| Today's 2 examples of digestion under way...
Rajiv Malhotra posts:
"Example 1
I wanted to say one thing more about Being Different: I am delighted
that Sri Aurobindo is so frequently cited there, and find your work to be
firmly in his tradition (in modern India, none is greater). ... I could not quite cognitively defend your (and
Bhartrhari's, Abhinava's) thesis that (as Raja Rao put it to me once),
"the essence of each thing is its [Sanskrit] name vibrating in the
absolute." On the other hand, as a
meditator I perform that premise every day when I chant "Om."
Finally, I want to nominate the Archive for Research in Archetypal
Symbolism (ARAS) to the Infinity Foundation for possible support of efforts to
expand the representation of Indian images. ...ARAS is a Jungian instituton with roots in the Eranos conferences
in the 1930s and after. See aras.org if
this is of interest.
Rajiv comment: Jung's Eranos conferences produced some of
the greatest digestors on the past century – including Joseph Campbell, Eliade,
Paul Tillich, etc. Now the above scholar who has practiced sadhana in Auroville
is wanting funds from Infinity, to support work by his wife that would remap
his mining of Sri Aurobindo for 25 years into western univeralism. He also told
me with [pride] that his son is going for a phd under a prominent Indian scholar
of religion in Florida, and how under her guidance all the dharma he learned
will get "harmonized" with western thought. That scholar in Florida is well
known for promoting sameness , digestion, Aryan theory, etc. She is also popular at temples where she goes
in sari with heavy jewelry and talks about the greatness of Hinduism. Hates me
for calling her duplicity…
Example 2: Read the Patheos.com comment discussion on my
book.... Read onereview by Brianne Donaldson...
See the comments after her review. These explain how she as
head of dharma studies at a prominent university is in fact on a mining
expedition to help further plagiarism. Her role in digestion is to promote
whitehead who digested abhidharma Buddhism into his own repackaged versions,
and to erase the dharmic sources. Ironically, she then uses Whitehead to
criticize BD. Pls read and participate there."
Margaret posts:
"....I understand well how digestion works,
thanks for your concrete examples and I am also reading your book BD. I
wonder who is the Florida scholar .... Although India is not my native land, I learn so much about
how mental, universalism digestive scholarly colonization continues in
mining expeditions of indigenous cultures"
Jayakumar shares his response to Brianne at Patheos:
"... The reviewer Brianne Donaldson is commenting on a narrow portion of a several-hundred page book.
Winning and Dominating are important for the West. Dharma is too subtle and is not encumbered by such needs. Openness, friendliness, originality and expertise by dharma practitioners have been exploited in well-honed and subtle ways. On the other extreme, Universities in India are out of touch of indigenous thought and engaged in mimicry of the West. Genuine ashrams in India which represent the tenor of age-old discourses, techniques and knowledge embodiments are neither funded by the State nor by corporations nor by universities. These ashrams and their living practitioners live and die on a daily basis without much ado. So who is to protect such time-tested critical knowledge-bases? Malhotra isn't advocating cessation of dialog or collaborations. he is merely stating motivations and intentions in Western Scholarship and collaborations and demonstrating that with real data. Nothing should stop Claremont Lincoln University from pursuing what they do. Cross-fertilization is between equals. Dharma has a long way to go until it gains as stature equal to the West. Until then, it will only be a good 'subject' to study, dharma will be '˜cool'. Reviewer Brianne is concerned about some perceived social inadequacies in India [gay taboo, dearth of female Indian voices]. This is based on a flawed logic that social problems in a country are a direct result of its religious or spiritual worldviews. However, addressing India's social or cultural problems is not Rajiv thesis - just as there is no requirement that every study of America MUST focus on its racism and other problems. Another implication of this stated concern is that the West either appoints itself as the solver of social problems in other countries, or has the authority to hold accountable speakers from those countries for those problems. Do US school shootings, drug abuse, or teenage pregnancies invalidate the Principle of Liberty? The West has done a superb job of separating abhorrent practices (like slavery) from Religion or