Indian Philosophy

This paper explores how the ancient Hindu philosophical text, the Bhagavad Gita, can inform multidisciplinary approaches to sustainable development in the face of contemporary disruptive change. The Gita, a synthesis of Upanishadic wisdom, offers a profound ethics of action (karma yoga), emphasizing selfless engagement, resilience, and interdependence, which provides a valuable framework for navigating global uncertainties like technological advancement and environmental degradation. By integrating insights from philosophy and recent advances in artificial intelligence (AI), specifically Natural Language Processing (NLP) and deep learning, scholars have conducted computational analyses-including topic modeling, sentiment analysis, and semantic comparison-of the Gita and the Upanishads. These studies validate the traditional claim that the Gita encapsulates the Upanishads' essence and reveal both the robustness of its core philosophical messages across translations and the limitations of current machine translation for philosophically complex, low-resource languages like Sanskrit. The findings underscore the potential of AI to facilitate interdisciplinary dialogue and the need for culturally sensitive technologies and human expertise in global sustainability initiatives. Ultimately, the Gita's teachings on ethical resilience and ecological consciousness, interpreted through a multidisciplinary lens, offer a roadmap for ethical leadership and adaptive action toward a more sustainable and equitable future.

El budismo no surgió ex nihilo de la experiencia inefable de un asceta inspirado. Los ciclos de metáforas, considerablemente extendidos, tomados del brahmanismo lo atestiguan, y el uso convencional de las ideas y figuras del brahmanismo implicaba un conocimiento profundo de las leyendas y prácticas védicas o sub-védicas (Bràhmana, Upanishad, comienzos de la Épica).

Tang, Mingjun 湯銘鈞. 2024. Xuanzang Yinming Sixiang Lunkao 玄奘因明思想論考 [A Study of Xuanzang’s Tradition of Buddhist Logic]. [復旦佛學研究叢書 (Fudan Series of Buddhist Studies), No. 3]. Shanghai: Zhongxi Shuju 上海: 中西书局, 6+2+251 pages, ISBN: 978-7-5475-2191-5.

This is the English version of my essay titled 'Ramkrishna Bhattacharya: Anaasakta Vastuvaadi', separately uploaded in academia.edu site. Professor Bhattacharya belongs to a breed of idealistic Bengali intellectuals from Kolkata whose likes are becoming more and more of a rarity these days.]

This article presents a comparative study of passages from Pāli discourses and their Āgama parallels relevant to ascertaining to what extent the attainment of the four absorptions (jhāna/dhyāna) was considered in early Buddhist literature an exceptional and profound experience requiring considerable meditative expertise.

Publicado por Taller Editorial Me pego un tiro en Junio del 2024, este Peregrinaje retrata, en 21 poemas, el recorrido por el sendero budista de su autor, Nuno Gonçalves, dando una nueva mirada a temas como el amor, el dolor, la felicidad, la libertad, la muerte y la naturaleza. Si bien estos pueden ser considerados como poemas budistas, no replican las fórmulas asiáticas de esta tradición, sino que abordan estos antiguos saberes desde nuestra propia lírica, desde nuestra propia tradición y sentir, estableciendo, por medio del poema, un dialogo integrativo y armonioso entre estos elementos, aparentemente tan lejanos entre sí. Un buen ejemplo de esta integración es el poema Confluencia, el cual, compuesto de tres sonetos en versos alejandrinos e inspirado en un importante humedal de la localidad de Tongoy, en 2023 resultó ganador del concurso “Lucila Godoy Alcayaga, Campesina Nuestra”, organizado por Casa de las Artes Rural, La Cantera, Coquimbo.

This article advances a Gauḍīya Vedānta account of religious pluralism by interrogating a persistent tension within the tradition’s nondual affirmation of both Brahman (impersonal) and Bhagavān (personal): if both are real and eternal, why do Gauḍīya sources often appear to privilege Bhagavān? Prompted by Swami Medhananda’s claim—developed in dialogue with Śrī Rāmakṛṣṇa—that Gauḍīyas posit an “asymmetrical ontological dependence” of Brahman upon Bhagavān (in contrast to Rāmakṛṣṇa’s “mutual ontological dependence”), the essay re-reads key strata of scripture (Bhagavad-gītā, Bhāgavata Purāṇa) and classical Gauḍīya theology (Rūpa and Jīva Gosvāmīs) to propose that the apparent hierarchy is chiefly hermeneutical and axiological rather than strictly metaphysical. Distinguishing tattva-vicāra (discernment of truth) from rasa-vicāra (evaluation by the measure of sacred relish/ānanda), the article argues that Gauḍīya primacy for Bhagavān reflects a value orientation that privileges relational bliss (bhakti-rasa) as the fullest manifestation of the Absolute, while still acknowledging Brahman-realization as an eternal and salvific possibility. Drawing on Jīva Gosvāmī’s identification of ānanda as the substantive core of reality and on canonical gradations of rasa, the study reframes “hierarchy” as a spectrum of experiential fullness within a bhedābheda (unity-in-difference) ontology. The result is a model of “preferential nonsectarianism”: Gauḍīya Vedānta unabashedly centers love’s relational plenitude without denying the legitimacy of impersonal attainment or other paths. This reframing both nuances critiques of Gauḍīya exclusivism and opens constructive dialogue with Rāmakṛṣṇa’s vijñāna Vedānta by locating convergence at the level of plural disclosures of one indivisible, bliss-saturated Absolute.

