The different branches of Hinduism have their respective mandirs, leaders, holy places, holy days and holy books, yet are all united with each other see " Is the Swaminarayan Sampraday a part of Hinduism? Unity in diversity is one of the distinctive facets of Hinduism, allowing each aspirant to choose his own path for the same goal, moksha ultimate liberation.
The Swaminarayan Sampraday's doctrine is firmly rooted in the ancient Hindu scriptures. There are many principles in the Hindu scriptures to which the Swaminarayan Sampraday gives special importance. Although all Hindus believe in one God, each branch worships God through different names and incarnations.
There are a few main schools of thought in Hinduism e. Bhagwan Swaminarayan established the Navya-Vishishtadvait school of thought.
The main principle of Navya-Vishishtadvait is that there are five eternal entities: jiva, ishwar, maya, Brahma and Parabrahma see " What is the basic philosophy of the Swaminarayan Sampraday? Similarly, in most Swaminarayan mandirs you will find murtis of Radha-Krishna, Sita-Ram, Shiv-Parvati, Hanuman and Ganapati, but in the central shrine of the mandir you will always find the murtis of Bhagwan Swaminarayan accompanied by His ideal devotee, Aksharbrahma Gunatitanand Swami.
Although the Swaminarayan Sampraday shares the same scriptures, festivals, places of pilgrimage and vows as most Hindus, it also gives special significance to those related to Bhagwan Swaminarayan:.
Basic practices that express gnan. Basic practices that express vairagya. Basic practices that express bhakti. Other common practices of the Swaminarayan Sampraday include:. Detailed Answer As BAPS is a Hindu organization, the most basic tenets of its philosophy are consonant with the fundamental beliefs universal to all Hindus. For a review of these basic beliefs see the question: Is the Swaminarayan Sampraday a part of Hinduism? In the philosophy propagated by Bhagwan Swaminarayan, God is Supreme, has a divine form, is the all-doer and is always present on earth.
He states that the soul, the jiva, never merges or dissolves into God, nor is it a part of God, but it is always subservient to God. The jiva, through absolute surrender and attachment to the Satpurush, the manifestation of Aksharbrahma, attains the realised state and becomes eligible to offer pure worship to God. One attains redemption through the realization of Ekantik Dharma, which comprises dharma righteousness , gnan spiritual understanding , vairagya detachment and bhakti devotion to God.
The goal of redemption is to be pursued and attained under the guidance of the Ekantik Sadhu the Satpurush , the manifest form of Aksharbrahma, who is in constant rapport with God. The divine experience of this highest state is possible, here and now, in one's embodied state of worldly existence jivan mukti. The Swaminarayan Sampraday believes that there are five entities which are eternal - they have never been created nor can they ever be destroyed.
The entities are jiva, ishwar, maya, Brahma, and Parabrahma. A detailed description of each follows. Jiva: Jiva, or soul, is the individual self, conscious spirit, knower, enjoyer and doer of actions. The jiva is eternal, not created at anytime, by anybody.
They are innumerable, each distinct from the other. Each jiva pervades the whole organism, and is different from the three bodies - gross, subtle and causal. Weapons cannot cut it, nor can fire burn it; water cannot wet it, nor can wind dry it. Yet, it is bound by worldly desires that are formed according to its karma. Though conditioned by maya, jivas can be eternally released by the grace of a God-realised guru or God.
Ishwar: Ishwar is the cosmic self, a conscious, spiritual being conditioned by the adjuncts of mahamaya greater maya. There are innumerable ishwars, each of which is assigned the duty of taking care of a universe, or at least a particular aspect of it. Brahma, Vishnu, Shiv and all entities greater then them upwards to Prakriti Purush, are considered ishwars.
Maya: Maya or Prakriti is the inert primordial matter from which the universe of names and forms comes into being. Maya is trigunatmik, constituted of three gunas - sattvagun, rajogun and tamogun, and is the cause of bondage for the jiva and ishwar. It is difficult to transgress and is the cause of identification of the jivas and ishwars with their bodies and relations thereof.
But with the grace of the God-realised guru or God, one can attain atyantik moksha - ultimate liberation from maya and remain in the eternal service of God. Brahma: Brahma or Aksharbrahma or Akshardham is transcendent to the jivas, ishwars and maya, but subservient to Parabrahma. He is effulgent, all-pervading and divine.
He serves the supreme Lord in a two-fold manner. In his personal aspect, he serves the God or Parabrahma both in His abode and wherever He incarnates Himself. Aksharbrahma is thus the ideal devotee and the most appropriate mediator for the aspirant striving to reach the supreme God. On the other hand, in his impersonal aspect, he serves the God by being His divine abode which is effulgent, infinite and all-pervading and in which innumerable redeemed jivas serve Parabrahma.
