5 Comments »

1. Jagmohan Singh Khurmi said:
Osho once said about the ‘trinity’ of Shiva, Brahma & Vishnu are not some abstract powers lurking somewhere in existence, but human understanding of the cosmic presence i.e. Proton, Neutron and Electron
7 March 2007
2. dharmabum said:
very well said.
this approach of understanding the consciousness stems from the basically ‘empirical’ approach of wetern science that looks for a ‘proof’ for everything
8 March 2007
3. B Shantanu said:
Excerpts from a recent post by Offstumped:
That google search lead to this very interesting book “The Shape of Ancient Thought – Comparative Studies in Greek and Indian Philosophies” by Thomas McEvilley, published in 2002. Extracts from the book can be found on google.
The book is an exhaustive exercise in tracing the chronology of evolution of ancient philosophy and the many exchanges that had taken place across centuries.
Of particuar interest is page 542 that talks about how the remarkably similar the ethical framework of the Stoics and “Karma Yoga” in the Gita were. The discussion on “Ethics of Imperturbaility” in Chapter 25 makes for some interesting reading as well as it relates to the modern day debate on Dharma and the ethics of “Self Interest”.
For those to the Left and Right who are trapped in modern day labels of Laissez Faire Capitalism and Progressive Socialism, this quote from page 620 must be highlighted
Both Budhism and Epicureanism were criticized for their lack of social conscience and both made more or less the same answer that “enlightened selft interest” is the most useful social ethic.
In closing one must say that the 25 chapters are a worthy read to understand as the author puts it
the massive transfer of ideas or methods of thinking, first from India to Greece in the pre-Socratic period and again back from Greece to India in the Hellenistic period
Since the ideas in question remain fundamental elements of Greek thought for a thousand years, it is time to acknowledge that one of the major strains of Greek thought was Indian Influenced – that it might even be called the Indianized or Greco-Indian lineage
In response to the 19th century imperialist view … this investigation has shown that every mystical element in Indian thought can be found in Greek thought too and every rational element in Greek thought in Indian as well
25 February 2009
4. Khandu Patel said:
I have been following developments in science and the power of this method cannot be doubted. The ancient rishis came to the conclusion that energy and equivalent (if anyone can identify the vedic texts would be appreciated). Of course it took Eienstein’s genius to state it in his equation e=mc2. There can be no doubting Hindu achievements in all areas of knowledge which I can quote chapter and verse. But the defining characteristic of any great civilisation is its epic poetry. Just as the Greek Iliad spread its message of message to the West, India’s epics was to tutor Asia. On that score India does not have to an inferiority complex or prove anything except using their strengths for our greatness in the age we live in today.
The lessons that we have learned from our respective epics could not have been different. Alexandra the Great was inspired to conquer the world on being tutored by the Iliad. Inspite of the Mahabharata, Hindus in modern times has been victims of even small fries like Bangladesh and Sri Lanka. Is it because our great epics have been reduced to the rituals of our religion? When our leaders talk about Hinduism’s secular face, why have they excused what ought to be an inspiration to martial spirits? The West do not make that mistake. Their fighting and conquering spirit is not in the least compromised by their Christian religion which teaches them gentleness and learning.
The epic is essentially a human message in which Gods can have a walk on part to lend their approval. They are expected to sing praise of the birth or life of a nation. Religions have come and gone in the story of any nation and country. Christianity and Islam have established their proper place in the life of the India, but once they cease to believe in the shared history as defined by the story of their country’s past by its epics, their betrayel should not be ignored. Hundutva has used the word cultural nationalism but culture is a word of no definite meaning. The foundation stones of a nation are so fundamental that there are no words adequate to describe it. It is not even about the fine points of meaning of words which can in debate be discarded as people wish. The idea of the nation should be the highest ideals of all those charged with its honour and protection.
In Greek times, as large as India was it should have been to Greece what the United States is to the world of today. The Greeks certainly shared a love of learning by establishing institutes. It has been remarked in these discussions that library building as a civic virtue is what we are lacking in today. This is another task that we should turn our minds to if we want to learn serious lessons from the discussions we are having.
21 June 2009
5. B Shantanu said:
@ Khandu: Thought provoking…esp the point about the interpretation of MahaBharata and how some of its core learnings appear to have been forgotten… More on this later…
The idea of nation/ identity is something that we will discuss on Monday evening at the regular meeting.
22 June 2009

Share your thoughts below.

 Subscribe Link     

Subscribe to the Weekly Newsletter

Join the Community

Recent Comments

Categories

Do Not Copy