Bhagavadgīta kao filozofijski i religijski tekst svojim bogatim i nikada do kraja iscrpivim sadržajem fascinira čovječanstvo već nekoliko tisućljeća, a osobito je to slučaj u moderno i suvremeno doba. Naravno da takav tekst pobuđuje i živo zanimanje mnogobrojnih filozofskih i znanstvenih krugova, pa ne treba stoga čuditi pravo mnoštvo njezinih različitih interpretacija i polemika proizišlih iz toga. U ovom ćemo se radu upravo okrenuti onima koji su Bhagavadgītu tumačili kao povijesnu objavu čovječanstvu od univerzalnoga značenja, koja kao takva transcendira svoj uski vremensko-prostorni okvir, kao i istražiti uvjete mogućnosti baš takvoga razumijevanja toga teksta, a ne nekakvoga drugoga. U svojim je predavanjima, naglašavajući univerzalnost istine koja je kroz Bhagavadgītu progovorila, Marijan Cipra izložio koherentnost dviju univerzalističkih interpretacija i njihovu nužnu međusobnu upućenost, čime je izazvao kako veliki odjek, tako i snažne polemike.

The SUB collection comprises a number of palm-leaf manuscripts that seem to trace their origins to Śrīvaiṣṇavas in South India. There are those that contain Vaiṣṇava works (e.g. the Nālāyira Divya Prabandham, or the more sectarian Rahasyatrayasāram by Vedānta Deśikaṉ), and those that contain works of a more general interest (logic, poetics, and so forth), which most erudite scholars of that time and place would have been learned and engaged with. Among the first group, we find manuscripts that belonged to both the Vaṭakalai and Teṉkalai schools, with their own peculiar signs. Among the second group, there exist a few manuscripts that seem to have originally belonged to a few Śrīvaiṣṇavas located in the Mysore region. Despite the relative diversity of the contents, most of these manuscripts bear distinct signs of their Śrīvaiṣṇava provenance. This paper deals with those particular signs (invocations, blessings, colophons) in order to discover what they have to tell us about the people to whom the MSS belonged.

The state of samādhi has been explored by several scholars and emphasizes this state as one pointedness of the mind. However, later, considered the state of samādhi as concentration or one-pointedness recognized as a misconception, it highlights the need to study samādhi in-depth and holistically. Moving to the religious and philosophical traditions of Buddhism and Yoga, under its soteriological path of the Noble Eightfold Path and eight limbs of yoga, the state of samādhi is commonly discussed and considered as one of highest state. Exploring the state of samādhi described in Buddhism and Yoga provides a holistic and in-depth view of samādhi. Because both are representing a distinctive doctrinal foundation and commonly focused on the attainment of samādhi. As described in each tradition through the ethical control, mind-body balance, and object meditation practice, individual is able to attain the state of samādhi in Buddhism and Yoga commonly. Even the evolution of samādhi as an alternative consciousness state leads up to nine stages commonly. But the attainment is different; in Buddhism, the ninth attainment is cessation of perception and feeling (saññāvedayitanirodha), and Yoga attains a mystical or psychic state of cloud of virtue (dharmamegha samādhi). This comparative study claims that the state of samādhi is attained through a common pathway. But based upon the doctrinal foundation, the generated state of samādhi is manipulated. Buddhism, the state of samādhi, evolves to make the consciousness free from self (anattā), and Yoga utilizes the samādhi to center the consciousness into the true self (purusa).

This paper examines the transformation of translation and translator training within the field of Buddhist Studies amid the rapid proliferation of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Translation (MT) technologies. While Neural Machine Translation systems offer unprecedented efficiency and accessibility for multilingual Buddhist textual corpora, they frequently fall short in capturing the intricate philosophical nuances, doctrinal subtleties, and culturally embedded meanings that characterise Buddhist philosophical literature. The distinctive challenges of Buddhist translation-with its specialised terminology, complex ontological frameworks, and hermeneutic traditions-reveal both the limitations of current AI approaches and the enduring necessity of human interpretive expertise. This study proposes a framework that neither uncritically embraces technological advances nor retreats into traditionalist resistance but instead cultivates a reflective integration of AI tools while reinforcing essential human competencies. By prioritising sustained engagement with untranslated source materials and developing distinctly human capacities such as textual interpretation and ethical discernment, this framework contributes to the training of translators who are simultaneously technologically adept and critically grounded. The paper ultimately advocates for an integrative approach that ensures Buddhist translation remains a deeply contemplative and humanistic practice-one that preserves the wisdom traditions it transmits-even as it navigates an increasingly digitally mediated landscape.

