2024 / Articles
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Is Sustainability the New Immortality?
Sustainability isn’t about transformation-it’s about holding on to one’s position forever. It is about sustaining the old order, the old inequalities, the old hierarchies. Yet history shows us that this never lasts, even if we convince ourselves of the unending…
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Nun With Shaved Head
A new-age guru has been establishing a monastic order for women, encouraging them to wear simple clothes, shave their heads, and break all ties with their families, as they seek union with the divine through the guru. This practice has…
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No Caste Without Jati, Varna, Dvija and Adhama
We cannot talk about Hinduism without caste. When we say caste, we are using a European word. The local words are jati and varna.
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Where Is the West Exactly?
Originally, the West was the Catholic Western Roman Empire, with its capital in Rome, while the East was the Eastern Orthodox Roman Empire, centred around Byzantium.
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Samadhi: Suicide or Sacrifice?
Suicide was sin in many cultures and so the only way they could justify encouraging soldiers to rush to their death in battle was by renaming it glamorously. There is no Sanskrit word for martyr.
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Was Hanuman a Dravidian, a Brahmin, or a Dalit?
Many politicians, during election time in North India, have argued that Hanuman was a Dalit, strong but subservient. The bell was used in mediaeval times to announce the presence of the ‘low’ caste in many villages, so people of ‘high’…
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Did the Tantrik King, Indrabhuti, Live in India or Pakistan?
Odisha’s deep connection with Buddhism is ignored even by Indian historians including the current politically powerful crop of Hindutva historians. This was not the elite Buddhism of meditation. This was the Buddhism of ritual magic to solve daily problems, bring…
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How Do You Explain Caste to a Non-Indian?
Castes exist in a superstructure, which has many regional variations. It was relatively dynamic before being fixed by the British colonial administration. It is important to remember that the word ‘caste’ is a European invention; the traditional Indian word is…
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Crescent Moon of Rome
Many Islamic nations choose the Crescent Moon as their symbol, a reminder of when Islam overpowered the Christian city of Constantinople, the second Rome. We can say the Crescent Moon is not so much about Islam as it is about…
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Uniting Hindus With Pure Food
Eating vegetarian food may have many rational reasons—from non-violence to being environmentally friendly. But in India, vegetarian food is all about caste, which is why vegetarian restaurants refer to themselves as ‘pure’ vegetarian, even though they serve animal protein in…
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View: Indians Need to Market the Yagna Model as Japan Markets Ikigai
Nowadays, everyone is talking about Ikigai, the Japanese way of living that involves finding your life’s purpose…What is often overlooked, however, is the larger context of this model.
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Why Are Historians Averse to Mythology?
Historians refuse to engage with mythology generally. In fact, many hold it in contempt. History emerged as an opposition to folklore, mythology, and memory cultures in the 19th century when these subjects were invented.
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Shiva’s Sexuality and Buddha’s Celibacy
While Buddha had promoted monasticism and celibacy, Shiva’s story celebrated sexuality. Vishnu balanced the two extreme views.
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Fight, Flight and Freeze Responses Of Faith
When a human being is confronted with a problem, we either flee, freeze or fight. This is a physiological stress response, seen even in animals when confronted with a threat. In humans, our imagination transforms this natural response into expressions…
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How Debates Are Increasingly Becoming a Duel
Debates are increasingly becoming a duel, so much so that if you align with one idea, the opposition can argue that you are a racist, a bigot, or that you are committing a hate crime. In other words, those debating…
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War Magic of Wild Tantra
In the east, Diwali is linked to the worship of ghosts, ancestors and the goddess Kali. This has its roots in Tantra, which in many ways a counterpoint to India’s masculine Vedic traditions that were gradually turning ascetic and creating…