digging in the basement. The finding of the skeleton confirmed the rappings directed at
the two Fox sisters. The murdered former resident of the house informed the Fox sisters who actually murdered
him and the police caught the murderer.
To-day, as it was in the past for thousands of years, millions of people around the world experience for
themselves communication from the afterlife from their loved ones. Communication is now accepted world
wide. Highly credible world famous scientists – see chapter 2 using their scientific skills regularly confirm this
communication. Scientific testing is being done regularly on gifted mediums with great success. Some
spiritualists organize themselves and have service meetings in Spiritualist Churches. Others call themselves
Spiritualists without aligning with any formal organisation.

Spiritism is defined by Spiritist Doctrine as the collection of principles and laws, considered to be revealed by
Superior Spirits, contained in the works of Allan Kardec, which constitute the Codification of Spiritism: The
Spirits' Book, The Mediums' Book, The Gospel According to Spiritism, Heaven and Hell and The Genesis
According to Spiritism. A most credible spiritist definitive work on communication from the afterlife is by Alan
Kardec The Spirits’ Book.
5.) China

Writing in China dates back to the

hieroglyphs that were used in the Shang
Dynasty of 1700 – 1050 BC. Chinese
literature is a vast subject that spans
thousands of years. One of the
interesting things about Chinese
literature is that much of the serious literature was composed using a formal written language that is called
Classical Chinese. The best literature of the Yuan Dynasty era and the four novels that are considered the
greatest classics are important exceptions. However, even during the Qing Dynasty of two hundred years ago,
most writers composed in a literary stream that extended back about 2,400 years. They studied very ancient
writings in more or less the original written language. This large breadth of time with so many writers living in
the various eras and countries makes Chinese literature complex. Chinese literary works include fiction,
philosophical and religious works, poetry, and scientific writings. The dynastic eras frame the history of
Chinese literature and are examined one by one.

The grammar of the written Classical Language is different than the spoken languages of the past two thousand
years. This written language was used by people of many different ethnic groups and countries during the Zhou,
Qin and Han eras spanning 1050 BC to 220 AD. After the Han Dynasty, the written language evolved as the
spoken languages changed, but most writers still based their compositions on Classical Chinese. However, this
written language wasn’t the vernacular language even two thousand years ago. The empires and groups of
kingdoms of all these eras were composed of people speaking many different native languages. If Europe had a
literary history like China’s, it would be as if most European writers until the 20th century always tried to write
in ancient Classical Greek that became a dead language more than two millennia ago.

Shang Dynasty (about 1700-1050 BC) - Development of

Chinese Writing
The first dynasty for which there is historical record and archaeological evidence is the Shang Dynasty. It was a
small empire in northern central China. No documents from that country survive, but there are archaeological
finds of hieroglyphic writing on bronze wares and oracle bones. The hieroglyphic writing system later evolved
into ideographic and partly-phonetic Chinese characters.

Zhou Dynasty (1045-255 BC)

Basic Philosophical and Religious Literature
The Zhou Dynasty was contemporaneous with the Shang Dynasty, and then they conquered the Shang Dynasty.
Their dynasty lasted for about 800 years, but for most of the time, their original territory was broken up into
dozens of competing kingdoms, and these finally coalesced into several big and warring kingdoms by the end of
the Zhou era. The great literary works of philosophy and religion that became the basis for Chinese religious
and social belief stem from what is called the Spring and Autumn Period (770-476) and the Warring States
Period (475-221). Taoism, Confucian literature, and other prominent religious and philosophical schools all
emerged during these two periods.
The Chinese call this simultaneous emergence of religions and philosophies the “One Hundred Schools of
Thought.” Perhaps so many philosophers could write simultaneously because they lived in small kingdoms that
supported them. In Chinese history, the dominant rulers generally squelch or discourage philosophical
expression that contradict their own, so when there were several small powers, different schools of thought
could survive in the land at the same time.

The major literary achievements of the Confucian Classics, early Taoist writings, and other important prose
works originated in the late Spring and Autumn Period and the Warring States Period of the Zhou Dynasty era.
These literary works deeply shaped Chinese philosophy and religion. Confucius is said to have edited a history
of the Spring and Autumn Period called the Spring and Autumn Annals (春秋) that shapes Chinese thinking
about its history.

There were hundreds of philosophers and writers who wrote conflicting documents, and there was discussion
and communication. What we know of the literature of this period was mainly preserved after the Qin Dynasty’s
book burning and from a few recent archeological finds of records. Probably most of the philosophical and
religious works of that time were destroyed. If there were great fictional books created, they have been lost. So
the main contributions of this period to Chinese literature were the prose works of the Confucian Classics and
the Taoist writings, and preserved poems and songs.

Qin Dynasty (221-206 BC)

Literary Disaster and Legalism
At the end of the Zhou Dynasty era that is called the Warring States Period, of the surviving few big states in the
land, the Qin Dynasty became the most powerful. The Qin Dynasty had big armies and conquered the others.
Once the Qin emperor had control, he wanted to keep it, and they squelched any opposition to his authority. In
the conquered territories, there were teachers of many different doctrines and religions. A big philosophical and
religious school then was called Mohism. They were particularly attacked by the Qin Dynasty, and little is
known about it. An early form of Buddhism was also established in China at that time, but their temples and
literature were destroyed and even less is known about them. The emperor wanted to reduce the One Hundred
Schools of Thought to one that he approved. He ordered the destruction of most books all over the empire. He
even killed many Confucian philosophers and teachers. He allowed books on scientific subjects like medicine or
agriculture to survive. So the “Book Burning and Burial of Scholars” was a literary disaster.

On the other hand, the Qin Dynasty standardized the written Classical Language. It is said that a minister of the
Qin emperor named Li Si introduced a writing system that later developed into modern Chinese writing.
Standardization was meant to help control the society. The standardized writing system also helped people all
over the country to communicate more clearly.

The Qin Emperor favored a philosophical school that was called Legalism (法家). This philosophy of course
justified the strong control of the emperor and maintained that everyone should obey him. It is thought that Li Si
taught that human nature was naturally selfish and that a strong emperor government with strict laws was
needed for social order. Li Si’s writings on politics and law and his propagation of this school much influenced
the political thinking in the Han Dynasty and later eras. Legalism texts and the standardization of writing were
the Qin Dynasty era’s literary contributions.

Han Dynasty (206 BC – 220 AD)

Scientific and Historical Texts
A former peasant leader overthrew the Qin Empire. The Han Dynasty era lasted for 400 years. At the beginning
of the era, Confucianism was revived. Confucian texts were rewritten and republished. Confucianism was
mixed with the Legalism philosophy of Li Si. The resulting ideology was the official ideology of the Han
Dynasty and influenced political thinking afterwards. The era’s major contributions were historical texts and
scientific works.

Sima Qian wrote Historical Records that is a major history concerning the overall history of China from before
the Shang Dynasty until the Han Dynasty. The book’s prose was considered a model for writers in succeeding
dynastic eras. Another important historical text concerned the Han Dynasty itself.

Some scientific texts were also thought to be important for their times, thought it doesn’t seem that the
information was widely known or well known afterwards. The Han Dynasty era was one of the two main
hotspot eras for scientific and technical advance. But printing wasn’t available for wide publication of the
information. During the Eastern Han Dynasty towards the end of the Han era, the influence of the philosophy of
the Confucian Classics that hindered scientific progress was waning. So people were more free to pursue
invention. Cai Lun (50–121) of the imperial court is said to be the first person in the world to create writing
paper, and this was important for written communication at the end of the empire. Finery forges were used in
steel making. Two or three mathematical texts showing advanced mathematics for the times were written.

The Han Empire disintegrated into warring kingdoms similar to what happened during the Warring States
Period before the Qin Dynasty. For several hundred years, dynasties and kingdoms rose and fell in various
places, and the next big and long-lasting dynastic empire is called the Tang Dynasty.

Tang Dynasty (618-907)

Early Woodblock Printing and Poetry
The Tang Dynasty had a big empire that benefited from trade with the west along the Silk Road, battled with the
Tibetan Empire, and experienced the growing influence of organized Buddhist religions. This era’s main
contribution to Chinese literature was in the poetry of Dufu, Li Bai and many other poets. Dufu and Li Bai are
often thought of as China’s greatest poets.

Li Bai (701–762) was one of the greatest romantic poets of ancient China. He wrote at least a thousand poems
on a variety of subjects from political matters to natural scenery.

Du Fu (712-770 AD) also wrote more than a thousand poems. He is thought of as one of the greatest realist
poets of China. His poems reflect the hard realities of war, dying people living next to rich rulers, and primitive
rural life. He was an official in the Tang capital of Chang An, and he was captured when the capital was
attacked. He took refuge in Chengdu that is a city in Sichuan Province. It is thought that he lived in a simple hut
where he wrote many of his best realist poems. Perhaps more than 1,400 of his poems survive, and his poetry is
still read and appreciated by modern Chinese people.

Song Dynasty (960-1279)

Early Woodblock Printing, Travel Literature, Poetry,
Scientific Texts and the Neo-Confucian Classics
The next dynasty is called the Song Dynasty. It was weaker than the Tang Dynasty, but the imperial government
officials made remarkable scientific and technical advances. Military technology greatly advanced. They traded
little with the west due to the presence of warring Muslim states on the old trade routes. There wasn’t territorial
expansion, but the empire was continuously attacked by nomadic tribes and countries around them. Their
northern territory was invaded, and they were forced to move their capital to southern China. So the era is
divided into two eras called the Northern Song (960-1127) and Southern Song (1127-1279) eras. One of the
era’s technological accomplishments was the invention of movable type about the turn of 2nd millennia during
the Northern Song period. This helped to spread knowledge since printed material could be published more
quickly and cheaply. Travel literature in which authors wrote about their trips and about various destinations
became popular perhaps because the texts could be cheaply bought. The Confucian Classics were codified and
used as test material for the entrance examination into the elite bureaucracy, advanced scientific texts and
atlases were published, and important poems were written.

The Confucian Classics were important in China’s history because from the Song Dynasty onwards, they were
the texts people needed to know in order to pass an examination for the bureaucracy of China. These Confucian
Classics were the Five Classics that were thought to have been penned by Confucius and the Four Books that
were thought to contain Confucius-related material but were compiled during the Southern Song era. The Four
Books and Five Classics (四書五經) were basically memorized by those who did the best on the exams. In this
way, Confucianism, as codified during the Song era, became the dominant political philosophy of the several
empires until modern times. Since the bureaucrats all studied the same works on social behavior and
philosophy, this promoted unity and the normalization of behavior throughout each empire and during dynastic
changes. The scholar-bureaucrats had a common base of understanding, and they passed on these ideas to the
people under them. Those who passed the difficult exams were highly respected even if they didn’t receive a
ruling post. High education in this system was thought to produce nobility.

The Five Classics and Four Books were written in the written Classical Language. The Five Classics include:
The Book of Changes, The Classic of Poetry, The Record of Rites that was a recreation of the original Classic of
Rites of Confucius that was lost in the Qin book purge, The Classic of History, and The Spring and Autumn
Annals that was mainly a historical record of Confucius' native state of Lu. The Four Books include: The
Analects of Confucius that is a book of pithy sayings attributed to Confucius and recorded by his disciples;
Mencius that is a collection of political dialogues attributed to Mencius; The Doctrine of the Mean; and The
Great Learning that is a book about education, self-cultivation and the Dao. For foreigners who want a taste of
this Confucian philosophy, reading the Analects of Confucius is a good introduction since the statements are
usually simple and like common sense.

Another period of scientific progress and technical invention was the Song era. Song technicians seemed to
have made a lot of advancements in mechanical engineering. They made advanced contraptions out of gears,
pulleys and wheels. These were used to make big clocks, a mechanical odometer on animal drawn carts that
marked land distance by making noise after traveling a certain distance, and other advanced instruments. The
Song technicians also invented many uses gunpowder including rockets, explosives and big guns.

The imperial court officials did remarkable scientific research in many areas of mechanics and science. Shen
Kuo (1031–1095) and Su Song (1020–1101) both wrote scientific treatises about their research and about
different fields. Shen is said to have discovered the concepts of true north and magnetic declination towards the
North Pole. He also described the magnetic needle compass. If Chinese sailors knew about this work, they could
have sailed long distances more accurately. This knowledge would predate European discovery. He did
advanced astronomical research for his time.

Su Song wrote a treatise called the Bencao Tujing with information on medicine, botany and zoology. He also
was the author of a large celestial atlas of five different star maps, and he also made land atlases. Su Song was
famous for his hydraulic-powered astronomical clock tower. Su's clock tower is said to have had an endless
power-transmitting chain drive that he described in a text on clock design and astronomy that was published in
1092. If this is so, it may be the first time such a device was used in the world. When the Southern Song Empire
was conquered by the Mongols, these inventions and the astronomical knowledge may have been forgotten.
Another contribution to the literature of China was the poetry of the Song era. A Southern Song poet named Lu
is thought to have written almost 10,000 poems. Su Tungpo is regarded as a great poet of the Northern Song era.
Here is a stanza he wrote:

The moon rounds the red mansion

Stoops to silk-pad doors
Shines upon the sleepless
Bearing no grudge
Why does the moon tend to be full when people are apart?

Yuan Dynasty (1279-1368)

Drama and Great Fictional Novels

The Mongols were nomadic people who herded cattle north of the Tang Empire and wandered over a large area
fighting on horseback. They believed that they might be able to conquer the world. They easily conquered
Persia far to the west. It was a big empire with high technology, a big population and a big army. Then they
decided to try to conquer all the countries around them. They attacked the Tang Dynasty, the Dali Kingdom in
Yunnan, and much of Asia, and they formed the biggest empire in the history of the earth until then. They
conquered Russia, a part of eastern Europe and a part of the Middle East. In China, the Mongols established the
very rich Yuan Dynasty. In their camps, the Mongols were entertained by shadow puppet plays in which a lamp
cast the shadows of little figurines and puppets on a screen or sheet. In the Yuan Dynasty, puppet drama
continued to entertain the rich dynastic courts in vernacular language. Dramatic operatic theaters with human
actors speaking in vernacular language was a favorite form of entertainment as well, and some of China’s best
dramatic scripts were written then. Also two of the four novels that are generally considered China’s best
literary classics were written in vernacular language then. So though the Yuan Empire wasn’t ruled by Chinese,
it was an era of some historically renowned dramatic playwrights and novelists who wrote in vernacular
language.

It is thought that the operatic style of the shadow puppet dramas that entertained the courts influenced the
development of the operatic theater style of the Yuan Dynasty. The Yuan rulers were fabulously wealthy
according to historical accounts. They had a vast empire and control of trade in Eurasia. For the royal courts or
the rich people, refined music, sound effects and talented singers were employed for shadow plays. The Yuan
“Zaju” style of opera was similar to their shadow plays. Perhaps the playwrights adopted the plots and the
features. There were exciting plots, elaborate costumes, refined music and singing, action, and dance that the
Mongols enjoyed. The music of the Zaju operas was called Yuan Qu (Yuan Music). The language used wasn’t
the Classical Language but the vernacular language, so that the theater might be enjoyed by everyone. After the
Yuan Dynasty, the operatic style developed into the Painted Faces style of Chinese opera that was popular until
modern times.

Guan Hanqing is regarded as one of the best playwrights of the times. He wrote Midsummer Snow that was one
of the most popular drama pieces. It is a tragedy about an unjustly accused woman who received justice after
her death. The Romance of the Western Chamber was written by Wang Shifu. It is considered one of the best
romantic dramas ever written in China.

Novels were another outstanding achievement of the Yuan era. The novelists influenced the future development
of the genre. Two novels are still widely read now and are generally considered two of the four greatest novels
in Chinese literature. These are Water Margin and The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms was written in vernacular language by Luo Guan Zhong. It is historical
fiction about the end of the Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms Period. The Three Kingdoms Period was
between the Han and Tang eras. Special emphasis is laid on the two famous historical rulers Liu Bei and Cao
Cao who were antagonists. It is a long novel with 800,000 words.

Water Margin is about the lives and ideals of a group of characters who fought against the corrupt Northern
Song Dynasty that the Mongols conquered. It is said it was written in vernacular language by Shi Nai An, but
scholars debate about the authorship. Many scholars think that the first 70 chapters were written by Shi Nai An
and that the last 30 chapters were written by Luo Guan Zhong who was also the author of The Romance of the
Three Kingdoms.

