1 - 5 of 5
Number of results to display per page
Search Results
2. Vedanta Today
- Author:
- Karan Singh
- Publication Date:
- 12-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- India International Centre (IIC)
- Abstract:
- At the outset I must pay my personal tribute to Prof. M.G.K. Menon, Goku as we used to call him, who was a dear friend and colleague for several decades. I first met him when I was in Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s cabinet and he attended a cabinet meeting as scientific adviser to the government of India. We were both very young men at that time. And after that of course, thanks to India International Centre, we became very close. We had so many meetings, so many conversations in this unique institution, India International Centre. Today, I will briefly present before you what I consider to be the contemporary relevance of the Vedanta. To my mind, a philosophy is only relevant if it helps us today. What it was thousands of years ago is very interesting for research scholars, and for people who are doing research, like the book on Sankaracharya, but unless those teachings are of use to us today, they are not really relevant. So what I believe is that the Vedanta is relevant, and I will explain why. We live in an age of great turmoil, tension and transition. The old is collapsing, and the new is struggling to be born, and we find ourselves precariously poised between a disappearing past and an uncertain future. All the so-called clear landmarks that we thought existed have disappeared one by one, and we often find ourselves afloat on an intellectual and political sea with no clear guidelines. It is at a time like this that we look into our scriptures for light and guidance. Not in order to go back in time, let us be very clear. Any idea that you can go back to some kind of mythical golden age is absurd, because time goes in only one direction, Charaiveti Charaiveti. But we look into our scriptures in order to get the clarity, courage and the confidence to move into the future.
- Topic:
- Religion, Hinduism, and Vedanta
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
3. Western Concepts and Indian Realities
- Author:
- Arvind Sharma
- Publication Date:
- 12-2020
- Content Type:
- Working Paper
- Institution:
- India International Centre (IIC)
- Abstract:
- I think it is fairly self-evident that we in India use Western words and therefore concepts to describe Indian reality. The reason why we do so is also fairly self-evident and can be traced to British rule over India which formally came to an end in 1947 and the continuing prevalence of English language as a medium of discourse in India. This is such a familiar fact that we lose sight of its significance. Here I attempt to explore the consequences of this fact at both the micro and macro levels through concrete examples.
- Topic:
- Religion, History, Language, and Hinduism
- Political Geography:
- South Asia and India
4. World's Religions After September 11: Some Philosophical Reflections
- Author:
- Arvind Sharma
- Publication Date:
- 03-2019
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- India International Centre (IIC)
- Abstract:
- The reader’s first reaction to the title is likely to be one of scepticism, for although the events of September 11 are doubtless firmly etched in modern memory, and their connection to the world’s religions, or at least to one of them, is plain enough; to propose that these events could prompt philosophical reflections seems so far-fetched as to suggest an academic’s desperate search for a new topic – a push for novelty. Perhaps the clarification would palliate the reader somewhat that what we mean by philosophical reflections are considerations, which do not go all the way into pure philosophy but, nevertheless, embody reflections of a philosophical nature, inasmuch as their attempt is to place some of the issues raised by the events of September 11, specially in relation to world religions, in a broader perspective. The need for such reflection can hardly be questioned even here in India, now that we have had our own version of the 9/11, namely, the 26/11. I would like to focus on six such issues in what follows
- Topic:
- Religion, Philosophy, and 9/11
- Political Geography:
- India and Global Focus
5. Vedanta Today
- Author:
- Karan Singh
- Publication Date:
- 08-2018
- Content Type:
- Research Paper
- Institution:
- India International Centre (IIC)
- Abstract:
- At the outset I must pay my personal tribute to Prof. M.G.K. Menon, Goku as we used to call him, who was a dear friend and colleague for several decades. I first met him when I was in Mrs. Indira Gandhi’s cabinet and he attended a cabinet meeting as scientific adviser to the government of India. We were both very young men at that time. And after that of course, thanks to India International Centre, we became very close. We had so many meetings, so many conversations in this unique institution, India International Centre. Today, I will briefly present before you what I consider to be the contemporary relevance of the Vedanta. To my mind, a philosophy is only relevant if it helps us today. What it was thousands of years ago is very interesting for research scholars, and for people who are doing research, like the book on Sankaracharya, but unless those teachings are of use to us today, they are not really relevant. So what I believe is that the Vedanta is relevant, and I will explain why.
- Topic:
- Religion, Philosophy, and Hinduism
- Political Geography:
- India