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Can a Muslim attain moksha in the Hindu way?

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In fact Moksha = eternal birthless/ deathless state in Hinduism.

It’s equivalent in Islam, we can say, is life in Heaven. For a Muslim, life in Heaven is an eternal reward.

A ‘true Muslim’ is assured of the reward. Who is a true Muslim?

  • One who does all the right things that Koran dictates. (Having total faith in Allah, doing daily Namaz, ete etc)
  • One who does not do all the wrong things that Koran dictates (refraining from  worshiping any other God,  worshiping God with form or worshiping any human being; no drinking, no earning money through money-lending etc etc)

In Islam, there is no rebirth. This current life is just one. At the end of it, wait for the day of judgement in your grave. Allah would judge you based on your deeds during your lifetime and either you will end in heaven or in hell forever.

An Islamic heaven is a place of permanent enjoyment and merry making in the company of God. A Hindu’s heaven is not equivalent to Islam’s heaven. A Hindu’s heaven is not a moksha either. Hindu’s heaven is at the best a temporary stay of enjoyment of the fruits of good deeds till you exhaust them. It is said that there is no physical body for enjoyment, but only a subtle body (soul) where the enjoyment is only mental. You will have to return to earth afterwards. Coming and going will go on till you are freed of desires and wants and totally refine yourself— till you attain moksha. It is also believed that enjoyment in heaven is for extraordinary good deeds only. For not so great good deeds, the earth itself is the place of enjoyment (in the next birth).

An Islamic hell is a permanent and never ending place of suffering. There is no escape once one ends there. A Hindu’s hell is not equivalent to an Islam’s hell. It is just a temporary place of stay and suffering till you exhaust the effects of your evil karmas. Here again it is said that all the sufferings are mental only as there is no physical body. You then get a chance to take a rebirth in earth to refine yourself. Again, the punishment in hell is for any extraordinary acts of evil done in previous births. For other wrong doings, suffering comes in some way or other in the next birth. Any number of births may be there till you refine yourself completely and attain moksha.

A Hindu’s moksha is neither enjoyment equivalent to what you get in Heaven nor any suffering whatsoever. It is called Ananda — Bliss — total peace.

Is life after Moksha pretty boring because you can’t have sex there? Doesn’t Moksha mean slave soul who can’t do anything?

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At the age of one, a child loves and craves for breast milk. At four, it does not have that craving. At the age of 8, a girl loves and craves for ice cream. At her 40, she may no longer have any attraction for it.

At 18, a youth could withstand pain in order to maximize his enjoyments. At 50, he may perhaps not like those pains, nor be keen to maximize the enjoyments.

At 30, a promotion in office was the best thing one may strive for. At 58, he may perhaps long for just one thing —retirement!

At 70, one may have no longing for any enjoyment, because life taught him that “joy and woe are woven fine”. If you long for pleasure, pain too comes with it as a free attachment; if you want to get freed of pain, you have to discard pleasure seeking too. Peace may be the one thing he may seek at that age.

Of course it depends on person to person as to when one realizes this truth.

For many, sex appears to be the best of all enjoyments, but those who are very watchful know for sure the pains attached to it. There are indeed many saints who had no craving for sex at all right from young age.

So, a stage of realization comes to some people at some age at some birth (after going through several births and deaths to finally grasp the hopelessness of running behind pleasure seeking and ending up with inevitable pain) . That realizaion is this: a life of perfect bliss with total absence of both pleasure and pain is the most valuable thing.

That is state of longing for moksha.

At that state, doing anything (any karma either to seek pleasure or to ward off pain) becomes unnecessary and unattractive. It is not forced on you and hence it is not slavery! You sought for it, opted for it; once you get it, you are in perfect peace with it. That is moksha for you.

Do Hindu Gods too seek Moksha?

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The concept of God is very multifaceted in Hinduism. At the grand perspective, we have Brahman (or Parabrahman) — the only existing, all pervading God beyond name and form.

Then we have functional God forms (Brahma, Vishnu, and Shiva) who are verily the manifestation of Brahman considered with separate identity for the tasks of Creation, Protection and Destruction. They are ever existent.

Perspective 1: Such a functional God is beyond boundaries and limitations. He is ever perfect. He is nitya mukta – ever free.

Perspective 2:  

Then we have the concept of Avatar — God descending to earth in human form.

When God comes down to earth as an Avatara Purusha He may sport a lila (play) of doing tapas (undergoing austerities) and attaining liberation as a human being, before starting teaching others. Some avatars may even sport a lila of taking instructions from Gurus too. E.g. Rama learning Yoga Vashistha from Rishi Vashishta; Krishna learning Kundalini Yoga from Rishi Sandipani; Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa learning Nirvikalpa Samadhi from Totapuri.

Perspective 3: 

Then we have the concept of God residing as in-dweller in each one of us.