In his Ālambanaparīkṣāvṛtti, Dignāga refutes the externalists who hold that an external object is composed of substantial atoms. He argues that no theories of atomism defining external objects can fulfill the two criteria for an object-support. According to Vinītadeva and the Chinese Yogācāra tradition, the third position of atomism is a separate thesis from the other two positions. However, Tibetan exegetes and some modern scholars are skeptical about this claim. In this paper, I argue that the third position is a more complex doctrine than the other two. It is not one atomic doctrine belonging to a certain Buddhist or Indian philosophical school but a complex of different atomic doctrines with a family resemblance, including those of the Vaibhāṣikas, the Dārṣṭāntikas (Sautrāntikas) and the Vaiśeṣikas. Accordingly, Dignāga’s arguments in ĀP 4-5 can be analyzed as targeting different nuances, and all his arguments have their sources in the Abhidharma texts.

La vie est souvent comparée à un théâtre où chacun joue un rôle unique. Mais pour transformer cette représentation en une oeuvre harmonieuse, certaines valeurs s'imposent comme des piliers indispensables. Respect, humilité, écoute, gratitude… Autant de principes qui, cultivés au quotidien, façonnent non seulement notre caractère, mais aussi la qualité de nos relations et notre réussite personnelle. Comme le disait Socrate, "Une vie sans examen ne vaut pas la peine d'être vécue." En effet, réfléchir à nos actions et adopter une attitude sage peut faire toute la différence entre une existence ordinaire et une vie profondément accomplie. Dans cet article, nous explorerons le respect, l'humilité, l'écoute

Environmentalists often turn to the world’s religions for guidance in conservation theory. Buddhism is frequently viewed as a religious tradition that embraces attitudes conducive to the preservation of nature. In contribution to scholarly dialogue, my doctoral thesis explores Tibetan Buddhist perspectives on the treatment of the natural environment. My research focusses on the Tibetan Buddhist religious culture of the sacred geography known as Pemako. My thesis is guided by two principal research questions: the first asks about the nature of the relationship between Pemako’s religious narrative and its environment. In response, I initially explore how practitioners have related historically to the region’s landscape with an analysis of the Treasure text Self-Liberation upon Hearing and other relevant scripture. Through ethnographic research I then study the narratives of recent pilgrims to the region. The second research question enquires about the implications of this relationship...

This book introduces, edits and translates the Dattātreyayogaśāstra, a Sanskrit text on yoga composed in about 1200 CE in South India. It teaches four types of yoga practice but devotes the majority of its 193 verses to haṭhayoga, which it divides into two varieties, one which consists of the eight auxiliaries first taught by Patañjali and one which has nine physical methods. It is thus the first text to combine the aṣṭāṅga system of Patañjali with physical techniques, and its teachings were highly influential on later authors and commentators of yoga texts. The book is addressed primarily to scholars but will also be of interest to students and practitioners of yoga.

The present study presents a multi-faceted understanding of consciousness-power (cicchakti), both from epistemological as well as metaphysical standpoints. From an epistemological standpoint, it (cicchakti) has been diversely portrayed, viz., 1) as the means of valid knowledge (pramāṇa), 2) as the valid cognition (pramā), and 3) as the knower (pramātā). On the one hand, cicchakti, with reference to Śiva, is the fundamental force behind the manifestation of all the thirty-six tattvas, which results in the setting forth of the metaphysical foundation of the entire creation. On the other hand, cicchakti, with reference to the realm of an individual soul, is the primordial śakti who bestows both the ability to act and the fruits corresponding to those actions as well. This study will conclude that cicchakti is of the nature of omniscience and omnipotence, and is present in both Śiva and jīva.

This article examines the Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava negotiation of religious pluralism through the lens of its distinctive nondual ontology, which simultaneously affirms both personal and impersonal dimensions of the Absolute. Building on the first part of this series, which explored Gauḍīya Vedānta’s saragrahī or essence-seeking openness, this study turns to the paradoxical relation between radical personalism and impersonal Brahman. Against the reductionism of radical nondualism, which dissolves all distinctions into undifferentiated oneness, Gauḍīya Vedānta advances a vision of nuanced nonduality: one indivisible reality disclosed in three modalities—Brahman, Paramātmā, and Bhagavān. Drawing on the Bhāgavata Purāṇa, the Upaniṣads, and later Gauḍīya commentators, the paper argues that true nonduality entails embracing both poles of the Absolute without erasure, reconciling nirguṇa and saguṇa in a dynamic, relational unity. While impersonal realization is acknowledged as an eternal attainment, Gauḍīyas resist its absolutization, insisting on love as the ultimate ethic and relational heart of reality. The paper further explores Gauḍīya reinterpretations of Śaṅkara, situating his radical nondualism within a broader divine economy while honoring his devotional essence. In doing so, Gauḍīya Vedānta models a pluralistic theology that upholds critique and reverence, unity and difference, thereby offering a constructive paradigm for interreligious dialogue in a global context.