Ming Dynasty (1368-1644)

Novels
The Chinese rebelled against the Mongols, and the Ming Dynasty era began about 1368. The Mongols and the
Ming government still sometimes fought. Because of this and the presence of Muslim countries in between,
trade with the west was reduced to the pre-Yuan level. The Ming initially were interested in exploration, and
Muslims whose ancestors arrived during the Yuan Dynasty and who were familiar with seagoing trade were
employed to make long voyages to the Indian Ocean, the Middle East and perhaps Africa. Then they became
isolationist. It is interesting that a book that is one of the four great classics called Journey to the West about a
monk going to India was written during this time of isolation. Maybe the thought of travel to the lands in the
west was appealing then. Novels were the era’s main contribution.

The Journey to the West is based on the historical journey of a Buddhist to India during the Tang era to learn
Buddhist teachings and bring back scriptures and information. In 1629, Xuanzang (602 - 664) left Chang'an in
629 and arrived back in Chang'an in 646. Mythical tales about this journey including the character of an
intelligent monkey began to be circulated long before the book was written. The author drew on known tales.

Journey to the West is thought to have been published anonymously by Wu Cheng'en in the 16th century though
scholars have doubt about the authorship. The trend in that era was for people to write in Classical Chinese and
imitate the literature of the Tang Dynasty and Han Dynasty. However, this book was written in the vernacular.
Perhaps because there was a lack of accurate geographical knowledge available to the author, much of the
geographical landscape of the story is inaccurate. However, the “Flaming Mountains” that are near Turpan in
Xinjiang are mentioned. Perhaps the author meant to poke fun at Chinese religion because a monkey is said to
have defeated a whole army led by Taoist gods, and only the Buddha’s intervention stopped the monkey. The
book describes India as a land of gross sin and immorality, and the monk was commissioned by Buddha to help
India. The characters in the book are well known to Chinese children, and they often appear in martial arts
movies and cartoons.

QingDynasty(1644-1911)
Novels and Pre-modern Literature
The Manchus invaded the Ming Empire from the north and established the last dynasty called the Qing Dynasty.
The Manchus were not Chinese, but they retained the Neo-Confucian governing system of the Song and Ming
eras. The Qing Dynasty came under increasing attack from both internal rebellions and foreign countries. In the
19th century, foreign literature and the West became better known. In the middle of this era, the last of China’s
four great classic novels was written called Dream of the Red Chamber(紅樓夢); and near the end of the era,
modernistic literature developed.

The Dream of the Red Chamber also has an uncertain authorship. Like the other three great classic novels, it
was written in a vernacular language – the Mandarin language that was the language of the Qing capital. It is
probably mostly composed by Cao Xueqin (about 1715-1763) in the middle 1700s, and the first printing of the
book was in the late 1700s. It is thought that Cao did not live to see the first printing. It is thought that another
person or other people contributed the ending of the story since the original ending of the story was lost. The
book has a lot of textual problems, and there are different versions. In a preface to a printed version in 1792,
two editors claimed to have put together an ending based on the author's working manuscripts that they had
bought from a street vendor.

At the end of the Qing Dynasty era, the dynastic rulers came under increasing pressure both from foreign
attacks and internal rebellions. Educated Chinese had easier access to foreign literature, and they were more
influenced by Western culture. Students started to travel abroad to study, and schools built by missionaries
educated tens of thousands of students. There was a general sense of crisis, and intellectuals started translating
foreign works on science, politics, and literature. These were popular, and the culture started to change. Some
writers produced fiction more like Western fiction.

Modern Era (1912-present)

Westernized Literature
Sun Yat-sen led a revolution that marked the end of Chinese dynasties in which a clan rules an empire. Of
course, the big change of Chinese society that happened with the change of government led to a change in
literature. It became westernized, and the Classical Language wasn’t used. The national government wanted
women to have more of an equal status in society, and women writers and scholars were taken more seriously.
There was a lot of politically oriented literature printed. Scholars had access to foreign literature, and many
students studied abroad.

Until about 1923, there was a New Culture Movement. Writers generally wanted to lead the way in
transforming China into a modern industrialized country and replacing Confucian life-style with a westernized
one. Under the national government, there was some freedom of expression, and lots of views and styles of
literature were popular. China came under attack from Japan. After the Communist victory, only literature
approved by the government was allowed.

A.) The Five Sages (Philosophers) Of China .

Confucius
Confucius, or as
literally translated,
Master Kong (K'ung-
fu-tzu or Kongfuzi),
lived and worked
during what is known
as the Chinese Spring
and Autumn Period
(770-481 BCE), and is
by tradition said to
have been born on the
28th of September in
551 BCE in the state of
Lu located on the
Shandong peninsula in
northeastern China and
died in 479 BCE. It is
said, “by tradition”
because it is difficult to
distinguish much of
Confucius’ life between
the factual and the
legendary. Confucius
was an infamous
Chinese thinker and
educator, comparable
to Socrates in the West,
who developed a social
and political
philosophy that is often considered to be the foundation of subsequent Chinese thought. He was the founder of
the Ru School of Chinese thought and the philosophical school of thought that has come to bear his name,
Confucianism, comes from his tradition and the fragments that were recorded in the text called Analects
(Lunyu). One of his most renowned concepts is summed up in the often translated and transmitted phrase:

Do not do to others what you do not want done to yourself

As mentioned, it is difficult to trace the historical Confucius as his myth and legend have far surpassed the mere
factual coordinates of his life. One legend has it that Confucius was born in answer to his parents prayers they
made at a sacred hill (qui) called Ni and hence his names attest as such: Kong equates to the thanking of prayers
answered, his forbidden name was Qui and his public name was Zhongni. Fact or fiction, the majority of what
we know about Confucius comes from the Analects and other transcriptions and records of his thoughts and
goings-on that were mostly transcribed during the Warring States Period (403-221 BCE) in which there was an
ongoing struggle among the small states in China to regain the primacy and power of the Zhou. As well, the
well-known text, Records of the Grand Historian (Shiji), written by Sima Qian (145-c.85 BCE), who was court
historian to the Han dynasty, includes many accounts of the life and teachings of Confucius. The latter identifies
Confucius as a descendent of the Royal State of Song yet grew up in the small state of Lu due to his
grandfather’s having to flee the turmoil that besieged that of the state of Song. His life in Lu was said to have
begun in poverty as accounts have stated that his father died when he was just three and he was raised by his
mother in which he soon had to take various odd jobs once he came of age. He apparently wed a young girl
named, Qi Guan, who bore him a son, Kong Li.
His educational background is unclear except that tradition claims him to have studied with Lao Dan, the Daoist
Master, as well as with Chang Hong and Xiang in music and lute respectively. What is clear is that education or
study was extremely important to Confucius in which one must be dependent and independent; he is recorded in
the Analects as saying: “He who learns but does not think is lost. He who thinks but does not learn is in great
danger.” The Analects, recorded during the Warring States era, are said to reveal the dialogues between
Confucius and his pupils in which he transmits, and perhaps expands, on the ideas, or the way (Dao) of the
ancient Zhou. He was known to say that he was a transmitter and not a maker, and he had a passion for the
wisdom of the Zhou sages upon which his teachings were based, or transmitted from. It is worth noting that it
was in the fall of the Zhou Empire that the various small states began to vie for power and such a unified loss
was a probable influence on Confucius.

Confucius gathered a following or a group of disciples, the number of which has been overly exaggerated
according to scholars. There are claims that he had as many as three thousand, though more accurate accounts
put that number at seventy-two (though this number is also suspicious as it is a magic number and purportedly
the age of his death). Regardless, Confucius was open to teaching all, no matter their class, through his
interpretation of his study and centered that espousal on the edifice of learning as well. His method was never to
teach in a preacher-like manner, but rather in a motivational one (so-to-speak), such that the pupil must answer
for himself: “I only instruct the eager and enlighten the fervent. If I hold up one corner and a student cannot
come back to me with the other three, I do not go on with the lesson.”

His teachings, as did his own learning, emphasized morality, government, speech and language and the arts. As
well he focused on what was referred to as the Six Arts: archery, calligraphy, chariot, computation, music and
ritual. Of the various subjects though, it was morality that was considered of utmost importance above all else.
Through a proper understanding and practice of morality all else could be derived, harmonized and rectified.
This is revealed in a famous lesson in which a student asks if there is one word that could guide a person
through life, the master’s answer is “reciprocity” (shu), and the ‘answer’ is a suggestion, followed by the
exemplifying phrase, “never impose on others what you would not choose for yourself.” A moral education,
ideally, provides one with the building blocks for self-cultivation, harmony and ethical action, which can
maintain and restore value and meaning for society (something which he considered lost in the loss of the Zhou
reign). And for Confucius, it was in the Book of Songs, through its poetry, where one could find the epitome of
such imperative study in morality.

The aesthetic is very much an important element in the philosophy of Confucius. The aesthetic is beautiful and
good and as poetry can yield such manner so should man’s comportment. What by some interpretations may
seem as mere etiquette is much more deeply an issue of aesthetic gratitude and respect. It is one of the key
elements to his idea of a harmonious order. Such an order included a special relationship to and serving of the
spirits. He maintained that he had a special relationship to Tian, the Zhou deity referring to sky or heaven. He
acknowledged its changing status and relationship over time, pre-dating the Zhou, and acknowledged the
‘existential’ dilemma in such change, yet maintained a balanced interpretation in which man is subject to the
parameters set forth by the Tian though is a free agent within those parameters and responsible for his actions.
Therefore, there is an aesthetic, moral and social co-mingling order that ensures the highest order of harmony,
which can be effected through li (ritual propriety). One must learn and perform properly and at the proper time
for the greater good.

Through li one can cultivate and master the idea of ren (compassion, or the loving of others), a core component
of his thinking. Together this involves deprecating oneself as opposed to being artificial in making the
appearance of a better impression: to be true and sincere to oneself is to take care of the other as well; to master
self-discipline not as a form or self-repression but as a way to accommodate both the self and the other. Such is
enacted in the performance of li, and not as mere obligation, but precisely as sincere devotion: “look at nothing
in defiance of ritual, listen to nothing in defiance of ritual, speak of nothing in defiance or ritual, never stir hand
or foot in defiance of ritual.”
The importance of such comportment is as well, and clearly as could be no other way, integral to the operations
of political life. While he deemed that the elders and the learned are to be respected and honored, that in fact the
best practice of ren is through the devotion and respect of one’s elders, he was keen to make aware that such
filial propriety is not to be abused. There is no ruler who is essentially “better” than a peasant, and the former
should never take for granted the latter. As is true for the social is true for governance—self-discipline through
compassion and the love of others.

One who rules by moral force may be compared to the North Star – it occupies its place and all the stars pay
homage to it.

As well, the system of governance should follow a hierarchy, as does the notion of li in a familial setting such
that a legitimate and honorable hierarchy is established and respected as it (when it) collectively adheres to the
harmonic order of li and ren. This theory takes on the name of zhengming, in which the principle forms of
government have their appropriate names and corresponding behaviors. “Good government consists in the ruler
being a ruler, the minister being a minister, the father being a father, and the son being a son.” This notion of
adjudication is considered essential, as the devolution of governance is believed by Confucius to take place in
the devolution of one’s place and the attributes and performance of one’s position.

Proper, ideal governance is, above all else, dependent upon de, or virtue. It is a moral force that incorporates the
performance of li and the presence of ren. The ceremonial, in this context, is far from pomp and circumstance,
but rather a sincere activation of virtue, which has the effect of performing governance. Confucius spoke of
such in defiance of acts of aggressive force or imposition of law and law enforcement, which would be
antithetical to the force of morality. As he states: “If the people be led by laws, and uniformity among them be
sought by punishments, they will try to escape punishment and have no sense of shame. If they are led by
virtue, and uniformity sought among them through the practice of ritual propriety, they will possess a sense of
shame and come to you of their own accord.” Virtue, metaphorically, leads on its own accord.

Confucius, himself, did not become officially involved in politics until the age of fifty. Under Duke Ding of the
state of Lu, Confucius was first appointed Minister of Public Works, which was then followed by the position as
Minister of Crime. Apparently, he was forced to leave his position in the ministry of the Duke due to conflicting
desires of the nobility of Lu or perhaps the Duke himself—the exact reasons are not clear. He did take leave, or
some have said in exile, and traveled with some of his disciples through the other neighboring states of Cai,
Chen, Chu, Song and Wei. He apparently sought positions in the ministries of these states yet was unsuccessful.
In 484 BCE he returned to his home state of Lu and devoted the rest of his life to teaching.

The Analects give us most of what we know about Confucius and while Confucius claimed to be a mere
transmitter, scholars agree that he in fact did much more than transmit and in fact it is his interpretations,
expansions and departures that honored him with such a lasting reputation. His teachings were evolutionary,
radical and enlightening. His legacy has had long lasting and far-reaching impact in both the eastern and
western traditions. He is an amazing figure in history and in legend as the two can never be separated and it
speaks to his almost magical presence in the history of Chinese thought. His age of death, seventy-two, was
itself a magic number and again leaves open the uncertainty of what is true and what is retrospective
mythologizing. It has been convened that the thinker was under recognized in his time yet his legend, and more
importantly his teachings, lived on. At the end of the 4th century, Mencius was to say of Confucius, “ever since
man came into this world, there has never been one greater than Confucius.”

