Indian Spirituality and its nuances

The term “spirituality” initially appeared in the English-speaking world by through a  community of pantheistic poets, and it subsequently became used by spiritualist movements of the nineteenth century, whose primary goal was having séances to communicate with the afterlife. Today, the phrase is used by everyone and anything to denote a fuzzy, subjective feeling that arises from anything, an extrasensory experience, or a warm inner glow. It is typically believed to be mystical in some sense, transcending reason and being unique to each person. It can simply be a synonym for a chosen lifestyle, be religious or secular, or be completely independent of ethical behavior. The Beatles were a musical group that popularized the word in the 20th century.

India has a reputation for being a spiritual country. Music groups such as the Beatles came to India during the ’60s and ’70s looking for spirituality in the East, deliberately distancing themselves from Christian beliefs. Magnificent temples, antiquated sculptures, and images and idols of all manner of gods scattered around the country create a spiritual atmosphere unlike anything found in any other place. India is a popular destination for travelers from all over the world seeking authentic spirituality. “Hinduism forms a complex religious culture which has been compared to a banyan tree: it is family of religions, ‘microcosmically polycentric, macrocosmically one” . The principal religion of Hinduism and other sects and offshoots, such as Jainism, Buddhism, and Sikhism, characterizes the spiritual climate in India. It has also hosted the Christian religion from the first century and Islam through invasions in the 11th and 12th centuries. India has also presided over the spread of these religions to the Far East and Southeast through traders who took their products and religion to the far islands of the Indian Ocean. Kings from the southern states who conquered distant lands and islands had sent commissions and diplomatic missions to spread these local religions, customs, and laws (Appendix A). Hinduism is also the foundation of new-age spirituality, such as yoga and transcendental meditation. It is more prevalent among younger people in the West than it is in India. There is, however, a revival of these traditions aided by the present Indian nationalist government. June 21st was named the International Day of Yoga every year when close to 40,000 people participated in a single session, the last year it was held.

The typical public expression of Indian spirituality is through temple visits, rituals, pilgrimages, introspective meditation, and life-stage celebrations. The decision to live and die as a hermit, giving up all worldly pleasures and family ties, is considered the pinnacle of spirituality – the process of undertaking ‘sanyasa’ to break the bonds of the karmic cycle and attain salvation, called ‘moksha.’ Indian Christianity is set amidst this cacophony of religious pluralism. Typically, Indian Christianity is expressed as European and other Western sub-cultures handed down to them through past missionaries or through present-day media. Since the days of colonialism, church structure and worship, local customs, and traditions have all been dictated by well-meaning, mission-oriented Western Christians with their “we-know-it-all-and-you-have-nothing-to-offer” position. In a peculiar tradition, the Saint Thomas Christians are an interesting and revered sect in South India. They are a perfect example of the cultured Indian Christian, so well integrated into the Hindu society that they were considered as one of the castes of the Hindu caste system.

Christian spirituality compared with Indian Spirituality.

God made all creatures and all people. He summons, transforms, exalts, and employs them to advance His kingdom. Through them, God does wonderful things in ministry and missions through the power of the Holy Spirit. The near-parallel concept of the monotheistic God of Judaism and Christianity in Hinduism is the Brahman, which is all-pervasive, personified as the supreme deity or “Lord of Lords,” as both impersonal and personal, and as the universe’s creator, sustainer, and destroyer. The acronym GOD is translated as ‘generator-operator-destroyer.’ An all-powerful one who has complete control over the cosmos, setting the times and seasons of our lives, including the time of our birth and death, is a popular Indian spiritual conception that finds its way into daily life in a myriad of ways.

The concept of the trinity or the Godhead established in the Nicene-Constantinopolitan Creed (381 AD) is the cornerstone of Christian belief based on the New Testament. We see parallels in Hinduism, not as relational inter-penetrated beings but as representatives of the three functions of the eternal God—generation, operation, and destruction.

In Hinduism, incarnation, known as “avatar,” embodies the belief that divine beings descend to Earth in various forms to restore cosmic balance and guide humanity. These avatars, such as Lord Vishnu’s ten principal incarnations, like Rama and Krishna, serve multifaceted roles, from upholding righteousness (dharma) to protecting the virtuous and defeating evil. Each incarnation symbolizes divine compassion, wisdom, and the eternal cycle of birth and rebirth (samsara). Through their earthly manifestations, avatars impart spiritual teachings, inspire devotion, and demonstrate the interconnectedness of the divine and human realms, illustrating Hinduism’s rich tapestry of mythology and philosophy. In the life of a Hindu, the conceptual ‘incarnation’ takes the form of this present life, incarnating to another form after death, depending on the works of this present life. And by corollary, this present life was the result of the one before, the human form being the highest incarnation under godliness. A considerable amount of one’s life, of those spiritually minded, is spent reminiscing over whether enough good works have been undertaken in this life to obtain a better incarnation the next time or, better yet, beat the karmic cycle by attaining nirvana. Nirvana or ‘moksha’ is generally assumed to be achieved by sacrificing oneself’s livelihood and devoting oneself to transcendental meditation.

In Christianity, there is one glaring example of incarnation – the ‘incarnated one’, Jesus. The act by which God is said to have taken on human flesh is known as the Incarnation. The incarnation of Jesus is the process of making God’s life physical or apparent. Therefore, Jesus has come to be recognized as the real prophet, one who has been given to the world as both the genuine likeness or depiction of God and the embodiment of God’s self-revelationary Word, rather than merely receiving it to say it. This kenotic fall from heaven by emptying himself represents God’s voluntarily humbling, God’s choice to take on the shape of a frail, mortal being and, therefore, a “veiling” of God’s splendor. “This is one of the deepest patterns in Christian thinking about Jesus: he is understood to be ‘Immanuel’, ‘God with us’, God come into the world to save sinners (Matt. 1:23 and 28:20)”.

Are there similarities? Yes, there are. While it was God who incarnated in the form of flesh in Christianity, in Hinduism, it is humans trying to incarnate themselves through good works, lacking the power of the Gods, as it were. But the gospel gets conveyed– in that, Jesus has already performed the miracle, so humans do not have to. The incarnation and resurrection have already transpired, giving way for all to accept it.