Ancient Bharat was seen by outsiders as the land of science and A wisdom, refined arts, grand temples, and fabulous riches. Outwardly, it was a civilization that worshipped worldy ambition, with kings embarking on Asvamedhic world conquests, but its inner focus was on knowledge of both outer and inner realities. It saw the two to be mutually mirroring which is logical since our outer perception is contained in our consciousness.
Experienced reality is the triad Sat-Cit-Ananda, which means existence of which we are a part, consciousness through which we perceive it, and bliss related to the experience of this reality. Our bodies are mortal, but consciousness is eternal-it is transcendent-and this makes the Indian tradition particularly interested in themes of eternality.
The higher principles behind the triad are Visnu, siva, and the Goddess. Using modern vocabulary, one can say that these divinities symbolize truth, meaning, and beauty that help one move forward in peeling layers of the mystery of existence. They also provide insight into how to actualize will into action and understanding.
Eternal Bharat obtains understanding from self-inquiry. One meditates on meaning itself: how do words convey more than surface associations; and what is the language of music and movement, song, and gesture. One explores the architecture of the mind and finds ways to investigate its alleyways and obtain mastery over oneself. This universal knowledge, which is at the basis of many kinds of Yoga as well as techniques that lead to creativity, becomes the background to science and the creative arts.
Western psychology takes the mind to be a kind of a blackbox in which for the most part suffering must be dealt with drugs. The Sanatana tradition, on the other hand, sees the mind as a three-storied house: the first floor is the domain of memories; the second floor is where the intellect functions; and the third floor is the domain of inherited and deeply imprinted behaviors. Seeing the mind in this manner aids in self-understanding and leaves open the possibility of rearranging the contents of the third floor.
An earlier book, The Idea of India: Bharat as a Civilisation, described the history of India's self-understanding, showing the centrality of knowledge in it, and presented lesser-known facts about the vitality with which these ideas were taken to far lands of Eurasia. It also told the story of how India remained the leading scientific nation until very recent times, and is now poised to lead in the frontier area of consciousness science.
This new book is centered on Bharat's self-understanding and shows how its engagement with the eternal led to amazing insights into the nature of reality, which will help the reader appreciate many specifics of Indian culture.
Eternal Bharat sees consciousness shining through the mind via three aspects of will (iccha), knowledge (jnana), and action (kriya). Life is meant to be lived to the fullest in the domains of ambition (artha) and desire (kama), so long as it is within the guardrails of ethics and morality (dharma) and freedom and renunciation (moksa). If artha and kama constitute the river of life, its two banks are dharma and moksa.
Vedas (1227)
Upanishads (513)
Puranas (636)
Ramayana (768)
Mahabharata (381)
Dharmasastras (170)
Goddess (528)
Bhakti (253)
Saints (1634)
Gods (1315)
Shiva (407)
Journal (176)
Fiction (65)
Vedanta (383)
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