[INDOLOGY] reviews of Malhotra's books

[Nagaraj Paturi]

https://www.harpercollins.com/9789351362449/indras-net has the following:

About the Book
Originating in the Atharva Veda, the concept of Indra's Net is a powerful
metaphor for interconnectedness. It was transmitted via Buddhism's
Avatamsaka Sutra into Western thought, where it now resides at the heart of
post-modern discourse. According to this metaphor, nothing ultimately
exists separately by itself and all boundaries can be deconstructed. This
book invokes Indra's Net to articulate the open architecture, unity and
continuity of Hinduism. Seen from this perspective, Hinduism defies
pigeonholing into the traditional, modern and post-modern categories by
which the West defines itself; rather, it becomes evident that Hinduism has
always spanned all three categories simultaneously and without
contradiction. It is fashionable among intellectuals to assert that dharma
traditions lacked any semblance of unity before the British period, and
that the contours of contemporary Hinduism were bequeathed to us by our
colonial masters. Such arguments routinely target Swami Vivekananda, a key
interlocutor who shattered many deeply rooted prejudices against Indian
civilization. They accuse him of having camouflaged various alleged
'contradictions' within traditional Hinduism, and charge him with having
appropriated the principles of Western religion to 'manufacture' a coherent
and unified worldview and set of practices known today as Hinduism. Indra's
Net: Defending Hinduism's Philosophical Unity provides a foundation for
theories that slander contemporary Hinduism as illegitimate, ascribing
sinister motives to its existence, and characterizing its fabric as
oppressive. Rajiv Malhotra offers a detailed, systematic rejoinder to such
views, and articulates the multidimensional, holographic understanding of
reality that grounds Hindu dharma. He also argues that Vivekananda's
creative interpretations of Hindu dharma informed and influenced many
Western intellectual movements of the post-modern era. Indeed, as he cites
with many insightful examples, appropriations from Hinduism have provided a
foundation for cutting-edge discoveries in several fields, including
cognitive science and neuroscience.

On Thu, Aug 4, 2016 at 1:30 AM, Dominik Wujastyk <wujastyk at gmail.com> wrote:

> On 2 August 2016 at 07:08, Dean Michael Anderson via INDOLOGY <
> indology at list.indology.info> wrote:
>
>> ---------- Forwarded message ----------
>> From: Dean Michael Anderson <eastwestcultural at yahoo.com>
>> To: Indology List <indology at list.indology.info>
>> Date: Tue, 2 Aug 2016 05:06:51 +0000 (UTC)
>>
>>
> "The conceptual matrix of integral unity is illustrated in the metaphor
>> ​[...]"
>>
>
> ​Isn't that a quote from Alan Sokal, "Transgressing the Boundaries"?​
>
>
> ​:-)​
>
>
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-- 
Nagaraj Paturi

Hyderabad, Telangana, INDIA.

Former Senior Professor of Cultural Studies

FLAME School of Communication and FLAME School of  Liberal Education,

(Pune, Maharashtra, INDIA )


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