Book Review: The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda\u27s Reinterpretation of the Vedas

A review of Anantanand Rambachan\u27s The Limits of Scripture: Vivekananda\u27s Reinterpretation of the Vedas

Pūrva Mīmāṃsā: Non-Natural, Moral Realism (Ethics-1, M14)

In this module I set out the Moral Non-Naturalism of Pūrva Mīmāṃsā as a version of Deontology that defines duty in terms of its beneficent properties. It elucidates the scheme of right living according to ordinance or command. Whereas natural accounts of moral terms suffer from circularity (by merely re-naming of a natural property with a moral term, which then serves to justify its moral appraisal), proponents of Mīmāṃsā defend their position by offering the Vedas as constituting independent evidence about what yields goodness. In some ways, the argument provided by the defenders of Mīmāṃsā prefigure Moore's complaint of the Naturalistic Fallacy, but the Mīmāṃsā approach doesn't claim that defining natural properties by ethical terms is a fallacy: it is simply circular

The Hindu Buddha according to the theology of the Bengali Vaishnava Acharya Bhaktivedanta Swami

In the broad Indian religious culture we find two basic concepts of the inner structure of the Holy. The Advaita religion believes in the 'not-two' will say absolute 'oneness' of the ultimate reality. The Dvaita religion yet believes in 'two' will say the dual structure of the whole. Nevertheless, the latter one is no radical dualism because it recognises nothing to be outside the last reality. It is a kind of 'dualist monism' and insofar fundamentally different to West Asian and European moderate or radical dualism. The Dvaita religion experiences the inner structure of the Holy as everlasting dynamic relation of the whole and its parts. As a rule, the representation of the whole is the personal God, mostly called Bhagavan. The representations of the parts are the soul or jivas. Mostly following the idea the whole being a personal God the Dvaita religion is something like theism; yet, it is an Indian or Hindu theism teaching that the Godhead comprises within herself souls and matter, too. By the way, many of the jivas aren't conscious of their role within the Holy. They erroneously take themselves for empty monads and believe that they would get their realisation only by implementing themselves with 'matter'. Experiencing in this concern the uselessness of matter, the maya energy of the Godhead, they can get the true consciousness of their role as divine co-players in the inner divine play or lila. ...Die Vaishnavas [1] zählen zu den indischen Dvaitas oder Theisten. Sie verehren Vishnu bzw. Krishna als einzigen, allumfassenden und personalen Gott. Dieser Gott kommt, wenn die Weltordnung, der Dharma, in Gefahr oder gestört ist, als heilbringender Avatar in die Welt. Und Buddha war ein solcher Avatar, d.h. eine helfende Inkarnation Vishnus. Ganz in dieser Tradition stehend hat der weltbekannte Gaudiya-Vaishnava Leh-rer und Gründer-Acharya der Iskcon, Swami Bhaktivedanta [1896-1977] [2] in seiner Theologie Buddha als Mensch gewordenen Gott, als Inkarnation Krish-nas, beschrieben. Zwar ist Buddha Krishna selbst, aber dieser erledigte [und er-ledigt bis heute?] in dieser Gestalt eine eng umgrenzte Aufgabe. Swami Bhakti-vedanta zitiert diesbezüglich ein Vaishnava Gedicht, in welchem diese Aufgabe sehr schön besungen wird: "O Lord Krishna, You have assumed the form of Lord Buddha, taking compassion on the poor animals."[3] Gott kam also als Buddha in diese Welt, um als Herr und Beschützer der Tiere Ahimsa, das Nicht-verletzen von lebenden Wesen zu predigen und zu verbreiten. In seinem Kommentar zum Shrimad Bhagavatam, einer der Heiligen Schriften der Vaishnavas, entwickelt Swami Bhaktivedanta seine eigene Buddha- Theologie. ..

