04 - Sacralising the Cosmos and Life

Chakrabarti, Dilip K. (ed.) History of Ancient India, Vol. IX: Science and Technology, Medicine , 2023

The research dealing with ancient India, has put less emphasis on the ‘geographical thought’ and metaphysical context, which may be compared with the scientific notion of modern geography; some such examples are presented here. The Vedic sages, living close to nature were enlightened by the inherent messages that they communicated, taught, professed, and transferred to the seekers and followers through writings and sacred teachings. Among such thoughts, different attributes and dimensions are narrated; here the chosen ones included narrating the manifestation of the cosmos and human transcendence, illustrated with evolution and unity, the eternity of time, spirality of the cosmic rhythm, spiritual correspondences, the Mother Earth as Goddess, and some messages for the sustainable future are described in nutshell. Together with the physical order exists an invisible principle of order linking the human soul to the earth and further up to the stars. This way one can propose micro-, meso- and macro cosmos. The harmonic integrity in Cosmos Spirit Man has been a major issue of debate in ancient mythologies. Let us re-interpret, re-orient, and re-appraise the deep issues of Indian thought, so as to make the prophecy a reality. Keywords: manifestation, eternity, transcendence, sacredscape, Kālī, Vedas, Purāṇas.

SVYASA University, 2022

An anthology of published papers and book chapters

In Hindu mythology there has been a strong tradition to present the archetypal frame of integrity among matter, mind and spirit; of course this dialogue and revelation were rooted in religious thought. The description of creation myth, cosmic time cycle, triad and Chakras, the form of Earth/mother goddess, deity and direction ― all metaphorically narrate the story of harmonic relationship between man and nature. The parallels between Hindu mysticism and New Physics are meeting at certain point in search of the ultimate reality. This idea has been vividly described in the purview of environmental ethics with an aim to provide an indigenous root and search for a paradigm shift. Key words. Archetype, cosmos, deity and direction, Earth/mother goddess, Hindu thought, New Physics and metaphysics, primordial frame, sacred ecology, Triad and Chakra.

2016

acumen, the power of his intellectual grasp, and his willingness to take on and work through any intellectual challenge. I value serendipity. And that which Jung called synchronicity. My best moments and relationships arrive that way, as unannounced, quiet presences that sometimes are life-changing. My anthropology then and now is to grab onto a strange line of flight and then to hold on for dear life. To wherever. We went and were fascinated. bruce took us through many byways of Sri Lanka and brought me to see, smell, touch, taste, a vibrant corner of South Asia. He had done me a wonderful turn. back in Jerusalem in 1980 a friend told me that I had to meet David Shulman, who had collected and studied Tamil temple myths for his doctorate at SOAS. David was amazing then as he is now, open to everything under the heavens (including the heavens themselves). I was amused to discover that he lived a five-minute walk from my home. David was always supportive, insightful, and encouraging as I slowly found my way through the unfamiliar writings on South Asia, keeping me on track when unwittingly my fantasies took me beyond the possible. David, a poet of the imaginary before he is anything else, is a treasury of knowledge, wisdom, and perception, a polymath by any other name, one who likely thinks that boundaries between academic disciplines are for those who like or need such barriers. Every tyro dreams of such an illuminating guide. The two books we wrote together were a pleasure to do. And every time I write 'then as now' I wonder anew at my good fortune in having friends like these. Reading on South Asia, doing fieldwork in Andhra Pradesh, was a strange enjoyment. India fills the senses with imaginings, yet these are imaginings within imaginings, fractal imaginings that are borderless and, for me at least, that curve mind-work inward, involuting, yet involution that is emergent, always re-emerging elsewhere into another angle of an expanding cosmos to which I had not had access before. There follow now

The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/jsrc i-xviii_Handelman_F1.indd 2 6/28/2013 5:46:22 PM This publication has been typeset in the multilingual "brill" typeface. With over 5,100 characters covering Latin, IPA, Greek, and Cyrillic, this typeface is especially suitable for use in the humanities. For more information, please see www.brill.com/brill-typeface.

The roots of Hindu geographic thought can be traced to the remote past, going back at least to c. 3500 B.C. Formerly the unity of Nature and Man was expressed in the context of religious activities. The idea of nature and human integrity in Hindu thought depends upon ways in which people see and experience themselves, their sense of attachment to nature, and their ways of maintaining this. It is through symbolism, the main expression of mythological understanding, that one can gain insight into the relationships of humanity to nature. Creation and incarnation myths describe the origin of organic life and of its five basic elements. The integrity of dwelling in space is expressed through the notion of home. Religion plays a vital role in the Hindu quest for harmony between nature and humanity.