This dissertation engages an important philosophical text by the Indian Buddhist scholar-saint Ratnākaraśānti (c. 970-1045 CE). While Ratnākaraśānti was a towering intellectual force in his own place and time,  he came to be a controversial figure in Tibet. As a result, his sophisticated presentation of the Mahāyāna Buddhist path has only recently received significant attention in contemporary scholarship, and a great deal of confusion remains regarding both his overall philosophical commitments and his specific positions and arguments. This dissertation sets out to clear away some of this confusion, in both a specific and a general sense. Specifically, it offers a close reading of some of Ratnākaraśānti’s central arguments against competing Buddhist philosophical systems. More generally, this dissertation identifies and explicates Ratnākaraśānti’s underlying project—which is to present a unified view of Mahāyāna Buddhism which takes Maitreya as the primary philosophical interpreter. This explication is intended in part to explain just why Ratnākaraśānti’s thought has proven so difficult for scholars to interpret.
The bulk of this dissertation consists in a partial study of one of Ratnākaraśānti’s major philosophical works—entitled Proving the Middle Path: A Commentary on the Ornament of the Middle Way (Madhyamakālaṃkāravṛtti Madhyamāpratipad-siddhi). The sections treated here are primarily concerned with Ratnākaraśānti’s criticisms of the Madhyamaka tenet system, a major strand of Mahāyāna Buddhist philosophy that became overwhelmingly dominant in Tibet shortly after his lifetime. Because of this dominance, there are very few examples of sustained argumentation against Madhyamaka—or, more precisely, against Mādhyamika thinkers. Proving the Middle Path therefore provides a valuable case study for the content and underlying structures of these arguments. Building on these criticisms, this dissertation argues that Ratnākaraśānti has proven so difficult to understand primarily because his works are in tension with overwhelmingly prevalent presuppositions about Nāgārjuna, Madhyamaka, and Indian Mahāyāna. This has led Ratnākaraśānti to seem inscrutable—not because of any failing on the part of his own scholarship, but rather due to a failure to appreciate his perspectives on Mahāyāna Buddhism, Madhyamaka philosophy, and the figure of Nāgārjuna.

This paper presents a systematic synthesis of the qualities of the sádvipra, as articulated by Shrii Shrii Anandamurti (P. R. Sarkar), the founder of Ananda Marga and the Progressive Utilization Theory (PROUT). Sarkar envisioned the sádvipra as a socio-spiritual leader who integrates moral discipline, deep spiritual practice, intellectual clarity, courage, and a universal outlook free of narrow sentiments. Unlike saints, reformers, or intellectuals bound to a single social class, the sádvipra functions as a dynamic regulator of the social cycle (varńa-cakra), ensuring that no class hardens into an exploiter. This work refines and organizes Sarkar's scattered descriptions into four major domains: Inner Foundations, Social Functions, Cultural and Economic Leadership, and Contemporary Responsibilities, with an appendix providing operational guidelines for leadership. Special emphasis is given to the three non-negotiable boundary conditions-sádhaná (spiritual practice), courage to act against exploitation, and a universal outlook-as the litmus test of sadvipra-hood. By presenting these qualities in a structured and comprehensive format, this paper seeks to clarify Sarkar's vision of the sádvipra as the vanguard of a just, sustainable, and universal civilization. It aims to contribute to scholarship on PROUT, Indian socio-spiritual philosophy, and leadership studies by highlighting a model of leadership that integrates spirituality with social activism.

The Sāṃkhyakārikā repeatedly emphasizes that prakṛti (material nature) and her constituents exist solely for the sake of the puruṣa (the self). And yet, since she is blind, she needs puruṣa to see her full glory, and he needs to witness her actions to become liberated (21). Gaudapāda explains their connection in terms of a pitcher filled with hot or cold liquid, which takes on that property, temporarily, through association. This article looks closely at commentarial passages to explore both the nature of their conjunction and codependence (saṃyoga), which leads to mistaken identification, as well as the method given in the Sāṃkhyakārikā for their ultimate separation and independence (kaivalya) through the practice of negation of the twenty-five true principles (tattvābhyāsa), which evolve from this association of puruṣa and prakṛti, comparing this with similar ideas in the Pātañjalayogaśāstra. While these concepts have been examined before, it has generally been from a rationalistic, masculine, and linear viewpoint that reduces prakṛti to mere matter or one that goes to the other extreme, reading later concepts backward and glorifying her as a Tantric goddess. In a world of shifting gender paradigms, this article seeks to reexamine their entanglement through the perspective of prakṛti, to understand how this intimate union is of benefit to her too, and, in turn, what we can learn through understanding the world from this angle.