State by stating them as 'topical' problems. Why does the west get to set the agenda of what constitutes 'topics of interest' about India - is this not itself a sign of Western Universalism? There is no denying that Rajiv Malhotra's Being Different raises questions that can make many uncomfortable. For example: Is a Sannyasi same as a Saint? Is Iswara same as God? Is itihasa same has history? Is lack of well-chronicled linear history same as lack of definiteness of discourse or continuity and originality of thought? Can a History of the 'Other' written by the West be considered as True History? Does an assertion self-identity by other traditions imply cessation of dialog and cross-pollination? Can a scholar of Jainism (regardless of nationality) be the same as a Jain? Does a Professor of Asia Studies have the same authority to speak for Hinduism as a Hindu Sannyasi? Is an article written by a Christian about Hinduism appearing in high school text books same as a similar article written by a Hindu? Does a Western scientist studying the mind of Buddhist have the same authority to speak about advanced states of consciousness as the Buddhist 'subject' himself or herself? Is the Whitehead Research Project in reality another Dharma Mining Project? What are the criteria that must be satisfied in order for a Dharma Traditions Initiative in a US University to work in favor of those same traditions? Who should control discourse - the perceiver or the perceived? Some answers are clear, while others may take some time to develop. ..... I am surprised that the reviewer saw in Rajiv's book a '˜quest to divide the world into West and East. ... I found the title of Brianne's review interesting. Can the West wear any less of its Westernized spectacles than Indians any less their Indianized spectacles? It would be an ideal world where none of us had spectacles. The problem is that even the Indian wears Westernized Spectacles making the scales very tilted! This is where Rajiv's work has its greatest impact. Perhaps in the Reviewer is an earnest struggle to connect the West with a more holistic dharma world-view. I've noticed and I do applaud the reviewer Brianne Donaldson for her active non-violent championing of animal rights such sensitivity is expected of Jains and those who claim to represent dharma traditions. I hope comments on this website will serve to improve her dissertation."
March 5
March 5
March 5
March 11
March 11 |
Showing posts with label Patheos. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Patheos. Show all posts
RMF Summary: Week of January 30 - February 5, 2012
January 30
Kaajal shares:
"...The Norway example does sound extreme...actually in my view in America at least, eating with hands is becoming quite popular. This is not to deny that the tendency toward universalizing its norms doesn't exist in the West, but shifts
in certain areas are afoot:
here's an interesting article from the New York Times:
Mind Your Manners: Eat With Your HandsAmy Dickerson for The New York Times
...
JULIE SAHNI vividly remembers the first time she had to eat with utensils. Ms. Sahni, a New York-based cookbook author and cooking teacher, grew up in India eating the traditional way, with her right hand. Then, in college, she won a
dance competition that would take her to Europe. How, she wondered, would she eat?
Recipe
The answer was a three-day immersion course in Western dining etiquette, which progressed from soup (don't let the spoon clatter on the bowl) to green beans (spear them without sending them into your neighbor's lap) and finally a
slippery hard-boiled egg. Ms. Sahni, 66, mastered the knife and fork, but she has never really liked them.
"Eating with the hands evokes great emotion," she said. "It kindles something very warm and gentle and caressing. Using a fork is unthinkable in traditional Indian eating. It is almost like a weapon."
Eating with the hands is common in many areas of the world, including parts of Asia and much of Africa and the Middle East. But until recently, you would have been hard-pressed to find many restaurants in the United States — especially
those with $20 or $30 entrees — where digging in manually was encouraged. Now, several high-profile chefs are asking diners to get their hands dirty, in the belief that it heightens the sensual connection to food and softens the formality of fine dining...."
Surya adds:
"You are supposed to wash your hands and feet before sitting down for a meal. You are also expected to shower or bathe before a meal. That is tradition. Sure, there are people who do not maintain hygiene. So? Would you suggest driving is bad because many folks still drink and drive (and worse, kill
innocent people) ?
