This paper provides a critical analysis and reconstruction of the concept of enlightenment in the thought of the Indian philosopher Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti (19182007). The importance and ...significance of Krishnamurtis philosophy lies in the fact that he was one of the few Eastern thinkers to engage in a critical discussion with the traditional concept of en lightenment, while offering his alternative views on the subject. Over the centuries, the notion of enlightenment has significantly changed its meaning, becoming increasingly mythologised, just as the figure of the enlightened being has been deified. The title character sheds new light on the concept of enlightenment, pointing in the direction of a systematic rejection of the traditionally religious superstructure that had clung to it over time. The analysed views constitute a rendering of this religious phenomenon from the perspective of the naturalistic paradigm, pointing to its physiological aspect. Thus, from the point of view of the history of Eastern philosophy, his ideas have a strongly innovative character and their introduction to philosophical discourse may significantly change our understanding of the startling concept of enlightenment.
The Indian traditions offer a very specific place in the society to women, and the religious practices give them certain responsibilities. Religion and common life are practically inseparable and the ...role models offered by the Hindu pantheon and sacred texts are to be reflected in the day to day activity. Shakti is the wife of Lord Sadashiva and the Mother of the Universe, while Lakshmi is the wife of Lord Vishnu, whose main characteristic is to bring prosperity. This article is approaching the role women play from the position of the Hindu tradition, overviewing Puranic and epic texts.
In the intricate dance between the scientific and the metaphysical, the realms of quantum physics, biocentrism, and Indian philosophy converge, offering profound insights into the nature of reality. ...This article embarks on a journey to explore the interconnected threads that weave through these seemingly distinct domains, revealing a tapestry that challenges our understanding of existence.
This paper provides a critical analysis and reconstruction of the concept of enlightenment in the thought of the Indian philosopher Uppaluri Gopala Krishnamurti (1918–2007). The importance and ...significance of Krishnamurti’s philosophy lies in the fact that he was one of the few Eastern thinkers to engage in a critical discussion with the traditional concept of enlightenment, while offering his alternative views on the subject. Over the centuries, the notion of enlightenment has significantly changed its meaning, becoming increasingly mythologised, just as the figure of the enlightened being has been deified. The title character sheds new light on the concept of enlightenment, pointing in the direction of a systematic rejection of the traditionally religious superstructure that had clung to it over time. The analysed views constitute a rendering of this religious phenomenon from the perspective of the naturalistic paradigm, pointing to its physiological aspect. Thus, from the point of view of the history of Eastern philosophy, his ideas have a strongly innovative character and their introduction to philosophical discourse may significantly change our understanding of the startling concept of enlightenment.
Nammalvar, a Tamil poet who lived in IX-X centuries, is revered as one of the great mystics of India. His four poetic works are equated with the sacred hymns and are part of the ritual worship in the ...temples of South India. Artistic images of Nammalvar formed the basis of the philosophy of Vishishta-Advaita several centuries later. The poem “Thiruviruttam” is considered as his early work, where he combines the canons of ancient Tamil poetry and his devoted love for Vishnu-Tirumal. The study presents a religious and philosophical interpretation of the poem. The secret of the poem is its dualism: external beauty and sacred meaning. There is a spiritual meaning in symbols of Tamil poetry. Nammalvar takes canons of his predecessors, poets of the Sangam era. However, he fills one with new content. The author compares ancient Tamil poetry and the work of Nammalvar. The plot describes the love between God and the soul. The poet reveals several types of bhakti or devoted love. The description of bhakti subsequently formed the basis for the classification of souls in the philosophy of vishishta-advaita. Bhakti leads to the transition to Vaikuntha or the heaven city. Sri Vaishnavism teachers turned the description of relationship soul-Vishnu into a spiritual practice. The artistic images of Nammalvar are compared with Hindu concepts such as transcendence, darshan, divine grace and moksha. In South India “Thiruviruttam” is considered the Tamil Rig Veda. Poem is performed at home, in the temple, during festive processes. It helps to find the roots of Vaishnavism and understand its poetic origin.
