SV: SV: SV: Integrity of academia

[Vidyasankar Sundaresan]

>also like to know if this interpretation is universal in Bengal, or if it
>is confined to Tantric circles. Possibly, Kripal is not so Freudian as I
>thought. More info out there?

If I remember right, more than three years after reading Kali's
Child, Kripal explicitly mentions that he has kept away from
Tantric interpretations in favor of psychoanalytic models. My
reaction was that more or less the only thing Kripal took away
from Tantra were the biological referents of linga and yoni,
and that therefore Tantra was "world-affirming". And about the
only thing he seemed to know about Vedanta was that it was
monastic, and therefore, "world-denying" (classically, even
before Sw. Vivekananda).

Invoking Freud is the easiest way to let off Kripal easy. Even
I can point out some 20 different features where psychoanalysis
has moved beyond Freudian and Jungian and beyond neo-Freudian
and neo-Jungian theories. Kripal, I'm sure, can write a learned
response on why he is not very Freudian after all, and in the
process, ignore the basic issues brought up by Sw. Tyagananda.

I would suggest that those who want to comment on the "native"
rebuttal should first read both Kripal's book and the essay in
response. I wish people don't rush to judge the latter, without
reading the former, and using pret-a-porter terms like denial,
amateur versus professional, presumed religious apologetics of
the Swami versus assumed scholarliness of the PhD. Give both
sides a fair reading. You might be surprised with the results.

I have heard that practicing psychoanalysts, psychiatrists and
clinical psychologists keep in shape by subjecting themselves
to psychological evaluation periodically. I think it is time to
insist upon similar procedural safeguards for those who want to
"academically" psychoanalyze religion and religious figures. At
this juncture, may I also point out to the well-meaning Indians
on this list that this is perhaps not the best online forum for
this topic? As one can see, some list-members may not even have
read Kripal. The more appropriate place to bring it up would be
the RISA (Religion in South Asia) mailing list, where I'm sure
90% of the members would have read Kripal. At least a few among
them would have picked up Sw. Tyagananda's response at the recent
AAR annual meeting.

Re: Sivalinga and Viagra, Peck mentions yogic exercises with
uurdhvaretas goals. I would imagine that the goal of Viagra is
very much adhoretas. So, Bhadraiah, one is not an alternative
for the other. It would be positively dangerous for a Viagra-
seeking man to attempt the other. Without prejudice to the Yoga
practice and its effects, I think there is more to liberation
than being a result of an upward flow of semen. If it is nothing
more than a physiological male response to a specific kind of
Yoga practice, why, I would bundle up all my books on Vedanta
and Buddhism. I would either go to Pune/Mysore and perfect my
yogAsanas under Iyengar or Jois, or better still, simply buy
the latest New Age book on Tantric sex and get liberated!

Cheers,
Vidyasankar

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