Buffet style lunch does not suit eating with hands. Traditional approach is a sit down meal with food brought to you and served. You are not supposed to walk around when having a meal. It is sad what they are doing in Indian weddings
these days.
There are many Indian dishes that are best eaten with hands. It is awkward doing so with a fork or spoon. Besides, when you are enjoying food with all your other senses, why deprive the sensual feel of touch?.."
January 30
Contextualizing Freedom of Speech and Expression
January 30
In Toronto: Inculturation clash within the Church
Gopala shares a link:
Rajiv comment: A very interesting article worth reading to understand the broader dynamics of inculturation. This internal fight has always been there within the Church, between those who see inculturation as blasphemous, and those who advocate it as a practical way to digest Hinduism into the history centrism of Christianity.
Readers of BD should note why this immense display of pro-Hindu symbolism and performance in the new liturgy DOES end up in dharma getting digested into Christianity BECAUSE THE DIFFERENCES THAT WOULD UNDERMINE THE CHURCH ARE NOT INCLUDED.
January 30
February 1
This post marks the end of the summary for the first year of the forum that was started in February 2011!
"...The Norway example does sound extreme...actually in my view in America at least, eating with hands is becoming quite popular. This is not to deny that the tendency toward universalizing its norms doesn't exist in the West, but shifts
in certain areas are afoot:
here's an interesting article from the New York Times:
Mind Your Manners: Eat With Your HandsAmy Dickerson for The New York Times
...
JULIE SAHNI vividly remembers the first time she had to eat with utensils. Ms. Sahni, a New York-based cookbook author and cooking teacher, grew up in India eating the traditional way, with her right hand. Then, in college, she won a
dance competition that would take her to Europe. How, she wondered, would she eat?
Recipe
The answer was a three-day immersion course in Western dining etiquette, which progressed from soup (don't let the spoon clatter on the bowl) to green beans (spear them without sending them into your neighbor's lap) and finally a
slippery hard-boiled egg. Ms. Sahni, 66, mastered the knife and fork, but she has never really liked them.
"Eating with the hands evokes great emotion," she said. "It kindles something very warm and gentle and caressing. Using a fork is unthinkable in traditional Indian eating. It is almost like a weapon."
Eating with the hands is common in many areas of the world, including parts of Asia and much of Africa and the Middle East. But until recently, you would have been hard-pressed to find many restaurants in the United States — especially
those with $20 or $30 entrees — where digging in manually was encouraged. Now, several high-profile chefs are asking diners to get their hands dirty, in the belief that it heightens the sensual connection to food and softens the formality of fine dining...."
Surya adds:
"You are supposed to wash your hands and feet before sitting down for a meal. You are also expected to shower or bathe before a meal. That is tradition. Sure, there are people who do not maintain hygiene. So? Would you suggest driving is bad because many folks still drink and drive (and worse, kill
innocent people) ?
Buffet style lunch does not suit eating with hands. Traditional approach is a sit down meal with food brought to you and served. You are not supposed to walk around when having a meal. It is sad what they are doing in Indian weddings
these days.
There are many Indian dishes that are best eaten with hands. It is awkward doing so with a fork or spoon. Besides, when you are enjoying food with all your other senses, why deprive the sensual feel of touch?.."
January 30
Kundan shares: Rushdie’s participation or non-participation thereafter at
the Jaipur Literary Festival has caused a lot of media frenzy and much welcomed
debate. It has brought to sharper focus the absoluteness of freedom of speech. Though
most people interviewed on news channels like CNN-IBN or NDTV have upheld the
absoluteness of the freedom of speech, there have been a few voices like those
of writer-diplomat Mr. Pavan Varma and actor Rahul Bose who have questioned the
notion of the absolute nature of this freedom. Mr. Varma argued against it
saying that no freedom in any country, even in western countries, is
unrestrained and therefore, it should not be so even in India.
Though I am essentially in support of his contention, I wish he had shed some
light on historical and social context of freedom of speech, which is now considered
a corner stone of democracy.