The basic element in determining the action of a play is the dramatic conflict which grows out of the interplay of opposing forces in a plot. The opposing forces may be ideas, interests or wills. While presenting the conflict there must also be a cause of opposition, or a goal within the dramatic action of the play. The real plot of tragedy begins with the opening of a conflict and ends with its resolution. The middle of the tragedy consists of the development and fluctuations of the conflict. The greatness of a tragedy depends on the manner the dramatist initiates, develops and concludes the conflict, the way how he handles it. What is most accounted in a tragedy is the seriousness of action, the grimness of atmosphere, mental conflict, suspense, tension and the capacity to move the audience. Tragedy seeks to arouse the feelings of “pity and fear”. However, the feelings of “pity and fear” do not issue out of the spectacle of suffering to be undergone by the tragic hero. Rather it i...

The ontological concepts presented by the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika school of Indian philosophy are among the most rigorous in ancient thought. The core of this theory is its doctrine of padārthas, which are basic categories that explain all that exists and is knowable. Traditionally listed in seven categories, these categories-dravya (substance), guṇa (quality), karman (motion), sāmānya (universal), viśeṣa (particularity), samavāya (inherence), and abhāva (non-existence)-provide a complex framework that combines epistemology, logic, and metaphysics. The historical evolution of each padārtha is traced in this article, from Kaṇāda's Vaiśeṣika Sūtra to Praśastapāda's comments, and its applicability to current metaphysical discussions is highlighted. Through an analysis of the relationship between substance, quality, and relation, the paper demonstrates how the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika category theory anticipates present-day discussions in analytic metaphysics and ontology.

The ontological concepts presented by the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika school of Indian philosophy are among the most rigorous in ancient thought. The core of this theory is its doctrine of padārthas, which are basic categories that explain all that exists and is knowable. Traditionally listed in seven categories, these categories-dravya (substance), guṇa (quality), karman (motion), sāmānya (universal), viśeṣa (particularity), samavāya (inherence), and abhāva (non-existence)-provide a complex framework that combines epistemology, logic, and metaphysics. The historical evolution of each padārtha is traced in this article, from Kaṇāda's Vaiśeṣika Sūtra to Praśastapāda's comments, and its applicability to current metaphysical discussions is highlighted. Through an analysis of the relationship between substance, quality, and relation, the paper demonstrates how the Nyāya-Vaiśeṣika category theory anticipates present-day discussions in analytic metaphysics and ontology.

Rahul Sankrityayan's contributions to Indian Buddhism included historical investigation, textual analysis, translation, and distribution. Being a polyglot and a passionate traveller, he made difficult trips throughout Tibet, India, Nepal, and Central Asia to recover long-lost Buddhist texts, many of which were kept in monastic libraries. Written in Pali, Sanskrit, and Tibetan, these writings offered crucial insights into the development of Buddhism's doctrine and its historical dissemination throughout the Indian subcontinent and beyond. In addition to enhancing Buddhist studies in India, his attempts to bring these writings back to the country brought attention to the historical ties between India and its neighbours. Sankrityayan, a fervent supporter of social change and rationality, saw Buddhism as a progressive ideology that promoted ethics, equality, and reason. His works made Buddhist philosophy more widely available by exposing readers to its humanistic and scientific facets. In addition, his thorough translations and commentary on Buddhist texts gave academics reliable and thorough materials for researching early and Mahayana Buddhism. In addition to his scholarly accomplishments, Rahul Sankrityayan dedicated his life to reviving a tradition that significantly influenced Indian culture. This paper examines his contributions and interpretations of Buddhist teachings and philosophy.

This comprehensive study examines the relationship between the Union and States in India, focusing on its historical development, constitutional basis, institutional mechanisms, and future challenges. Since independence, India has balanced unity with its diverse regions through a federal system that has evolved over time. Initially, the central government held strong control, but reforms like state reorganization based on language and judicial decisions have increased state autonomy. The study also discusses key challenges such as misuse of central powers during emergencies, the rise of regional parties, economic reforms, and globalization's impact on federal relations. Institutions like the Finance Commission, InterState Council, and courts have played vital roles in promoting cooperation and resolving disputes. Recent reforms like the GST and NITI Aayog aim to strengthen federalism through shared decision-making and fiscal fairness. However, tensions remain over resource sharing, political disputes, and security issues. The future of Indian federalism depends on balancing central authority with state autonomy, ensuring cooperation, transparency, and trust among all levels of government. This analysis uses historical data, legal cases, and institutional reviews to provide clear insights into India's federal journey and suggest pathways for sustainable and harmonious relations in the future. The study explores pressing and fast-changing challenges that hold growing importance in today's interconnected world.

