Svadhyaya

Saraswati with Veena on a Lotus

Foundation

There are only three sastras to study as a Hindu and put into practice for the rest of one's life. If nothing else is read on Hindu dharma and you only have patience for a few texts these would be it.

Hanuman Chalisa. Devotion and Service. What it means to be serve Isvara. I would further state that if there is only one text in Hindu dharma to study this would be it. Hanuman embodies what it means to be a devotee of Bhagavan. If we can embody him and live as selflessly as he did then we will have fulfilled dharma.
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. Practice of Yoga. The astanga system provides the framework for putting the other three texts into practice. Ironically, this text is the one most Westerners turn to but is relatively unknown within the Hindu community.
Bhagavad Gita. Understand of Yoga. Understanding Karma, Bhakti, Raja and Jnana Yoga and messy reality of life. While this covers all the purusharta, I do think it speaks to artha in terms of Arjuna being a warrior and fulfilling his dharma even when life is messy.

purushartas

I want a Liberal Arts Education in Sanatana Dharma (Hinduism) like there is in the West. But the Hindu knowledge system is so vast and the traditions cover so many things that it is a bit overwhelming if someone was not born into it or was unfamiliar with the different tradition systems. Having been raised in the West and rediscovering my Hindu identity there was no track on how to go about this.

This leads to confusion because the very nature of what being a Hindu changes from one person to another. While this choose your own adventure nature of Santana Dharma is wonderful as we are not bound by a singular path, it also causes confusion for the diaspora. We may go to a temple and pray but we may not know the deeper meaning behind the prayer. We may not even know who the devas are except vague understandings. Furthermore, each YouTube guru teaches according to their tradition Vedanta, Yoga, Tantra, etc. and if we read western writers their perspective is almost entirely on the Vedanta-Yoga systems without any real coverage of the Bhakti based systems that most Hindus grow up in. All of this leads someone coming to Hindu dharma to be confused as to where to start.

After reading and practicing and reading and misunderstanding and practicing some more I have come up with a curriculum that provides an 80%, non-sectarian understanding of what it means to be a Hindu. In Sanatana Dharma the community/parabrahman are the four goals of life: Dharma, Artha, Kama, Moksha that is duty within society, wealth, pleasure, and liberation. A common basis of a Sanatana Dharma Liberal Arts Education should be based on the purusharta as these are the four goals of life.

Furthermore, Indic thought does not live in isolation and it never has. A bridge needs to be built from Dharmic thought to Western thought. As much as Hindus like to boast our ancient culture we have been influenced by Western thought for millennia whether it was Alexander, the Roman Empire, Islam, or the British. We have in return significantly contributed to those thoughts as well. I believe the best ideas of Western civilization should be incorporated and reformulated within Dharmic thought.

The Foundational texts express the goal and practice of a Hindu. However, though the Bhagavad Gita covers a portion of this these texts don't cover the larger Hindu though process which is that we live in an imperfect world. Most of us are likely not striving after moksha but money, pleasure and power. While gurus and swamis cajole us to the path of moksha the paths of dharma, artha and kama are all important pursuits of life. Traditional Hindu thought understood this and said that there are four goals of life, the purusharta. These are duty in society, wealth, pleasure and liberation. A core reading of the full Mahabharata and Ramayana which encompasses the entire thought process is thus vital to understanding this. Lastly, Hindus don't live within a vacuum and with Islam and the British a new current of thought was established within India. Vivekananda, Aurobindo, Hedgewar were all educated and understood Western thought. It is because they understood the thoughts that they were able to create what constituted the Hindu identity. While an extensive Liberal Arts textual workload is out of the question. I again wanted to choose a few core texts that fit the 80% rule. Here I also include studying Vivekananda and Ramakrishna who have had a profound influence of modern Hinduism.

Dharma
- Ramayana. The essence of an ideal man and woman, Rama and Sita. The ideal of an ideal devotee, Hanuman. The power of ignorance, Ravana. The messiness of culture and duty. Love of one's wife!
- Mahabharata. The messiness of life and karma. The unfairness of dharma. The futility and sorrow of war.
- Illiad
- Odyssey
- Marcus Aurelius – Meditations
- Epictetus – Discourses / Enchiridion
- Plato - Works
- Aristotle - Works
Artha
- Panchatantra. Moral stories for how to be a good leader for children.
- Chanakya Neeti. Collected thoughts of Chanakya.
- Arthasastra. Political power and an ideal Hindu kingdom.
- Plutarch's Lives
- Cicero – On Duties
- History of the Peloponnesian War
Kama
- Kama Sutra
- Abhijñānaśākuntalam and Meghadūta by Kālidāsa
Moksha
- Hanuman Chalisa
- Shiva Puranas
- Shiva Sutras
- Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
- Vijnana Bhairava Tantra

Languages

Telugu
Hindi
Sanskrit

Teachers

There are various teachers from various lineages that I seek to follow. Some are not even gurus or saints, just devout followers.

Rajarshi Nandy

A devout follower of Kaula Tantra. His https://www.kamakhyabhairavaupasaka.com/ has put some great sadhana structures https://www.kamakhyabhairavaupasaka.com/sadhanas/. Also has some great content https://www.youtube.com/@rajarshinandy_kbuf/videos

The Truth About Tantra by Rajarshi Nandy
Adhyatmikta by Rajarshi Nandy
Shakti and Shakti by Author Avalon
Introduction to Tantra Sastra by Author Avalon
The Sepant Power by Author Avalon

Svadhyaya

Foundation

purushartas

Languages

Teachers

Rajarshi Nandy

Sri Ramakrishna

Swami Vivekananda

Satyananda Saraswati

Swami Lakshmanjoo

Swami Dayananda Saraswati

Svadhyaya​

Foundation​

purushartas​

Languages​

Teachers​

Rajarshi Nandy​

Sri Ramakrishna​

Swami Vivekananda​

Satyananda Saraswati​

Swami Lakshmanjoo​

Swami Dayananda Saraswati​

Svadhyaya

Foundation

purushartas

Languages

Teachers

Rajarshi Nandy

Sri Ramakrishna

Swami Vivekananda

Satyananda Saraswati

Swami Lakshmanjoo

Swami Dayananda Saraswati