The freedom
of speech has attained a godly status in western countries mainly due to the
tyrannical conditions that were unleashed by the Church in medieval times in Europe.
Given the totalizing control that it held in matters of inquiry and artistic
and literary expressions, it was through the sacrifice and struggle of many
during renaissance that Europe could win the freedom to
inquiry and creative expression. Given this history, it is understandable why “freedom
of speech” has such a divinely ordained status in western countries.
Now India
has not had any such history. Through the Varna-system, it was seen that totalizing
power never got concentrated in the hands of a section of people in India..."
Cynthia responds:
"While being in broad agreement with the points made by Kundan Singh, I
just wanted to point out that there have been instances in India's past
where thinkers of two camps did come into violent disagreement, such as
the incident of the opposition to the Jains in Tamil country where
several hundred munis were killed; the opposition to the work and
teaching of Basaveshwara; the opposition faced by Ramanujacharya and
Madhwacharya from contemporary religious leaders; the opposition to
Meerabai's devotion to Krishna, the famous incident where the shepherd
Kanaka was not allowed into the SriKrishna temple in Udupi, whereupon
the idol was said to have turned to face the rear, where Kanaka was
singing out his devotion; and in more recent times early and mid-20th
century) the severe conflagrations between the Iyers and Iyengars on the
namam ( vertical and u-shaped for the Vaishnavait Iyengars, and
horizontal in the case of the Shaivite Iyers) issue. "
Radhakrishnan's response to Cynthia:
Cynthia's account that many
Jain Munis were killed in Tamil Nadu is not correct. On the other hand saivite
saints like Tirunavukkarasar was thrown into the ocean tied to a stone because
he propagated Siva worship. Further Ramanujacharya or Madhwacharya did not face any obstruction. There was also no
dispute between Iyers and Iyengars on the sporting of 'namam" (the
religious mark of vaishnavites on the forehead). It was a dispute between two sects among the
vaishnavites 'viz" the
"vadagalai" and "thengalai" in Kancheepuram. All these things have gone into oblivion by
the learned discourses of scholars belonging to both the sects lie Sri
Velukkudi Krishnanswami, Venkatakrishnaswami, Sri Andavan Swami etc.
Nilesh shares: As for Meera Bai's case, please leave
it as a domestic disagreements between a married couple. It is not a case of
violent clash between two groups of people. As one or two sparrows do not make
spring, a few example of questionable research over a history of thousands of
 years do not make for intolerant psyche. It was a clear blue sky last
thursday in an otherwise overcast sky of Vancouver last week. I was with my six
year old grandson. As it was a major shift in climate after a week full of snow
and rain, I exclaimed to him, Oh, great, the sky is clear today. He pointed out
to a small stray white cloud on horizon and mischievously proved me wrong. Was
I? Mature people see things in perspective. Just consider the number of
heretics burned, killed, injured or stripped of their belongings in Europe and
European colonies when considering so called intolerance in India...
Senthil adds: Excellent perspective by kundan singh..
I had this question earlier, but after Rajeev's BD, gave the perfect
answer.. The absense of History Centrism, and the absense of Messenger,
as explained in BD are the important reasons (apart from varna system explained
by kundan singh) why we had freedom of expressed inherent in our civilization. another
similar example we can quote is the Indian Intellegentsia's obsession with
Pluralism and Multi-Culturalism.. We have it inherent, but they start
lecturing (in opinion column) on the need to preserve it, as though we never
had it.
In Toronto: Inculturation clash within the Church
Gopala shares a link:
Rajiv comment: A very interesting article worth reading to understand the broader dynamics of inculturation. This internal fight has always been there within the Church, between those who see inculturation as blasphemous, and those who advocate it as a practical way to digest Hinduism into the history centrism of Christianity.
Readers of BD should note why this immense display of pro-Hindu symbolism and performance in the new liturgy DOES end up in dharma getting digested into Christianity BECAUSE THE DIFFERENCES THAT WOULD UNDERMINE THE CHURCH ARE NOT INCLUDED.
January 30
February 1
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)