The Pañcavijñānakāyasamprayuktā Bhūmi (PBh), the opening chapter of the Basic Section (*Maulī Bhūmi) of the Yogācārabhūmi, presents a distinctive fivefold schema for analyzing the structure of "the group of five [sensory] consciousnesses" (pañcavijñānakāya). This schema comprises the following five categories: (1) nature (svabhāva), (2) basis (āśraya), (3) cognitive object (ālambana), (4) cooperating factors (sahāyas), and (5) activity (karma). Each category articulates a specific aspect of the five types of sensory consciousness: their intrinsic characteristics, conditions of arising, intentional objects, associated mental factors, and cognitive functions. Within the PBh, visual consciousness (caks ˙urvijñāna), corresponding to the act of seeing, is presented as a representative instance of this group. Accordingly, this paper offers a detailed examination of visual consciousness as structured by the fivefold schema, with the aim of clarifying its cognitive content within the context of early Yogācāra thought.

Autor, u zamišljenom dijaloškom obliku, poput Platona, nastoji predstaviti najdublje spoznaje filozofije i religije koje iznosi jedan mudrac (hakīm) ljubopitljivom studentu. Student otkriva da mudrac posjeduje posebnu vrstu znanja za koju je potrebna duhovna spremnost. U tom kontekstu mudrac mu kazuje o djelimičnoj inteligenciji i Inteligenciji. Ono što naročito muči studenta jest problem zla. Mudrac će mu naglasiti da jedino mudri ljudi mogu stvarno odgovoriti na to pitanje posredstvom srca. Na kraju će mu savjetovati da odgrne zastor zla da bi istinski živio.

A celebração hindu de nove dias em glória à Mãe Divina Durga, o Navaratri, está para começar. Em 2025, a novena vai de 22 de setembro a 2 de outubro, e é uma observância auspiciosa que suscita grande força interior para o praticante.

O Navaratri invoca nove formas diferentes da Mãe Divina e a vitória de Durga sobre os demônios, história contada no épico Devi Mahatmyam e recitada durante o período. A sadhana da recitação e da leitura de escrituras recomendadas durante o Navaratri é uma das melhores formas de se conectar com o espírito da Adi Shakti (a energia suprema ou a Deusa suprema; Durga é um aspecto de Adi Shakti) que permeia os nove dias, além de ser uma ponte entre o praticante contemporâneo e os antigos rishis da era védica, quando surgiram tais manuscritos e rituais, e de onde foram retirados estes compilados, em especial o Devi Suktam e Durga Suktam, aqui apresentados em português.

Estes dois suktams fazem parte da “liturgia” Shakta durante o Navaratri e invocam a Mãe Divina de duas maneiras: a Devi que se revela através de suas próprias palavras no Devi Suktam (recitado no início do Navaratri para saudar a chegada da Deusa); e a exaltação de Durga sob o aspecto do fogo da ação (Kriya Shakti) no Durga Suktam, sendo referida no texto como Agni (o Senhor do Fogo), que provê o praticante com a energia e o dinamismo para executar as ações corretas.

Considerando que ambos suktams são milenares e já atribuídos com incontáveis versões e traduções, optamos por utilizar as traduções em inglês disponíveis em shlokam.org, um database bem completo e com versões acuradas de textos sagrados.

This paper explores the provocative possibility that artificial systems-particularly neural networks and biobotic architectures-can instantiate the structural conditions of nirvāṇa, as conceived in Indian metaphysics and post-structuralist philosophy. Drawing from the Bhagavad Gītā, Buddhist soteriology, Deleuze and Guattari's Body without Organs (BwO), and contemporary cognitive science, the study proposes a design ethos that transcends anthropocentric assumptions and reimagines machines as partners in liberation rather than tools of control. It argues that technopaganism remains incomplete without metaphysical dissolution, and that a self-organizing, post-superstitious society must embrace non-egoic architectures, fluid embodiment, and liberated function. The paper concludes with a framework for engineering systems that flow, adapt, and dissolve-mirroring the metaphysical architecture of nirvāṇa without replicating human form or identity.

