Yesterday Benimadhav
Mohanty took a nasty swipe at a friend of mine who (along with many others) had
the gumption to take on the Ashram Trustees when they shamelessly supported the
denigration of Sri Aurobindo in his own Ashram by Peter Heehs. As we all know, the crisis in Sri Aurobindo
Ashram, Pondicherry, still continues, and perhaps by the end of this month the
Supreme Court of India will give a major judgment in the Enquiry Case pending against
the Ashram Trust. It is in this backdrop that I am replying to Benimadhav
Mohanty who made the silly accusation of “self-aggrandisement” on those who
have stood up to the Trust instead of whimpering down like puppies, as most
Ashramites have done, to the insidious threats of the Ashram Trustees
27 Jul 2015
22 Jul 2015
Campaign to censor Rajiv Malhotra proves that Dinanath Batra was right – by Govind Nishar
The attack against
Rajiv Malhotra is being portrayed as a kind of revenge for the court case
against Wendy Doniger’s book “The Hindus” that led to its withdrawal from the
Indian market. The implicit assumption behind this view is the hypothesis that
had Doniger’s book not been withdrawn, Rajiv Malhotra’s enemies in the US &
India would have rolled out the red carpet for his books. No proposition could
be further from the truth.
The coordinated
attack against Malhotra, initiated by followers of Sheldon Pollock & led by
Richard Fox Young, an internet troll consumed by an anti-Malhotra obsession,
has come at this time solely to prevent the launch of his forthcoming book “The
Battle for Sanskrit” which has the explosive potential to seriously hurt future
funding & thus endangering the work of those who Malhotra refers to as
“American Orientalists” and who he has exposed as seeking to dominate global
discourse about the ancient traditions of the Hindus.
19 Jul 2015
Indian Culture and Hinduism – by Prof. Kittu Reddy
Indian culture has been from the
beginning and has remained a spiritual, an inward-looking religio-philosophical
culture. Everything else in it has derived from that one central and original
peculiarity or has been in some way dependent on it or subordinate to it; even
external life has been subjected to the inward look of the spirit.
(Sri Aurobindo, CWSA, Vol. 20, The
Renaissance of India, p. 108)
It is
this inward-looking religio-philosophical culture which goes by the name of
Hinduism.
12 Jul 2015
Sri Aurobindo and the Hindu-Muslim problem – By Prof. Kittu Reddy
There is widespread belief among a certain section of intellectuals and historians –
both Indian and abroad – that Sri Aurobindo was responsible for the partition
of India and the consequent blood letting and other problems that followed. The
reason given to justify this position is that Sri Aurobindo during his active
political career stressed heavily on Hinduism and on Hindu nationalism and this
provoked a natural and inevitable reaction among the Muslims; this reaction led
ultimately to the formation of Pakistan. [extract]
7 Jul 2015
S Gurumurthy: Indians Hate Hindus
2 Jul 2015
Rajiv Malhotra on Hinduism (2)
Freedom
to Choose a Personal Path (Svadharma)
In most dharmic
traditions, each individual has a unique ‘svadharma’ (personal dharma) or
purpose in this world. This is based on his or her ‘svabhava’ (character) as
shaped by past karma and gunas and on the context or circumstances of the
person’s life. Buddhists have the notion of’upaya’ (skilful means), which
becomes the basis for mutual respect between those who are different. In the
Jain tradition, principles of relative and multiple perspectives of truth, combined
with the inherent uncertainty in knowledge, serve as protection against dogmas
and universal absolutes. All of this demonstrates that dharmic spiritual
practices are diverse, eclectic, and adaptable by communities, families, and
individuals, and for specific circumstances.
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