Lecture #5: Bhakti (Devotional) Movements

Course: Eastern Religious Traditions

Lecture #5: Bhakti (Devotional) Movements

• Bhakti is usually translated as "devotion" but includes faith, love surrender and devotional attachment. It is associated with theism as devotion to a personal deity.
• This devotion is expressed in puja, which means adoration or worship on the theoretical level or offering of fruit or flowers to the deity on the concrete level. Circumambulating (to walk all the way around something) the temple of the deity is included in this puja. Both terms, Bhakti and puja, imply a personal relationship and an attitude of reverential dependence. It is affection and submission to a person, that of God only or any of his incarnations. Bhakti is higher than external observances and activities or philosophical meditation. Since it involves submission on man's part it implies divine grace.
• Lower Bhakti is imperfect because it is motivated by worldly concerns such as sickness, danger, or desire for something. There are eighty-one degrees of lower bhakti listed.
• Higher Bhakti is completely selfless and involves single-hearted attachment to God. It is not the result of human striving, but of pure grace. It is not the means to liberation but is liberation.
• Bhakti in its fully developed form, is a highly articulate theological system which can be used to justify the tendency of many to express ultimacy in terms of intense love or devotion to a personal God. About 98% of Indians are involved in one of the Bhakti movements.

Buddha Bhakti

• Almost immediately after his death, devotion to the Buddha began. This reached its logical conclusion in the Mahayana systems of grace which relied on one Buddha or another to give grace for Nirvana. The Buddha's remains were distributed and enclosed in stupas, or small temples. These were decorated at first with a wheel representing the law but later with representations of the Buddha himself. Devotees would come offer flowers and walk around the stupa.
• By the second cent. B.C. the stories of the Buddha become more elaborate and attribute his choice to be born in India as his, he becomes a superman and is depicted with a halo.
• Bodhisattvas or "Buddhas to be" gain devotees. These are "compassionate ones" who chose to stop just before reaching nirvana in order to save everyone else on earth before entering moksha. According to the doctrine there are ten stages (Bhumi) through which the Buddha to be must go to reach nirvana.
• Mahayana Buddhism has an important scripture "The Lotus of the True Law" which tries to bring the followers of the Pali Tradition over to the new way of looking at the Buddha and his doctrine. All the beliefs of the Pali Canon are admittedly true, but only as appearance and not as reality.
• This view sees the Buddha as using Upaya or "skill in means" to lead people to the higher doctrine of Mahayana. It was meant to attract those who were weary with suffering.
• Buddha Bhakti reached its peak in a sutra which describes the land of bliss. There had developed a belief in numerous Buddhas and Bodhisattvas and the worlds over which the exerted influence. Amitabha (Amida in Japan) was ruler of the Western Paradise and was particularly popular. These lands of bliss have all sort of pleasure and if anything deemed necessary is missing, one can have it merely by wishing.
• Entrance to this land is gained by grace, praying to Amitabha. Even a single thought or repetition of his name will suffice. The result is to gain his virtues and merit so one can be born into the western paradise and then reach nirvana.
• The emphasis on self-effort which the Pali tradition taught is now replaced by a doctrine of grace which included the notion that merit could be transferred from the Buddha to the follower one adopts the way of love and devotion.

Krishna Bhakti

• Origin of devotion to Krishna is not known. the Mahabharata an epic written between 400 B.C. and 400 A. D. makes him a human hero. The Bhagavad Gita (written about 260 B.C.) which forms only a small part of this epic (which is 3 1/2 times the length of the Bible) presents Krishna as the Supreme God, who, if made the object of devotion, will save men.
• The Gita takes place on the battlefield and in places teaches that disciplined action, that is, action done in a nonattached manner, w/o concern for the fruits of the action, is the most adequate path to liberation. However, the climax of the Gita (chap. 11) has a vision of Krishna given to the protagonist, Arjuna, with all the earmarks of bhakti present. The Key to liberation is devotion to the Lord. Thus, although the Gita teaches that action is inevitable and that bad karma is the result of attached action, it is stated elsewhere in this work that one who is devoted to Krishna will not be reborn.
• The Gita identifies its teaching with the Upanishads by quoting and reinterpreting. Its view is that Krishna is the support of Brachman. It is qualified non-duel. That is, it sees God as both personal and impersonal, beyond all distinctions of that kind. The true self is always attached to Krishna. One meditates to get the mind off what is not self (prakriti) and to know your true self (atman).
• Some interpreters of the Gita see Krishna as an incarnation of Vishnu but this is not the Gita's view, in which Krishna is the supreme God.
• Later stories developed about Krishna and his exploits a child and as a lover. This was called the Bhagavata Purana (about 12th cent.) He is pictured as stealing butter and sweets. As an adolescent he is a lover of numerous affairs with the gopis (cowherd lasses). His favorite was Radha and they are often pictured together.
• Worship of Krishna was and is strong in Bengal. Chaitanya (486-1533) popularized his exploits with the gopis. Chaitanya was considered to be by Some an incarnation of Krishna and by others of Krishna and Radha together, the ultimate form of the divine.
• Women and untouchables could be saved (that is, not reborn) by devotion to Krishna.