He is also the substratum of all that is subservient to him. Through a lineage of God-realised sadhus, Aksharbrahma remains incarnated on the earth. Parabrahma: Parabrahma or Purushottam is the highest reality, the supreme Godhead, one and unique. He is, at once, transcendent to everything and immanent in everything. He is the concrete, flawless Reality with a divine form who is the controller and supporter of everything. Bhagwan Swaminarayan Himself is Parabrahma or Purushottam.
Even after Bhagwan Swaminarayan left his mortal body, He has remained continually present on Earth through a lineage of God-realised sadhus who are the incarnations of Aksharbrahma. BAPS is a socio-religious organization, with its efforts ultimately directed towards activities aimed at uplifting families and individuals. BAPS believes that if each individual is at peace with himself or herself, the world will be at peace.
BAPS works to achieve this by inspiring a strong belief in peace, humanitarian service and a healthy respect for all religions and people, irrespective of class, creed, color or country. BAPS is also involved in social activities , such as providing relief in times of disasters as well as constructing and managing educational institutions, hospitals and medical camps. However, this is only a part of the whole.
The Sanstha, under the leadership of His Divine Holiness Pramukh Swami Maharaj, conducts weekly spiritual assemblies as well as personality development camps for men, women and children. BAPS celebrates religious and cultural festivals in India and abroad on a large scale, and also shows its concern for the environment through tree-planting programs. Summary The ideal family is one that cherishes the values that strengthen family bonds and keep the family happy and united.
The message of family values pervades all of these activities. All who come to or come in contact with BAPS are inspired to imbibe them. Detailed Answer Hinduism and Family values One may be curious as to why a Hindu organization, which should be primarily concerned with the salvation of the soul, cares to promote family values?
But the emphasis on the family has long been a core value of Hinduism. From ancient times, Hindu scriptures have outlined four objectives of a person's life: dharma, artha, kam, and moksha. Moksha, liberation from the cycle of births and deaths, is the ultimate objective of human existence. However, for one who is not a renunciant, moksha is to be attained while abiding by social conventions of marriage and family life.
Therefore, one who is to live in society must pursue a livelihood for sustenance; this being the principle of artha. To fulfill one's desires, the objective of kam, Hinduism has prescribed the framework of the family. Both the accumulation of wealth, artha, and the fulfillment of one's desires, kam, are to be done according to the injunctions of dharma, the codes of conduct sanctioned by the scriptures.
In order to sustain happiness in one's life and one's life hereafter, one must maintain a balance among each of these four objectives. Thus, according to Hinduism, a healthy, productive, and vital family life is a necessary ingredient of this balance.
It is this principle that motivates BAPS to undertake a sustained and far-reaching campaign to strengthen family values in society. Family values The ideal family is one that cherishes the values that strengthen family bonds and keep the family happy and together. An ideal family is one in which each member understands the perspectives and hardships of the other and strives to meet each other's social, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs.
This mutual understanding creates a much needed bridge across the gap of genders and generations. In this ideal family, the parents fulfill their role as caregivers, breadwinners, and role models while the children fulfill their various roles such as acquiring an adept education, offering assistance in the affairs of the family, as well as respecting their elders and caring for them in their old age. The ideal family understands that the bond of marriage and the gift of progeny are sacred.
The ideal family realizes that the sustained cultivation of mutual understanding, acceptance, respect, and love will prevent or resolve any difficulties between partners. At home, followers are encouraged to perform ghar sabha daily. Ghar sabha is a family assembly, inspired by Pramukh swami Maharaj, wherein all of the family members daily sit together for approximately half an hour to pray to God, engage in scriptural reading, discuss their day and understand each other.
Through this daily ritual they develop a better understanding of each other's social, physical, emotional, and spiritual needs. Just as BAPS promotes these values in the home, it also promotes these values through its various activities. Through Parent Forums, Family Seminars and Child-Rearing Seminars followers gain a clearer idea of how to successfully fulfill their roles as parents. Through these events, they gain valuable insight and inspiration from other families.
They share experiences and exchange insight regarding the challenges of balancing their career lives with their family lives, as well as other parental issues. As parents, they discuss how to overcome pitfalls on the path to becoming successful caregivers, breadwinners, and role models. They are inspired to cultivate mutual understanding, acceptance, respect and love for each other and develop a stable relationship as parental partners.
Likewise, through various activities, the youth followers also gain valuable insight on how to fulfill their roles in the family unit. The youth following is divided into three main age groups: children, teenagers, and young adults. For Children Through Weekly Assemblies, Summer Camps, and Children's Forums, the children learn the importance of education, respecting their elders, and assisting in domestic chores from a very young age.