WordPress, 2022

Some of the world's earliest writings suggest an unexpected goal for ambitious minds. Nearly 3,000 years ago, the ancient Indian authors of certain Upanishads ('special teachings') exhorted readers to find a fabled knowledge. When one knows that which is 'woven upon the Whole-he becomes the Whole'. He 'thinks of what has not been thought of before, and perceives what has not been perceived before'. Thus, comprehending the widest reaches, he is able to 'conquer the whole universe'. To modern ears, these promises sound like esoteric mysticism, and it is true that the Sanskrit writings that have reached us from India in the 1st millennium BCE were full of rituals to harness the universe, hymns to 'the whole', and praises of the divine as 'all of this'. The cosmos was an object of wonder that fascinated Indian thinkers.

Geography in ancient India refers to the metaphysical exposition of interconnectedness of man with nature aiming to understand humanity's residence on the earth. In geography, the " geo-" refers to the biological idea of mother Earth, Gaia, and "-graphy " to a cultural connotation referring to subjective meaning of place – with human interference and connectedness (e.g. love) space transfers to place. This was a kind of " deep " geography, where historical-cultural-ecological-landscape concerns altogether make a sense of meaning and understanding. In the present era of 'global understanding', the messages of geography in ancient India is being accepted as a light-tower for ecological awareness that commonly envisioned in the frame of 'sacred ecology'. Zukav (1979: 217) remarks that " Hindu mythology is virtually a large scientific discovery. Hindu deities such as Shiva and Vishnu continuously dance the creation and destruction of universe ". The relevance for life is inherent in the Hindu religion with its pantheon of Gods; the Hindu view is God-filled space – of an animate universe. Initiated in the historical past, the Vedic, Puranic literature and treatises fully describe the sense of respect for nature and attempt to make awareness of the crisis calling for profound changes in the way human beings relate to the natural world (cf. Chaitanya 1983). Some of these examples are illustrated here. Attempts have also been made to elucidate the geography in ancient India, however most of such works considered the notion and framework of concept of the universe and the earth, astronomical and climatic aspects, the places known and the settlement patterns (cf. Dubey 1967). The description of regional identity and regional geography (natural and cultural landscapes) has further been taken into account with reference to the Puranas while emphasising some notions of cosmogony and cosmology (cf. Ali 1983), however less emphasis is laid on the 'geographical thought' and metaphysical context, which may be compared with the scientific notion of modern geography. In fact, most of these studies deal with literary interpretation of the epics and ancient literature (Dhussa 2008: 74-75).

It is a book review Forgotten Friends: Monks, Marriages, and Memories of Northeast India by Indrani Chatterjee; New Delhi: Oxford University Press The cosmos stretching from inner Asia, Tibet and North-east India to the Arakan, Myanmar and Bangladesh is the main focus of the book under review. It is a cultural landscape, a shared space across which men, material and ideas have travelled wearing religion, carrying goods, tailoring marriages, weaving kinships, developing friendship codes for the benefi t of all. It deals with a broad time frame from the seventh century AD to the 20th century. It discusses region specifi c developments in Buddhism, Vaishnavism, Saivism, Tantricism and Sufi sm.

International Journal for the Transformation of Consciousness (GIT, Kerala, India), ISBN: KERENG/2015/69416., 2017

There exists a state of order and unity in the whole world, referred as cosmos which “includes the invisible spirit as well as the tangible earth and skies” (Oates 1989: 1). Together with the physical order exists an invisible principle of order linking human soul to the earth and further up to stars. This way one can propose micro , meso- and macro cosmos. The harmonic integrity in Cosmos Spirit Man has been a major issue of debate in the ancient mythologies, however through the stigma of religion the basic meanings were misunderstood in many ways under the purview of anthropocentrism. But it does not mean that theology and religion have played a negative role. Let us march for re-interpreting, re-orienting and re-appraising the deep issues of Indian thought to make the prophesy a reality, what computer engineer and Indianist Subhash Kak (2002: 105) envisioned: “There are several reasons for us to believe that India will be a key player in the events of the 21st century. This will be due partly to the economic power that India will wield in world affairs. But more than this India’s unique role will be address humankind’s yearning for knowledge of self. The idea that knowledge is everyone’s basic right will let people from all over the world recognize that all are equal citizens of the global village.” The ‘spirit’ is a blessing from the Mother Earth/ Mother Nature that blesses us to ‘Proceed from darkness to Light, from falseness to the Truth, and from death to Immortality’.