{"id":449,"date":"2018-02-01T12:35:07","date_gmt":"2018-02-01T12:35:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/?page_id=449"},"modified":"2018-11-01T08:03:52","modified_gmt":"2018-11-01T08:03:52","slug":"the-traditions-own-version","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/iskconeducationalservices.org\/HoH\/tradition\/historical-perspective\/the-traditions-own-version\/","title":{"rendered":"The Tradition’s Own Version"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Tradition’s Own Version<\/h3>\n
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Many Hindus do not believe that a non-technological past presupposes a necessarily poor and primitive one. This picture shows how one artist envisions a previous glorious age and a society based on performing dharma and relying on the natural gifts of God and nature.<\/p><\/div>\n

Hindu accounts of the ancient world and Indian history differ from most academic versions. However, the development of empathetic research methods and the emergence of “new chronologies” is bringing together the two approaches (though school texts often present dated versions of academic theory). Conflicting opinions reflect the dynamics between different epistemologies\u2014empirical and scriptural\u2014and also between predominant Eastern and Western world-views. To better understand Hinduism, and its ways of seeing, interpreting and responding to the world, it is essential to examine its conceptual view of its own heritage.<\/p>\n

Many Hindus do not believe that a non-technological past presupposes a necessarily poor and primitive one. This picture shows how one artist envisions a previous glorious age and a society based on performing dharma <\/em>and relying on the natural gifts of God and nature.<\/p>\n

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  • Hindus believe in sanatana-dharma<\/em>\u2014 the eternal religion\u2014encompassing the concepts of eternal time, universal truths and a human history that recedes indefinitely.<\/li>\n
  • Time is viewed as cyclical. History repeats itself not in every detail, but by perennially manifesting similar phenomena (much like the revolving seasons).<\/li>\n
  • Time is degenerative, in the same way that we only experience getting older. According to Hindu thought, upon death and rebirth the soul rapidly “grows younger”; similarly, after prolonged moral and spiritual degradation, there is a rapid regeneration in the world. Therefore, with the passing of time, society is not necessarily becoming more civilised in terms of human and spiritual values.<\/li>\n
  • True religion, as expressed through Hinduism and other traditions, is ever existing, but subject to periods of degradation and revival. God reveals it in a manner suitable for particular social and cultural milieus.<\/li>\n
  • We are now half-way through the duration of this universe, consisting of 100 years of the creator, Brahma. His one year consists of 360 celestial days, each made up of 1,000 “great ages” (maha-yugas<\/em>). Each maha-yuga <\/em>is 4,320,000 earth years.<\/li>\n
  • In the present maha-yuga<\/em>, we entered the fourth age, Kali yuga, some 5,000 years ago. At that time the Vedic truths, previously transmitted orally, were first written down.<\/li>\n
  • Different ages feature suitable processes of self and God-realisation, and the appearance of particular incarnations of Vishnu. These are shown below:<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div><\/section>\n
    Age<\/th>Predominant Spiritual Practice<\/th>Avatars<\/th><\/tr>
    Satya Yuga
    \n100% religious<\/td>    		Meditation<\/td>First five avatars: Matsya to Vamana<\/td><\/tr>
    Treta Yuga
    \n75% religious<\/td>    		Yajna (offering of Vedic sacrifice)<\/td>Parashurama and Ramachandra (Rama)<\/td><\/tr>
    DvarapaYuga
    \n50% religious<\/td>    		Temple worship (puja)<\/td>Krishna’s descent and the Mahabharata war (at end)<\/td><\/tr>
    Kali Yuga
    \n25% religious, declining to complete degradation by the end<\/td>    		Personal practices that offer relatively quick effective routes to liberation often through specific mantra (prayers) or tantra, using techniques which emphasise the importance of Shakti, the feminine energy, expressed as Shiva-Shakti, Radha Krishna, etc.<\/td>Buddha and, still to come at the end of Kali-yuga, Kalki<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/div>