1. One confuses between a definition and a hypothesis. Definitions tell us how we use a word and which objects it refers to. In the case of the term ‘religion’,…
Read moreOn the Indian Notion of Enlightenment: Reflections Based on Experience
Balagangadhara’s recent article on Enlightenment (Gyanodaya); this is based on his enlightenment. If you got questions on this paper, participate on The Heathen in His Blindness Yahoo group. Check the…
Read moreIll-formed questions
Assume that you get a Ph.D student who wants to do medical research. He comes to you and tells you that he wants to find out an answer to the…
Read moreVibrancy of Indian traditions
The discussion about re-accessing the vibrancy of the Indian culture and the question whether or not to legislate against conversion, are best treated separately. An answer to the latter does…
Read moreProselytization vs. Persecution
1. Most of us would not know the difference between the Syrian Orthodox, the Greek Orthodox and the Russian Orthodox Churches; many will be hard put to differentiate between the…
Read moreIs wearing a bindi religious?
Depending on the context of the discussion (say a dispute about some aspect of the Indian culture), the disputants can treat wearing the bindi or a saree as facts. However, in another…
Read moreTwo kinds of research in social sciences
There is, on the one hand, the intellectual tradition of expressing opinions and points of view. Here, as it suits thoughtful minds, one tries to express ideas carefully and in…
Read moreWhat is critique?
There is a very interesting notion of “critique”: it begins with Kant and stretches through Marx in the German philosophical tradition. In fact, it is most developed in Marx when he says…
Read moreIs Jesus a mystic?
You claim that Jesus of Nazareth is a mystic. From the conversations so far, I presume that this is both your gut-feeling and conviction. The one deriving from your own mystical experience…
Read moreThe loss of the vibrancy of Indian Traditions
I would like to address a very basic issue that many of us have confronted. In its simplest form, the question is this: What should we, a small slice of the…
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