Neo-Hinduism and Traditional Hinduism

[Sahasranama]

Yes i agree with you, as i do with most of what you write, just there is always a tiny but..... because people like Ramakrishna and Vivekananda and others like the founder of Brahmo samaj, Ram Mohan Roy, are Neo hindus that were sponsored and promoted also by huge grants of money from the west, just to civilize and sanitize Hinduism with their compromised version of vedanta and tantra. Tantra i mention here because apparently Ram Mohan Roy was behind the propagation of the forged Maha Nirvana Tantra which is injected with lots of elements of hidden british agenda.

Nice way of derailing the argument, philosoraptor has not denied this. But you are starting to sound like a conspiracy nutjob talking about the hidden british agenda. You are guilty of what you are accusing other people. I am quite allergic to that, LOL.

[MahaHrada]

Nice way of derailing the argument, philosoraptor has not denied this. But you are starting to sound like a conspiracy nutjob talking about the hidden british agenda. You are guilty of what you are accusing other people. I am quite allergic to that, LOL.

When there is lots of evidence it is not a conspiracy theory. But to accuse others of being anti-hindus conspiring against India and true Hinduism, just because they happen to disagree with your and your mothers viewpoints, and because they may have doubts whether hanuman literally went up to the sky and swallowed the sun, than we have a conspiracy theory.

[philosoraptor]

This is nonsense, these people have problems because plain and simple they are Nutjobs that are known to be constantly harressing innocent people.

No, actually, Sahasranama is correct - in indology, like in many academic fields, you can't get ahead if you don't tow the party line. Rajiv Malhotra has written several articles about this which he dubbed the "Wendy's Child Phenomenon" in reference to Professor Wendy Donniger, who interprets Rig vedic passages in the context of Freudian psychotherapy. I have also seen this phenomenon in a number of places in academia. As much as you might like to believe it, scholars are often not the objective scientists they are supposed to be. It may be a human failing, but academics simply want to believe that their understanding is the correct one, and are often reluctant to abandon fashionable theories in favor of better supported ones by younger colleagues in the field, whom they often view as a threat to their own position. We have one such academic here who can also testify to the fact he had to be "careful" what he could say in public venues like this one.

[philosoraptor]

Yes i agree with you, as i do with most of what you write, just there is always a tiny but..... because.... people like Ramakrishna and Vivekananda and others like the founder of Brahmo samaj, Ram Mohan Roy, are Neo hindus that were sponsored and promoted also by huge grants of money from the west, just to civilize and sanitize Hinduism with their compromised version of vedanta and tantra. Tantra i mention here because apparently Ram Mohan Roy was behind the propagation of the forged Maha Nirvana Tantra which is injected with lots of elements of hidden british agenda, so it is very relevant that the british raj and their vedantic friends, gave rise to a variety of Neo Hinduism many Hindus on this forum embrace.

I don't know anything about about Western grants to fund the likes of Swami Vivekananda and other Neo-Hindus. To me, the development of Neo-Hinduism seems to be a clear result from India's exposure to aggressive proselytization of Western viewpoints like Christianity, secular humanism, etc and the need some felt to mobilize different Hindus as a unified political force.

In any case, my point is simply that upholding the authority of a scripture or given set of scriptures is not ipso facto Neo-Hinduism. In fact, while Neo-Hindus are likely to uphold the authority of the Veda, this is primarily a a talking point only for them. What really concerns a Neo-Hindu thinker is making sure no one objects to his selective "interpretations" of scripture, and this he does by asserting the validity of all "interpretations" (therefore, you can't object to his "interpretation...").

[MahaHrada]

No, actually, Sahasranama is correct - in indology, like in many academic fields, you can't get ahead if you don't tow the party line. Rajiv Malhotra has written several articles about this which he dubbed the "Wendy's Child Phenomenon" in reference to Professor Wendy Donniger, who interprets Rig vedic passages in the context of Freudian psychotherapy. I have also seen this phenomenon in a number of places in academia. As much as you might like to believe it, scholars are often not the objective scientists they are supposed to be. It may be a human failing, but academics simply want to believe that their understanding is the correct one, and are often reluctant to abandon fashionable theories in favor of better supported ones by younger colleagues in the field, whom they often view as a threat to their own position. We have one such academic here who can also testify to the fact he had to be "careful" what he could say in public venues like this one.

But you know that Rajiv Malhotra is a close disciple of the vile Swami Nithyananda and has taken pains to defend him against the anti hindu conspiracy and faked videos etc.? I also used to like some of his articles until i noticed that he is close disciple of Nithyananda and how lets say it politely 'mentally unstable` and confused his defensive writings were.

[MahaHrada]

In any case, my point is simply that upholding the authority of a scripture or given set of scriptures is not ipso facto Neo-Hinduism..

I fully agree and i also mentioned exactly the same thing already.

[philosoraptor]

But you know that Rajiv Malhotra is a close disciple of the vile Swami Nithyananda and has taken pains to defend him against the anti hindu conspiracy and faked videos etc.? I also used to like some of his articles until i noticed that he is close disciple of Nithyananda and how lets say it politely 'mentally unstable` and confused his defensive writings were.

I don't know of his specific background, but I was aware that he was some kind of Neo-Hindu follower. In any case, his arguments on this issue (Wendy's child syndrome) are well-delivered and correct.

[MahaHrada]

Rajiv Malhotra has written several articles about this which he dubbed the "Wendy's Child Phenomenon" in reference to Professor Wendy Donniger, who interprets Rig vedic passages in the context of Freudian psychotherapy

One might not agree with Wendy Doninger in all points and her freudian approach is unusual and strange, but i browsed through some pages of her newest book alternate history of India , and it seemed quite interesting, certainly whatever she did or wrote, it does not justify death threats and public humilations and lies and smears.

Same goes for Witzel, i have been following his indo european group on yahoo for years and i simply cannot find anything insulting in what he writes, that justifies death threats and humilations.

[philosoraptor]

One might not agree with Wendy Doninger in all points and her freudian approach is unusual and strange, but i browsed through some pages of her newest book alternate history of India , and it seemed quite interesting, certainly whatever she did or wrote, it does not justify death threats and public humilations and lies and smears.

Same goes for Witzel, i have been following his indo european group on yahoo for years and i simply cannot find anything insulting in what he writes, that justifies death threats and humilations.

No one here (other than you, as far as I can see) is talking about death threats or humiliations. We're talking about a reasoning process and a culture that differentiates traditional Hindus from Neo-Hindus.

[MahaHrada]

No one here (other than you, as far as I can see) is talking about death threats or humiliations. We're talking about a reasoning process and a culture that differentiates traditional Hindus from Neo-Hindus.

But that was part of an organised smear campaign coming from self declared defenders of "true Hinduism", and we have heard insults such as the like of "filthy jewish bitch" etc. and worse here on HDF already countless times, though not in this thread.