But it was Hegel, among all German thinkers, who had
the deepest and most enduring impact on Western thought and identity. It is
often forgotten that his work was a reaction against the Romantics’
passion for India’s past. He borrowed Indian ideas (such as monism) while
debating Indologists to argue against the value of Indian civilization.
He posited that the West, and only the West, was the agent of history and
teleology. India was the ‘frozen other’, which he used as a foil to define the
West.
28 Jun 2014
19 Jun 2014
Introducing "Being Different" by Rajiv Malhotra
[Being
Different by Rajiv Malhotra (published by
Harper Collins, 2011) is a must read
not only for young Indians of modern India, especially those who are ashamed of
being Hindus, but also for the followers and disciples of Sri Aurobindo, who
have sometimes the misguided notion that Sri Aurobindo rejected Hinduism. The
first effect the book has on you is that it makes you proud of being a Hindu,
of Being Different from what the West wants you to be. One of the frequent
accusations of Westerners on India is that it is a Chaos not only materially
but also spiritually, and that there is no Order, which is so prominent in the
West. Rajiv Malhotra brilliantly explains this point and analyses the nature
and reason for this difference between Westerners and Indians. The Chaos, he
says, is only apparent for people who look only for one Order whereas Indians
have learnt to live with multiple orders from times immemorial, and have
therefore acquired a far greater complexity of mind and attitude than
Westerners. I reproduce below an excerpt from Being Different by Rajiv Malhotra. -- by Krish Patwardhan]
12 Jun 2014
Anti-Hindu Rant on the SAICE Forum – Sridharan
Sridharan:
Prophet cum Historian Benimadhav Mohanty Speaks, or shall we say more
appropriately, Beni Speaks Nonsense Again!
The
following is a forward sent to the SAICE forum by Benimadhav Mohanty, an SAICE
product! (The quality of academic production in the Sri Aurobindo Ashram Centre
of Education, Pondicherry, certainly seems to have hit the rock bottom. It is perhaps time to infuse some foreign
funding to raise the standards!) What Benimadhav has forwarded on 8 June, 2014
is an atrocious rant on Hinduism by another ex-student to his brother in
Australia. Benimadhav finds this “interesting” to read and forwards it to the
rest of the SAICE alumni as if they are eagerly waiting to lap up this hate speech
on Hindus. Now Benimadhav cannot simply shrug away his responsibility by saying
that he has not written it, because it is he who has found it worthy of
attention and brought it to the notice of the other members of the SAICE forum.
As for the author of the piece itself, he should either be behind bars or sent to a
madhouse. But I will nevertheless respond intellectually to this foam spewing
hatred of the Hindus. As I don’t know the name of this frustrated ex-student,
let me call him Anti-Hindu for the sake of convenience.
7 Jun 2014
SRI AUROBINDO ON HEGEL
SRI AUROBINDO:
Somebody has said that I have a great
similarity to Hegel because I used the word "synthesis" and he speaks
of thesis, antithesis and synthesis. But I must confess I have no idea of what
Hegel says.
Western philosophies are so mental and
dry. They seem to lead to nothing, only mental gymnastics trying to find out
things like, "What is judgment?" and "What is not
judgment?" They appear to be written for the purpose of using the mind,
not for finding or arriving at the Truth.
(Nirodbaran,
Talks with Sri Aurobindo (2001), 18
January 1939, pp 172-73)
1 Jun 2014
Sri Aurobindo and Hegel (1) – Krish Patwardhan
Situating Sri Aurobindo –
A Reader, edited by Peter Heehs and published by Oxford University Press in 2013, is one
of those arid unreadable books, the heavy metaphysical content of which simply
puts you off. The book is almost entirely a compilation of articles by professors
in American Universities who evaluate, analyse, dissect, compare, and situate
Sri Aurobindo within the framework of their disciplines. Though most of the
essays are surprisingly favourable assessments of Sri Aurobindo, considering
that they have been chosen by Peter Heehs, one still gets the impression
(except in a few cases) that the professors are straying beyond their
legitimate and natural boundaries. Understanding Sri Aurobindo certainly needs some
spiritual empathy, and that comes from a little inward opening, even if it be
only a drop of genuine spiritual experience. Otherwise one commits not only
spiritual but intellectual errors such as some of these professors have made,
despite the expertise in their own fields. I bring to the notice of our readers
one such major misunderstanding by Professor Steve Odin of the University of
Hawai’i, which should be set right before it spreads further in the academic
world. I quote below his conclusion with regard to Sri Aurobindo and Hegel:
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