Moksha (Hinduism)

In ancient Hindu philosophy and religion, the ultimate goal of human development is frequently expressed as liberation (moksha). Unlike Kant, who denied that man could see things as they truly are, the teachings of yoga speak of a transcendental state of knowing beyond the intellect's habitual division into subject and object. Transcendental awareness or being extends and surpasses the bounds of ordinary awareness. Rather than knowing, this awareness is termed realization. Moksha is said to be realized through loving attachment to God, bhakti, or through unconditional offering of the self, prapatti. It is compared with liberation as kaivalya, the goal of Patanjali's yoga, which is consciousness of the self alone without realization of the "lord".

Although the intellect in its ordinary state is enslaved by desires, feelings and attitudes so that it cannot see true reality, not all methods to attain moksha are mystical, magical or anti-rational. In the nyaya darshana (method-philosophy), for example, dialectic is the key to salvation, through a rigorous system of logic. This philosophical development was parallelled and anticipated in Greece where the mystical liberation taught by Orpheus was supplemented by the dialectical training sponsored by the cult of Delphic Apollo; the goal being truth. In Christianity, the Bible also expresses the same concept of liberation, "You shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free". Logic and dialectic rose to paramount places in the mediaeval Catholic church (Abelard, St Thomas, etc.) alongside theology; and in another cultural parallel, they developed at the same time in Buddhism. The canon of Tibetan Buddhism, for example, contains extensive treatment of logic, codified at the same time that St Thomas Aquinas was writing his works. Liberation conceived as truth seems to be an innate idea of mankind that has been expressed variously at various times. The way of reason or dialectic is discovered by mystics intuitively, and moksha is perceived as the end-purpose of science.

In Hinduism moksha, as spiritual freedom or union, is said to be one of the four great aims of life, the others being artha (wealth), dharma (righteousness) and kama (culture and art). When these are in harmony there is no discord between the natural and spiritual life.