Spirituality refers to an internal state characterized by transcendence, otherworldliness, and heavenward awareness. Hindi developed into an elegant vehicle for devotional poetry associated with Kabir, Mira Bai, and Surdas in the 15th-17th centuries.
Hindus practice regular prayers for health, prosperity and forgiveness while also believing in reincarnation and its circular nature of life.
Atman
Hindu philosophy recognizes atman, or divine essence within every being, as an essential concept. This doctrine encourages spiritual development while offering a framework to comprehend life’s cyclic nature and pursue liberation (moksha). Furthermore, the atman concept underlines karma – the law of cause and effect – by encouraging individuals to pursue actions which accrue good karma that benefit themselves both in this life as well as future lives.
Hindus differ from Western philosophy in believing that soul is spiritual rather than material, which can be seen through yoga’s advocacy of detachment from materialistic world and emphasis on practices such as asceticism. Yogic philosophy emphasizes finding a guru or spiritual teacher as this can aid a student on his or her path toward enlightenment and liberation.
Vedic texts describe Atman as the innate soul or essence of each person; this concept forms the core of Vedanta school of Hindu thought where it is considered equivalent with Brahman, the universal self. Atman controls all faculties and organs within an organism and forms the basis for all activities undertaken during life; upon death it transmigrates into another body before eventually attaining moksha, or freedom from birth and death cycles.
Attaining Atman is the goal of many spiritual practices, including bhakti and meditation. A spiritual teacher or guru often serves as the best guide towards this end – depending on tradition, this may mean following an individual teacher or an entire lineage of teachers; most revered gurus may even become the focal point for devotional practices such as statues or paintings depicting them.
A Hindu spiritual practice typically centers on its guru as they believe they can lead a student towards enlightenment and moksha. Understanding their qualities such as wisdom, intelligence and strength is also key, while ethical behavior should include helping those in need and restricting unethical physical or verbal behavior. They should be capable of instructing students in accordance with dharma (righteousness).
Bhakti
Bhakti is a spiritual practice of loving devotion to the divine that is associated with Hinduism but can also be found among many other religious traditions. Through prayer, music and worship one can connect with their Creator; whether that means daily meditation or elaborate puja ceremonies it can help overcome life’s problems and find ultimate peace.
Scholars generally approach bhakti as either a concept, historical movement, or experience. Scholars agree it is essential to contextualize bhakti to fully appreciate all its expressions.
Bhakti comes from the Sanskrit root bhaja, meaning service. Devotion to God forms part of any devotee’s sadhana (pathway to liberation). Devotion may take many forms: singing songs about His greatness or teaching others about Him are among many examples that express devotion as is keeping a mala for japa (repetition of mantra).
Bhakti literature interprets devotion not as just an activity or state of mind, but as an intimate relationship with an ultimate force. Poets of bhakti yoga emphasize the significance of cultivating devotion through personal experience while criticizing or ridiculing ritual religion practices; additionally they frequently advocate for equality among sexes and all classes in society.
At its heart, bhakti seeks to promote selfless divine love. Unlike worldly romance which may fluctuate or shift with mood swings and attachments, divine love remains unchanging and unconditional. To attain it, devotees must purify their minds through devotional practices such as bhakti. Additionally, they should abandon all other shelters to fully devote themselves to that which transcends form, living according to its dictates and living according to what their Supreme Being dictates them to do.
Scholars of Bhakti Yoga generally agree that cultivating devotion and attaining parabhakti, or union with the Divine, involves two stages. Aparabhakti or lower bhakti and paramabhakti or higher bhakti both play an important part in devotional practice; but only parabhakti serves as the end goal.
Karma
Karma, often referred to as “cause and effect,” refers to the relationship between an individual’s actions and their consequences – often known as cause and effect. Most religious traditions consider reward and punishment to fall under divine lawgiver jurisdiction, but Hinduism, Jainism, and Buddhism accept karma as an autonomous causal law which determines which actions bring positive outcomes versus those with negative results.
Karma for any individual consists of three elements, which combine to determine their destiny: Prathama, Phalaka and Adinaya. Prathama refers to actions performed, Phalaka to their results and Adinaya being their final outcome – either pleasure or pain depending on which life cycle one finds themselves in.
Karma can be divided into five components that determine one’s adinaya (attitude toward God). A positive attitude leads to inner joy and peace while negative attitudes lead to sorrow. Devotion plays an essential role in an adinaya that’s positive; Hinduism’s goal is for each person to find their atman (soul) and become freed from birth-death cycles through its ultimate goal: moksha or liberation from suffering.
In order to reach moksha, one must follow his or her dharma – this could include religious practices like meditation and devotion to deities; duties and responsibilities within society; as well as living according to an ideal of moral conduct that brings material wealth, spiritual harmony and emotional peace.
People who follow their dharma have the greatest chance of reaching moksha, yet many individuals face numerous obstacles on their path to finding peace with themselves and other. Overcoming poverty, family problems and addictions requires adopting a positive outlook and practicing self-discipline; forgiving other’s mistakes while moving past negative experiences quickly is also helpful. Advaita practice allows individuals to see beyond physical and spiritual experiences to see the truth underlying all events; helping find peace among chaos while deepening understanding about atman and nature of reality.
Samsara
Samsara is the cyclical nature of life, death and rebirth that forms the core belief system in Hinduism and Buddhism. Karma regulates it; most religious practices which believe in samsara strive for liberation from it through moksha or liberation from it altogether through yoga practice. Samsara plays an integral role in yoga meditation sessions because it keeps one mindful of liberation as their ultimate goal during practice – reminding one that life itself is temporary and nothing permanent exists here on Earth.
The Samsara Cycle can be depicted by an infinite wheel, known as a Bhavacakra. This wheel contains six sections that represent various realms of existence including hell, heaven, demigods, hungry ghosts and humans – each section being overseen by either Mara or Yama. They constantly work toward pulling souls away from existing lives into new ones through this vicious circle known as Samsara.
According to Buddhist tradition, Samsara can be overcome by overpowering delusion and attachment forces. Clinging and grasping are at the core of all suffering in Samsara and those with an understanding of it can escape reincarnation to find true liberation – Nirvana.
Karma, the natural law that states all human actions have consequences, stems from the belief that all events in the universe are interdependent and must be treated as interrelated phenomena. A yogi must recognize how one individual’s actions impact those of another and that thoughts and words have equal power as physical actions to create negative karma; then through meditation and purifying their life to release any unwanted or undesirable karma that builds up over time.
Advaita Vedanta is a Hindu school of Advaita Vedanta which views the atman (or soul) as equal with Brahman (or supreme divinity). A yogi must transcend illusionary thoughts about Samsara to understand that its manifestation, Maya (illusionary world), must end before seeking liberation from Samsara by transcending these illusions and recognising Brahman-Atman equivalence through spiritual practice such as chanting mantras or performing rituals.