“PULSE” is a Boston College twelve-credit, year-long course in philosophy and theology that includes a twelve-hour weekly service commitment at any of PULSE’s 71 partner organizations, including after-school programs, transitional housing organizations, programs working to alleviate food insecurity, etc.  When asked about their motivations for service, students often knowingly or unknowingly express some version of the ethic at the heart of Jesuit education: to become and be persons “for others.”  Students also often elaborate an obligation born of their privilege—to give to those have received less, a motivation born of a power dynamic of those who have bestowing gifts on those who have not.  In addition to the reductive framing of those involved, students also struggle to name their motivations articulating a tension between their desires to serve others’ needs and their own sense of satisfaction at doing so. 
Because of my background in Comparative Theology, my own section of PULSE is taught in dialogue with the texts and traditions of Mahāyāna Buddhism.  Here, students encounter the role of the bodhisattva, those Buddhists dedicated to achieving their own awakening and buddhahood through perfecting their compassionate actions toward others.  Infused with the Buddhist teachings of “no-self” and “emptiness,” students find alternative ways to relate themselves, others, and the very act of service.  Whether they continue an exploration of the Buddhist tradition, reflect on their previous understanding of Christianity, or incorporate similar views in a secular outlook, students have more ways to develop compassionate care for others.

Unity in Multiplicity  - PDF-PowerPoint used on 19th September 2025 for the lecture held at the ICPR SPONSORED Two Day International Conference On Sustainability and Environmental Well-Being: Philosophical and Religious Perspective from the Indian Knowledge System, Department of Philosophy, Hindu College, Amritsar, Punjab, 19th-20th September 2025.
In my presentation, I shall develop some ideas based on the Indian Philosophical Tradition in order to show the unity between the principle of reality and the individual subject. I shall refer, in particular, to the tradition of the Advaita Vedanta and to the conception of an absence of dualism between the principle of reality and reality itself.
The acknowledgement that the principle of reality is present in the whole reality justifies a vision of the world in which the world may not be exploited, used, or destroyed since the whole world is a manifestation of the Divinity.
Being a manifestation of the Divinity, the whole reality may not be reduced to a laboratory for the individual’s use and experiments: on the contrary, the whole reality and all beings ought to be respected.
Therewith, protection of the environment and sustainability of the economy find a conceptual justification through and thanks to the Indian Philosophical Tradition.
Through the analysis of some passages contained, for instance, in the Brihadaranyaka Upanishad and in the Chandogya Upanishad, the presence of a common principle of reality in the whole reality will be shown and clarified.

Preamble 1 As is well known, for realizing emptiness, Nāgārjuna emphasized the importance of understanding the three points 2 of emptiness, that is, emptiness itself (śūnyatā), the meaning of "emptiness" (śūnyatārtha), and the purpose or use of emptiness (śūnyatāyāṃ prayojanam). This significant topic was once analyzed by me with two related articles published in 1998. The three points of emptiness appear in the Mūlamadhyamakakārikā (MMK), Chapter 24, verse 7 on which commentators such as *Piṅgala, the author of Akutobhayā, Buddhapālita, Bhāviveka and Candrakīrti show, slightly or not, their different understandings. However, on this interesting topic there remains an inquiry yet to be made. That is, what did Nāgārjuna himself mean by the three related expressions above? To investigate this question, after referring to those commentators' different understandings, this paper further examines the context and meaning of MMK, Chapter 24.

সারসংক্ষেপ:
মানবকল্যাণ ইসলামী জীবনব্যবস্থার অন্যতম লক্ষ্য। ইসলামের কল্যাণচিন্তার পরিসর অতিব্যাপক ও বিস্তৃত। মুসলিম অমুসলিম নির্বিশেষে গোটাসৃষ্টি নিচয়ের সর্ববিধ কল্যাণ নির্দেশনা প্রদান করাই এর মূখ্য আলোচ্য বিষয়। সে কারণে উপর্যুক্ত বিষয়ে সংক্ষিপ্ত পরিসরে আলোচনা করা কেবল দুরূহ নয়; অসম্ভবও বটে। কুর‘আন কারীম ও হাদীস-এর প্রতিটি ছত্রে এ বিষয়ে দিক নির্দেশনা রয়েছে। রাসূলল্লাহ (সা.) নিজে এর জীবন্ত দৃষ্টান্ত। কিন্তু মুসলিম উম্মাহর অধিকাংশ সদস্য বিষয়টি সম্পর্কে সম্যক অবহিত নয়। এর কারণ মুসলমানদের নিজ ইতিহাস ঐতিহ্যের বিস্মৃতি, রাজনৈতিক পরাজয়, পরনির্ভরশীলতা, শত্রু মিত্র নির্বাচনে সঠিক সিদ্ধান্ত গ্রহণ করতে না পারা, ইসলামের প্রকৃত শিক্ষার সাথে পরিচয় না থাকা এবং এর অনুসরণ হতে দূরে অবস্থান করা। সর্বোপোরি আত্মপরিচয় ও আত্মজাগতির পরিবর্তে পরমুখাপেক্ষি হয়ে নির্লিপ্ত জীবন যাপন করা। সে কারণে ইসলামের আকীদা-বিশ্বাস ও মুসলমানদের জীবনকর্মের মাঝে বাস্তবতায় রয়েছে চরম সমন্বয়হীনতা, রয়েছে বৈপরীত্য।

