Collated by Tusar Nath Mohapatra
S Jansen, J Thorne
Anthropology has traditionally engaged sparingly with people’s imaginative and
practical orientations to potential futures. At the start of the 21st century, concerted
attempts to change this can be seen in a growing body of work on hope, even if the …
Foreword
Jan Peter Balkenende
Our world is at a crossroads; multiple crises—among which the ecological crisis deserves particular attention—force us to reconsider the way we have organized our societies and our economies. This is not simply a matter of adjusting a few dials on the socioeconomic dashboard—it requires, instead, a fundamental rethinking of the goals of the economy, of the way people relate to one another in the context of nation-states and in the global village, and of how we understand ourselves as human beings in relation to the nonhuman world.
Within this context, there is a dire need for hope. “Hope” is a deeply paradoxical phenomenon. On the one hand, it is immensely powerful: It is at the very heart of what human beings are about, as it denotes the aspirational strivings of humankind. As such, it is at once deeply personal and existential, while it also describes the most wide-ranging societal movements throughout human history.
Hope is the fuel that spurs humankind on, in endeavors both great and small. Hope plays a particularly important role during crises; it is when people experience a danger, or a loss, that hope is “foregrounded.” This became apparent in the various crises I witnessed during my time as prime minister, particularly during the financial crisis of 2007–2008.
At the same time, hope is impossible to “grasp”; it is difficult to measure, as it evades definition as a quantifiable substance, which can be measured, stored, and used, as a kind of “standing reserve” (the phrase is from the German philosopher Martin Heidegger (1954), who used it in his critical analysis of how modern technology treats nature). Instead, it is something much less tangible and ephemeral—hope, in Emily Dickinson’s famous phrase—is “the thing with feathers—That perches in the soul” (Dickinson, 1983).
Yet, the fact that hope is paradoxical, and difficult to “catch,” does not mean that we can best leave it be, undisturbed, as a kind of magic powder, locked in an inaccessible black box. Precisely considering its importance we must investigate hope, deliberate about its nature and effects, as well as about how we can stimulate hope, while steering clear of a cynical misuse of hope in the service of unethical motives. This study is possible—while hope is evasive, burgeoning research in the social sciences and the humanities convincingly shows that hope can be approximated by measurements, as well as discussed conceptually.
This Oxford Compendium of Hope does a thorough job in detailing the state of the art of the variegated research into “hope.” Furthermore, it has an important agenda-setting function, as it outlines future opportunities for hope research.
HOPE IN BUDDHISM AND HINDUISM 311 Paul van der Velde and Ernest Chi-Hin Ng Hindu Perspectives of Hope
Hinduism has some beliefs quite in common with Buddhism yet differs from it in several ways. Both generally agree on the laws of karma and reincarnation, or at least lives following one another due to causality, and they both believe in the possibility of liberation and release from endless cycles of birth,sickness, aging, death, and rebirth in samsāra. Reincarnation implies suffering and imperfection. Life in this everyday world will never be perfect. Or at least, any attempt to make it perfect is very complicated. But Hinduism has endlessforms, beliefs, myths, and practices. There is passionate devotion in which the state of ecstasy plays an important part.
Meanwhile there can be severe asceticism. There can be solemn rituals. There are many forms of Hindu theism, the realm of the Hindu gods may seem to be endless, meanwhile there can be monism or even monotheism. Gods can be active agents who have distinctive features, iconography, and myths, meanwhile the divine can be beyond forms and concepts. But for sure there are things commonly shared by Hinduism and Buddhism. They share at times the same myths, stories, symbols.
For instance, in both traditions the lotus flower symbolizes hope as it remains pure and untouched by the muddy waters surrounding it. In both the lotus flower can be seen as a symbol of hope as it demonstrates the possibility to rise above suffering and achieve spiritual liberation. This liberation called mokṣa in Hinduism is possible through detachment from worldly feelings and perceptions. Sometimes this can be reached by connecting and even merging with the universal brahman. This brahman is a force or a spiritual ground that pervadesthe entire universe. The idea is that each and every being has a personal eternal soul named ātman. This ātman is for some reason disconnected from brahman but needs to find its way back. If that track is found the merging will be there and liberation will follow. Other Hindus strive after an eternal life in one of the heavenly abodes in the presence of the manifold gods. Liberation from suffering in Hinduism has countless forms, and one can imagine the manifold forms hope may therefore have.
If one asked Hindus what they consider to be their Hinduism, one is likely to get an answer in which words occur like “dharma,” “yoga,” or “mārga.” These concepts are crucial in Hinduism. All three have their connection to hope, and that is why we bring in these concepts here. The term dharma in Hinduism does not refer to the teachings of the Buddha. In Hinduism, dharma implies a world order, a structure in the world. The universe revolves around a certain order to which all creatures and phenomena are connected. If the dharma is ideal, there is in fact nothing to hope for, for the universe is perfect then. Hinduism does not have a word for “religion,” but the term dharma comes close to it. Each and every phenomenon in the universe has its dharma, its order. Each and everything is connected. Therefore, it is an important idea in Hinduism that one should follow one’s dharma, often called svadharma, “one’s proper dharma.” Denying one’s dharma implies disruption of the universe and ends up in chaos. That is the end of all hope of course.
It is a fixed idea that when the universe was just created dharma was perfected. There was no evil, no greed, and death did not exist. In that situation dharma is compared to a strong four-footed bull, standing firm. But things get out of hand. Evil comes into being, and slowly things become worse. At present we live in a period in which the dharma is like a bull with only one foot left. What Hindus hope for is a restoration of the glorious past in the future. “Make the future as it was!” so to say. In the future the universe will be destroyed once the dharma has completely reached its worst. Then it will be recreated, and it will once more be perfect. That is what Hindus in general hope for. Hence the enormous emphasis on following the correct dharma instructions. Healing the dharma consists of following the dharma.
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