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Many people have many philosophies concerning the origins of the human condition. From my studies, I have found a pattern in the evolution of religion. This is important, because people live their lives based on this system of beliefs; and this system of beliefs determines what they will become, as stated by Yagnavalkya in the "Upanishads" (Brihadaranyaka-Upanishad, IV Adhyaya, Forth Brahmana, 5th Verse), "…And here they say that a person consists of desires. And as is his desire, so is his will; and as is his will, so is his deed; and whatever deed he does, that he will reap." (As echoed by Paul in the "Bible"(Galatians 6: 7), five hundred years later, "…For whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap.").
This might seem that I am inclined to say that I am inclined to follow the Indian point of view. I have found that the Indian point of view was influenced by the Early Europeans. "Yoga Immorality and Freedom" by Mircea Eliade, Princeton University Press, Chapter Three: Yoga and Brahmanism, Ascetics and Ecstatics in the Vedas, states, "…Yoga is present everywhere - no less in the oral tradition of India than in the Sanskrit and vernacular literatures. Naturally, this protean Yoga does not always resemble the "classic" system of Patanjali; rather, we find it in the form of traditional cliches, to which, during the course of the centuries, an increasing number of "popular" beliefs and practices has been added. To such a degree is this true that Yoga has ended by becoming a characteristic dimension of Indian spirituality. This prestige, this protean presence, raise a problem pregnant with consequences: may not Yoga be an autochthonous creation of the whole of India, the product not only of the Indo-Europeans but also, and especially, of the pre-Aryan populations?"
With this knowledge in mind, I have no difficulty understanding the similarities between the Indian philosophies and what I have studied to be the early European philosophies.
