World Mythology
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Are Indian courts and activists denying the gods their gender and sexuality?
This de-sexing of gods and goddesses makes it difficult to explain the exclusion of women from the presence of celibate gods.
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The everlasting flame
The agiary is off limits to non-Parsis, but the basis of the exclusion may be common to the Vedas and the Avesta.
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Blasphemy and Sedition: Same Difference
Mythology can be secular as in the case of the nation-state where there is no God or gods. If there is a God it is We, The People.
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A ritual cleansing
Notions of reform are often based on ‘assumptions of deformity’, which are dependent on ‘assumptions of normality’.
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Prosecuting the Gods
Conversations that seek to ‘justify’ the actions of mythic figures often miss the point.
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Understanding the(ir) Truth
To understand truth, it is useful to familiarise ourselves with three terminologies commonly used by philosophers. These are ontology, epistemology and phenomenology.
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Hinduism: Pre-Modern, Modern, Postmodern, Or Post-Postmodern?
What exactly is the best phrase to describe Hinduism? Or, what is the best approach to arrive at an appropriate description?
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How many eyes do you have?
‘With a woman by your side, you are like the three-eyed Shiva. Without her, you are the one-eye Shukra, though you may look like the two-eyed Kama.’
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Superstition and the inherent cruelty of rationalists
Rationality, secularism, religion, and superstition are parts of the same continuum called culture.
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Scanners for menstrual blood
The practice of restricting access to menstruating women is rooted in the pre-modern belief that links purity and power to bodily fluids.
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Ghosts look for home
In a few weeks, many Hindus will observe Pitr-paksha, the fortnight of the ancestors, when it is said that Yama-loka or the land of the dead will be closest to Bhhu-loka, the land of the living.
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Two kinds of prudery
In ancient India, as indicated from all literature and rituals, all forms of pleasure were celebrated.