Being Together in Placeexplores the landscapes that convene Native and non-Native people into sustained and difficult negotiations over their radically different interests and concerns. Grounded in ...three sites-the Cheslatta-Carrier traditional territory in British Columbia; the Wakarusa Wetlands in northeastern Kansas; and the Waitangi Treaty Grounds in Aotearoa/New Zealand-this book highlights the challenging, tentative, and provisional work of coexistence around such contested spaces as wetlands, treaty grounds, fishing spots, recreation areas, cemeteries, heritage trails, and traditional village sites. At these sites, activists learn how to articulate and defend their intrinsic and life-supportive ways of being, particularly to those who are intent on damaging or destroying these places.
Using ethnographic research and a geographic perspective, Soren C. Larsen and Jay T. Johnson show how the communities in these regions challenge the power relations that structure the ongoing (post)colonial encounter in liberal democratic settler-states. Emerging from their conversations with activists was a distinctive sense that the places for which they cared had agency, a "call" that pulled them into dialogue, relationships, and action with human and nonhuman others. This being-together-in-place, they find, speaks in a powerful way to the vitalities of coexistence: where humans and nonhumans are working to decolonize their relationships; where reciprocal guardianship is being stitched back together in new and unanticipated ways; and where a new kind of "place thinking" is emerging on the borders of colonial power.
This monograph analyses metaphysics and epistemology in the medieval Mādhva tradition of Vedānta. It focuses primarily on the ideas of the sixteenth-century philosopher Vyāsatīrtha. The volume ...explores Vyāsatīrtha’s defence of theistic realism against the non-dualistic (Advaita) tradition of Vedānta in his masterpiece, the Nyāyāmṛta.
Diese Monographie analysiert Metaphysik und Epistemologie in der mittelalterlichen Mādhva-Tradition des Vedānta. Sie konzentriert sich hauptsächlich auf die Ideen des Philosophen Vyāsatīrtha aus dem sechzehnten Jahrhundert. Die Monographie untersucht Vyāsatīrthas Verteidigung des theistischen Realismus gegen die nicht-dualistische (Advaita) Tradition des Vedānta in seinem Meisterwerk, dem Nyāyāmṛta.
For too many years, the academic discipline of history has ignored American Indians or lacked the kind of open-minded thinking necessary to truly understand them. Most historians remain oriented ...toward the American experience at the expense of the Native experience. As a result, both the status and the quality of Native American history have suffered and remain marginalized within the discipline. In this impassioned work, noted historian Donald L. Fixico challenges academic historians-and everyone else-to change this way of thinking. Fixico argues that the current discipline and practice of American Indian history are insensitive to and inconsistent with Native people's traditions, understandings, and ways of thinking about their own history. InCall for Change, Fixico suggests how the discipline of history can improve by reconsidering its approach to Native peoples.
He offers the "Medicine Way" as a paradigm to see both history and the current world through a Native lens. This new approach paves the way for historians to better understand Native peoples and their communities through the eyes and experiences of Indians, thus reflecting an insightful indigenous historical ethos and reality.
This monograph is about the metaphor of reflection in a mirror, frequently used in Indian philosophical traditions to address metaphysical, epistemological, and theological problems arising from a ...non-reductionist approach to consciousness. The metaphor stands for the idea that, just as a face, reflected in a mirror, appears where it is not, so do consciousness and its properties, such as the sense of self, subjectivity, and experience of qualia, stand in falsely perceived relations to cognitive and perceptive processes. The book explores various models of interaction between consciousness, the mind-body complex, and the world, based on the metaphor of reflection, in the philosophical schools of Sāṃkhya, Yoga, and Advaita-Vedānta. Mirror of Nature, Mirror of Self is the first systematic exploration of mirror models of consciousness across traditions. By grounding these theories in their historical intellectual context, the book sheds new light on an intense philosophical conversation between Indian reductionists and non-reductionists about consciousness. The book explores the impact of Indian mirror models on theories of mental representation, theories of knowledge, philosophy of language, debates on illusory causality and on the relationship between noumena and phenomena, as well as soteriological and theological theories. In a dialogue with psychoanalytical theory and analytic philosophy of mind, the book defends a new model of consciousness, integrating consciousness-mind dualism, mind naturalism, and representationalism about consciousness.