Rama Bhakti

• Two Indian epics. The Mahabharata (just mentioned) and the Ramayana which was substantially complete as early as the fourth century BCE. Has seven chapters -- two thru six were about Rama the hero but the first and seventh were added about the 2nd cent. B.C making Rama an incarnation of Vishnu.
• The Ramayana centers round Rama who won the hand of Sita in an archery contest. They were banished to life in the forest where the demon king Ravana came disguised as an ascetic and carried Sita away in his ariel car. Rama and his brother Lakshmana sought her w/o success until Hanuman brave leader of the monkeys aided them. When Sita was recovered her purity was questioned and she went thru several ordeals to prove her innocence. Finally, she called on Mother Earth to swallow her if she was chaste. She was swallowed by the Earth.
• Shrines have been built to Hanuman, Rama and his brother. Rama and Sita are seen as the ideal divine couple by their followers.
• Ramananda (15th cent CE) spread worship of Rama and Sita. He disregarded caste to an extent beyond some other bhaktas. He included among his disciples a woman, a Muslim and an outcaste. His concern was to speak to common people. Sect stemming from him is called Ramanandis. United in their faith in the one personal God whom they call Rama, they hold that bhakti consists in perfect love toward God and that all men are brothers. Found throughout northern and central India.
• Tulsi Das (1532-1623 CE) a poet who did more to spread worship of Rama than anyone else. His poetry emphasizes Rama's grace towards anyone seeking him.

Vishnu Bhakti

• Vishnu was a minor solar deity in the Rigveda but came into more prominence in the Brahmanas. By the fourth century B.C. he and Shiva were the most popular deities.
• The Brahman priests tried to control the theistic sects growing up outside their influence by either indicating that the local deity was really Vishnu under a different name or that he was an avatar (incarnation) of Vishnu. This was called Brahmanization because it was a means of bringing the deities under Brahminic control. Thus, Vishnu has a traditional list of ten incarnations or avatars, though some list over 20.

• the Fish-saved Manu and family from a worldwide flood (ship tied to his horn)
• the Tortoise appeared in this form to retrieve some things lost in the flood, both values and deities.
• the Boar-stems from tribal totem. killed demon and put earth back where it belonged.
• The Man-Lion-demon couldn't be killed by man or beast, in sun or dark so killed at sunset as both and killed him.
• The Dwarf appeared to demon as dwarf. Told he would take over all he could tread in 3 steps, then turned to giant and took back all heaven and Earth. Left Bali in control of infernal regions.
• Rama with the Ax. -Took form of a Brahman and destroyed the Kshatriyas because of their arrogance.
• Rama-Rama of the Ramayana. destroy the demon Ravana. Vishnu took this form to
• Krishna Vishnu took this form to kill demon Kamsa.
• Buddha-Vishnu became the Buddha in order to delude the wicked by leading them to deny the Vedas and the efficacy of the sacrifices, thereby assuring their damnation.
• Kalki -avatar is future. at the end of the present Kali age, Kalkin will come, mounted on a white horse. He will judge the wicked, reward the good, and set up an age.

• Vaishnavas comprise the largest group of Indian devotees, but one must realize that by far the largest number of these are devotees of Krishna or Rama,
• The so called "Hindu Trinity" includes Brahma the creator, Vishnu the preserver and Shiva the destroyer. However those who worship Vishnu, or the others, ignore the other two.