Hsün Tzu on the topic of evil:
"The Nature of Man is Evil":
The nature of man is evil; his
goodness is the result of his
activity. Now, man's inborn nature
is to seek for gain. If this tendency
is followed, strife and rapacity
result and deference and
compliance disappear. By inborn
nature one is envious and hates
others. If these tendencies are
followed, injury and destruction
result and loyalty and faithfulness
disppear. By inborn nature one
possesses the desires of ear and
eye and likes sound and beauty. If
these tendencies are followed, lewdness and licentiousness result, and the pattern and order of propriety and
righteousness disappear. Therefore to follow man's nature and his feelings will inevitably result in strife and
rapacity, combine with rebellion and disorder, and end in violence. Therefore there must be the civilizing
influence of teachers and laws and the guidance of propriety and righteousness, and then it will result in
deference and compliance, combine with pattern and order, and end in discipline. From this point of view, it is
clear that the nature of man is evil and that his goodness is the result of activity.
Crooked wood must be heated and bent before it becomes straight. Blunt metal must be ground and whetted
before it becomes sharp. Now the nature of man is evil. It must depend on teachers and laws to become correct
and achieve propriety and righteousness and then it becomes disciplined. Without teachers and laws, man is
unbalanced, off the track, and incorrect. Without propriety and righteousness, there will be rebellion, disorder,
and chaos. The sage-kings of antiquity, knowing that the nature of man is evil, and that it is unbalanced, off the
track, incorrect, rebellious, disorderly, and undisciplined, created the rules of propriety and righteousness and
instituted laws and systems in order to correct man's feelings, transform them, and direct them so that they all
may become disciplined and conform with the Way (Tao). Now people who are influenced by teachers and
laws, accumulate literature and knowledge, and follow propriety and righteousness are superior men, whereas
those who give rein to their feelings, enjoy indulgence, and violate propriety and righteousness are inferior men.
From this point of view, it is clear that the nature of man is evil and that his goodness is the result of activity.
Mencius said, "Man learns because his nature is good" (6A:1-8). This is not true. He did not know the nature
of man and did not understand the distinction between man's nature and his effort. Man's nature is the product of
Nature; it cannot be learned and cannot be worked for. Propriety and righteousness are produced by the sage.
They can be learned by men and can be accomplished through work. What is in him and can be learned or
accomplished through work is what can be achieved through activity. This is the difference between human
nature and human activity. Now by nature man's eye can see and his ear can hear. But the clarity of vision is not
outside his eye and the distinctness of hearing is not outside his ear. It is clear that clear vision and distinct
hearing cannot be learned. Mencius said, "The nature of man is good; it [becomes evil] because man destroys
his original nature." This is a mistake. By nature man departs from his primitive character and capacity as soon
as he is born, and he is bound to destroy it. From this point of view, it is clear that man's nature is evil.
By the original goodness of human nature is meant that man does not depart from his primitive character but
makes it beautiful, and does not depart from his original capacity but utilizes it, so that beauty being [inherent]
in his primitive character and goodness being [inherent] in his will are like clear vision being inherent in the eye
and distinct hearing being inherent in the ear. Hence we say that the eye is clear and the ear is sharp. Now by
nature man desires repletion when hungry, desires warmth when cold, and desires rest when tired. This is man's
natural feeling. But not when a man is hungry and sees some elders before him, he does not eat ahead of them
but yields to them. When he is tired, he dares not seek rest because he wants to take over the work [of elders].
The son yielding to or taking over the work of his older brother— these two lines of action are contrary to
original nature and violate natural feeling. Nevertheless, the way of filial piety is the pattern and order of
propriety and righteousness. If one follows his natural feeling, he will have no deference or compliance.
Deference and compliance are opposed to his natural feelings. From this point of view, it is clear that man's
nature is evil and that his goodness is the result of activity.
Someone may ask, "If man's nature is evil, whence come propriety and righteousness?" I answer that all
propriety and righteousness are results of the activity of sages and not originally produced from man's nature.
The potter pounds the clay and makes the vessel. This being the case, the vessel is the product of the artisan's
activity and not the original product of man's nature. The artisan hews a piece of wood and makes a vessel. This
being the case, the vessel is the product of the artisan's activity and not the original product of man's nature. The
sages gathered together their ideas and thoughts and became familiar with activity, facts, and principles, and
thus produced propriety and righteousness and instituted laws and systems. This being the case, propriety and
righteousness. and laws and systems are the products of the activity of the sages and not the original products of
man's nature.
As to the eye desiring color, the ear desiring sound, the mouth desiring flavor, the heart desiring gain, and the
body desiring pleasure and ease— all these are products of man's original nature and feelings. They are natural
reactions to stimuli and do not require any work to be produced. But if the reaction is not naturally produced by
the stimulus but requires work before it can be produced, then it is the result of activity. Here lies the evidence
of the difference between what is produced by man's nature and what is produced by his effort. Therefore the
sages transformed man's nature and aroused him to activity. As activity was aroused, propriety and
righteousness were produced, and as propriety and righteousness were produced, laws and systems were
instituted. This being the case, propriety and righteousness, laws, and systems are all products of the sages. In
his nature, the sage is common with and not different from ordinary people. It is in his effort that he is different
from and superior to them.
It is the original nature and feelings of man to love profit and seek gain. Suppose some brothers are to divide
their property. If they follow their natural feelings, they will love profit and seek gain, and thus will do violence
to each other and grab the property. But if they are transformed by the civilizing influence of the pattern and
order of propriety and righteousness, they will even yield to outsiders. Therefore, brothers will quarrel if they
follow their original nature and feeling but, if they are transformed by righteousness and propriety, they will
yield to outsiders.
People desire to be good because their nature is evil. If one has little, he wants abundance. If he is ugly, he
wants good looks. If his circumstances are narrow, he wants them to be broad. If poor, he wants to be rich. And
if he is in a low position, he wants a high position. If he does not have it himself, he will seek it outside. If he is
rich, he does not desire more wealth, and if he is in a high position, he does not desire more power. If he has it
himself, he will not seek it outside. From this point of view, [it is clear that] people desire to be good because
their nature is evil.
Now by nature a man does not originally possess propriety and righteousness; hence he makes strong effort to
learn and seek to have them. By nature he does not know propriety and righteousness; hence he thinks and
deliberates and seeks to know them. Therefore, by what is inborn alone, man will not have or know propriety
and righteousness. There will be disorder if man is without propriety and righteousness. There will be violence
if he does not know propriety and righteousness. Consequently by what is inborn alone, disorder and violence
are within man himself. From this point of view, it is clear that the nature of man is evil and that his goodness is
the result of his activity.
Mencius said, "The nature of man is good." I say that this is not true. By goodness at any time in any place is
meant true principles and peaceful order, and by evil is meant imbalance, violence, and disorder. This is the
distinction between good and evil. Now do we honestly regard man's nature as characterized by true principles
and peaceful order? If so, why are sages necessary and why are propriety and righteousness necessary? What
possible improvement can sages make on true principles and peaceful order?
Now this is not the case. Man's nature is evil. Therefor the sages of antiquity, knowing that man's nature is
evil, that it is unbalanced and incorrect, and that it is violent, disorderly, and undisciplined, established the
authority of rulers to govern the people, set forth clearly propriety and righteousness to transform them,
instituted laws and governmental measures to rule them, and made punishment severe to restrain them, so that
all will result in good order and be in accord with goodness. Such is the government of sage-kings and the
transforming influence of propriety and righteousness.
But suppose we try to remove the authority of the ruler, do away with the transforming influence of propriety
and righteousness, discard the rule of lases and governmental measure, do away with the restraint of
punishment, and stand and see how people of the world deal with one another. In this situation, the strong would
injure the weak and rob them, and the many would do violence to the few and shout them down. The whole
world would be in violence and disorder and all would perish in an instant. From this point of view, it is clear
that man's nature is evil and that his goodness is the result of activity.

Han Feizi

Han Feizi, Wade-Giles

romanization Han Fei-
tzu (Chinese: “Master
Han Fei”) (born c.
280, China—died 233
bce, China), the greatest
of China’s Legalist
philosophers. His essays
on autocratic
government so
impressed King Zheng
of Qin that the future
emperor adopted their
principles after seizing
power in 221 bce. The
Hanfeizi, the book
named after him,
comprises a synthesis of
legal theories up to his
time.

Life
Little is known of Han Feizi’s personal life. A member of the ruling family of Han, one of the weaker of the
warring states that were in conflict during the 5th–3rd centuries bce, he studied under the Confucian
philosopher Xunzi but deserted him to follow another school of thought more germane to the conditions
accompanying the collapse of the feudal system in his time. Finding that his advice to the ruler of his native
state went unheeded, he put his ideas into writing. A speech defect is also reputed to have induced his recourse
to writing. King Zheng of Qin (a western state)—who became the first emperor of the Qin dynasty in 221 bce—
read and admired some of his essays. When in 234 bce Zheng launched an attack on Han, the ruler of Han
dispatched Han Feizi to negotiate with Qin. Zheng was delighted to receive Han Feizi and probably planned to
offer him a high government post. Li Si, the chief minister of Qin and a former schoolmate of Han Feizi’s,
presumably afraid that the latter might gain the king’s favour by virtue of superior erudition, had Han Feizi
imprisoned on a charge of duplicity. Complying with Li Si’s order to commit suicide, he drank the poison Li Si
sent him, ending his life.

Political thought
To Han Feizi it was axiomatic that political institutions must change with changing historical circumstances. It
is folly, he said, to cling to outmoded ways of the past, as the Confucians did. It was also axiomatic that political
institutions adapt to the prevailing pattern of human behaviour, which is determined not by moral sentiments but
by economic and political conditions. In a year of famine people can hardly feed their own kin, while in a year
of plenty they feast casual visitors—not because they are alternately heartless and generous but “because of the
difference in the amount of food to be had.” In ancient times, when goods were abundant, men made light of
them, but increased population pressure on resources brought economic scarcity; consequently, “men of today
quarrel and snatch.” The ruler, therefore, should not try to make men good but only to restrain them from doing
evil. Nor should he try “to win the hearts of the people” because, selfish as men are, they do not know their own
true interests. The people’s mind is as undependable as an infant’s.

According to the Confucians, as virtue confers on a king the right to rule, misrule voids that right. Han Feizi
thought differently. Whatever the ruler’s moral qualities and however he rules, possession of authority (shi)
carries with it the leverage to exact obedience. “Subject serving ruler, son serving father, and wife serving
husband” together constitute “an immutable principle of the world.” Even if a lord of men is unworthy, no
subject would dare to infringe his prerogative. Moreover, political duty takes precedence over other duties. A
soldier, it was said, ran from battle because he thought that, if he was killed, he could no longer serve his father.
Han Feizi commented: “A filial son to his father can be a traitorous subject to his ruler.”

Authority should be wielded not whimsically but through laws (fa) that the ruler promulgates and that all must
obey. “The intelligent ruler makes the law select men and makes no arbitrary appointment himself; he makes the
law measure merits and makes no arbitrary judgment himself.” He can reform the law, but, so long as he allows
it to stand, he must observe it.

To ensure an effective bureaucracy and to protect his authority from encroachment or usurpation, the ruler must
make use of shu (“administrative techniques” or “statecraft”). Rulers of the Warring States period found it
advantageous to employ men skilled in government, diplomacy, and war. But how to separate solid talent from
idle chatter became a serious problem. Shu was Han Feizi’s answer to the problem. After assigning posts
according to individual capacities, the ruler should demand satisfactory performance of the responsibilities
devolving on their posts and punish anyone who is derelict of duty or oversteps his power. The ruler may
authorize an official to carry out a proposal he has submitted. He should punish him not only when the results
fall short of the stated goal but also when they exceed it.

Shu is also Han Feizi’s answer to the problem of usurpation, through which more than one ruler had lost his
throne. The interest of the ruler and ruled are incompatible: “Superior and inferior wage one hundred battles a
day.” Therefore, it behooves the ruler to trust no one; to be suspicious of sycophants; to permit no one to gain
undue power or influence; and, above all, to use wile to unearth plots against the throne.

With supreme authority secure and good order prevailing, the ruler proceeds to aggrandize his realm by means
of military power. Might is the decisive factor in interstate relations. Military power is inseparable from
economic strength. Farming being the only productive occupation, all other callings, especially that of the
scholar, should be discouraged. Giving relief to the destitute is both unwise and unfair. To collect taxes from the
rich in order to help the poor “is robbing the diligent and frugal and indulging the extravagant and lazy.”

Sun Tzu
Sun Tzu is
the reputed
author of The
Art of War
(<Ping-fa),
which some
consider to
be the best
single book
ever written
on the
subject. Of
Sun Wu
himself (Tzu
is an
honorific
particle,
meaning
"master"),
little is
known beyond
his birth in
the state of
Ch'i and
service to
King Ho-lu of
Wu; he was a
military
specialist active during the turbulent late Chou dynasty. Recent excavations of ancient
manuscripts of Sun Tzu in China have confirmed the great antiquity of the text attributed
to him. Long studied in Asia, Sun Tzu's work became known in the West only in the late
eighteenth century and was not properly translated until the twentieth.

Sun Tzu’s approach to warfare, unlike that of Western authors, does not put force at the center: indeed, the
Chinese character li (force) occurs only nine times in the text’s thirteen chapters. This reflects the conditions of
warfare in China at the time (force was then in fact of limited utility) as well as Sun Tzu’s conviction that
victory and defeat are fundamentally psychological states. He sees war, therefore, not so much as a matter of
destroying the enemy materially and physically (although that may play a role), but of unsettling the enemy
psychologically; his goal is to force the enemy’s leadership and society from a condition of harmony, in which
they can resist effectively, toward one of chaos (luan), which is tantamount to defeat.

Military action is presented by Sun Tzu in an implicitly Taoist frame of reference. The idea that terrain, weather,
and enemy morale in effect have contours, through which the successful general finds the best ways (tao),
thereby using the force inherent in them to support his purposes, is basically Taoist, as is the recurrent theme of
transformation, from one state to another, as in the interplay he discusses between regular (cheng) and irregular
(ch’i) forces.

But operationally, Sun Tzu’s goal is psychological dominance and its exploitation, founded upon superior
knowledge of the enemy (he lays great stress on the employment of secret agents) and kueitao, variously
translated as “deception” or “unconventional means.” Thus Sun Tzu commends operations that will harm
enemy morale: splitting alliances, evading battle, attacking by surprise; he condemns those that may undermine
one’s own society, such as the attrition that might result from besieging a walled city. Some operations may be
almost purely psychological in their purpose, such as setting fires, which Sun Tzu discusses in effect as a terror
weapon. The height of military skill is to turn opposing plans to one’s own uses by “attacking the enemy’s
strategy” (as the Germans did against the French in 1940), which at its best yields victory without fighting.

Sun Tzu, however, does not propose that combat can be eliminated. Rather, he is mindful of the tremendous
risks attendant on any resort to force, especially bankruptcy and the social disintegration of the politically weak
Chinese states of his time. So he urges that force not be squandered, but conserved carefully and used only
when it may have decisive impact.

Sun Tzu writes about warfare within a single culture, wherein secret agents are difficult to detect and enemy
thought processes differ little from one’s own. One might question therefore the relevance of Sun Tzu in
modern conditions, in which states are robust and force abundantly available, and in wars between nations, in
which ethnic differences make spying difficult and enemy thought processes difficult to assess. Such concerns
were probably more persuasive in the era of era of Carl von Clausewitz than they are today. For one thing,
nuclear weapons have meant that the traditional Western road to victory–the application of massive,
industrialized force–is now closed against a nuclear-armed adversary, and hence strategists must consider once
again how to win without fighting, or at least without fighting too much. Force, as Vietnam showed, cannot
alone win victory.

Lao Tzu: Father of Taoism

Although ascetics and hermits such

as Shen Tao (who advocated that
one 'abandon knowledge and
discard self') first wrote of the 'Tao'
it is with the sixth century B.C.
philosopher Lao Tzu (or 'Old
Sage' -- born Li Erh) that the
philosophy of Taoism really began.
Some scholars believe was a
slightly older contemporary of
Confucius (Kung-Fu Tzu, born
Chiu Chung-Ni). Other scholars
feel that the Tao Te Ching, is really
a compilation of paradoxical
poems written by several Taoists
using the pen-name, Lao Tzu.
There is also a close association
between Lao Tzu and the
legendary Yellow Emperor,
Huang-ti.

According to legend Lao Tzu was

keeper of the archives at the
imperial court. When he was eighty years old he set out for the western border of China, toward what is now
Tibet, saddened and disillusioned that men were unwilling to follow the path to natural goodness. At the border
(Hank Pass), a guard, Yin Xi (Yin Hsi), asked Lao Tsu to record his teachings before he left. He then composed
in 5,000 characters the Tao Te Ching (The Way and Its Power).

Whatever the truth, Taoism and Confucianism have to be seen side-by-side as two distinct responses to the
social, political and philosophical conditions of life two and a half millennia ago in China. Whereas
Confucianism is greatly concerned with social relations, conduct and human society, Taoism has a much more
individualistic and mystical character, greatly influenced by nature.

In Lao Tzu's view things were said to create "unnatural" action (wei) by shaping desires (yu). The process of
learning the names (ming) used in the doctrines helped one to make distinctions between good and evil,
beautiful and ugly, high and low, and "being" (yu) and "non- being" (wu), thereby shaping desires. To abandon
knowledge was to abandon names, distinctions, tastes and desires. Thus spontaneous behavior (wu-wei)
resulted.

The Taoist philosophy can perhaps best be summed up in a quote from Chuang Tzu:

"To regard the fundamental as the essence, to regard things as coarse, to regard
accumulation as deficiency, and to dwell quietly alone with the spiritual and the
intelligent -- herein lie the techniques of Tao of the ancients."
One element of Taoism is a kind of existential skepticism, something which can already be seen in the
philosophy of Yang Chu (4th century B.C.) who wrote:
"What is man's life for? What pleasure is there in it? Is it for beauty and riches? Is it
for sound and colour? But there comes a time when beauty and riches no longer answer the
needs of the heart, and when a surfeit of sound and colour becomes a weariness to the eyes
and a ringing in the ears.

"The men of old knew that life comes without warning, and as suddenly goes. They denied
none of their natural inclinations, and repressed none of their bodily desires. They never
felt the spur of fame. They sauntered through life gathering its pleasures as the impulse
moved them. Since they cared nothing for fame after death, they were beyond the law. For
name and praise, sooner or later, a long life or short one, they cared not at all."

Contemplating the remarkable natural world Lao Tzu felt that it was man and his activities which constituted a
blight on the otherwise perfect order of things. Thus he counseled people to turn away from the folly of human
pursuits and to return to one's natural wellspring.
The five colours blind the eye.
The five tones deafen the ear.
The five flavours dull the taste.
Racing and hunting madden the mind.
Precious things lead one astray.

Therefore the sage is guided by what he feels and not by what he sees.
He lets go of that and chooses this.

The central vehicle of achieving tranquillity was the Tao, a term which has been translated as 'the way' or 'the
path.' Te in this context refers to virtue and Ching refers to laws. Thus the Tao Te Ching could be translated as
The Law (or Canon) of Virtue and it's Way. The Tao was the central mystical term of the Lao Tzu and the
Taoists, a formless, unfathomable source of all things.
Look, it cannot be seen - it is beyond form.
Listen, it cannot be heard - it is beyond sound.
Grasp, it cannot be held - it is intangible.
These three are indefinable, they are one.
From above it is not bright;
From below it is not dark:
Unbroken thread beyond description.
It returns to nothingness.
Form of the formless,
Image of the imageless,
It is called indefinable and beyond imagination.

