Reaching There

Introduction A few days ago I wrote on how a contemporary Dharmic mind is enslaved with various narratives meant to degrade the tradition of Dharmic spiritualism (or Hinduism) and relegate the spiritual path as non-sensical, patriarchal, and regressive (i.e. against modernity). I've three examples below that show the eagerness in contemporary conversations to push this narrative. Since free speech and vaad (Sanskrit: वाद, discussion) are two-way streets so it's well within my right to share my opinion based on sound reasoning and well-established examples. And my opinion doesn't rely on the play of words (Sanskrit: सामान्य छल, quibble)) or a mere attack on the opposition (Sanskrit: वितंडा, cavil/sophistry). Just a side note, these categorizations are based on the ancient  Nyaya philosophy composed by Akṣapāda Gautama between the 6th century BCE and the 2nd century CE. Example 1 -  वितंडा / Sophistry Buddhism and Sanatana Dharma have a long history of coexistence and assim...

A painting depicting Tarkavidya (the science of reasoning and logic) in action. Picture:  The famous debate between Adi Shankaracharya and Mandana Mishra, in which Shankaracharya emerged victorious. https://twitter.com/mimansaka/status/1411535285444247556?lang=b g) Can Science & Religion be reconciled? I've often wondered if there is a reconciliation of science and religion. In past, I've written about misinterpreting faith , the  importance of spiritual philosophies , and spiritualism in the Hindu (or Indian) context . I've also read the likes of Richard Dawkins and Christopher Hitchens, who are the pioneers of the atheistic movement opposing the Abrahamic philosophy, to not limit my view to just my Indic background. In the western world,  more people are identifying as atheists, agnostics, or otherwise nonreligious . Pew Research shows the same trend in the western world when it comes to religion. The same Pew Research also shows the importance of religion in...

What is purva-paksha?  Vaisheshik Darshan throughout the text is not afraid to question the observation and heavily relies on ' purva-paksha ' i.e. debating a former argument to solidify the proposition.  Vaisheshik Darshan  doesn't just state aphorisms, but it takes the reader (you) inside the mind of the author, as he grapples with observations & inferences. And this grappling often leads to counter-argument, which in the case of this  Darshan  is included in the text itself! You won't see any other philosophical treatise, other than Indic texts, where the counter-argument is part of the journey a reader has to take to deep dive into the topic for a clear understanding.  As we go through the proof of one of the nine  Dravyas  (substances) i.e. Atman ( misinterpreted as the soul in Western translation but actually means the reality of realization of our existence i.e. the true "I" ), the author uses counter-arguments to facilitate the proof. ...

A little bit about Swami Sarvapriyananda I've listened to Swami Sarvapriyananda of the Vedanta Society of New York for the last couple of years. His talks on Vedanta, Katha Upanishad, Yoga, and various other topics are a very important source to not only introductions to Hindu spiritual philosophy but help one to dive deep into this sea of knowledge with an anchor to guide as one unravels the knowledge. He talks about universal acceptance as well as how the Hindu mind accepts other religions as several paths leading to the 'one' truth. He is rooted in his philosophy of Advaita Vedanta (non-dualism). He rarely talks about politics in his lectures and frequently talks about the acceptance of various spiritual paths leading to the same truth. A westerner's myopic view of Hindu nationalism In a recent speech, a question was asked from the audience; "how the current "Hindu nationalism" can be reconciled with the message of universal acceptance that Swami Ji...

Vaisheshik Darshan  was written over two and a half thousand years ago (it is likely older than that). It is one of the earliest texts that delve into the nature of the physical world - thereby one of the oldest texts that can share the shelf space with other books on Physics.  It likely predates Greek and other Eastern philosophies that developed between the 4th and 2nd century BCE. What is all around us? Let's classify each and every existing entity!   One of the astounding aspects of Vaisheshika is that it's a combination of Ontology, Psychology, Ethics, Spiritualism, and Physics. Rishi Kanada embarked on a journey that sought an answer to the 'question of being' and he observed everything around him with the keenest eye.  The roots of the question 'of being' requires understanding everything around us through means of knowledge available to us normally; pratyaksha pramana (i.e. through our material senses) or when that's not possible then via anumana pr...

 I apologize as I start this post with a negative article on  Vaiśeṣika from the online magazine The Wire. The article published in 2017 posits a question ' Were the 'Atoms' of Acharya Kanad a Product of Science or Speculative Metaphysics? ' (Note: I haven't yet reached the sutras that discuss anu or atom) The author concludes that " the positing of the idea of the atom by Kanada did not carry an explanatory burden; it was just a speculative thesis. It is outrageous to compare it with modern scientific atomic theories." Yet the author fails to states that a n inference is conclusion drawn based on observations and prior knowledge. And inference eventually leads to hypothesis which can be then proven via an experiment. So, it's the gradual evolution of observations. Here is an interesting article that discusses ' How did Einstein Think? ' Did  Vaiśeṣika  prove that atoms exist? No, during it's course of categorization it inferred that matt...