The Spiritual Life and Culture of India (original) (raw)

Spiritual Dimensions of Indian Culture

Global Journal of Human-Social Science Research, 2014

ivilization and Culture are hall- mark of the collective life of man. Civilization signifies the moral evolved state of the society, which embraces activity of mental life, including arts and learning. According to Sri Aurobindo civilization is harmony of spirit1 Culture is the discipline by which man’s moral and intellectual nature is elevated. According to Sri Aurobindo, culture comprises various activities of the cultivated aesthetic being , mind and body- the harmony of the inner and outer man. Will Durant has defined civilization, in his monumental work ‘The Story of Civilization, to mean social organization, moral order and cultural activity. Four elements constitute civilization: Economic provision, political organization moral traditions, and pursuit of knowledge and arts. In a nut-shell we may comprehend civilization of people as an advance stage of its social development. 2 Spirit is the non- material, animating and immortal part of man. According to Sri Aurobindo, Spirit ...

THE PHILOSOPHICAL TRADITIONS OF INDIA: AN APPRAISAL

India’s progressive emergence on the world stage, in terms unimaginable just a few decades ago, obliges us to reconsider its image as nurtured by the West for over two thousand years: a prestigious image maybe, but also greatly reductive, as the privileged home of occult knowledge, ecstasy and asceticism, or – quite the opposite – of fabulous riches and voluptuous pleasures. Rather than getting to know India, the West has preferred to dream of it: one result has been that Indian thought, albeit unanimously celebrated as the seat of the highest wisdom, has not been granted even the smallest place on the great stage of the history of philosophy. This book presents the thought of pre-modern India first and foremost by outlining the cultural parameters within which it arose and developed, and should be read; often associated with religious experience, but also essentially independent of it; sometimes differing in form and outcome, but more often very close to Western thought, and certainly never ‘alien’. *** “This is a marvellous piece of compact insight in all respects: a summary as well as a fresh view of the whole area, always sound and based on first hand experience with the material. I really mean it when I would like to call it the best modern survey of our field at an extraordinary high level of penetration.” Prof. Ernst Steinkellner, University of Vienna - Austrian Academy of Sciences.

Medico-Philosophical Dimension of Indian Culture

Proceedings of 3rd International Conference on Language, Society and Culture in Asian Contexts, 2014

Conventionally, it is believed that a healthy nation is a productive nation. Health of the people of land is critical for the nation’s economic future. Swami Vivekananda once stated - “All healthy social changes are the manifestations of the spiritual forces working within, and these are strong and well adjusted, society will arrange itself accordingly.” Hence, any change in the society ought to be healthy and it is influenced by the inner religious power. Philosophy offers one to access the means to attain the state of ultimate bliss and possible ways to get rid of grief. In Indian culture, ‘virtue’, ‘wealth’, ‘desire’ and ‘liberation’ are the four highest pursuits of human excellence. Interestingly, Indian medical system, the Ayurveda, begins its seminal text, with a discussion on the four highest pursuits. Essentially, this medico-philosophical dimension forms an integral part of Indian culture. Thus, the loop between medicine, philosophy and culture becomes apparent. It is said that ‘a healthy mind in a healthy body’. Ayurveda adds to this - ‘a healthy body with a healthy mind’. This is achieved through specified sacraments, food customs, which is part of indigenous culture. The medico-philosophical, psycho-social, philosophico-cultural dimensions are the factors that sustain the cherished Indian cultural values. When the subjects are healthy, the nation is progressive. In this paper, an effort is made to discuss the medico-philosophical dimension of sixteen sacraments, food culture and cāturmāsya (penace during rainy season), from a medical perspective.

Early Indian Cultural Heritage for Making a Better World

In this article speaks of the Indian theory and practice of culture in its ideal essence. It shows how Indian thought has reconciled identity and difference, the material and spiritual, knowledge and wisdom, the centripetal and centrifugal in philosophy, arts, social and cultural ethic and literature. It looks for an prophylactic in early Indian cultural heritage for the radical perceptions that divide humanity and endanger its survival.

Studying Indian religions : concepts and directions

2017

The history of studying Indian religions is as old as the history of Indology. The interest in them, or even fascination, especially with Vedic religion and Buddhism, made the research into these two traditions one of the early and main domains of Indological research. Vedic studies have remained one of the most popular fields of Indology and for many centuries the Vedic religion used to be perceived as the main culture-shaping element of the Indian civilization. Modern Indology, and I mean here contemporary classical Indology as well, re-considers and re-evaluates this view. In my paper I would like to refer shortly to the issue of how this interest in Indian religions developed and describe some contemporary directions in the research on Hindu religious traditions as well as new concepts of approaching them and evaluating their role in the process of shaping the culture of the whole subcontinent

Interaction between great and little tradition: the dimension of indian culture and civilization

Society can be looked upon as a process, a series of interaction between human being. The whole human society and each group in the society can be viewed as the manifestation of the social processes between the interacting members. These interactions ultimately form the social structure and the norms, values and customs related with these social relationships determines the cultural aspects of human being. In Indian context , the term culture has been derived from the Sanskrit word Sanskriti. The term civilization is regarded as a changed or developed stage of culture. This was marked by the organisation of complexities, heterogeneities and certainties. In the context of Indian civilization there are two distinctive but inter related cultural traditions namely great tradition and little tradition. The great traditional parts primarily include the Sanskrit Vedi c Hindu literature and the little tradition is prevailed in the life of village communities including the tribal societies. This paper is an attempt to highlight the interraction between the great and little tradition in the context of Indian civilization and to find out the rhythm of national cultural heritage of this country.

An Intellectual and Cultural History of India in Modern Times

AAYUPUBLICATIONS, 2022

This book, An Intellectual and Cultural History of India in Modern Times (From the 18th Century to the Present), contains chapters on the essence of the present world of science and the state of historical Studies, and the growth of science and technology in India in modern times along with deeper studies on the impact of the British rule in India, Indian Renaissance, Gandhism, Islamic ideology for the creation of Pakistan, Indian communism, secularism, urbanization, modern Indian painting, music and dance. Explorations have also been made in the domains of the societal ideas of Gandhiji and Ambedkar; Gandhiji's environmentalism, Vivekananda's Neo-Vedantism, Rabindranath Tagore's philosophy of Nature, life and culture; philosophical and political thought of Netaji and Nehru. In the conclusion, a review has been made of India's contribution to world civilization.

Indian Philosophy as a Joint Product of Different Philosophical Cultures

Transcultural Studies, 2014

The article shows that the concept of ‘Indian Philosophy’ is the joint product of two philosophical cultures. One culture is Western philosophy that feels the need for wisdom. Therefore Indian philosophy is conceived of as ‘mystical’ or ‘spiritual’ philosophy. The other is the Indian nineteenth century culture of reform thinking. Together with Western philologist the Indians highlight the ‘mystical’ or ‘spiritual’ school of Vedanta philosophy as ‘the’ Indian philosophy. Vedanta philosophy as spiritual philosophy distinguished India from the West. It was a political project that functioned within India’s quest for independency. Modern Indian philosophers have been in the process of reconsidering this concept, especially after the appropriation of Western scientific culture.