Stand before it - there is no beginning.

Follow it and there is no end.
Stay with the Tao, Move with the present.

Knowing the ancient beginning is the essence of Tao.

Lao Tzu has Yin Xi appear to the Barbarian as the Buddha.

Lao Tsu taught that all straining, all striving are not only vain but counterproductive. One should endeavor to do
nothing (wu-wei). But what does this mean? It means not to literally do nothing, but to discern and follow the
natural forces -- to follow and shape the flow of events and not to pit oneself against the natural order of things.
First and foremost to be spontaneous in ones actions.

In this sense the Taoist doctrine of wu-wei can be understood as a way of mastering circumstances by
understanding their nature or principal, and then shaping ones actions in accordance with these. This
understanding has also infused the approach to movement as it is developed in Tai Chi Chuan.

Understanding this, Taoist philosophy followed a very interesting circle. On the one hand the Taoists, rejected
the Confucian attempts to regulate life and society and counseled instead to turn away from it to a solitary
contemplation of nature. On the other hand they believed that by doing so one could ultimately harness the
powers of the universe. By 'doing nothing' one could 'accomplish everything.' Lao Tzu writes:

The Tao abides in non-action,

Yet nothing is left undone.
If kings and lords observed this,
The ten thousand things would develop naturally.
If they still desired to act,
They would return to the simplicity of formless substance.
Without form there is no desire.
Without desire there is tranquillity.
In this way all things would be at peace.
In this way Taoist philosophy reached out to council rulers and advise them of how to govern their domains.
Thus Taoism, in a peculiar and roundabout way, became a political philosophy. The formulation follows these
lines:

The Taoist sage has no ambitions, therefore he can never fail. He who never fails always succeeds. And he who
always succeeds is all- powerful.

From a solitary contemplation of nature, far removed from the affairs of men, can emerge a philosophy that has,
both in a critical as well a constructive sense -- a direct and practical political message. Lao Tzu writes:

Why are people starving?

Because the rulers eat up the money in taxes.
Therefore the people are starving.
Why are the people rebellious?
Because the rulers interfere too much.
Therefore they are rebellious.

Why do people think so little of death?

Because the rulers demand too much of life.
Therefore the people take life lightly.

Having to live on, one knows better than to value life too much.

The I Ching or Book of Changes

The I Ching, or Book of Changes, is one of the 1st efforts of the human mind to place
itself within the universe. It has exerted a living influence in China for 3000 years &
interest in it has been spreading in the West. Set down in the dawn of history as a book
of oracles, the Book of Changes deepened in meaning when ethical values were attached to
the oracular pronouncements; it became a book of wisdom, eventually one of the Five
Classics of Confucianism, & provided the common source for both Confucianist & Taoist
philosophy. Wilhelm's rendering of the I Ching into German, published in 1924, presented
it for the 1st time in a form intelligible to the general reader. Wilhelm, who translated
many other ancient Chinese works & wrote several books on Chinese philosophy &
civilization, long resided in China. His close association with its cultural leaders gave
him a unique understanding of the text of the I Ching. In the English translation, every
effort has been made to preserve Wilhelm's pioneering insight into the spirit of the
Original.
This 3rd edition, completely reset, contains a new forward by Hellmut Wilhelm, one of the
most eminent American scholars of Chinese culture. He discusses his father's textual
methods & summarizes recent studies of the I Ching both in the West & in present-day
China. The new edition contains minor textual corrections, bibliographical revisions &
index.

A. ) Upanishads and the Vedas

Harappan Civilization

Although they did use some writing with pictographic symbols at Mohenjo-daro, they were not extensive nor
alphabetic nor have they been deciphered yet, and the Indo-European Sanskrit which did develop in India is
probably quite different. Nevertheless the Harappan civilization of the Indus Valley in what is now Pakistan did
borrow many ideas from Mesopotamia and is considered the third civilization to develop. Two seals of the
Mohenjo-daro type were discovered at Elam and Mesopotamia, and a cuneiform inscription was unearthed at
Mohenjo-daro.

The pastoral villages that spread out east of Elam through Iran and Baluchistan prepared the way for the cities
that were to develop around the Indus River, particularly at Harappa and Mohenjo-daro. By about 3000 BC they
were building mud-brick houses; burials in the houses included funereal objects; and pottery had fine designs
and the potters' marks. After 2500 BC farmers moved out into the alluvial plain of the Indus River valley and
achieved full-sized villages using copper and bronze pins, knives, and axes; figurines of women and cattle
indicate probable religious attitudes.

The urban phase began about 2300 BC and lasted for about six hundred years with elaborate cities like
Mohenjo-daro (called locally Mound of the Dead), which was excavated in the 1920s. This city and others not
yet excavated had about 40,000 inhabitants congregated in well built houses with private showers and toilets
that drained into municipal sewer lines. Suffering from occasional flooding by the Indus, Mohenjo-daro was
rebuilt seven times. The largest structures were the elevated granary and the great bath or swimming pool which
was 12 by 7 meters. Around the pool were dressing rooms and private baths.

The people of the Harappan culture did not seem to be very warlike, although they hunted wild game and
domesticated cattle, sheep, and goats. Wheat and barley were the main food supplemented by peas, sesame, and
other vegetables and fruits, beef, mutton, pork, eggs, fish, and milk. Compared to other ancient civilizations, the
houses were of nearly equal size, indicating a more egalitarian social structure. The potter's wheel and carts
were used; children played with miniature toy carts. Cotton, perhaps first used here, and wool were made into
clothing. A bronze figurine was found of an expressive dancing girl with her hand on her hip, naked except for
jewelry. The numerous figurines of the Mother Goddess indicate a likely source for what later became the
Shakti worship of the feminine power in India. A male god in a yoga posture, depicted with three faces and two
horns, has been identified with Shiva, another important figure in later Indian religion. Phallic lingams, also
associated with Shiva, have been found. A civilization that endured dangerous flooding for six hundred years
very likely had a strong religion to help hold people together.

With no written histories the decline of this civilization is subject to much speculation. The traditional theory is
that the Aryans invaded from the northwest. Although this is likely, the decline of Harappan culture was quite
gradual and indicates problems beyond foreign conquest. One theory is deforestation, because of all the wood
needed for the kilns to make the bricks used to keep out the flood waters that gradually brought about
salinization of the soil, as it had to Sumer over centuries, so that the Harappan culture had greatly declined by
1900 BC.

However, a more comprehensive explanation comes from an analysis of the consequences of the extensive
herds of cattle that indicate overgrazing and a general degradation of the ecosystem, including salinization of
water supplies. This led farmers to move on to greener pastures, leaving behind abandoned villages and
depopulated cities. Even though fodder was probably grown to feed the cattle, this would not have been enough;
and the overgrazing by the bullocks and milk cows could have caused the surrounding land to deteriorate. By
1500 BC the Harappan civilization had faded away into a culture that was spreading throughout India with new
ideas from the west.

The traditional theory, well documented by the ancient hymns of the Vedas, is that a people calling themselves
Aryans conquered the native peoples of India and destroyed their forts. Because of language similarities these
Aryans are associated particularly with the Iranians and even further back with the origins of the Indo-European
language group. The general consensus seems to be that this culture must have begun somewhere in the Russian
steppes and Central Asia about 2000 BC, though some have put their origin in Lithuania because of similarity to
that language. The branch of these speakers, who came to India under the name Aryans, which means "noble
ones," is the Indo-Iranian group. In fact "Iran" derives from the Persian cognate of the word for Aryan. Other
branches spread into Greece and western Asia as Hittites, Kassites, and Mitanni. A rock inscription found at
Boghaz Koi dated about 1400 BC, commemorating a treaty between the Mitanni and Hittites, invokes the Aryan
gods Indra, Varuna, Mitra, and the twins Nasatya (Asvins).

The ancient writings of the Persian Avesta and the Hindu Vedas share many gods and beliefs. Eventually they
must have split, causing later authors to demonize the divinities of their adversaries. In early Hindu writings the
asuras were respected gods, but later they became the demons most hated, while Ahura Mazda became the chief
god of the Zoroastrians. (Persian often uses an h where Sanskrit uses an s, such as haoma for soma.) On the
other hand the Hindu term for divinities, devas, was used by Zoroastrians to describe the devils from which
even our English word is derived. Some scholars have concluded that the ancient Hindus did not want to admit
that they came from Iran, and therefore the origin of the Aryans is never mentioned in the ancient texts,
although they frankly boast of their conquest over the indigenous Dasas or Dasyus in India.

The word Veda means knowledge, and the Vedas are considered the most sacred scripture of Hinduism referred
to as sruti, meaning what was heard by or revealed to the rishis or seers. The most holy hymns and mantras put
together into four collections called the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas are difficult to date, because they
were passed on orally for about a thousand years before they were written down. More recent categories of
Vedas include the Brahmanas or manuals for ritual and prayer, the Aranyakas or forest texts for religious
hermits, and the Upanishads or mystical discourses.

Rig Veda

The hymns of the Rig Veda are considered the oldest and most important of the Vedas, having been composed
between 1500 BC and the time of the great Bharata war about 900 BC. More than a thousand hymns are
organized into ten mandalas or circles of which the second through the seventh are the oldest and the tenth is the
most recent. The Hindu tradition is that even the Vedas were gradually reduced from much more extensive and
ancient divine revelations but were perverted in the recent dark age of Kaliyuga. As the only writings from this
ancient period of India, they are considered the best source of knowledge we have; but the ethical doctrines
seem to have improved from the ancient hymns to the mystical Upanishads.

Essentially the Rig Veda is dominated by hymns praising the Aryan gods for giving them victories and wealth
plundered from the local Dasas through warfare. The Aryans apparently used their advances in weaponry and
skill in fighting to conquer the agricultural and tribal peoples of the fading Harappan culture. Numerous hymns
refer to the use of horses and chariots with spokes which must have given their warriors a tremendous
advantage. Spears, bows, arrows, and iron weapons are also mentioned. As a nomadic and pastoral culture
glorifying war, they established a new social structure of patriarchal families dominated by warriors and,
eventually with the power of the Vedas themselves, by priests also.

The Rig Veda does mention assemblies, but these were probably of the warrior elite, which may have had some
controlling influence on the kings and the tribal priest called a purohita. The gods worshiped resemble the Indo-
European gods and were headed by the powerful Indra, who is often credited with destroying ninety forts. Also
popular was Agni, the fire-god considered a messenger of the gods. Varuna and Mitra, the gods of the night and
day sky, have been identified with the Greek Uranos and the Persian Mithras respectively. Dyaus, who is not
mentioned nearly as often, has been correlated with the Greek Zeus. Surya the sun-god is referred to as the eye
of Varuna and the son of Dyaus and rides through the sky on his chariot led by his twin sons, the Asvins who
represent his rays; Ushas the dawn is his wife or daughter. Maruts are storm-gods shaped by Rudra, who may
have been one of the few indigenous deities adopted by the Aryans. Like the Iranian Avesta, the Rig Veda refers
to the thirty-three gods.

Generally the hymns of the Rig Veda praise the gods and ask them for worldly benefits such as wealth, health,
long life, protection, and victory over the Dasa peoples.

He, self-reliant, mighty and triumphant,

brought low the dear head of the wicked Dasas.
Indra the Vritra-slayer, Fort-destroyer,
scattered the Dasa hosts who dwelt in darkness.
For men hath he created earth and waters,
and ever helped the prayer of him who worships.
To him in might the Gods have ever yielded,
to Indra in the tumult of battle.
When in his arms they laid the bolt,
he slaughtered the Dasyus
and cast down their forts of iron.1

They call upon Brihaspati or Brahmanaspati, who has been related to a Hittite thunder-god, to avenge the sinner
and protect them from the deceitful and wicked man. The Aryans did have a concept of eternal law called rita,
which the immortal Agni in serving the gods is said to never break (Rig Veda III:3:1).

In Rig Veda III:34:9 Indra killed the Dasyus and "gave protection to the Aryan color." Not only did the Aryans
shamelessly pray for booty in war, but they based their militarily won supremacy on the lightness of their skin
color compared to the dark colors of the native Dasyus. They arrogantly proclaimed, "Let those who have no
weapons suffer sorrow." (Rig Veda IV:5:14.)

Renowned is he when conquering and when slaying:

'tis he who wins cattle in the combat.
When Indra hardens his indignation
all that is fixed and all that moves fear him.
Indra has won all kine, all gold, all horses, -
Maghavan, he who breaks forts in pieces;2

Indra is praised for killing thousands of the abject tribes of Dasas with his arrow and taking great vengeance
with "murdering weapons." (Rig Veda IV:28:3-4) One hymn mentions sending thirty thousand Dasas "to
slumber" and another hymn sixty thousand slain. A hymn dedicated to the weapons of war (Rig Veda VI:75)
refers to a warrior "armed with mail," using a bow to win cattle and subdue all regions, "upstanding in the car
the skillful charioteer guides his strong horses on whithersoe'er he will." The arrows had iron mouths and shafts
"with venom smeared" that "not one be left alive." Hymn VII:83 begins, "Looking to you and your alliance, O
ye men, armed with broad axes they went forward, fain for spoil. Ye smote and slew his Dasa and his Aryan
enemies."

Only occasionally did the authors of these hymns look to their own sins.

Free us from sins committed by our fathers,

from those wherein we have ourselves offended.
O king, loose, like a thief who feeds the cattle,
as from the cord a calf, set free Vasishtha.
Not our own will betrayed us, but seduction,
thoughtlessness, Varuna! wine, dice or anger.
The old is near to lead astray the younger:
even sleep removes not all evil-doing.3

A hymn to the frogs compares the repetitions of the priests around the soma bowl to the croaking of the frogs
around a pond after the rains come. (Rig Veda VII:103)

The basic belief of the prayers and sacrifices is that they will help them to gain their desires and overcome their
enemies, as in Rig Veda VIII:31:15: "The man who, sacrificing, strives to win the heart of deities will conquer
those who worship not." Some awareness of a higher law seems to be dawning in the eighth book in hymn 75:
"The holy law hath quelled even mighty men of war. Break ye not off our friendship, come and set me free."
However, the enemies are now identified with the Asuras and still are intimidated by greater weapons:
"Weaponless are the Asuras, the godless: scatter them with thy wheel, impetuous hero." (Rig Veda VIII:85:9)

Many of the hymns refer to the intoxicating soma juice, which is squeezed from the mysterious soma plant and
drank. All of the hymns of the ninth book of the Rig Veda are dedicated to the purifying soma, which is even
credited with making them feel immortal, probably because of its psychedelic influence. The first hymn in this
book refers to the "iron-fashioned home" of the Aryans.

In the first book of the Rig Veda the worshipers recognize Agni as the guard of eternal law (I:1:8) and Mitra and
Varuna as lovers and cherishers of law who gained their mighty power through law (I:2:8). In the 24th hymn
they pray to Varuna, the wise Asura, to loosen the bonds of their sins. However, the prayers for riches continue,
and Indra is thanked for winning wealth in horses, cattle, and gold by his chariot. Agni helps to slay the many in
war by the hands of the few, "preserving our wealthy patrons with thy succors, and ourselves." (Rig Veda I:31:6,
42) Indra helped win the Aryan victory:

He, much invoked, hath slain Dasyus and Simyus,

after his wont, and laid them low with arrows.
The mighty thunderer with his fair-complexioned friends
won the land, the sunlight, and the waters.4

Control of the waters was essential for agricultural wealth. Indra is praised for crushing the godless races and
breaking down their forts. (Rig Veda I:174)

In the tenth and last book of the Rig Veda some new themes are explored, but the Dasyus are still condemned
for being "riteless, void of sense, inhuman, keeping alien laws," and Indra still urges the heroes to slay the
enemies; his "hand is prompt to rend and burn, O hero thunder-armed: as thou with thy companions didst
destroy the whole of Sushna's brood." (Rig Veda X:22)

One unusual hymn is on the subject of gambling with dice. The speaker regrets alienating his wife, wandering
homeless in constant fear and debt, envying others' well-ordered homes. He finally warns the listener not to play
with dice but recommends cultivating his land. (Rig Veda X:34) Hymn 50 of this most recent last book urges
Indra to win riches with valor "in the war for water on their fields." Now the prayer is that "we Gods may quell
our Asura foemen." (Rig Veda X:53:4) A wedding ceremony is indicated in a hymn of Surya's bridal, the
daughter of the sun. (Rig Veda X:85)

The first indication of the caste system is outlined in the hymn to Purusha, the embodied human spirit, who is
one-fourth creature and three-fourths eternal life in heaven.