Shiva Bhakti

• Shiva meaning "auspicious, was a Euphemistic epithet given to the Rigvedic Rudra. As Rudra, Shiva inspires more fear than love. He is conceived of as the destroyer when the company of Brahma and Vishnu. Through his meditation high on the slopes of the Himalayan Mt. Kailasa the world is maintained. He is also lord of the animals and Lord of the dance which supports the rhythm of the universe.
• He is worshiped most often in the form of the Linga (i.e., a representation of the male sex organ). In the temple his bull Nandi is seen looking at the Linga.
• This sect is around at least by the second century BCE. They did much like followers of Vishnu in identifying local deities with Shiva. Shiva is even given avatars in imitation of Vishnu, but they never played the significant role they did for Vishnu.
• Prominence given to grace. Is given to all not matter what class or caste. In South India tradition developed called Shaiva Siddhanta. First systematic attempt to state Beliefs.
• Shiva is seen as the guru par excellence whose grace illuminates the intellect when one submits to the teachings of the human gurus.
• Karma and Maya (illusion) are not evils, but agencies used by Shiva for the purification of the soul from ignorance. The three paths of service, worship and meditation are proposed but all are to be animated by bhakti. This makes the soul open to Shiva's grace, by which union with him is possible.
• Liberation is union with Shiva. Shiva is bliss itself.

Shakti Bhakti

• Goddesses of fertility have been worshipped in India since the beginning of the neolithic age and their cult an important part of the non-Aryan background of Hinduism.
• Whatever the origins of the cult of the great goddess or shakti, between the fifth century, when a temple was established “filled with demonesses, sacred to the mothers who shout most loudly in the darkness" to the present, her worship has flourished.
• About 80% of Indians live in rural areas. For this Country Hinduism is the main religion. These various cults bear little or no relation to Vedas. There is popular worship of snakes and tree spirits. For the great majority of peasants, the most important deity is not Vishnu or Shiva but the village goddess (gramadevata), often called Earth Goddess or Mother, significantly always feminine, who presides over fertility and over disease and pestilence as well.
• Mythologically the Great Goddess is conceived of as the spouse of Shiva. She has different aspects.
• As Parvati, the lady of the Mountains, she is Shiva's beautiful bride.
• As bloodthirsty Kali she demands animal and at times human sacrifice. She waylays travelers and is the patron saint of robbers.
• As Durga she slays the Mahisha, the demon in the form of a buffalo. This is found mainly in Bengal.
• Philosophically the Great Goddess is the shakti or power of Shiva, who represents the opposite pole of maleness, consciousness and rest. Thus w/o his shakti power of action personified in his spouse, a male god is unable to do anything. She is the active principle who creates the world and provides grace and liberation.
• Some of worship had erotic overtones. “Left-handed tantra,” as it is sometimes called, includes equal numbers of men and women in a circle. In the center is a yoni (representing the female sexual organ) which stands for the goddess. The participants participate in the five Ms' (they all begin with M in Sanskrit) Wine, meat, fish, parched grain and sexual intercourse. The explicit aim of this is to raise the worshipper above praise, censure, shame, pride of family and caste as a step toward liberation from the bonds which keep one from supreme bliss. Only adepts participate. It goes directly against the common morality.
• The more widespread “right handed tantra” uses substitutes for forbidden things and are much more conventional. In all cases the point is to become detached from the world.
• In Bengal and Calcutta worship of the goddess is practiced widely. Kali is the favorite, However the British outlawed human sacrifice. She manifests both the powers of destruction and grace. All the pleasures of the world are transient, while only Kali is permanent and can grant happiness. She is black because she is the ultimate energy.

Attempts at synthesis

• Three levels:

• There is an attempt to combine male and female. One can find images that are half and half. Shiva and Shakti are portrayed in this manner. So are Krishna and Radha. At times a Linga and Yoni are made one,
• There is an effort to combine the two most popular deities, Vishnu and Shiva. This has been attempted in the deity Harihara (or Shankara-Narayana). There is evidence that he was widely worshiped in the Deccan and in South India. Various local village deities have been assimilated with him.
• Another form is to combine gods into groups. Some temples are dedicated to the five deities Shiva, Vishnu, Durga, Ganesha (the elephant headed son of Shiva) and Surya.

Religious Systems

Madhyamika (Early Third Cent CE)

• Nagarjuna main thinker. Took the neutral way or middle way between realism (that is that everything is real) and nihilism which says nothing exists.
• Important in understanding Nagarjuna is the silence of the Buddha. As early as the Pali Canon there are reports that the Buddha would not answer certain types of questions. These came to be called the fourteen inexpressibles.
• A. Whether the world is 1. eternal, 2. or not, 3. or both, 4. or neither.
• B. Whether the world is 5. finite (in space), 6. or infinite, or 7. both, or 8. neither.
• C. Whether the Tathagata exists 9. after death, or 10. does not, or 11. both, or 12. neither.
• D. Whether the soul is 13. identical with the body or 14. different from it.
• According to Nagarjuna the Buddha" silence implies the recognition that the Unconditioned Reality is indescribable.
• He argued that all views of reality are false including the view that all views are false. The goal is to argue every viewpoint of reality until you have criticized each one and realize they are all false. When you have done this, you reach nirvana which is Tathata or suchness. It is what it is.
• Suffering is caused by clinging to views of reality.
• The characteristic of reality is that it doesn't possess any characteristics.
• Ul.Con. is liberation from suffering and rebirth
• Hi rel. Nirvana--all views of reality are false, even the view that all views are false.
• Prob. death and rebirth caused by desire (grasping) a world-view not things.
• Sol. criticize every view of reality to show its fault.
• "The possession of marks. (i.e.. characteristics) is indeed the no-possession of no-marks.