The aryans and the ancient system of caste

Over the last century or two, the dominant accounts of the caste system have looked for its roots in the ancient history of India. More precisely scholars have linked the origin of the caste system to the invasion of a Sanskrit speaking people, the Aryans, who are said to have imposed their language, religion and social structure on an indigenous population called the Dravidians. In this account, the latter were subjugated by the Aryans and made to have an inferior place in society as the lowest caste. Given the importance of the Aryan invasion theory in our understanding of the caste system this article looks into the literature on how this invasion and subjugation actually took place and what evidence is available for it. This analysis leads to the conclusion that hardly any or no evidence exists for the claim that the caste system originated as the result of an Aryan invasion. Subsequently, the article looks into the development of this account in the early nineteenth century European literature in order to see on what this account was based and to identify the background assumptions that make it appear plausible till today.Over the last century or two, the dominant accounts of the caste system have looked for its roots in the ancient history of India. More precisely scholars have linked the origin of the caste system to the invasion of a Sanskrit speaking people, the Aryans, who are said to have imposed their language, religion and social structure on an indigenous population called the Dravidians. In this account, the latter were subjugated by the Aryans and made to have an inferior place in society as the lowest caste. Given the importance of the Aryan invasion theory in our understanding of the caste system this article looks into the literature on how this invasion and subjugation actually took place and what evidence is available for it. This analysis leads to the conclusion that hardly any or no evidence exists for the claim that the caste system originated as the result of an Aryan invasion. Subsequently, the article looks into the development of this account in the early nineteenth century European literature in order to see on what this account was based and to identify the background assumptions that make it appear plausible till today

Ethics and Spirituality of Sustainability: What Can We All Do?

This article approaches the topic of sustainability in a broad, interdisciplinary fashion − in the manner of our total footprint on the planet, not just our carbon footprint. It proposes to bring together the two allied areas of sustainability and spirituality in a dialectical manner, with ethics as a balancing force and spirituality playing the role of the proverbial invisible hand guiding our quest for sustainability. It takes the view that, in essence, spirituality and sustainability are vitally interlinked. When the spiritual dimension of our being is underdeveloped, we turn into pleasure-seeking automatons, plundering the planet in a mindless race called progress. This makes us self-centered and greedy for material wealth which leads to social disharmony and over-exploitation of natural resources. When we live a life of greater self-awareness, we tend to consume less and, more so, less mindlessly. With this understanding comes the liberating realization that there is no sustainability without spirituality. For material development to be sustainable, spiritual advancement must be seen as an integral part of the human development algorithm. Our societies are human nature writ at large; therefore, we believe that the solution to society’s current chaos lies in the spiritual transformation of each one of us. The choice we face is between conscious change and chaotic annihilation. We believe that the most important eco-spirituality struggles will be won or lost during this decade. While policymakers and governments can play their respective roles, each one of us has to do our part by consciously adopting spirituality and sustainability as a way of life. Only an individual life rooted in the continuous harmony with nature − a life based on moral and spiritual awareness − can preserve the sanctity of the planet

Book Review: The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate

A review of The Quest for the Origins of Vedic Culture: The Indo-Aryan Migration Debate by Edwin Bryant

Role of Language in Identity Formation: An Analysis of Influence of Sanskrit on Identity Formation

The contents of Brahmajnaana, the Buddhism, the Jainism, the Sabdabrahma Siddhanta and Shaddarsanas will be discussed to present the true meaning of individual’s identity and I. The influence of spirituality contained in Upanishadic insight in the development of Sanskrit language structure, Indian culture, and individual identity formation will be developed. The cultural and psychological aspects of a civilization on the formation of its language structure and prominence given to various parts of speech and vice versa will be touched upon. These aspects will be also compared and contrasted with German, French, Telugu and Hindi and their respective influence on cultural and identity formation and vice versa. A cognitive science interpretation of advaita and dvaita phases of mind and bhakti and vibhakti modes of language acquisition and communication in terms of physics and electronics will be given and be clubbed to present an inclusive and comprehensive modern scientific and social scientific understanding and interpretation of Brahmajnaana, the Buddhism, the Jainism and rest of current theistic and atheistic awareness of I and its spiritual, linguistic, cognitive scientific and rationalistic ideas and opinions. The use of this study for national integration and oneness of Indians will be highlighted