Indra’s Net · Defending Hinduism’s by Malhotra, Rajiv -- Read -- Imperial Library of Trantor

Index

Title Page Dedication Table of Contents Preface Introduction

Overview

Two opposing camps: continuity vs. discontinuity; unity vs. disunity We are all jewels in Indra’s Net

Indra’s Net and Buddhism Influences on modern society

Who is a Hindu? Hinduism: Surfing Indra’s Net Framing the debate in three disciplines

Part 1 PURVA PAKSHA (Examination of My Opponents’ Positions)

1. Eight Myths to be Challenged

Myth 1: India’s optimum state is Balkanization Myth 2: Colonial Indology’s biases were turned into Hinduism Myth 3: Hinduism was manufactured and did not grow organically Myth 4: Yogic experience is not a valid path to enlightenment and tries to copy Western science Myth 5: Western social ethics was incorporated as seva and karma yoga Myth 6: Hinduism had no prior self-definition, unity or coherence Myth 7: Hinduism is founded on oppression and sustained by it Myth 8: Hinduism presumes the sameness of all religions Summary of both sides of the debate

2. The Mythmakers: A Brief History

My wake-up call: How I discovered the myth Missionary origins Founders of the Myth of Neo-Hinduism The Chorus Line

3. Paul Hacker’s Construction of ‘neo-Hinduism’

Initial romance with Advaita Vedanta and its personal influences on Hacker Hacker starts his attack on contemporary Hinduism Alleging political motives and appropriations from the West Hacker on Vivekananda and the West

Allegation 1: Importance of Direct Experience Allegation 2: ‘Tat Tvam Asi’ ethic Allegation 3: Nationalist agenda Allegation 4: Inclusivism and sameness

4. Agehananda Bharati on Neo-Hinduism as a ‘Pizza Effect’

Pizza Effect: Indians copy Westerners Hinduism deviates from Indian tradition Fear of sexual impotence drives neo-Hindus Bharati’s definition of neo-Hinduism tenets

5. Ursula King’ss Bridge from Hacker to Rambachan 6. Rambachan’s Argument to Fragment Hinduism

Using Shankara to shoot down Vivekananda Issues with methodology

Essentializing Shankara Challenging the direct experience of the rishi-yogi Is Rambachan fixated on Christian assumptions? Allegation that yoga makes people less rational and intelligent Political allegations

Western scholars’ support for Rambachan Many scholars disagree with Rambachan

7. The Myth Goes Viral

Richard King Brian Pennington Peter van der Veer, Sheldon Pollock and others Hindu leaders echo the chorus Some academic defenders of contemporary Hinduism

Part2 UTTARA PAKSHA (My Response)

8. Historical Continuity and Colonial Disruption

Traditional categories of astika (those who affirm) and nastika (those who do not affirm)

Pre-Colonial Hindu Unifiers: Example of Vijnanabhikshu From Vijnanabhikshu to Vivekananda

The colonial disruption

European debates: Are the Hindus Aryans or Pantheists? Reduction into ‘Indian schools of thought’ Post-modern and post-colonial distortions Challenging the Neo-Hinduism thesis

9. Traditional Foundations of Social Consciousness

Western methodological straitjacket misapplied to Vivekananda The ‘world-negating’ misinterpretation of social problems Origin of Christian philanthropy Conditions that led to the revival of Hindu seva Sahajanand Swami and social activism in contemporary Hinduism Swami Vivekananda’s sevayoga Challenging the Neo-Hinduism thesis

10. Harmonizing Vedanta and Yoga

Vedanta’s evolution at the time of Shankara Theory of two realities Yoga and classical texts

Shankara’s mentor’s writing Upanishads Bhagavad-Gita

Shankara’s own kind of yoga: cognitive shift without action

Systematic withdrawal from particular to universal Dissolving the text/experience gap Difference from Patanjali’s Yoga No causation is involved Flexibility on anubhava

Summarizing Shankara’s posture on anubhava/yoga

Respect for yoga Yoga as preparation for higher practices Comparing different levels of meditation, dhyana Reasons for rejecting yoga at times

Advaita Vedanta beyond Shankara

Four historical periods Vivekachudamani Other later texts

Challenging the Neo-Hinduism thesis

11. Mithya, Open Architecture and Cognitive Science

The unity of all existence

Purna Mithya as Relative Reality Samavesha principle of integrality

Common toolbox and open architecture

Adhyatma-vidya Rishis and cognitive science

Robustness of the ecosystem over time Challenging the Neo-Hinduism thesis

12. Digestion and Self-Destruction

The metabolism of digestion The flea market of modern gurus Digestion and the neo-Hinduism thesis

Conclusion: The ‘Poison Pill’ for Protection of Hinduism

Hinduism’s predicament today The Porcupine Defence and the Poison Pill Protection Astika and Nastika: Redefining the terms of the interfaith debate The criteria for nastika: Principles that must be rejected

History Centrism Disembodied knowing and self-alienation Synthetic cosmology Fear of chaos

Controversial implications of the Astika/Nastika approach Refuting the myth of sameness Poison pill versus digestion How the poison pill strategy works

Notes Bibliography Index Acknowledgements About the Author Copyright

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