The Brahmin was his mouth,

of both his arms was the Rajanya made.
His thighs became the Vaisya,
from his feet the Sudra was produced.5

The Brahmin caste was to be the priests and teachers; the Rajanya represents the king, head of the warrior or
Kshatriya caste; Vaishyas are the merchants, craftsmen, and farmers; and the Sudras are the workers. In hymn
109 the brahmachari or student is mentioned as engaged in duty as a member of God's own body.

The hymn to liberality is a breath of fresh air:

The riches of the liberal never waste away,

while he who will not give finds none to comfort him.
The man with food in store who,
when the needy comes in miserable case
begging for bread to eat,
Hardens his heart against him -
even when of old he did him service -
find not one to comfort him.6

Yet later we realize that the priests are asking for liberality to support their own services, for the "plowing
makes the food that feeds us," and thus a speaking (or paid) Brahmin is better than a silent one.

The power of speech is honored in two hymns.

Where, like men cleansing corn-flour in a cribble,

the wise in spirit have created language,
Friends see and recognize the marks of friendship:
their speech retains the blessed sign imprinted.7

In hymn 125 of the tenth mandala Vak or speech claims to have penetrated earth and heaven, holding together
all existence.

A philosophical hymn of creation is found in Rig Veda X:129. Beginning from non-being when nothing existed,
not even water nor death, that One breathless breathed by itself. At first this All was concealed by darkness and
formless chaos, but by heat (tapas) that One came into existence. Thus arose desire, the primal seed and germ of
Spirit. Sages searching in their hearts discovered kinship with the non-existent. A ray of light extended across
the darkness, but what was known above or below? Creative fertility was there with energy and action, but who
really knows where this creation came from? For the gods came after the world's creation. Who could know the
source of this creation and how it was produced? The one seeing it in the highest heaven only knows, or maybe
it does not.

Sama Veda

The Sama Veda contains the melodies or music for the chants used from the Rig Veda for the sacrifices; almost
all of its written verses are traceable to the Rig Veda, mostly the eighth and ninth books and most to Indra, Agni,
or Soma. These are considered the origin of Indian music and probably stimulated great artistry to make the
sacrifices worthwhile to their patrons who supported the priests. The Sama Veda helped to train the musicians
and functioned as a hymnal for the religious rites.

The animal sacrifices did not use the Sama chants, but they were used extensively in agricultural rites and in the
soma rituals for which the plant with inebriating and hallucinogenic qualities was imported from the mountains
to the heartland of India. By this time the priests were specializing in different parts of the sacrifices as
professional musicians and singers increased. The singing was like the strophe, antistrophe, and epode of the
Greek chorus and used the seven tones of the European scale. By the tenth century BC the Aryans had invaded
most of northern India, and once again trade resumed with Babylon and others in the near east. As the sacrifices
became more complex, the priestly class used them to enhance their role in the society. Many considered this
musical portion the most important of the Vedas.

Yajur Veda

Though also following many of the hymns of the Rig Veda, the Yajur Veda deviates more from the original text
in its collection of the ritual formulas for the priests to use in the sacrifices, which is what yaja means. It
explains how to construct the altars for new and full-moon sacrifices and other ceremonies. The Yajur Veda has
two collections or samhitas called White and Black, the latter being more obscure in its meanings.

By this time (10th century BC and after) the Aryan conquest has proceeded from the northwest and Punjab to
cover northern India, especially the Ganges valley. The caste system was in place, and as the warriors settled
down to ruling over an agricultural society, the role of the priests and their ceremonies gained influence and
justified the Aryan ways to the native workers, who labored for the farmers, merchants, craftsmen, who in turn
were governed by their kings and priests. Land and wealth were accumulated in the hands of a few ruling
families, and with food scarce the indigenous people were enslaved or had to sell their labor cheap to the ruling
classes.

By instituting more elaborate sacrifices for their wealthy patrons, the priests could grow both in numbers and
wealth as well. The famous horse sacrifice was not celebrated often but was used by a king to show his lordship
over potential adversaries, who were invited to acknowledge this overlordship in the ritual. The parts of the
horse symbolize different aspects of the universe so that tremendous power is invoked. The complicated and
obscure rituals were presided over by the priests - the three symbols of the lotus leaf, the frog (for rain), and the
golden man (for the sun) representing the Aryan dominance over the land and waters of India and the natural
powers that sustain agriculture.

The soma sacrifice was the most important and could last up to twelve years. Since the soma plant was imported
from distant mountains, it had to be purchased. A ritual drama re-enacted this business and aggressive Aryan
history by showing the buyer snatching back the calf, which was paid for the soma plant, after the transaction
occurs. The soma plant was then placed in a cart and welcomed as an honored guest and king at the sacrifice.
Animals were slain and cut up in the rites before their meat was eaten. After various offerings and other
ceremonies the soma juice is poured and toasted to different gods, and finally the text lists the sacrificial fees,
usually goats, cows, gold, clothes, and food.

Coronation ceremonies supported the inauguration of kings. The priests tried to keep themselves above the
warrior caste though by praising soma as king of the Brahmins. Waters were drawn from various rivers to
sprinkle on the king and indicate the area of his kingdom, and he strode in each direction to signify his
sovereignty. The king was anointed by the royal priest, giving some water to his son, the designated prince, and
ritually enacting a raid against a kinsman's cattle, once again affirming their history of conquest. The booty was
taken and divided into three parts for the priest, those who drank, and the original owner. A ritual dice game was
played, which the king was allowed to win. The king then rode out in his chariot and was publicly worshiped as
a divine ruler.
Agricultural rites were common and regular, and chariot races were no doubt popular at some of the festivals.
The Purusha (person) sacrifice symbolized human sacrifice, which may refer back to the time when a hunting
and pastoral people did not allow their enemies to live because of the shortage of food. However, in an
agricultural society more labor was needed and could produce surplus food. The Purusha sacrifice recognized
184 professional crafts and guilds.

Finally the highest sacrifice was considered to be the Sarvamedha in which the sacrificer offered all of his
possessions as the fee at the end of the ceremony. The last chapter of the Yajur Veda is actually the Isha
Upanishad, expressing the mystical view that the supreme spirit pervades everything.

This society was highly patriarchal, and the status of women declined, especially as men often married non-
Aryan women. Women did not attend public assemblies and could not inherit property on their own. Polyandry
was discouraged, but polygamy, adultery, and prostitution were generally accepted except during certain rituals.
A sacrificer was not allowed to seek a prostitute on the first day of the sacrificial fire, nor the wife of another on
the second day, nor his own wife on the third day.

The priests placed themselves at the top of the caste system as they supervised a religion most of the people
could not understand without them. After the Atharva Veda was accepted, each sacrifice required at least four
priests, one on each side of the fire using the Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva Vedas, plus their assistants. After
the wars of conquest were completed and the warrior caste settled down to rule, the priests were needed to
sustain social stability. Yet in these times the caste system was much more flexible, as it is indicated that one
should not ask about the caste of a learned man. The Brahmins, as the priest caste was called, had three
obligations or debts to pay back in life: they paid back the seers by studying the Vedas, the gods by offering
sacrifices, and their fathers by raising a family.

Like their European ancestors, the Aryan warriors considered themselves above laboring for food and so
organized society that food would be provided for them. One ethical duty later found in the epics was that of
taking care of refugees, probably because as marauding raiders they had often been refugees themselves. The
priests assured their livelihood by making sure that penance through religious ritual was a prime social value.

Atharva Veda

The latest and fourth Veda is in a different category. For a long time many referred to only three Vedas, by
which complete ceremonies could be conducted with the Rig hotr reciting, the Sama udgatri singing, and the
Yajur adhvaryu performing the ritual. Even later the Atharvan Brahmin's part was often performed
unaccompanied by the other three priests. Also much of it draws from the customs and beliefs of pre-Aryan or
pre-Vedic India. The Atharva Veda is much longer than the Sama and Yajur and only about a sixth of it is from
the Rig Veda.

The Atharva Veda is primarily magical spells and incantations. The line between prayer and magic and between
white and black magic is usually drawn by ethical considerations. The bheshajani are for healing and cures
using herbs to treat fever, leprosy, jaundice, dropsy, and other diseases. The Aryans looked down on doctors and
medicine, probably because the natives were more skilled in these than they. Other more positive spells were for
successful childbirth, romance, fecundity, virility, etc.

The negative or bewitching spells were called abhichara and attempted to cause diseases or harm to enemies;
often they were aimed at serpents and demons. The sorcery is ascribed to one of the authors, Angiras, whose
name is related to Agni (Latin ignis), the divine messenger and possibly a distant cognate of the Greek word for
messenger, angel. Another author, Atharvan, derives from the old Iranian root, atar, meaning fire. The third
author, Bhrigu, was the name of a tribe which opposed Sudas in the battle of ten kings in the Rig Veda, and his
name has also been related to a Greek word for fire. The fourth author is Brahmin, the name which was given to
the Atharvan priest, which eventually became so sacred that it was used as a name not only for the priestly caste
but even for God the Creator.

In addition to physicians the Vedic Aryans also held in contempt Atharvan astrologers as well as magic, but
from this came not only astrology but also the beginning of Ayurvedic medicine. Like most ancient peoples,
they also believed that the main cause of disease was evil spirits, possession, or what we would call
psychological factors. The magical elements, particularly the abhicara, and the subjects of healing, herbs, and
cooking, which were mostly in the woman's domain, made the Atharva Veda obnoxious to many Vedic priests.
However, these rituals were very popular, and the Brahmin priest's share of the fees soon became equal to the
other three priests' combined. Eventually this shamanic tradition had to be incorporated into the Vedic religion,
especially later when it faced the new challenges of Jainism and Buddhism.

The Brahmin caste became even stronger, and their wealth can be seen by the belief that the cow by right
belonged exclusively to them. Taxes were collected probably by the warrior Kshatriya caste from the Vaisya
artisans, farmers, and merchants. The Sudra workers were too poor to be taxed, and the Brahmins were exempt.
One verse (Atharva Veda 3:29:3) describes heaven as "where a tax is not paid by a weak man for a stronger."

Marriage ceremonies are included. Here is a brief example:

I am he; you are she.

I am song; you are verse.
I am heaven; you are earth.
Let us two dwell together here;
let us generate children.8

According to the Atharva Veda (5:17:8-9), a Brahmin could take a wife from the husband of any other caste
simply by seizing her hand. Book 18 contains only funeral verses. There are coronation rites for kings, though
the prayer is that the people will choose the king, usually already selected by heredity or the council. Philosophy
and abstraction are creeping in, as there are two hymns to the deity of time, and kama (love, desire, pleasure) is
praised as "the first seed of the mind" that generated heaven. (Atharva Veda 19:52)

Let us conclude this section on the Atharva Veda with some selections from its beautiful hymn to the Earth as a
sample of the more positive expression of the Vedas:

High Truth, unyielding Order, Consecration,

Ardor and Prayer and Holy Ritual
uphold the Earth, may she, the ruling Mistress
of what has been and what will come to be,
for us spread wide a limitless domain.

Untrammeled in the midst of men, the Earth,

adorned with heights and gentle slopes and plains,
bears plants and herbs of various healing powers.
May she spread wide for us, afford us joy!

On whom are ocean, river, and all waters,

on whom have sprung up food and plowman's crops,
on whom moves all that breathes and stirs abroad -
Earth, may she grant to us the long first draught!

To Earth belong the four directions of space.

On her grows food; on her the plowman toils.
She carries likewise all that breathes and stirs.
Earth, may she grant us cattle and food in plenty!

On whom the men of olden days roamed far,

on whom the conquering Gods smote the demons,
the home of cattle, horses, and of birds,
may Earth vouchsafe to us good fortune and glory!

Bearer of all things, hoard of treasures rare,

sustaining mother, Earth the golden-breasted
who bears the Sacred Universal Fire,
whose spouse is Indra - may she grant us wealth!

Limitless Earth, whom the Gods, never sleeping,

protect forever with unflagging care,
may she exude for us the well-loved honey,
shed upon us her splendor copiously!

Earth, who of yore was Water in the oceans,

discerned by the Sages' secret powers,
whose immortal heart, enwrapped in Truth,
abides aloft in the highest firmament,
may she procure for us splendor and power,
according to her highest royal state!

On whom the flowing Waters, ever the same,

course without cease or failure night and day,
may she yield milk, this Earth of many streams,
and shed on us her splendor copiously!

May Earth, whose measurements the Asvins marked,

over whose breadth the foot of Vishnu strode,
whom Indra, Lord of power, freed from foes,
stream milk for me, as a mother for her son!

Your hills, O Earth, your snow-clad mountain peaks,

your forests, may they show us kindliness!
Brown, black, red, multifarious in hue
and solid is this vast Earth, guarded by Indra.
Invincible, unconquered, and unharmed,
I have on her established my abode.

Impart to us those vitalizing forces

that come, O Earth, from deep within your body,
your central point, your navel, purify us wholly.
The Earth is mother; I am son of Earth.
The Rain-giver is my father; may he shower on us blessings!

The Earth on which they circumscribe the altar,

on which a band of workmen prepare the oblation,
on which the tall bright sacrificial posts
are fixed before the start of the oblation -
may Earth, herself increasing, grant us increase!

That man, O Earth, who wills us harm, who fights us,

who by his thoughts or deadly arms opposes,
deliver him to us, forestalling action.

All creatures, born from you, move round upon you.

You carry all that has two legs, three, or four.
To you, O Earth, belong the five human races,
those mortals upon whom the rising sun
sheds the immortal splendor of his rays.

May the creatures of earth, united together,

let flow for me the honey of speech!
Grant to me this boon, O Earth.
Mother of plants and begetter of all things,
firm far-flung Earth, sustained by Heavenly Law,
kindly and pleasant is she. May we ever
dwell on her bosom, passing to and fro!...

Do not thrust us aside from in front or behind,

from above or below! Be gracious, O Earth.
Let us not encounter robbers on our path.
Restrain the deadly weapons!

As wide a vista of you as my eye

may scan, O Earth, with the kindly help of Sun,
so widely may my sight be never dimmed
in all the long parade of years to come!

Whether, when I repose on you, O Earth,

I turn upon my Right side or my left,
or whether, extended flat upon my back,
I meet your pressure from head to foot,
be gentle, Earth! You are the couch of all!

Whatever I dig up of you, O Earth,

may you of that have quick replenishment!
O purifying One, may my thrust never
reach Right into your vital points, your heart!

Your circling seasons, nights succeeding days,

your summer, O Earth, your splashing rains, your autumn,
your winter and frosty season yielding to spring---
may each and all produce for us their milk!...

From your numberless tracks by which mankind may travel,

your roads on which move both chariots and wagons
your paths which are used by the good and the bad,
may we choose a way free from foes and robbers!
May you grant us the blessing of all that is wholesome!

She carries in her lap the foolish and also the wise.
She bears the death of the wicked as well as the good.
She lives in friendly collaboration with the boar,
offering herself as sanctuary to the wild pig....

Peaceful and fragrant, gracious to the touch,

may Earth, swollen with milk, her breasts overflowing,
grant me her blessing together with her milk!

The Maker of the world sought her with oblations

when she was shrouded in the depth of the ocean.
A vessel of gladness, long cherished in secret,
the earth was revealed to mankind for their joy.

Primeval Mother, disperser of men,

you, far-flung Earth, fulfill all our desires.
Whatever you lack, may the Lord of creatures,
the First-born of Right, supply to you fully!

May your dwellings, O Earth, free from sickness and wasting,

flourish for us! Through a long life, watchful,
may we always offer to you our tribute!

O Earth, O Mother, dispose my lot

in gracious fashion that I be at ease.
In harmony with all the powers of Heaven
set me, O Poet, in grace and good fortune!9

Brahmanas

Between about 900 and 700 BC the Brahmanas were written in prose as sacerdotal commentaries on the four
Vedas to guide the practices of the sacrifices and give explanations often mythical and fanciful for these
customs. However, their limited focus of justifying the priestly actions in the sacrifices restricted the themes of
these first attempts at imaginative literature. Nevertheless they do give us information about the social customs
of this period and serve as a transition from the Vedas to the Aranyakas and the mystical Upanishads.