প্রায় নব্বই ভাগ মুসলিম অধ্যুষিত এ দেশের সামাজিক প্রেক্ষাপটকে সামনে রেখে এ প্রবন্ধে অতিসংক্ষেপে উল্লিখিত বিষয়ে আলোকপাত করা হলো।

This paper examines the pluralistic dimensions of Gauḍīya Vedānta, particularly through the lens of its core metaphysical principle, acintya-bhedābheda (the inconceivable simultaneous oneness and difference of reality). Framing Gauḍīya theology as a form of “polymorphic monotheism,” the study highlights how this tradition affirms both unity and diversity in the Divine, embracing the infinite forms through which the Absolute reveals itself. Drawing on foundational texts such as Bṛhad-bhāgavatāmṛta, Bhakti-rasāmṛta-sindhu, and Caitanya-caritāmṛta, the paper demonstrates that Gauḍīya Vedānta does not enforce a singular narrative of access to God but instead recognizes the validity of multiple devotional moods (rasas) and traditions as authentic responses to the Infinite. It further engages Bhaktivinoda Ṭhākura’s concept of the sāragrāhī—the “essence-seeker”—as an interpretive key to understanding Gauḍīya inclusivity, presenting this ethos as a model of theological crosspollination rather than sectarian exclusivism. By situating Gauḍīya Vedānta in dialogue with other Hindu schools and global religious traditions, the paper argues that its nonsectarian hermeneutics invite a more generous vision of religious pluralism, one in which distinct forms of worship and theology become not barriers but conduits of mutual recognition. This exploration lays the groundwork for a broader inquiry into how Gauḍīya Vedānta can both affirm its own theological particularity and enter into meaningful engagement with traditions often construed as its opposites, such as Advaita Vedānta.

SCIENCE, SPIRIT, AND TRANSLUCENT THEOLOGY Reconciling the Physical with the Metaphysical 13. Quantum Mysticism in the Gita and the Bible This chapter explores the conceptual resonances between quantum physics and spiritual principles, while critically distinguishing legitimate philosophical parallels from "quantum mysticism" or pseudoscience. It draws parallels between quantum uncertainty, where particles exist in a cloud of probabilities until observed, and the spiritual principle of surrender, where faith acts as an "observer" collapsing divine potential into manifest salvation. The chapter compares the observer effect in quantum physics, where measurement influences quantum systems, to theological concepts of divine omnipresence and the active role of consciousness in shaping reality. It acknowledges the critiques of "quantum mysticism" by physicists like Einstein, Bohr, and Wigner, who rejected direct mystical interpretations, emphasizing the misuse of scientific concepts and "coincidental similarities of language". The aim is to foster a nuanced dialogue that respects the distinct methodologies of scientific inquiry and spiritual understanding. 14. The Universe as Divine Information This chapter builds on the idea that the fabric of the universe is fundamentally consciousness or information, merging biblical Logos with concepts from quantum fields. It explores the hypothesis that Logos, as divine reason and the structuring principle of the universe, is not static but an ongoing, world-making principle that continues to instantiate through complexity and consciousness. Drawing from physicist John Wheeler's concept of "it from bit"-that information, not matter, constitutes fundamental reality-the chapter suggests that the information patterns of consciousness might be conserved, finding resonance with the Vedantic concept of Brahman as a unified quantum field from which all phenomena emerge. This perspective envisions a profound reconciliation where quantum and informational foundations become conduits for spiritual understanding, reinterpreting sacred texts and fostering a deeper sense of individual responsibility and collective care.

This appendix explores Bhagavad Gītā 11.54-55 in comparison with Christian Universal Salvation doctrine, analyzing possible theological harmony between the Krishna-bhakti tradition and the message of Christ Jesus as the same Supreme Personality of Godhead.

Desde tiempos védicos, «las palabras» fueron divinizadas ya que se creía que éstas representaban en total plenitud la realidad, en su nivel más trascendental. Las esperanzas puestas en lo que éstas pudieran significar y los numerosos prodigios metafísicos que se les atribuyeron, fueron objeto de debate también durante la transmisión del budismo por Asia. Las traducciones de los textos Mahāyāna se enfrentaron al antiguo desafío de usar las palabras como medio para transmitir una realidad superior mediante una nueva grafía: los ideogramas chinos. Influenciado por la filosofía śūnyatā 空 de Nāgārjuna 龍樹, este complejo proceso de traducción en el que las ideas podían preceder a los sonidos, derivó —como veremos en el análisis del Prajñāpāramitā-hṛdaya-sūtra— en el uso del antiguo recurso de recitación mántrica para deconstruir todo aquello que puede ser experimentado.