Re: A Philosophical Critique of Radical Universalism
namaste everyone.
Yes, both modern Hindu sages and traditional Hindu Dharma teach:
'All religions are the same.'
Not in the sense
'All religions are exactly/identically the same' which is what Frank Morales assumes and attempts to prove wrong,
but in the sense
'All religions are essentially the same', which is the real meaning and message of Hindu Universalism.
The paper presented by Frank Morales and its rebuttal titled 'The Sword of KALI' by Chittaranjan Naik can be read in the links below. It is worth to save both the essays for reading and reference:
http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/091.htm
http://www.boloji.com/hinduism/101.htm
Interestingly, Morales' paper which was originally prominent in the pages of the Website Dharma Central is no longer seen there. Instead, the link http://www.dharmacentral.com/universalism.htm redirects to a book published by Frank Morales, whose link is: http://www.dharmacentral.com/dharmastore.php#firstlevel
My purpose here is to attempt a paraphrase of Naik's essay, adding my points thereto, in order that we can have right perspective of the Hindu Universalism of Hindu Dharma.
• How do you decide on the sameness and difference of two or more things?
Suppose there are two apples, both red in color, one bigger than the other, then we won't hesitate in the least to say that both are same, that is, apples. How do we find out the sameness of these two fruits? If by its color, what about a green apple? If by its taste, what about a sour apple?
• Yes, you got it. We ascertain the sameness of two or more things by their name, apple in this case. That's right, but how did the name arise for the fruit in the first place? We are not talking about etymology here, because an apple is an apple in all the languages, so it is futile to trace the origin of the name.
• This is where the Hindu philosophical concept of nAma-rUpa comes about. nAma is name and rUpa is form. This mental concept is reduced to pada-artha, word and meaning, in vAk--speech. The Hindu Science of Logic, called 'NyAya shAstra', as an upAnga--subsidiary arm, of the Vedas, is the study of such padArtha.
• So, apple is a name, and its meaning is: that fruit which has 'appleness' as its essence. It is this internal essence of appleness that decides the sameness of all the apples whatever their external attributive features.
• In Hindu parlance, sameness is sAmAnya, and difference is visheSha. Thus, all apples are apples because of their sAmAnya and are different from each other because of their external visheSha--attributes.
• When two things are identical, their differences are destroyed. When two things are the same, their differences can yet be preserved, because the sameness is only in their essence, and so there can be differences in their attributes. Incidentally, A ≡ B (A identical to B) is possible only in Mathematics, for, in the real world no two things are identical.
• The sAmAnya of an apple is universal. The fundamental and inviolable truth of a thing is that it is same with itself. This means that a thing, like the apple, does not derive its identity of being an apple by the redness, roundness, sweetness, that describes it, or by a combination of these, but only by the sAmAnya, appleness in this case, that inheres in it. This means, in short, that apples can be different among themselves, yet they would be the same, united by their inherent appleness.
• The most important thing we need to understand in this pristine logic is that sAmAnya never manifests itself as sAmAnya. The manifestation of the universal--sAmAnya, is always a particular--visheSha, an instance of itself, with external attributes added to it, such as its color, weight, appearance, etc.
• Now, if we extend the apple analogy, we can easily understand the sAmAnya--universal, of an apple and an orange, because of their fruitness. We can include a vegetable, say a pumpkin and say that an apple and orange and pumpkin are the same in their sAmAnya of being agricultural produce.
• Can we say that a leaf, a flower, a fruit or water are the same? What sAmAnya unites them? KRShNa ParamAtma in GItA 9.26 says that in bhakti--devotion, these varied offerings unite as the same to him.
• In this way, even two mutually opposite things such as a square and a circle can be united when they both are attributes of tables. Suppose we say, 'He is the same Devadatta', what we mean is that he might have grown and changed, passing through differences manifested in time, but as a person he is the same man with the name Devadatta.
• Heraclitus, the Byzantine emperor, thought you couldn't step into the same river twice, since the river was always in a state of flux, and yet the truth is that the river Ganga remains the same since her hoary descent into BhAratavarSha, because of her sacred Ganganess.
• One God, Brahman, in the Brahmanness of Sat-Chit-Ananda is the substratum of both the sentient and insentient universe. Most if not all religions have understood that there is only One God, athough they they try to teach/reach him with differnt attributes.
• There is only one mountain viewpoint, Brahman, in Hindu Universalism, but different religious philosophies scale its height differently, with sincere belief of having scaled to the summit. Hindu Universalism, not only scales the mountain and sits at the summit with its universal view, but also understands that the true intent of other religions is also to scale the mountain and reach the top, although their equipments and methods may be different and inadequate.
• Naik's essay must be read in full to understand how this view of Hindu Universalism exists right from the Rg vedic statement "Reality is One, sages call it various names", through the UpaniShads, ItihAsa-PurANa and Dharma Shastras and how this universal Hinduness of our Hindu Dharma, which bears the name SanAtana Dharma, has percolated down to our modern sages, who have not only had witnessed it in their samAdhi, but cannot teach anything contrary to it, since in their sama-dRShTi of love and compassion, they are one with the Universal Consciousness. It is for us to understand our gurus' teachings in proper perspective and equip ourselves towards its realization.
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The ethical dimension of why the followers of Abrahamic religions are exhorted to be aggresive by their modern teachers in the very name of their religions is not covered in this brief paraphrase. Naik has dealt with it beautifully under the section 'Universal Dharma – The Ethical Dimension', and concludes that there is only one solution for the Hindus, which is to live their life according to one's svadharma.
Please take time to read the essay in full for elaboration of the points in this paraphrase. Ultimately, the only thing that remains for us is to ponder the extent we Hindus measure up to Hindu Dharma in our own life. When the followers of Abrahamic religions by and large adhere to whatever concepts of dharma given in their religions, we Hindus have by and large forsaken it, so, according to Naik, this is the root cause of all our troubles.
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рдмреНрд░рд╣реНрдорд░рд╛рдЬрд░реНрд╖рд┐рд░рд░рддреНрдирд╛рдвреНрдпрд╛рдВ рд╡рдиреНрджреЗ рднрд╛рд░рддрдорд╛рддрд░рдореН рее
To her whose feet are washed by the ocean, who wears the Himalayas as her crown, and is adorned with the gems of rishis and kings, to Mother India, do I bow down in respect.
--viShNu purANam
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