The caste system based on color (varna) was now established, though not as rigidly as it became later. The
essential difference was between the light-skinned Aryans, who made up the top three castes of the priestly
Brahmins, warrior Kshatriyas, and artisan Vaishyas, and the dark-skinned Dasas, who were the servant Sudras.
Sudras, like women, could not own property, and only rarely did they rise above service positions. The Vaishyas
were the basis of the economic system of trade, crafts, and farming. The Vaishyas were considered inferior by
the Brahmins and Kshatriyas, and a female was generally not allowed to marry below her caste, though it was
common for a male to do so. Even a Brahmin's daughter was not supposed to marry a Kshatriya.

The rivalry for prestige and power was between the Brahmins and the Kshatriyas or rajanyas. Brahmins often
held debates on Brahman and other religious issues. Janaka, a rajanya gained knowledge and defeated some
Brahmins in discussion. So some Brahmins suggested a symposium on Brahman to prove who was superior, but
since Brahmins were expected to be superior on these issues, Yajnavalkya prudently replied, "We are Brahmins;
he is a rajanya. If we win, whom shall we say that we have defeated? But if he defeats us, they will say a
rajanya has defeated Brahmins; so let us not convene this symposium."10

Kings were consecrated by Vedic rites and ruled with the help of the assembly (sabha) that met in a hall to
administer justice; women were excluded. Ordeals were used, such as making a suspected thief touch a hot ax to
see if his hand burned, which might be the origin of the saying, "being caught red-handed." Politics and
legislation took place in a larger council (samiti). Taxes were collected to support these institutions and the
army.

Each village was administered by a Gramani, a Vaisya who functioned like a mayor with civil rather than
military authority. The Gramani and the royal charioteer (Suta) were considered the kingmakers. This latter
privileged position was not merely the driver of the king but also his chief advisor and perhaps storyteller as
well. The royal priest or Purohito was also supposed to advise the king in peace and protect him in war. The
season of dew after the monsoons ended was considered the time for "sacking cities," as ambitious kings came
into conflict with each other in wars.

In addition to the discussions of sacerdotal matters, the Brahmanas do contain some stories meant to explain or
rationalize their religious practices. Some of these are quite imaginative, though the usual pattern is for the hero
to discover a rite to perform or a chant to intone which miraculously solves whatever problem is pressing to
give a happy ending.

Wendy O'Flaherty has translated some stories from the Jaiminiya Brahmana, illustrating how they dealt with
the fears of death, God, the father, wives, and demonic women; many of these stories are sexually explicit,
indicating that these people were not afraid of discussing their sexuality. However, since the usual way of
handling these fears was to use a sacrificial ritual, the solutions probably had only limited social and
psychological value.

The most famous of these stories, and the best in my opinion, is the tale of Bhrigu's journey in the other world.
Bhrigu was the son of Varuna and devoted to learning, and he thought that he was better than the other
Brahmins and even better than the gods and his own father. So Varuna decided to teach him something by
stopping his life breaths, causing Bhrigu to enter the world beyond, where he saw someone cut another man to
pieces and eat him, a second man eating another who was screaming, a third eating a man who was silently
screaming, another world where two women were guarding a treasure, a fifth where a stream of blood was
guarded by a naked black man with a club and a stream of butter provided all the desires of golden men in
golden bowls, and a sixth world where flowed five rivers of blue and white lotuses and flowing honey with
wonderful music, celestial nymphs dancing and singing, and a fragrant odor.

When Bhrigu returned, his father Varuna explained to him that the first man represented people who in
ignorance destroy trees, which in turn eat them; the second are those who cook animals that cry out and in the
other world are eaten by them in return; the third are those who ignorantly cook rice and barley, which scream
silently and also eat them in return; the two women are Faith and non-Faith; the river of blood represents those
who squeeze the blood out of a Brahmin, and the naked black man guarding is Anger; but the true sacrificers are
the golden men, who get the river of butter and the paradise of the five rivers.

To me this myth is a clear warning against the harmful actions of deforestation and meat-eating, and even the
eating of living vegetables is to be done in silent respect. It shows an intuitive understanding of the principle of
karma or the consequences of action as well as the growing importance of the concept of faith in addition to the
usual theme of the sacrifice.

The power of the word is increasing, as the sacrifices were glorified and given power even over the Vedic gods.
Japa or the practice of chanting a mantram like Aum practiced ascetically with the sacrifices was believed to
produce all one's desires. At the same time knowledge was beginning to be valued. In one exchange mind says
that speech merely imitates it, but speech emphasizes the importance of expression and communication;
however, Prajapati decides that mind is more important even than the word.

This new god, Prajapati, is said to have given birth to both the gods and the demons. The ethical principle of
truth appears as the gods are described as being truthful and the demons as being false. However, realizing the
ways of the world, many complain that the demons grew strong and rich, just as cattle like salty soil; but by
performing the sacrifice the gods attained the whole truth and triumph, as, analogically I might add, people will
eventually realize that cattle as well as salt ruins the land.

Prajapati not only was the first to sacrifice but was considered the sacrifice itself. He practiced tapas to create
by the heat of his own effort, and this heat was also related to cosmic fire and light as well as the warmth of the
body and breath. Another concept of energy associated with the breath was prana; it also was identified with
goodness, as the texts imply that as the life force it cannot be impure or bad. Prajapati not only created but
entered into things as form and name, giving them order. Eventually Prajapati would be replaced by Brahman,
who was identified with truth and would become the Creator God in the trinity that would include Vishnu, a
sun-god who becomes the Preserver, and Shiva, who is derived from the indigenous Rudra, the Destroyer. With
all the mental activity going on analyzing the rites and their explanation, abstractions were increasing in the
religion.

A judgment after death using a scale to weigh good against evil is described in the Satapatha Brahmana, an idea
which may have been transported from Egypt by merchants. This text recommends that the one who knows this
will balance one's deeds in this world so that in the next the good deeds will rise, not the evil ones. Belief in
repeated lives through reincarnation is indicated in several passages in the Brahmanas. A beef-eater is punished
by being born into a strange and sinful creature. As knowledge rivaled the value of ritual, this new problem of
how to escape from an endless cycle of rebirth presented itself.

Aranyakas
The larger body of Vedic literature is divided into two parts with the four Rig, Sama, Yajur, and Atharva
Samhitas and their Brahmanas making up the Karmakanda on the work of the sacrifices and the Aranyakas and
the Upanishads the section on knowledge called the Jnanakanda. The Aranyakas and the Upanishads were
tacked on to the end of Brahmanas, and the only three Aranyakas extant share the names of the Brahmanas they
followed and the Upanishads they preceded: Aitareya, Kausitaki, and the Taittiriya; the first two are associated
with the Rig Veda, the last with the Yajur Veda.

The Aranyakas are called the forest texts, because ascetics retreated into the forest to study the spiritual
doctrines with their students, leading to less emphasis on the sacrificial rites that were still performed in the
towns. They were transitional between the Brahmanas and the Upanishads in that they still discuss rites and
have magical content, dull lists of formulas and some hymns from the Vedas as well as the early speculations
and intellectual discussions that flowered in the Upanishads. The sages who took in students in their forest
hermitages were not as wealthy as the Brahmins in the towns who served royalty and other wealthy patrons.

The Taittiriya Aranyaka tells how when the Vataramsa sages were first approached by other sages, they
retreated; but when the sages came back with faith and tapas (ardor), they instructed them how to expiate the
sin of abortion. Prayers were offered for pregnant women whether they were married or not, even if the father
was unknown because of promiscuity. Yet the double standard against women for unchastity was in effect,
unless a student seduced the teacher's wife. Truth was the highest value; through truth the right to heaven was
retained. Debtors were in fear of punishment in hell, probably because the social punishments in this world
were severe---torture and perhaps even death.

The emphasis now was on knowledge, even on wisdom, as they prayed for intelligence. The concept of prana
as the life energy of the breath is exalted as that which establishes the entire soul. Prana is found in trees,
animals, and people in ascending order. Human immortality is identified with the soul (atman), not the body.
Hell is still feared, but by practicing austerity (tapas) to gain knowledge individuals hope to be born into a
better world after death or be liberated from rebirth. Non-attachment (vairagya) also purifies the body and
overcomes death.

The essence of the Vedic person was considered Brahman, and the knower or inner person was known as the
soul (atman). The guardians of the spiritual treasures of the community were called Brahmavadins (those who
discuss Brahman). A son approached his father and asked what was supreme. The father replied, "Truth, tapas,
self-control, charity, dharma (duty), and progeny."11

Early Upanishads

The term Upanishad means literally "those who sit near" and implies listening closely to the secret doctrines of
a spiritual teacher. Although there are over two hundred Upanishads, only fifteen are mentioned by the
philosophic commentator Shankara (788-820 CE). These fifteen and the Maitri are considered Vedic and the
principal Upanishads; the rest were written later and are related to the Puranic worship of Shiva, Shakti, and
Vishnu. The oldest and longest of the Upanishads are the Brihad-Aranyaka and the Chandogya from about the
seventh century BC.

The Brihad-Aranyaka has three Aranyaka chapters followed by six Upanishad chapters. The first chapter of the
Brihad-Aranyaka Upanishad describes the world as represented by the horse-sacrifice. The primordial battle
between the gods and the devils accounts for the evil found in the senses, mind, and speech, but by striking off
the evil the divinities were carried beyond death. The priest chants for profound aspiration, one of the most
famous verses from the Upanishads:

From the unreal lead me to the real!

From darkness lead me to light!
From death lead me to immortality!12
The primary message of the Upanishads is that this can be done by meditating with the awareness that one's
soul (atman) is one with all things. Thus whoever knows that one is Brahman (God) becomes this all; even the
gods cannot prevent this, since that one becomes their soul (atman). Therefore whoever worships another
divinity, thinking it is other than oneself, does not know.

Out of God (Brahman) came the Brahmin caste of priests and teachers and the Kshatriyas to rule, development
through the Vaishyas and the Sudras. However, a principle was created as justice (dharma), than which nothing
is higher, so that a weak person may control one stronger, as if by a king. They say that those who speak the
truth speak justice and vice versa, because they are the same. By meditating on the soul (atman) alone, one does
not perish and can create whatever one wants. Whatever suffering occurs remains with the creatures; only the
good goes to the soul, because evil does not go to the gods.

The soul is identified with the real, the immortal, and the life-breath (prana), which is veiled by name and form
(individuality). By restraining the senses and the mind, one may rest in the space within the heart and become a
great Brahmin and like a king may move around within one's body as one pleases. The world of name and form
is real, but the soul is the truth or reality of the real. Immortality cannot be obtained through wealth, and all
persons and things in the world are dear not for love of them (husband, wife, sons, wealth, gods, etc.); but for
the love of the soul, all these are dear. The soul is the overlord of all things, as the spokes of the wheel are held
together by the hub.

The principle of action (karma) is explained as "one becomes good by good action, bad by bad action."13 How
can one get beyond the duality of seeing, smelling, hearing, speaking to, thinking of, and understanding
another? Can one see the seer, smell the smeller, hear the hearer, think the thinker, and understand the
understander? It is the soul which is in all things; everything else is wretched. By passing beyond hunger and
thirst, sorrow and delusion, old age and death, by overcoming desire for sons, wealth, and worlds, let a Brahmin
become disgusted with learning and live as a child; disgusted with that, let one become an ascetic until one
transcends both the non-ascetic and the ascetic states. Thus is indicated a spiritual path of learning and
discipline that ultimately transcends even learning and discipline in the soul, the inner controller, the immortal,
the one dwelling in the mind, whom the mind does not know, who controls the mind from within.

The one departing this world without knowing the imperishable is pitiable, but the one knowing it is a Brahmin.
The following refrain is repeated often:

That soul is not this, not that.

It is incomprehensible, for it is not comprehended.
It is indestructible, for it is never destroyed.
It is unattached, for it does not attach itself.
It is unfettered; it does not suffer; it is not injured.14

The soul is considered intelligent, dear, true, endless, blissful, and stable. As a king prepares a chariot or ship
when going on a journey, one should prepare one's soul with the mystic doctrines of the Upanishads. The
knowledge that is the light in the heart enables one to transcend this world and death while appearing asleep.
The evils that are obtained with a body at birth are left behind upon departing at death. One dreams by
projecting from oneself, not by sensing actual objects. In sleep the immortal may leave one's nest and go
wherever one pleases. In addition to being free from desire the ethical admonition of being without crookedness
or sin is also indicated. At death the soul goes out first, then the life, and finally the breaths go out.

The soul is made of everything; as one acts, one becomes. The doer of good becomes good; the doer of evil
becomes evil. As is one's desire, such is one's resolve; as is the resolve, such is the action, which one attains for
oneself. When one's mind is attached, the inner self goes into the action. Obtaining the consequences of one's
actions, whatever one does in this world comes again from the other world to this world of action (karma).
By releasing the desires in one's heart, one may be liberated in immortality, reaching Brahman (God). One is the
creator of all, one with the world. Whoever knows this becomes immortal, but others go only to sorrow. The
knowing is sought through the spiritual practices of repeating the Vedas, sacrifices, offerings, penance, and
fasting. Eventually one sees everything, as the soul overcomes both the thoughts of having done wrong and
having done right. The evil does not burn one; rather one burns the evil. In the soul's being the world-all is
known. The student should practice self-restraint, giving, and compassion.

The Chandogya Upanishad belongs to the Sama Veda and is the last eight chapters of the ten-chapter
Chandogya Brahmana. The first two chapters of the Brahmana discuss sacrifices and other forms of worship.
As part of the Sama Veda, which is the chants, the Chandogya Upanishad emphasizes the importance of
chanting the sacred Aum. The chanting of Aum is associated with the life breath (prana), which is so powerful
that when the devils struck it, they fell to pieces.

The religious life recommended in the Chandogya Upanishad has three parts. The first is sacrifice, study of the
Vedas, and giving alms; the second is austerity; and the third is studying the sacred knowledge while living in
the house of a teacher. One liberal giver, who had many rest-houses built and provided with food, said,
"Everywhere people will be eating of my food."15

The soul in the heart is identified with Brahman (God), and it is the same as the light which shines higher than
in heaven. Knowing and reverencing the sacrificial fire is believed to repel evil-doing from oneself. To the one
who knows the soul, evil action does not adhere, just as water does not adhere to the leaf of the lotus flower. To
know the soul as divine is called the "Loveliness-uniter" because all lovely things come to such.

The doctrine of reincarnation is clearly implied in the Chandogya Upanishad as it declares that those whose
conduct is pleasant here will enter a pleasant womb of a Brahmin, Kshatriya, or Vaisya; but those of stinking
conduct will enter a stinking womb of a dog, swine, or outcast. Thus reincarnation is explained as an ethical
consequence of one's actions (karma).

At death the voice goes into the mind, the mind into the breath, the breath into heat, and heat into the highest
divinity, the finest essence of truth and soul. Speaking to Svetaketu, the teacher explains that a tree may be
struck at the root, the middle, or the top, but it will continue to live if pervaded by the living soul. Yet if the life
leaves one branch of it, it dries up; and if it leaves the whole of it, the whole dries up. Then the teacher explains
how the soul is the essence of life and does not die, concluding with the repeated refrain that his student thus
ought to identify with the soul.

Truly, indeed, when the living soul leaves it,

this body dies; the living soul does not die.
That which is the subtle essence
this whole world has for its soul.
That is reality (truth). That is the soul.
That you are, Svetaketu.16

Then the teacher placed salt in water and asked his student to taste different parts of the water. Just so is Being
hidden in all of reality, but it is not always perceived. Just as the thief burns his hand on the hot ax when tested,
the one who did not steal and is true does not burn his hand, so the whole world has that truth in its soul.

Speech is to be valued, because it makes known right and wrong, true and false, good and bad, pleasant and
unpleasant. Mind is revered, because it enables one to do sacred works. Will is valued, because heaven and
earth and all things were formed by being willed. Thought is important, because it is better not to be
thoughtless. Meditation is revered, because one attains greatness by meditating. Understanding is valued,
because by it we can understand everything. Strength maintains everything. Food, water, heat, and space each
have their values. Finally also memory, hope, and life (prana) are to be revered.
Those, who take delight in the soul, have intercourse with it and find pleasure and bliss in it and freedom; but
those, who do not, have perishable worlds and no freedom. The seer does not find death nor sickness nor any
distress but sees the all and obtains the all entirely. The soul is free of evil, ageless, deathless, sorrowless,
hungerless, and thirstless. For those, who go from here having found the soul here, there is freedom in all
worlds. No evil can go into the Brahma-world.