God as an indweller in all keeps himself totally hidden on account of the ego of the individuals. When an individual, getting Viveka & Vairagya (Discrimination & dispassion) starts seeking the truth about his true status, he starts yearning for Moksha. “At that point of time God appears as the external Guru and and turns the mind of the seeker inwards; God the indweller pulls him in from inside” (as stated by Ramana Maharshi)

What is the Difference Between Religion and Spirituality?

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‘Religion’ has the following elements:

  1. A God for worship. In case of Hinduism, it is a personal God of your liking (Siva, Vishnu, Ganesha, Devi, Rama, Krishna etc)
  2. A belief that the God (‘my god’) is the supreme power, who is the creator, protector and destroyer.
  3. Formal worships, visiting temples/churches/Mosques, following rituals, celebrating religious festivals, chanting stotras/ hymns/ mantras, taking up simple vows (e.g. fasting on Ekadasi days for Hindus)
  4. Praying god for money, wealth, comforts, solving problems, removing ill health, seeking long life, punishing enemies, seeking heaven after death
  5. If a Hindu, worshipping different gods for different purposes (For removing hurdles pray to Ganesha, for good education pray to Saraswathi, for wealth pray to Lakshmi etc). In a more evolved status, believe that my Ishta (personal God) will give everything because He/She is the only supreme God and all other Gods are subservient to Him/Her.
  6. Enjoying worldly life in every way with a mindset that God is providing everything for us, just like parents taking care of the comforts and wishes of children
  7. At times blaming God when things don’t happen as per our wishes!
  8. Advising others that the sect I follow, my way of worship, my religious practices and chanting are the best and nothing more need be done to get divine grace
  9. Arguing and fighting with other believers who say that some other God is the supreme one.
  10. Having staunch belief in whatever the holy books of that religion says is correct and true (reading and understanding them is not mandatory!)
  11. Visiting holy places
  12. If a Hindu, Generally following a traditional family Guru and paying visits and respects to him
  13. If a Christian or Muslim, trying to convert others to their religion (particularly targeting weaker and meeker sections of society in other religions)

‘Spirituality’ has the following elements:

  1. A sense of discomfort in the way religion is being practised by majority (after following a religion and its formalities for some time); wondering whether the ways and beliefs as followed by the common religious folks are indeed showing the right direction to progress
  2. Getting disturbed by deeper questions about meaning of life, purpose of life etc and earnestly trying to seek better answers from within the religion.
  3. Reading deeper in to one’s own religion’s holy books (Bhagavad Gita, Upanishads/ Bible/ Koran). Trying to read more and more of the explanations and different interpretations by different commentators in order to get better clarity.
  4. If a Hindu, reading the lives and teachings of great Mahatmas/ spiritual masters/ Avatara Purushas
  5. If not getting satisfactory answers from own scriptures, trying to read, understand and grasp scriptures from other religions or to compare and get better clarity and understanding about own religion.
  6. If a Hindu, in communicating with God, trying to understand “I” (self/soul/ Atman) and the relationship between “I” and “you”(God) better.
  7. If a Hindu, gradually understanding the need and purpose of surrendering to a Sadguru for initiation and proper guidance in the quest of higher Truth but not sure enough or humble enough for that surrender yet.
  8. Gradually losing interest in materialism and in enjoying sensual pleasures
  9. Gradually losing interest in praying to God (or multiple God forms) for material and physical comforts and instead trying to pray for a better wisdom to know God.
  10. Getting a better understanding of the concept of Maya and the truth of duality existing for ever (light-darkness, good-bad, dharma-adharma, joy-woe, health-sickness, wealth-poverty, positive-negative, wisdom-ignorance etc)
  11. Developing viveka and vairagya (discrimination and dispassion)
  12. Trying to understand better the form and formless aspects of God
  13. Getting a firm conviction “Ekam sat, vipra bahuta vadhanti”— there is only one truth which is explained differently by different seers/ religions.
  14. No longer interested in arguing and fighting with others saying “My God is the only true and supreme God”.
  15. No longer afraid of not going to the temples and not following the rituals
  16. Learning and practising meditation
  17. Surrendering to a Satguru (a realized master) with humility for spiritual guidance. Truly grasping the importance of the Satguru’s grace in attaining true wisdom.

    Sadguru Mata Amritanandamayi Devi with her Sanyasi Disciples. They were well educated youth of yester years who came to Amma in thirsting for spiritual guidance

  18. Properly ripening in the relationship with God — starting with Dwaita (“You are my lord and I am your servant”) to Vishitadwaita (“You are my indweller — the soul of my soul”) and to Advaita (You and I are one — Aham brahmasmi) in Hinduism.

 

Purusharthas – Dharma, Artha, Kama & Moksha

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The purpose of a religion is basically to pave a way for leading a meaningful, smooth and joyous life without sacrificing mental peace and without too much pain and suffering.

Hinduism which is sanatana dharma — the way of righteous living contains more than enough guidelines for the above purpose.

