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.
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.
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.
Leading international scholars present analysis and case studies from different cultural settings, East and West, exploring aesthetic interest and experience in our daily lives at home, in ...workplaces, using everyday things, in our built and natural environments, and in our relationships and communities. A wide range of views and examples of everyday aesthetics are presented from western philosophical paradigms, from Confucian and Daoist aesthetics, and from the Japanese tradition. All indicate universal features of human aesthetic lives together with their cultural variations. Comparative Everyday Aesthetics is a significant contribution to a key trend in international aesthetics for thinking beyond narrow art-centered conceptions of the aesthetic. It generates global discussions about good, aesthetic, everyday living in all its various aspects. It also promotes aesthetic education for personal, social, and environmental development and presents opportunities for global collaborative projects in philosophical aesthetics.
Buddhism is a belief system that emerged as a reaction to Hinduism. Buddha is the founder of this religion. Buddhism has been mostly shaped around via Buddha’s life and views. In particular, the ...Buddha's sermons are one of the most important factor in the sense of spreading of this religion. In this context, the Fire Sermon has an important place among Buddhists. Identified with the symbol of fire, this sermon is a breaking threshold for Buddhism. After this sermon, hundreds of monks follow Buddha's path. The sermon, which has a generally religious and philosophical content, invites monks to salvation. Through this sermon, Buddha tells his followers about his life adventure and the results he has achieved. The Sermon of Fire, which gives comprehensive information about the faith life of Buddhism, reveals the reasons why man is wrong in this world. He talks about desire, passion, and hatred that cause suffering. The sermon, which states that the reincarnation process is wearing out, proposes Nirvana as a way of salvation for the monks. Buddha reaches Nirvana under the Bodhi tree. Here he matures and discovers the truth. The Buddha suggests that his followers mature through this sermon. In this context, first a short history of Buddhism and then the life of Buddha was included in this study. Thus, the process and grounds of the Fire Sermon were discussed. Finally, it was revealed what and how this sermon told and what messages it gave.
The issue of liberation is a recurrent theme in all schools of Indian classical thought. In case of advaita-vedānta it is deeply rooted in ontology. The problem of ontological status of the world was ...the bone of contention for two competing non-dualist schools of vedānta — vivaraṇa and bhāmatī. Maṇḍana’s Brahmasiddhi can be regarded as an important source of inspiration for the latter. The present paper is an analysis of Maṇḍana’s statements pertaining to the issue of mukti (or mokṣa) in contrast with those of Śankara, the exponent of advaita commonly (though erroneously) considered the creator and the most prominent representative of the school.
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