The chaste life of the student of sacred knowledge is the essence of austerity, fasting, and the hermit life, for in
that way one finds the reality of the soul. The soul must be searched out and understood. The Chandogya
Upanishad concludes with the advice that one should learn the Veda from the family of a teacher while working
for the teacher, then study in one's own home producing sons and pupils, concentrate one's senses upon the soul,
be harmless toward all living things except in the sacrifices (The religion has not yet purified itself of animal
sacrifices.), so that one may attain the Brahma-world and not return here again. The implication is that one may
become free of the cycle of reincarnation.

The Taittiriya and Aitareya Upanishads were associated with Aranyakas of the same name. In the Taittiriya
Upanishad once again Aum is emphasized, as is peace of soul. Prayers often end with Aum and the chanting of
peace (shanti) three times. This may be preceded by the noble sentiment, "May we never hate."17 One teacher
says truth is first, another austerity, and a third claims that study and teaching of the Veda is first, because it
includes austerity and discipline.

The highest goal is to know Brahman, for that is truth, knowledge, infinite and found hidden in the heart of
being and in the highest heaven, where one may abide with the eternal and intelligent Spirit (Brahman). Words
turn away from it, and the mind is baffled by the delight of the eternal; the one who knows this shall not fear
anything now or hereafter. Creation becomes a thing of bliss, for who could labor to draw in breath or have the
strength to breathe it out if there were not this bliss in the heaven of one's heart?

The Aitareya Upanishad begins with the one Spirit creating the universe out of its being. As guardians for the
worlds, Spirit made the Purusha (person). Out of the cosmic egg came speech, breath, eyes and sight, ears and
hearing, skin, hair, and herbs; from the navel and outbreath came death, and from the organ of pleasure seed and
waters were born.

In the concluding chapter of this short Upanishad the author asked who is this Spirit by whom one sees and
hears and smells and speaks and knows? The answer is the following:

That which is heart, this mind---that is,

consciousness, perception, discernment, intelligence,
wisdom, insight, persistence, thought, thoughtfulness,
impulse, memory, conception, purpose, life, desire, will
are all names of intelligence.18

All things are guided by and based on this intelligence of Spirit (Brahman). Ascending from this world with the
intelligent soul, one obtains all desires in the heavenly world, even immortality.

The Kaushitaki Upanishad begins by asking if there is an end to the cycle of reincarnation. The teacher answers
that one is born again according to one's actions (karma). Ultimately the one who knows Spirit (Brahman)
transcends even good and evil deeds and all pairs of opposites as a chariot-driver looks down upon two chariot
wheels.

A ceremony is described whereby a dying father bequeaths all he has to his son. If he recovers, it is
recommended that he live under the lordship of his son or wander as a religious mendicant. This practice of
spiritual seeking as a beggar became one of the distinctive characteristics of Indian culture.
A story is told of Pratardana, who by fighting and virility arrives at the beloved home of Indra, who grants him a
gift. Pratardana asks Indra to choose for him what would be most beneficial to humanity, but Indra replies that a
superior does not choose for an inferior. Pratardana responds that then it is not a gift. After bragging of many
violent deeds and saying that anyone who understands him is not injured even after committing the worst
crimes such as murdering a parent, Indra identifies himself with the breathing spirit (prana) of the intelligent
soul (prajnatman). This breathing spirit is the essence of life and thus immortal. It is by intelligence (prajna)
that one is able to master all of the senses and faculties of the soul. All these faculties are fixed in the
intelligence, which is fixed in the breathing spirit, which is in truth the blissful, ageless, immortal soul.

One does not become greater by good action nor less by bad action. One's own self (atman) causes one to lead
up from these worlds by good action or is led downward by bad action. The soul itself (atman) is the world-
protector and the sovereign of the world. Thus ultimately the soul is responsible for everything it experiences.

It is mentioned in the Kaushitaki Upanishad that it is contrary to nature for a Kshatriya to receive a Brahmin as
a student. However, the Upanishads represent a time when the Kshatriya caste began to compete with Brahmins
in spiritual endeavors. Though the Brahmins had control of the formal religion in the villages where the
Kshatriyas controlled the government, by tutoring their sons and others in the forest the Kshatriyas developed a
less ritualistic and traditional spirituality that is recorded in the mystical Upanishads.

Kena, Katha, Isha, and Mundaka

The Kena Upanishad consists of an older prose section and some more recent verse with which it begins. The
word Kena means "by whom" and is the first word in a series of questions asking by whom is the mind
projected, by whom does breathing go forth, by whom is speech impelled? What god is behind the eye and ear?
The answer to these questions points to a mystical self that is beyond the mind and senses but is that God by
which the mind and senses operate.

Those, who think they know it well, know it only slightly. What relates to oneself and the gods needs to be
investigated. Beyond thought it is not known by those who think they know it. Beyond understanding it is not
known by those who think they understand it, but by those who realize they do not understand it. It is correctly
known by an awakening, for the one who knows it finds immortality. It can only be known by the soul. If one
does not know it, it is a great loss. The wise see it in all beings and upon leaving this world become immortal.

In the prose section this mystical Spirit (Brahman) is shown to transcend the Vedic gods of fire (Agni), wind
(Vayu), and even powerful Indra, who being above the other gods at least came nearest to it, realizing that it was
Brahman. In summary the Kena Upanishad concludes that austerity, restraint, and work are the foundation of
the mystical doctrine; the Vedas are its limbs, and truth is its home. The one who knows it strikes off evil and
becomes established in the most excellent, infinite, heavenly world.

The Katha Upanishad utilizes an ancient story from the Rig Veda about a father who gives his son Nachiketas to
death (Yama) but brings in some of the highest teachings of mystical spirituality, helping us to realize why the
Upanishads are referred to as the "end of the Vedas" in the double sense of completing the Vedic scripture and
in explaining the ultimate goals.

When Vajashrava was sacrificing all his possessions, faith entered into Nachiketas, his son, who asked his father
three times to whom would he give him. Losing patience with these pestering questions, the father finally said,
"I give you to Death (Yama)." Nachiketas knew that he was not the first to go to death, nor would he be the last,
and like grain one is born again anyway.

When he arrived at the house of Death, Yama was not there and only returned after three days. Because
Nachiketas had not received the traditional hospitality for three days, Yama granted him three gifts. His first
request was that his father would greet him cheerfully when he returned. The second was that he be taught about
the sacrificial fire. These were easily granted.

The third request of Nachiketas was that the mystery of what death is be explained to him, for even the gods
have had doubts about this. Death tries to make him ask for something else, such as wealth or long life with
many pleasures, but Nachiketas firmly insists on his original request, knowing that these other gifts will soon
pass away.

So Death begins by explaining that the good is much better than the pleasant, which Nachiketas has just proved
that he understands. He wisely wants knowledge not ignorance, and Death describes how those, who think
themselves learned but who are ignorant, run around deluded and are like the blind leading the blind. Those,
who think this world is the only one, continually come under the control of Death. Death explains that this
knowledge cannot be known by reasoning or thought, but it must be declared by another. I interpret this to mean
that it must be learned by direct experience or from one who has had the experience.

Death tells how the truth is hard to see, but one must enter into the hidden, secret place in the depth of the heart.
By considering this as God, one through yoga (union) wisely leaves joy and sorrow behind. One must transcend
what is right and not right, what has been done and will be done. The sacred word Aum is declared to be the
imperishable Spirit (Brahman). The wise realize that they are not born nor die but are unborn, constant, eternal,
primeval; this is not slain when the body is slain.

Smaller than the small, greater than the great, the soul is in the heart of every creature here. The one who is not
impulsive sees it and is free of sorrow. Through the grace of the creator one sees the greatness of the soul. While
sitting one may travel far; while lying down one may go everywhere. Who else but oneself can know the god of
joy and sorrow, who is bodiless among bodies and stable among the unstable?

This soul is not obtained by instruction nor by intellect nor by much learning, but is obtained by the one chosen
by this; to such the soul reveals itself. However, it is not revealed to those who have not ceased from bad
conduct nor to those who are not peaceful. Those, who drink of justice, enter the secret place in the highest
heaven. Thus correct ethics is a requirement, and one must also become peaceful.

Psychology is explained in the Katha Upanishad by using the analogy of a chariot. The soul is the lord of the
chariot, which is the body. The intuition (buddhi) is the chariot-driver, the mind the reins, the senses the horses,
and the objects of the senses the paths. Those, who do not understand and whose minds are undisciplined with
senses out of control, are like the wild horses of a chariot that never reaches its goals; these go on to reincarnate.
The wise reach their goal with Vishnu and are not born again. The hierarchy, starting from the bottom, consists
of the objects of sense, the senses, the mind, the intuition, the soul, the unmanifest, and the person (Purusha).

Though hidden, the soul may be seen by subtle seers with superior intellect. The intelligent restrain speech with
the mind, the mind with the knowing soul, the knowing soul with the intuitive soul, and the intuitive soul with
the peaceful soul. Yet the spiritual path is as difficult as crossing on the sharpened edge of a razor. By discerning
what has no sound nor touch nor form nor decay nor taste nor beginning nor end, one is liberated from the
mouth of death.

A wise person, seeking immortality, looked within and saw the soul. The childish go after outward pleasures
and walk into the net of widespread death. The wise do not seek stability among the unstable things here.
Knowing the experiencer, the living soul is the lord of what has been and what will be. This is the ancient one
born from discipline standing in the secret place. This is the truth that all things are one, but those, who see a
difference here, go from death to death like water runs to waste among the hills. The soul goes into embodiment
according to its actions and according to its knowledge.
The inner soul is in all things yet outside also; it is the one controller which when perceived gives eternal
happiness and peace. Its light is greater than the sun, moon, stars, lightning, and fire which do not shine in the
world illuminated by this presence. The metaphor of an upside down tree is used to show that heaven is the true
root of all life.

The senses may be controlled by the mind, and the mind by the greater self. Through yoga the senses are held
back so that one becomes undistracted even by the stirring of the intuition. Thus is found the origin and the end.
When all the desires of the heart are cut like knots, then a mortal becomes immortal. There is a channel from the
heart to the crown of the head by which one goes up into immortality, but the other channels go in various
directions. One should draw out from one's body the inner soul, like an arrow from a reed, to know the pure, the
immortal. The Katha Upanishad concludes that with this knowledge learned from Death with the entire rule of
yoga, Nachiketas attained Brahman and became free from passion and death, and so may any other who knows
this concerning the soul.

Greatly respected, the short Isha Upanishad is often put at the beginning of the Upanishads. Isha means "Lord"
and marks the trend toward monotheism in the Upanishads. The Lord encloses all that moves in the world. The
author recommends that enjoyment be found by renouncing the world and not coveting the possessions of
others. The One pervades and transcends everything in the world.

Whoever sees all beings in the soul

and the soul in all beings
does not shrink away from this.
In whom all beings have become one with the knowing soul
what delusion or sorrow is there for the one who sees unity?
It is radiant, incorporeal, invulnerable,
without tendons, pure, untouched by evil.
Wise, intelligent, encompassing, self-existent,
it organizes objects throughout eternity.19

The One transcends ignorance and knowledge, non-becoming and becoming. Those, who know these pairs of
opposites, pass over death and win immortality. The Isha Upanishad concludes with a prayer to the sun and to
Agni.

The Mundaka Upanishad declares Brahman the first of the gods, the creator of all and the protector of the
world. Connected to the Atharva Veda the Mundaka Upanishad has Brahman teaching his eldest son Atharvan.
Yet the lower knowledge of the four Vedas and the six Vedangas (phonetics, ritual, grammar, definition, metrics,
and astrology) is differentiated from the higher knowledge of the imperishable source of all things. The
ceremonial sacrifices are to be observed; but they are now considered "unsafe boats," and fools, who approve
them as better, go again to old age and death.

Like the Katha, the Mundaka Upanishad warns against the ignorance of thinking oneself learned and going
around deluded like the blind leading the blind. Those, who work (karma) without understanding because of
attachment, when their rewards are exhausted, sink down wretched. "Thinking sacrifices and works of merit are
most important, the deluded know nothing better."20 After enjoying the results of their good works, they enter
this world again or even a lower one. The Mundaka Upanishad recommends a more mystical path:

Those who practice discipline and faith in the forest,

the peaceful knowers who live on charity,
depart without attachment through the door of the sun,
to where lives the immortal Spirit, the imperishable soul.
Having tested the worlds won by works,
let the seeker of God arrive at detachment.
What is not made is not attained by what is done.21
To gain this knowledge the seeker is to go with fuel in hand to a teacher who is learned in the scriptures and
established in God. Approaching properly, calming the mind and attaining peace, the knowledge of God may be
taught in the truth of reality by which one knows the imperishable Spirit.

The formless that is higher than the imperishable and is the source and goal of all beings may be found in the
secret of the heart. The reality of immortal life may be known by using the weapons of the Upanishads as a
bow, placing an arrow on it sharpened by meditation, stretching it with thought directed to that, and knowing
the imperishable as the target. Aum is the bow; the soul is the arrow; and God is the target. Thus meditating on
the soul and finding peace in the heart, the wise perceive the light of blissful immortality. The knot of the heart
is loosened, all doubts vanish, and one's works (karma) cease when it is seen. Radiant is the light of lights that
illuminates the whole world. God truly is this immortal, in front, behind, to the right and left, below and above;
God is all this great universe.

By seeing the brilliant creator, the God-source, being a knower, the seer shakes off good and evil, reaching the
supreme identity of life that shines in all beings. Enjoying the soul, doing holy works, such is the best knower of
God. The soul can be attained by truth, discipline, correct knowledge, and by studying God. Truth conquers and
opens the path to the gods by which sages, whose desires are satisfied, ascend to the supreme home. Vast,
divine, subtler than the subtle, it shines out far and close by, resting in the secret place seen by those with vision.
It is not grasped by sight nor speech nor angels nor austerity nor work but by the grace of wisdom and the
mental purity of meditation which sees the indivisible.

Whatever world a person of pure heart holds clearly in mind is obtained. Yet whoever entertains desires,
dwelling on them, is born here and there on account of those desires; but for the one whose desire is satisfied,
whose soul is perfected, all desires here on earth vanish away. This soul is not attained by instruction nor
intellect nor much learning but by the one whom it chooses, who enters into the all itself. Ascetics with natures
purified by renunciation enter the God-worlds and transcend death. As rivers flow into the ocean, the liberated
knower reaches the divine Spirit. Whoever knows that supreme God becomes God.

Later Upanishads

These Upanishads are being discussed in this chapter in their estimated chronological order. The previous group
is from about the sixth century BC, and thus some of them are probably contemporary with the life of the
Buddha (563-483 BC). This next group is almost certainly after the time of the Buddha, but it is difficult to tell
how old they are.

The Prashna Upanishad is also associated with the Atharva Veda and discusses six questions; Prashna means
question. Six men approached the teacher Pippalada with sacrificial fuel in hands and questions in their minds.
Pippalada agreed to answer their questions if they would live with him another year in austerity, chastity, and
faith.

The first question is, "From where are all these creatures born?"22 The answer is that the Creator (Prajapati)
wanted them, but two paths are indicated that lead to reincarnation and immortality. The second question is how
many angels support and illumine a creature and which is supreme? The answer is space, air, fire, water, earth,
speech, mind, sight, and hearing, but the life-breath (prana) is supreme. The third question seeks to know the
relationship between this life-breath and the soul. The short answer is, "This life is born from the soul
(atman)."23

The fourth question concerns sleep, waking, and dreams. During sleep the mind re-experiences what it has seen
and heard, felt and thought and known. When one is overcome by light, the god dreams no longer; then all the
elements return to the soul in happiness. The fifth question asks about the result of meditating on the word Aum.
When someone meditates on all three letters, then the supreme may be attained. The sixth question asks about
the Spirit with sixteen parts. The sixteen parts of the Spirit are life, faith, space, air, light, water, earth, senses,
mind, food, virility, discipline, affirmations (mantra), action, world, and naming (individuality). All the parts are
like spokes of a wheel, the hub of which is the Spirit.

In the Shvetashvatara Upanishad monotheism takes the form of worshipping Rudra (Shiva). The later quality of
this Upanishad is also indicated by its use of terms from the Samkhya school of philosophy. The person
(Purusha) is distinguished from nature (Prakriti), which is conceived of as illusion (maya). The method of
devotion (bhakti) is presented, and the refrain "By knowing God one is released from all fetters" is often
repeated. Nevertheless the Upanishadic methods of discipline and meditation are recommended to realize the
soul by controlling the mind and thoughts. Breathing techniques are also mentioned as is yoga. The qualities
(gunas) that come with action (karma) and its consequences are to be transcended. Liberation is still found in
the unity of God (Brahman) by discrimination (samkhya) and union (yoga). By the highest devotion (bhakti) for
God and the spiritual teacher (guru) all this may be manifested to the great soul (mahatma).