Yogacara (4th century C.E.)

• Became a Hindu school
• Says it’s not exactly true that all views of reality are false but that "pure consciousness" is reality.
• Everything out there is a projection of your consciousness-we dream.
• The problem then is clinging to things out there' as if they existed (views of reality or things.)
• Solution then is by yoga (meditation) you turn inward and realize pure consciousness and thus attain moksha (nirvana),

Yoga system of Patanjali (4th century BCE)

• Yoga means something to which one is yoked (attached)=method
• Patanjali's system is dualistic, i.e. there are two realities.
• 1. atman (purusha) is the eternal self which is pure Consciousness. It is changeless and omniscient.
• 2. prakriti is the principle which accounts for everything that is physical, including matter and force. It is characterized by change. It evolves as follows: (graphic in Wikipedia: Prakrti)
• Buddhi -- discriminatory Faculty of the mind-not matter
• Ahamikava -- ego consciousness includes:
• Mind -- gathers perceptions
• 5 Sense organs
• 5 organs of action
• 5 subtle elements
• 5 gross elements
• Problem because of the reflection of the purusha in the changing states of the mind (Chitta), one is led, however erroneously, to believe that it is the Self (purusha) which is subject to change and rebirth. It is the Chitta or mind, which is responsible for performing the functions that we often attribute to the Self (purusha). Essentially the Chitta’s not conscious but is merely a transformation of prakriti which is attributed with consciousness because of the reflection of the purusha.
• Unlike Adviata, the world of change and matter is real and the purusha is also real.
• Liberation (moksha) (moksha) comes when one ceases to confuse the activities of the Chitta (mind) with the unchanging purusha. It is not the purusha which suffers and undergoes rebirth, but the phenomenal self or Jiva which is the purusha as reflected in the Chitta.
• Solution is a carefully worked out discipline for which yoga philosophy is known. For Patanjali yoga means effort at separation between purusha and prakriti.
• The goal of yoga is the cessation of mental modifications after which one will no longer identify the purusha with the modifications of the Chitta. Ignorance is believing that my true self (atman or purusha) is mixed up with prakriti. I don't realize there is an eternal unbridgeable gap between purusha and prakriti.
• When you are liberated your suffering doesn't change but you realize that the real you doesn't suffer, only the prakriti.

Eight steps leading to liberation

• Restraint (Yama) One cannot make spiritual progress if the mind is tainted so it presupposes restraint in the form of abstaining from any injury to living creatures, truthfulness in word and thought, not stealing, control of passions, and not accepting unnecessary gifts which might lead to greed.
• Observances (Niyama) positive. involves purification of the body thru ritual washing, eating right foods, purification of the mind by cultivating friendliness and other good sentiments, contentment with what one has, austerities like exposure to heat and cold, study of religious texts and devotion to God (Purusha) the one who never became ignorant.
• Posture (asana) idea is to be comfortable for long periods. Lotus position can be maintained for hours once learned.
• Breath control (Pranayama) learn to control, suspend breathing for long periods to increase concentration. Dangerous w/o proper guidance (guru),
• Control of Senses (Pratyahara) must master the senses so will not be easily distracted. Requires practice and resolute will. Is withdrawal of senses from external stimuli.
• Attention (Dharana) fixing the mind on an object of meditation. Can be tip of nose, moon or image of deity. Goal is to eliminate everything except that one point.
• Meditation (Dhyana) is steady contemplation of the object w/o interruption from internal or external sources. This will eventually reveal to the mind the reality of the object contemplated. This takes years. When it does you reach
• Concentration (Samadhi) which is self-transformation into identification with object meditated on. “It is the highest means to realize the cessation of mental modifications which is the end. It is the ecstatic state in which the connection with the external world is broken and thru which one has to pass before obtaining liberation.”

• Yogis on this path are known for supernormal abilities such as taming wild animals, passing thru solid objects, appear and disappear at will etc. However, these things must be disregarded if freedom is to be gained. They are by-products of the higher life but must be ignored to reach moksha.