As these values are deeply rooted from a young age, they help children in helping their families become stronger. Through sharing experiences and exchanging insight with their own age group, they are able to cope with family tension and peer pressure. Through Anti-Addiction Campaigns, Morality Forums and Discourses they receive guidance that helps them live a purer life, thus, preventing or easing tensions within their respective families.
As a result they are better able to fulfill their roles in the family unit. While allowing them to share experiences and learn from their own age group, these activities provide guidance on effectively integrating new spouses into the family and on learning to become future parents while also inspiring them to care for their parents in their old age. Through the medium of international festivals and celebrations, BAPS extends the message of family values and ideals to its followers as well as to mass audiences in the form of Discourses, Exhibitions and Cultural Programs.
Bhagwan Swaminarayan has advocated the common aspects, namely: Parabrahma: Belief in one Supreme, all-powerful God. He is the creator and has a divine form. He is immanent, transcendent and the giver of moksha see below. Avtarvad: The manifestation of God on earth.
God Himself incarnates on earth in various forms to revive dharma and grant moksha. Karmavad : The law of action. The soul reaps fruits, good or bad, according to its past and present actions; these fruits are experienced either in this life or in future lives.
God is the giver of the fruits of everyone's actions. Punarjanma: Reincarnation. The immortal soul is continuously born and reborn in any one of 8,, species until it attains moksha. Moksha: Ultimate liberation. This is the goal of human life. Moksha is the liberation of the soul from the cycle of births and deaths; thereafter, it remains eternally in the service of God in His abode.
Guru-Shishya relationship : Master-disciple relationship. The guidance and grace of a spiritually perfect master, revered as the embodiment of God, is essential for an aspirant seeking moksha. Dharma: That which sustains the universe. An all-encompassing term representing: divine law, law of being, path of righteousness, religion, duty, responsibility, virtue, justice, goodness and truth. Ved praman: The scriptural authority of the Vedas.
All Hindu Sampradays are based on the teachings of the Vedas. Murti-puja: Idol worship. Consecrated images, which represent the presence of God, are worshipped. The image is a medium to help devotees offer their devotion to God. Although the Vedas, Upanishads and other Hindu scriptures are significant in the Swaminarayan Sampraday, the scriptures that are read and practiced are 1 The Vachanamrut: A written record of selected discourses given by Bhagwan Swaminarayan.
Besides these, the birth of Bhagwan Swaminarayan and His spiritual successors are also celebrated. Also in the Swaminarayan Sampraday you will find special emphasis on codes of conduct for both householders and sadhus.
These codes of conduct are not new, and are commonly practiced by most Hindus e. Ahimsa - not killing or harming, murti puja ; but they have been given special significance by Bhagwan Swaminarayan e. In the Swaminarayan Sampraday, a person is not a devotee simply because he has a certain set of beliefs, but rather, along with those beliefs, the devotee is actively engaged in spiritual rituals, i. The Swaminarayan Sampraday is also very active in the fields of moral, social, cultural, ecological and educational care through its relief work, mandirs, schools, anti-addiction campaigns, etc.
The followers also voluntarily help in such activities. Thus the Swaminarayan is very much a part of Hinduism but the main difference is that Bhagwan Swaminarayan is worshipped as the supreme Godhead. As a result, more significance is given to the scriptures, festivals, places of pilgrimage and vows given by Bhagwan Swaminarayan. Summary The five most basic practices of the followers are practices that express the Hindu ideals of satya truth , daya compassion , ahimsa non-violence , brahmacharya celibacy and asteya non-stealing.
Followers do not consume alcohol or meat. They do not steal or engage in sex outside of marriage. Followers also maintain purity of conduct and practice customs that express the higher ideals of dharma righteous conduct as prescribed by the scriptures , gnan knowledge of God and one's true self , vairagya detachment from worldly pleasures , and bhakti devotion to God.
Louis cultural elite can identify that way if they choose, but Lifetime shouldn't be allowed to make a brand out of it. The premise is tired, too. Supposedly BAPs is meant to demonstrate that getting drunk on white wine and playing tennis isn't just for white suburbanites anymore. But they've set up conflict between non-"BAPs" Kendrick and Rai Rai Evans and the rest of the cast, as if their different backgrounds are enough to make them hate one another.
It's great that more black people are growing up with middle class opportunities. And they have just as much of a right to act the fool as their white counterparts what I wouldn't give for a black equivalent to Gallery Girls.
But what made people excited for BAPs was the idea that we'd be seeing black professionals who had serious careers and businesses. Instead, this cast immediately starts denigrating poor people — talking about fearing the projects — and dissolve into petty squabbling just like every single reality show since The Hills. We already have Shonda Rhimes killing it on ABC with three dramas focused around multicultural casts of professionals.
In short, nothing upholds the status quo like sticking to outdated, offensive stereotypes. By Kayla Hawkins. See All Health Relationships Self.
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