The short Mandukya Upanishad is associated with the Atharva Veda and delineates four levels of
consciousness: waking, dreaming, deep sleep, and a fourth mystical state of being one with the soul. These are
associated with the three elements of the sacred chant Aum (a, u, and m) and the silence at its cessation. Thus
this sacred chant may be used to experience the soul itself.

The thirteenth and last of what are considered the principal Upanishads is the Maitri Upanishad. It begins by
recommending meditation upon the soul and life (prana). It tells of a king, Brihadratha, who established his son
as king and, realizing that his body is not eternal, became detached from the world and went into the forest to
practice austerity. After a thousand days Shakayanya, a knower of the soul, appeared to teach him. The king
sought liberation from reincarnating existence. The teacher assures him that he will become a knower of the
soul. The serene one, who rising up out of the body reaches the highest light in one's own form, is the soul,
immortal and fearless.

The body is like a cart without intelligence, but it is driven by a supersensuous, intelligent being, who is pure,
clean, void, tranquil, breathless, selfless, endless, undecaying, steadfast, eternal, unborn, and independent. The
reins are the five organs of perception; the steeds are the organs of action; and the charioteer is the mind. The
soul is unmanifest, subtle, imperceptible, incomprehensible, selfless, pure, steadfast, stainless, unagitated,
desireless, fixed like a spectator, and self-abiding.

How then does the soul, overcome by the bright and dark fruits of action (karma), enter good or evil wombs?
The elemental self is overcome by these actions and pairs of opposites, the qualities (gunas) of nature (prakriti)
and does not see the blessed one, who causes action standing within oneself. Bewildered, full of desire,
distracted, this self-conceit binds oneself by thinking "This is I," and "That is mine." So as a bird is caught in a
snare, it enters into a good or evil womb.

Yet the cause of these actions is the inner person. The elemental self is overcome by its attachment to qualities.
The characteristics of the dark quality (tamas) are delusion, fear, despondency, sleepiness, weariness, neglect,
old age, sorrow, hunger, thirst, wretchedness, anger, atheism, ignorance, jealousy, cruelty, stupidity,
shamelessness, meanness, and rashness. The characteristics of the passionate quality (rajas) are desire,
affection, emotion, coveting, malice, lust, hatred, secretiveness, envy, greed, fickleness, distraction, ambition,
favoritism, pride, aversion, attachment, and gluttony.

How then may this elemental self on leaving this body come into complete union with the soul? Like the waves
of great rivers or the ocean tide, it is hard to keep back the consequences of one's actions or the approach of
death. Like the lame bound with the fetters made of the fruit of good and evil, like the prisoner lacking
independence, like the dead beset by fear, the intoxicated by delusions, like one rushing around are those
possessed by an evil spirit; like one bitten by a snake are those bitten by objects of sense; like the gross darkness
of passion, the juggling of illusion, like a falsely apparent dream, like an actor in temporary dress or a painted
scene falsely delighting the mind, all these attachments prevent the self from remembering the highest place.

The antidote is to study the Veda, to pursue one's duty in each stage of the religious life, and to practice the
proper discipline, which results in the pure qualities (sattva) that lead to understanding and the soul. By
knowledge, discipline, and meditation God is apprehended, and one attains undecaying and immeasurable
happiness in complete union with the soul. The soul is identical with the various gods and powers.

Having bid peace to all creatures and gone to the forest,

then having put aside objects of sense,
from out of one's own body one should perceive this,
who has all forms, the golden one, all-knowing,
the final goal, the only light."24

The means of attaining the unity of the One is the sixfold yoga of breath control (pranayama), withdrawal of the
senses (pratyahara), attention (dhyana), concentration (dharana), contemplation (tarka), and meditation
(samadhi).

When one sees the brilliant maker,

lord, person, the God-source,
then, being a knower, shaking off good and evil,
the sage makes everything one in the supreme imperishable.25

When the mind is suppressed, one sees the brilliant soul, which is more subtle than the subtle; having seen the
soul oneself, one becomes selfless and is regarded as immeasurable, without origin - the mark of liberation
(moksha). By serenity of thought one destroys good and evil action (karma). In selflessness one attains absolute
unity.

The sound Aum may be used. Meditation is directed to the highest principle within and also outer objects,
qualifying the unqualified understanding; but when the mind has been dissolved, there is the bliss witnessed by
the soul that is the pure and immortal Spirit. But if one is borne along by the stream of the qualities, unsteady,
wavering, bewildered, full of desire, and distracted one goes into self-conceit. Standing free from dependence,
conception, and self-conceit is the mark of liberation.

The influence of Buddhism can be seen in the description of liberation from one's own thoughts. As fire
destitute of fuel goes out, so thought losing activity becomes extinct in its source. What is one's thought, that
one becomes; this is the eternal mystery. By the serenity of thought one destroys good and bad karma; focused
on the soul, one enjoys eternal delight. The mind is the means of bondage and release. Though the sacrificial
fire is still important, meditation has become the primary means of liberation.

The Mahanarayana Upanishad is a long hymn to various forms of God with prayers for everything from wealth
to liberation. At one point the author identifies with the divine light:

I am that supreme light of Brahman

which shines as the inmost essence of all that exists.
In reality I am the same infinite Brahman
even when I am experiencing myself
as a finite self owing to ignorance.
Now by the onset of knowledge
I am really that Brahman which is my eternal nature.
Therefore I realize this identity
by making myself, the finite self,
an oblation into the fire
of the infinite Brahman which I am always.
May this oblation be well made.26
The Jabala Upanishad, which is quoted by Shankara, gives a description of the four stages of religious life for a
pious Hindu. Yajnavalkya suggests that after completing the life of a student, a householder, and a forest
dweller, let one renounce, though one may renounce while a student or householder if one has the spirit of
renunciation. Suicide apparently was not forbidden, for to the one who is weary of the world but is not yet fit to
become a recluse, Yajnavalkya recommends a hero's death (in battle), fasting to death, throwing oneself into
water or fire, or taking a final journey (to exhaustion). The wandering ascetic though wearing an orange robe,
with a shaven head, practicing non-possession, purity, nonviolence, and living on charity obtains the state of
Brahman.

The Vajrasuchika Upanishad claims to blast ignorance and exalts those endowed with knowledge. It raises the
question who is of the Brahmin class. Is it the individual soul, the body, based on birth, knowledge, work, or
performing the rites? It is not the individual soul (jiva), because the same soul passes through many bodies. It is
not the body, because all bodies are composed of the same elements even though Brahmins tend to be white,
Kshatriyas red, Vaishyas tawny, and Sudras dark in complexion. It is not birth, because many sages are of
diverse origin. It is not knowledge, because many Kshatriyas have attained wisdom and seen the highest reality.
It is not work, because good men perform works based on their past karma. It is not performing the rites,
because many Kshatriyas and others have given away gold as an act of religious duty.

The true Brahmin directly perceives the soul, which functions as the indwelling spirit of all beings, blissful,
indivisible, immeasurable, realizable only through one's experience. Manifesting oneself directly through the
fulfillment of nature becomes rid of the faults of desire, attachment, spite, greed, expectation, bewilderment,
ostentation, and so on and is endowed with tranquillity. Only one possessed of these qualities is a Brahmin. This
flexible viewpoint indicates that the caste system may not yet have been as rigid as it was later to become.

Although as the major teachings passed down orally from the century before the Buddha, the Upanishads don't
tell us too much about the worldly society of India, they do express a widespread mysticism and spiritual life-
style that was to prepare the way for the new religions of Jainism and Buddhism as well as the deepened
spirituality and mystical philosophies of Hinduism. The values of the teachers and ascetics of this culture that
has been likened to the New Thought movement of the recent New Age philosophy were spiritual and other
worldly, but if they did not do much to improve the whole society, at least they did not do the harm of the
conquering Aryans.

A personal educational system of spiritual tutoring for adults developed, and individuals were encouraged to
improve themselves spiritually as they gave and received charity. (When renouncing they gave to charity; then
they accepted charity for basic sustenance.) The rituals of animal sacrifices were de-emphasized, and
knowledge became greatly valued, especially self-knowledge. The doctrine of reincarnation made the sacrifices
for a better life now or in the future eventually give way to the higher spiritual goal of liberation from the entire
cycle of rebirth. Thus austerity and meditation became the primary methods of spiritual realization.

B.)The Hinduism and Buddhism

have common origins in the Ganges culture of northern India during the so-called "second urbanisation" around
500 BCE. They have shared parallel beliefs that have existed side by side, but also pronounced
differences.Buddhism attained prominence in the Indian subcontinent as it was supported by royal courts, but
started to decline after the Gupta era, and virtually disappeared in the 11th century CE, except in some pockets
of India. It has continued to exist outside of India and is the major religion in several East Asian countries.

Certain Buddhist teachings appear to have been formulated in response to ideas presented in the early
Upanishads – in some cases concurring with them, and in other cases criticizing or re-interpreting them.
The influence of Upanishads, the earliest philosophical texts of Hindus, on Buddhism has been a subject of
debate among scholars. While Radhakrishnan, Oldenberg and Neumann were convinced of Upanishadic
influence on the Buddhist canon, Eliot and Thomas highlighted the points where Buddhism was opposed to
Upanishads.

Buddhism may have been influenced by some Upanishadic ideas, it however discarded their orthodox
tendencies. In Buddhist texts he is presented as rejecting avenues of salvation as "pernicious views".Later
Indian religious thoughts were influenced by this interpretation and novel ideas of the Buddhist tradition of
beliefs.In later years, there is significant evidence that both Buddhism and Hinduism were
supported by Indian rulers, regardless of the rulers' own religious identities. Buddhist
kings continued to revere Hindu deities and teachers, and many Buddhist temples were built
under the patronage of Hindu rulers. This was because never has Buddhism been considered
an alien religion to that of Hinduism in India, but as only one of the many strains of
Hinduism. Kalidas' work shows the ascension of Hinduism at the expense of Buddhism. By the
eighth century, Shiva and Vishnu had replaced Buddha in pujas of royalty.

C.) The Kamasutra (Book Of Love)

The Kamasutra, written sometime in the 3rd century by a north Indian scholar called Vatsyayana Mallanaga,
means literally, the Treatise on Pleasure. Kama is the Hindu God of Love. Kama also means desire. Sutra refers
to a narrative, manual or guide. The KamaSutra is a classic guide to lovemaking, reflecting the social and sexual
traditions of the times. Many consider the Kamasutra to be simply a manual of athletic sexual positions, but
scholars view it as having more historical importance than a simple guide would have. It is a book about the art
of living; about finding a partner, maintaining power in a marriage, and above all, it lays down the different
positions in sexual intercourse. Thus Kamasutra is a guide towards sexual fantasy and satisfaction.

According to ancient Indian texts, man had 3 main goals in life - Dharma (duty and responsibility for your
actions), Arta (gaining power through politics and wealth) and Kama (pleasure). Thus Vatsyayana in his book
"Kamasutra" with the help of sensual poetry explained the technique of love-making and explored fantastic
sexual positions.

D.) The Mahabharata and Ramayana

The Story of the Ramayana Briefly

So, just to let you know what you are in for, here is a very brief summary of the Ramayana, the adventures of
lord Rama. Rama is the son of King Da 힄 aratha, but he is also an incarnation of the god Vishnu, born in
human form to do battle with the demon lord Ravana. Ravana had obtained divine protection against other
demons, and even against the gods - but because he scorned the world of animals and men, he had not asked for
protection from them. Therefore, Vishnu incarnated as a human being in order to put a stop to Ravana. King Da
힄 aratha has three other sons besides Rama. There is Lakshmana, who is devoted to Rama. There is also
Bharata, the son of Da 힄 aratha's pretty young wife Kaikeyi, and finally there is 힃 atrughna, who is as devoted
to Bharata as Lakshmana is to Rama.

When Da 힄 aratha grows old, he decides to name Rama as his successor. Queen Kaikeyi, however, is outraged.
She manages to compel Da 힄 aratha to name their son Bharata as his successor instead and to send Rama into
exile in the forest. Rama agrees to go into exile, and he is accompanied by his wife Sita and his brother
Lakshmana. When their exile is nearly over, Sita is abducted by the evil Ravana who carries her off to Lanka
city (on the island of Sri Lanka). Rama and Lakshmana follow in pursuit, and they are aided by the monkey
lord, Hanuman, who is perfectly devoted to Rama.
After many difficulties and dangers, Rama finally confronts Ravana and defeats him in battle. What happens
after that is a matter of some dispute in the different versions of the Ramayana. Did Rama accept Sita back into
his household? Or did he send her away because she had been in the possession of another male? You will see
different versions of the ending in the two different editions of the Ramayana that you will read for this class.

A Digression About Time

In historical terms, the events of the Ramayana are supposed to precede the events of the Mahabharata. The
time periods of Hindu mythology are called "yugas," and the world as we know it goes through a cycle of four
yugas. Sometimes these four yugas are compared to a cow standing on four legs. In the "Best Age," the Krita
Yuga, the cow is standing on all four legs. In the next age, the Treta Yuga, or "Age of Three," the cow is
standing on only three legs and is slightly teetering, and so the world is slightly corrupted. In the next age, the
"Age of Two," or Dwapara Yuga, there is only half as much righteousness in the world as there used to be, like a
cow standing on only two legs. This is followed by the worst age, the Kali Yuga, where there is only one-fourth
of the world's original righteousness remaining. As a result, the world of the Kali Yuga has become extremely
corrupt and utterly unstable. The cow is standing on just one leg!

The events of the Ramayana take place in the Treta Yuga, when the world is only somewhat corrupted. The
events of the Mahabharata take place much later, at the end of the Dwapara Yuga, the "Age of Two," when the
world is far more grim and corrupt than in Rama's times. The violent and tragic events at the end of the
Mahabharata mark the end of the Dwapara Yuga and the beginning of the Kali Yuga, the worst age of the world.

We are living in the Kali Yuga, in case you were wondering...

The Story of the Mahabharata Briefly

In some ways, the entire story of the Mahabharata is an explanation of how our world, the world of the Kali
Yuga, came into being, and how things got to be as bad as they are. The Ramayana has its share of suffering and
even betrayal, but nothing to match the relentless hatred and vengeance of the Mahabharata. The culmination of
the Mahabharata is the Battle of Kurukshetra when two bands of brothers, the Pandavas and the Kauravas, the
sons of two brothers and thus cousins to one another, fight each other to death, brutally and cruelly, until the
entire race is almost wiped out.

The five sons of Pandu, the Pandavas, are the heroes of the story. The eldest is King Yudhishthira. Next is
Bhima, an enormously strong fighter with equally enormous appetites. After Bhima is Arjuna, the greatest of the
warriors and also the companion of Krishna. The last two are twins, Nakula and Sahadeva. These five brothers
share one wife, Draupadi (she became the wife of all five of them by accident, as you will learn).

The enemies of the Pandavas are the Kauravas, who are the sons of Pandu's brother, Dhritarashtra. Although
Dhritarashtra is still alive, he cannot manage to restrain his son Duryodhana, who bitterly resents the
achievements of his cousins, the Pandavas. Duryodhana arranges for his maternal uncle to challenge
Yudhishthira to a game of dice, and Yudhishthira gambles everything away, even himself. The Pandavas have to
go into exile, but when they return they engage the Kauravas in battle. Krishna fights on the side of the
Pandavas, and serves as Arjuna's charioteer. The famous "Song of the Lord," or Bhagavad-Gita, is actually a
book within the Mahabharata, as the battle of Kurukshetra begins. When Arjuna faces his cousins on the field of
battle, he despairs and sinks down, unable to fight. The Bhagavad-Gita contains the words that Krishna spoke to
Arjuna at that moment.
The Pandavas do win the battle. Duryodhana is killed, and the Kaurava armies are wiped out. But it is hardly a
happy ending. Yudhishthira becomes king, but the world is forever changed by the battle's violence. If you are
familiar with the Iliad, you might remember how that epic ends with the funeral of the Trojan hero Hector, a
moment which is utterly bleak and sad. The same is true for the Mahabharata. There are many truths that are
learned in the end, but the victory, such as it is, comes at a terrible price.