WHAT IS HINDUISM?
I am the enjoyer and the Lord of all sacrifices
I am the origin of all, and from me all proceeds
I am the life in all beings and the austerity in ascetics
I am the atman [self] seated in the hearts of all beings
I am the taste in the waters ... the light in the moon and the sun.
I am the one who is to be known in all the shastras [teachings]
I am the consciousness in all beingsThe ‘I’ that speaks here is neither that of an absolute or
supreme being nor that of one god or being among others.
Rather it is that absolute consciousness which is the essential
self or ‘I’ of all beings. Seen in this light, the Bhagavadgita
was and is a significant chapter in the continuing journey of
Hindu religious thought towards a deeper understanding of
its own ‘eternal truth’. This truth lies in its radical essence
as a form of monism transcending not only monotheism but
all ‘-theisms’^4 (including atheism, polytheism, pantheism
and henotheism) whilst at the same time embracing them
all as valid sub-dimensions of divinity.
It is precisely this radical essence of Hindu religious
philosophy which it has been the purpose of this book to
both point to and help clarify. This essence unifies the five
main streams or ‘faces’ of Hindu philosophy – Samkhya,
Yoga, Vedanta, Advaita and Tantra. It does so through the
Vedantic understanding that the ‘pure awareness’
(purusha/chit) recognised in both Samkhya and Yoga
philosophies belongs to the very essence of both the Self