Hindu elan missionnaire

[Maureen Fadem]

hi das...
from ALBasham, _The Origins and Development of Classical Hinduism_,
(oxford, 1989, isbn: 0-19-507349-5):
"We refer to these new accounts of the origin of all things to show the
richness and variety of Upanishadic literature.  Here, one after the
other, we meet three legends, ascribing primacy to Death, Brahman and a
personal self, respectively.  These divergent myths of creation are
paralleled by many other passages in the Upanishads and other ancient
Indian religious texts, in which one passage seems to negate another that
went before.  There is no means of harmonizing such passages, though
nearly all the early and many later commentators have attempted to do so.
We must simply accept the fact that there was much difference of opinion
among the mystics and ascetics who compiled the Upanishads, and the final
redactor, the _Brhadaranyaka Upanishad_, preferred to give a number of
points of view, leaving it to qualified listeners to decide which of them
corresponded most closely with their own insights." (56)

that is what i love the most about hindu philosophy. 'inherent
contradiction' and openness of interpretation.  :-)
best,
maureen.

On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, Das Devaraj wrote:

> On Mon, 18 Jan 1999, Maureen Fadem wrote:
> > hey, thanks for the info. very helpful.
>
> You are quite welcome.
>
> > seems odd tho' to me to define hinduism so specifically since one of the
> > inherent qualities of that tradition is its indefinability. :)
>
> Do you realize how "prophetic" your words are? :-)
> I did a stint (3 years) as a public relations volunteer for a temple in
> Northern California.  Hardly anybody ever wants to read the books in the
> fledgling library I started there!  Yet, some people who visited there
> had firm beliefs about what Hinduism says about such and such.
>
> If the same had happened over the centuries, no wonder
> Hinduism is undefinable today!
>
> das
>