Purusharthas

Hindhu dharma outlines four Purusharthas — meaningful pursuits for life: Dharma, Artha, Kama & Moksha.

Dharma (Righteousness)

Righteousness and duties in life. Hinduism places highest importance to following righteousness in life. Whatever be your activity in life, if it confirms to right dharma, it brings in peace and harmony in life. The Hindu dharma does not permit an unbridled life of carefree enjoyment; everything has its preset boundaries. ‘Eat, drink and be merry’ is never considered the goal of life. Every individual is bound by his duties and responsibilities towards his family, to the society, to the nation and to the entire nature and universe even encompassing the departed souls of forefathers and devatas (demigods controlling the nature) in the upper worlds. In ancient Hindu civilization, Manu Smriti was the scripture elaborating the dharmas to be followed in life by different classes of people.

Artha (Wealth)

Going in pursuit of money, wealth, comforts and possessions is indeed considered as an essential aspect of human life. But it shall not be the only goal of life and whatever one does to acquire Artha should be bound by dharma. Else, one is sure to end up in a chaotic life of suffering.

Kama (Pleasure)

Seeking pleasure through the 5 senses including sexual pleasure is the very nature of all creatures. Again Hinduism permits enjoyment within boundaries. Any hunt for joy ignoring dharma is highly discouraged because such a pursuit may bring short term joy but end up in pain in the long run.

Moksha (Liberation)

Of all the acceptable pursuits of life, seeking Moksha (liberation from the Samsara — from the cycle of births and deaths) is considered the highest goal of life. Man, after pursuing a life of seeking artha (wealth) and kama (pleasures) and even leading a life of strict dharma (righteousness) is bound to feel a shallowness in life at some point of time or other. Even within one’s life time, the process of ending up in old age deprives one from enjoying artha and kama to any level of reasonable satisfaction and  a sense of dejection of not having enjoyed enough lingers in the mind even at the death bed.

This causes subsequent births and the cycle keeps on continuing, because the the fundamental nature of wealth or sensual enjoyments is such that practically no one ever gets a feeling “enough is enough”. This aspect of creation is known as maya. Maya always deludes people to indulge in more and more enjoyment leading only to more and more suffering or dissatisfaction.

At some point of other in life, at some birth or other, man starts wondering whether his hunt for wealth and enjoyment is fundamentally flawed somewhere. He starts seeking more clear answers for the true meaning of birth. It is at this point, a man grows from the clutches of religious faith to spirituality. From the Karma Kanda in Vedas (that gave all the procedures for seeking worldly enjoyments) a seeker elevates himself to Jnana Kanda — Vedanta /Upanishads  and he gets the right answers and clarifications now.

He gets mentally prepared to leave behind Artha and Kama and goes behind Moksha as the only meaningful pursuit in life.

If attaining Moksha is the aim of life in Hinduism, why there are mentions about Swarg (heaven) and Narak (hell)?

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Let us first read a funny anecdote that Sri Ramakrishna said. Sri Keshab Chandra Sen was a very popular religious leader in Kolkotta and he was the chief of Nav Vidhan Brahma Samajam. The Samajam was one of the prominent and powerful spiritual movement in Kolkotta and Kesab had many admirers and followers. He was quite rich. He was a very powerful orator too and admired by many.

Keshab Chandra Sen & Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa

He was fortunate to come across Sri Ramakrishna Paramahamsa and got gradually and deeply attracted to the saint. He could understand that whatever lofty spiritual subjects he was lecturing on, Sri Ramakrishna was a living and practical embodiment of them.

He used to listen to Ramakrishna’s freewheeling talks on religion and spirituality in rapt attention.

One day he said to Sri Ramakrishna, “Swami, I want you to teach me much more deeper insights into spirituality”. Ramakrishna said laughingly, “I can teach you alright, but if you listen to them and act on them, your Samajam and all would vanish!”

Swiftly, Keshab said, “then whatever you have taught me is good enough, Swami”.

Hope you get the purport of this story here. Not all religious people are in search of Moksha. Most of them want happy and prosperous life in this world and they want to enjoy life in higher worlds too. If scriptures say ‘if you do these acts of punya, conduct great fire sacrifices, feed poor in large scale, construct temples and so on, God will be pleased with you and give you a life in heaven post death’.

At the same length, people need to be warned of leading a life of extreme suffering in the hell, if they engage in evil and atrocious acts in this life.

Thus Swarga and Naraga have their purpose to ordinary people who are very much bound to Samsara and have no keenness to get out of it. Despite whatever suffering they undergo, people will still cling to life and hope that enjoyment will come in due course.

The concept of moksha is attractive only to spiritually more evolved people who could understand that life is like a dream of never ending wants and hunting behind happiness by trying to meet the wants but not getting it mostly.

For such people, karma yoga is the path — working without attachment to the fruits of Karma. For them freedom from the hopeless cycle of births and death — moksha is the only meaningful goal in life.