There is a common belief that everyone can know everything. It is false. This false dogma was created at the dawn of modern science to take away the privileged position of Catholic priests and emperors. In Roman times, the emperor was said to be in direct communion with the gods. He was most privileged. The …
Responses to Accusations of Immoral Sexuality in Vedic Texts
This is the third of a three-part series in which I cover sexuality. In the first part, I discussed the nature of perverted sexuality whose hallmark is shame. In the second part, I discussed various types of sexuality found in the Vedic texts, leading to a perfectional stage whose mark is shyness, rather than shame. …
Sexual Shyness and Complete Devotion
This is the second of a three-part series in which I cover sexuality. In the first part, I discussed the nature of perverted sexuality whose hallmark is shame. In the second part, I will discuss various types of sexuality found in the Vedic texts, leading to a perfectional stage whose mark is shyness, rather than …
Sexual Shame and Extreme Violence
This is the first of a three-part series in which I cover sexuality. In the first part, I talk about perverted sexuality whose hallmark is shame. The second part discusses various types of sexuality found in the Vedic texts, leading to a perfectional stage whose mark is shyness, rather than shame. The third part will …
Why Postcolonialism is an Attempt at a New Colonialization
Colonization was modeled after the previous Islamic conquest of the Middle East and the Roman Catholic conquest of Europe. When colonialism ended, it wasn’t because the colonialists had a change of heart. It was because they did not have the power to continue. Their armies were dead. Their coffers were empty. Their will was broken. …
My Journey Through Abrahamic Faiths
I don’t like telling personal stories, but in this case, I’ll make an exception. Almost by serendipity, or shall we say cosmic design, I came to study the deeper and broader history of Abrahamic religions, and what I found stunned me. This is the story of what sent me in that direction, what I learned …
False Universals in Kṛṣṇa Bhakti
We can scan the length and breadth of Vedic literature, but we won’t find the term “Universal Truth”. Everywhere, we find the term Param-Satyam, which has three meanings—(a) Highest Truth, (b) Original Truth, and (c) Best Truth. The highest truth controls everything. The original truth creates everything. The best truth enjoys everything. Param-Satyam is the …
Lakśmi—The Personification of Wealth
The separation of religion and economics, like so many other separations in modern thinking, is the gift of the Western reductionist methodology of drawing arbitrary boundaries within reality and treating them as isolated systems. These separations never occurred in Vedic thinking. Wealth, for instance, is one of the qualities of Lord Viṣṇu, personified as Lakśmi. …
What is a Realization?
A “realization” is that which takes us closer to God. It can be progress from tamo-guna to rajo-guna, rajo-guna to sattva-guna, or sattva-guna to transcendence. It can include a better understanding of various qualities. It can be something that allows us to reconcile seemingly contradictory claims. It may be a new way to improve our …
The Ladder of Yoga Systems
There are widespread misconceptions about the various yoga systems: (a) they are mutually exclusive, (b) everyone can choose their yoga, and (c) each yoga system is optional. This misconception can be easily dissipated by reading Bhagavad-Gita, where Kṛṣṇa describes six yoga systems in a hierarchy. In this post, I will discuss this ladder of yoga …
Visions of the Moon Per Vedic Cosmology
The following is a response to a friend I sent today, describing progressively more detailed and varied ways to understand cosmic entities. One-Line Version The Moon we see is a reflection of the real Moon within the Earth, quite like a picture of an apple in the mind. Short Paragraph Version When someone stands next …
Why Advaita is Buddhism in Hiding
Buddhism had four successive goals—(a) reject deities as representations of the ultimate truth, (b) end all rituals and sacrifices performed for these deities, (c) dethrone the status position of the Brahmanas who were performing these rituals, and (d) reject all Vedic texts as sources of knowledge of the truth. Shankaracharya is revered as one who …