The Concept of Self in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity and Its Implication for Interfaith Relations

Shin

• Publisher: Pickwick Publications
• Year: 2017
• eBook ISBN: 9781532600968
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Comparative Religion

This is the first comparative study of the self and no-self in Hinduism, Buddhism, and Christianity. In spite of doctrinal differences within these three belief systems, they agree that human beings are in a predicament from which they need to be liberated. Indian religions, including Hinduism and Buddhism, share the belief that human nature is inherently perfectible, while the epistemological and psychological limitation of the human being is integral to Christian belief. Regarding the immortality of the human being, Hinduism and Christianity traditionally and generally agree that human beings, as atman or soul, possess intrinsic immortality. On the contrary, Buddhism teaches the doctrine of no-self (anatta). Further, in their quest to analyze the human predicament and attempt a way out of it, they employ different concepts, such as sin and salvation in Christianity, attachment (tanka) and enlightenment (nirvana) in Buddhism, and ignorance (avidya) and liberation (moksa) in Hinduism. This volume seeks to show that that behind these concepts are deep concerns related to human existence and its relationship with the whole creation. These common concerns can be a basis for a greater understanding and dialogue between Christians, Hindus, and Buddhists.

1

Atman in Hinduism

The Development of the Concept of the Self in Early Hinduism

Internal plurality within Hinduism is very different from the kind of internal religious plurality one finds in other religious traditions. Hillary Rodrigues points this out saying that the word Hinduism “does not refer to a single religious system but designates diverse religious, philosophical, and cultural systems in the Indian subcontinent.” She says that “In fact, originally the term ‘Hindu’ was given to differentiate the Muslims from other religious practitioners in India.”20 Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad speaks of this diversity held within Hinduism by describing it as “just a whole collection of traditions kept diverse throughout history by social class, region, belief in different divinities, sources of authority, and self-conception.”21 Arvind Sharma argues that Hinduism has a special relationship with India and to all Indians and that it is difficult to define Hinduism because it is not only inclusive but it also overlooks contradictions within what is called Hinduism.22 He holds, therefore, that “Hindu pluralism means that Hinduism can be all things to all human beings.”23 Commenting on its implications for Indian culture, Michael Amaladoss says: “If we look at the people’s way of life, then there is no one Indian culture. Indian culture is a mosaic of cultures.”24 Accordingly, Hinduism also has a great variety of ways of being saved.

The variety of beliefs and practices in Hinduism has emerged out of the religious experiences of its people over many centuries. It is still undergoing change in response to new conditions and circumstances. However, the various schools in Hinduism share several basic concepts which help us understand how most Hindus see and respond to the world. In much of Hindu teaching the eternal self (atman) is distinct from the transitory body made of matter (prakriti). However, the eternal soul, because of its bondage to ignorance (avidya), identifies itself with matter and is thus entrapped in maya (illusion). Impelled by lust, greed, anger etc., human beings engage in actions (karma) that lead to series of births (samsara). The goal of most Hindus is moksa, liberation from this perpetual cycle of births and rebirths, through reidentification of oneself with the eternal Brahman.25

Hindu Scriptures:The Vedas, the Upanishads, and the Bhagavad Gita

Hindu scriptures, called the “Vedas” (“wisdom” texts) refer to “a body of transmitted texts that originated around 1500 BCE and consist of a number of sacred books including the Upanishads.”26 The authorship and origins of the Vedas are ambiguous and controversial. According to Harold Coward, “Whereas the Torah of Judaism has definite beginnings reported in Genesis and Exodus, the Hindu scriptures are held to be beginningless—just as in the Hindu view the whole of the universe has existed beginninglessly as a series of cycles of creation going back in time infinitely.”27 Coward also claims that some Hindu schools insist that the Vedas are “authorless” because attributing authors would indicate a historical point of beginning. It is also claimed that since human beings are erroneous, they cannot be authors of these sacred books. They are understood as transcendent sacred words that make themselves available to human beings through human channels called the rsis, or seers.28 The Vedas constitute four traditions: Rig, Yajur, Sāma, and Atharva. Each of the four traditions consists of four texts: the Saṃhitās, Brāhmaṇas, Araṇyakas, and Upanishads. Sarma indicates that the Saṃhitās were composed by about 1500 BCE and Upanishads between 700 and 300 BCE.29 Alongside the four traditions of the Vedas, two other texts, Vedanta Sutra and the Bhagavad Gita constitute the core of the scriptures of the classical Hindu tradition.

S. M. Srinivasa Chari says that these three principle sources are considered the most important texts of the Vedanta system. The Upanishads sections of the Vedas are also called Vedanta. The word, Vedanta, means “the end of the Vedas, which can mean the final section of the Veda, or the ultimate goal of the Vedas.”30 The term, Upanishads literally means “near to” (upa) and “to sit down” (nishad) because they were taught orally to students who sat at the feet of a teacher.

The Upanishads are placed at the last parts of the Vedas and viewed “as the culmination and essence of Vedic thought . . .”31 Sarma points out that the Upanishads moves theological attention from ritual, especially sacrifice, to reflections about the nature of atman or the self, and the nature of the universe. Even though the concept of Brahman as an impersonal absolute is first developed in the Upanishads, there is no unified or consistent teaching about Brahman and Atman in the Upanishads. However, as Sarma states, most popular interpretation of the Upanishads is the Advaita Vedanta school of Shankaracharya and his followers.32

According to Chari, the philosophy of the Upanishads mainly deals with five primal doctrines:

(1) The nature of the Ultimate Reality which is known as Brahman in the Upanishads; (2) The nature of the individual soul (jivatman) and its relation to Brahman; (3) The nature of the universe (jagat) and its relation to Brahman; (4) The nature of the means (sadhana) to att...

Table of contents

• Title Page
• Foreword
• Preface
• Introduction
• Chapter 1: Atman in Hinduism
• Chapter 2: Anatta in Buddhism
• Chapter 3: Soul in Christianity
• Chapter 4: Conclusion
• Bibliography