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Thread: Short write ups on Dharmic philosophies

  1. #1

    Short write ups on Dharmic philosophies

    Namaste Everyone,

    I observe that many of us including me have been fighting like cats and dogs on this forum.
    I made an interesting observation that certain Iskcon members also decided to critique Advaita.
    However I observed that this critique was based on a misunderstanding of Advaita Vedanta itself.
    For this reason I decided to blog about certain basic terms within Advaita.

    This explains the basic philosophy of Advaita Vedanta very clearly.

    My question is that could other members also do short write ups like I did which explain about their philosophy or Darshana.

    I feel this could educate me more about Hinduism as well as we can present a proper case as to what Hindu Dharma is all about. People new to the Hindu Dharma will go through these short write ups and have some grasp of what the Dharma is all about.

    One must note that by doing this, the misconception of equating Hindu Dharma to Advaita Vedanta only will be corrected to some extent. Also with this we can help get an integral understanding of our Dharma.

    Regards,
    Shriram

  2. #2

    Re: Short write ups on Dharmic philosophies

    My philosophy or Darsana is the Upanishads. Specifically the messages like :

    vAchArambhanam vikaro nAmadheyam mRttiketyeva sathyam.
    nEha nAnAsti kinchana.
    na hi drashtur drshyasya viparilopo vidyate etc.

  3. #3

    Re: Short write ups on Dharmic philosophies

    Namaste Harih,

    Mine is also the same, however your statements are like Sutras which need to be unfolded for example to understand your 1st statement

    "vAchArambhanam vikaro nAmadheyam mRttiketyeva sathyam."

    We will 1st have to explain the Satyam and Mithya concept within Advaita.

    "
    nEha nAnAsti kinchana. "

    Ajatavada has to be explained.

    "
    na hi drashtur drshyasya viparilopo vidyate"

    A question may arise as to how the Drastu and Drishya are one and the same.

    Hence although your write up explains what Advaita is, it raises more questions.

    I need write ups which give not only the basic concept but must not raise questions, they should not be too short like "Sutra" at the same time they must not be too long like "Bhashyas". People looking at the write ups must get a proper understanding of what the whole philosophy is about but at the same time it must not raise too many questions.

    That is the kind of write up I am looking for.





  4. #4

    Re: Short write ups on Dharmic philosophies

    Namaste Sriram ji
    What is Advaita? It is beyond definition. It is vastu-pradhana. It is not a concept/definition as that will be dependent on the mind of the conceiver.

    It is dvaita practice to define concepts (as that will always be bounded by upadhis) and to quarrel amongst themselves. The Advaitin bases himself on the Sruti and only the Sruti‘s Ekam Samam Vishvatomukham Atman. You might have seen how in his bhashyas Sree Shankara explains the Sruti passages I mentioned above͵ resorting only to quotes from other Sruti passages and upamAs from practical life. Ie never resorting to explanations through fresh concepts and definitions. Because all concepts and definitions are approximations in the dvaita mandala. On the rare occasions when he does define a new concept͵ he takes particular care that the key focus in the definition is ever on the ekam Samam Brahman. Imho it is due to this penchant for *conceptualisation* outside of the Sruti͵ that later Advaita itself got divided into diverse schools. What a joke !!

    Imho Advaitin is not one who goes about with “a siddhanta that must interact with other siddhantas“ - his job is a relentless striving to bring focus on the Sruti passages and let the definitions materialize in the minds of the reader / listener depending on his / her mental purity.

  5. #5

    Re: Short write ups on Dharmic philosophies

    Namaste Harih,

    The idea is not about interacting with other philosophies but merely introducing the Dharma to a new comer, he or she can read the short write ups and understand the Dharma that is the whole idea, how will a new comer understand the quotes you gave ? Hence I am requesting for short write ups that introduce the different philosophies within our Dharma that is the idea.

  6. #6

    Re: Short write ups on Dharmic philosophies

    Sriram ji

    I understood your point. However I am not knowledgeable enough to write about the various philosophical theories or systems. My understanding is solely based on directly reading the Sruti with the help of Sankara Bhashyas available. I hope other learned members will share their knowledge on these subjects here.
    Last edited by harih; 22 June 2015 at 04:29 AM.

  7. #7
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    Re: Short write ups on Dharmic philosophies

    Namaste,

    I am glad to see that somebody else feels the way I do, that we should have a brief write up of different sampradayes under the umbrella of Hinduism for newcomers to familiarize themselves with all that Hinduism has to offer. I wish we had people in the forum who could do that, but the task seems to be difficult as everyone either interprets the scriptures per his/her own intellect or they stick to rigid definitions as given by the acharya/guru of their tradition. This makes up for many subsets of each tradition/parampara/sampradaye, and each one tries to sell their's as the best interpretation. As can be expected, some toes are stepped on with the negative comments made about other traditions and that results in bad feelings. As much as we may try to be positive and do a write up on just our own tradition, some degree of comparison and offensive comments, however mild, do creep in to the write ups to cause ill will. So, I don't want to discourage you in this effort, but I am not seeing many takers to come forward and volunteer for the task. Personally, I am not a big fan of reading lot of scriptural material and am content with practicing what little I know. That makes it difficult for me to make any contribution towards this effort. But here is a website that I had built and have maintained for over 25 years, that may be useful to beginners in some way.

    http://www.angelfire.com/ca/Hinduism/

    Pranam.

  8. #8

    Re: Short write ups on Dharmic philosophies

    As can
    be expected, some toes
    are stepped on with the
    negative comments
    made about other
    traditions and that
    results in bad feelings.
    As much as we may try
    to be positive and do a
    write up on just our
    own tradition, some
    degree of comparison
    and offensive
    comments, however
    mild, do creep in to the
    write ups to cause ill
    will. So, I don't want to
    discourage you in this
    effort, but I am not
    seeing many takers to
    come forward and
    volunteer for the task.
    There are a lot of similarities and a few disagreements between the Philosophies.

    For example͵
    1) Shankara͵ Ramanuja͵ Madhva͵ Nimbarka͵ Chaitanya... all give utmost reverence and worship to Lord Narayana the Aadi karta.
    2. They all give the utmost reverence to Sruti.
    3. They are emphatic on the need of following Ahimsa͵ Satyam͵ Asteyam͵ Arjavam etc.

    These are at the core of Hinduism and the list is by no means complete and goes long.

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