Atheism vs India (Whew!)

A few concluding thoughts.

Does any non-Hindu or "non-Eastern" person really know anything about the Dharmic worldview? Look at their cosmologies, symbols, "idols", mythologies, social systems, and general outlook, and it becomes clear that the typical westerner is looking at something extremely alien. Some people (like me) are fascinated by this, while others are repelled by it, while still others just shrug their shoulders and say something uncharitably dismissive of the entire thing. All three types seem to agree that it is at deep variance with the most basic assumptions of Western thought.

I do not follow the Hindu or any other Indic faith (or any faith at all), nor do I have any desire to enter an ashram, chant mantras, practice hatha yoga, wear beads (well, I did in my early 20's!), find a guru, or study Transcendental Meditation. But this doesn't mean that a scholarly and respectful interest is out of the question, nor does it rule out the possibility of learning a great deal from it all. I tend to approach it as something of a buffet in which most of what's on offer is of no interest to me (and actually tasted awful), but which contains one or two preparations which are among the most delicious I've ever had.

Albiruni: http://www.humanistictexts.org/albiruni1.htm

Category:

People & Blogs

Tags:

• hinduism
• west
• logic
• rational
• otherness
• cultural
• differences
• ethnocentrism
• india
• al-birunidawkins
• hitchens
• atheism
• atheist
• science

[mahua82]

@Anekantvad Just so that you're aware, my already being one disables the need to " get all Indian"

[Anekantavad]

@mahua82 Words are a help, but they eventually become a handicap when looking for the Truth.

Look around. What do you see?

I have no idea where you are, but I can say with 100% certainty that I know the information your eyes are relaying to your brain. You see matter and energy, nothing more.

Your brain, however, changes all that. It causes you to see books, the sky, walls, the computer screen etc.

Illusion.

All you really see is matter and energy.

[mahua82]

@Anekantvad Here's a verse from the bhagvadgita. "The soul is never born, nor it ever dies; nor does it become only after being born. For, it is unborn, eternal, everlasting and primeval; even though the body is slain, the soul is not" (2.20).How is one to believe the existence of such a soul and and proceed to identify with it as self; if not on the basis of faith?

[Anekantavad]

@mahua82 Define "soul".

Remember, it's just a word. It's not the thing the word seeks to refer to.

[mahua82]

@Anekantavad I beg to disagree. Hinduism as a whole may elude one definition, my views are related to trends of popular Hinduism that are followed by most Indians of modern India that assert being Hindu. In modern India, The Bhagvadgita and the Ramayana are the texts that are read, chanted by masses and not texts like the Rigveda or the Yogavashista. And these popular texts hold common, consistent theistic notions, the glorification of faith is one of them.

[Anekantavad]

@mahua82 The bhagavad gita and ramayan are not the only literature of popular hindusim. The Shaivites have a literature and tradition all their own. Besides, there are elements of nondualism, pantheism and (if you like) atheism in both the ramayan and the gita.

[tomtomttom]

Actually Hindu in the ancient past were interested in engaging in debates which they did with the Buddhists and Jains. There are many reasons as to why they might have stopped, but in Hindu tradition there was a practice of debate. It was called purva paksha, which means to study your opponent and their arguments and debate it with your frame of reference. And that tradition is now being revived again. Rajiv Malhotra is one of the leaders in this revival of Purva Paksha.

[mahua82]

@Anekantavad Mere verbiage. Anyway, all the best.

[mahua82]

...for me (atleast).

*missed bit of preceding, abrupt message*: ...OF THe previous comment if you may so wish.

[mahua82]

@Anekantvad Please pardon the occasional spelling errors.

[mahua82]

@Anekantvad If I may I would, with all due respect, like to declare myself out of this debate. I find the restrictions on typed words here detrimental to prospects of useful debate. The motivation behing my initial comment anyway was not to debate but just to point out that Hinduism 'is' being scrutinised by Atheists and that there are many, including myself who are writing detailed papers on the subject at some of the best academic centres around the world. Please share your rebuttals of th