monotheism

Just as Yoga in the West seemed ready to set flight with that many more passengers aboard, something stalled the latest take-off. The Western Yoga world vomited all over itself. We'd been holding back our own bile for so long, and then a single Yoga teacher in Ottawa finally triggered the gag-reflex -- [...]

Being Hindu is the journey of a common Hindu, an attempt to understand why for so many Hindus their faith is one of the most powerful arguments for plurality, for unity in diversity and even more than the omnipresent power of God, the sublime courage and conviction of man. An extract. For a moment, think [...]

In civilisations and cultures without explicit good and evil there was no need for the Devil, Satan, Lucifer or just simply the ‘Evil One’. The demonology of one god thrust upon humanity by monotheism needed a polar opposite in the form of the Devil. Hence the inherent contradiction in which this supposedly superior belief in [...]

With the globalization of an obscure sect that existed within Judaism, the Christian Bible has become one of the most studied and research texts in modern history.  Yet, despite numerous generations of scholars pouring over the compendium of Biblical writings, there remains numerous questions about the life of Jesus.  Most notable his life from age [...]

Good Vs Evil ? The Ramayana is said to be an epic that describes the triumph of good over evil, when Shri Rama defeats the rakshasa (demon) king Ravana and rescues his wife Sita from his clutches.But is the dichotomy between good and evil so accurate?Said to have been born with ten heads, Ravana was [...]

The concept of monotheism is taken to mean belief in just one god, deity, the creator. This is contrasted with polytheism which belief in many gods, as well as atheism which is denial of such a supernatural being. But is it just so simple? Has this monotheist narrative now spilled over into what we would [...]

Monotheism – particularly as viewed from the perspective of those who follow pluralistic traditions – often appears as a kind of arrogance, not as a type of true spirituality. That there is only One True God, and all other Gods, are false, sounds like a statement of arrogant intolerance, not an experience of higher consciousness. [...]

(Speech given at the Dharma Civilization Foundation’s Strategic Retreat, SVYASA, Jigani/Bengaluru, 5-7 February 2015) A knife is sharpened by shaving away all the superfluous material that makes it dull. A sharp knife is a live case of “less is more”: less material means more sharpness. At an action-oriented “strategic retreat”, our knife should be sharpened [...]

An excellent interaction between an American 'white' Hindu responding to accusations of Hindu fundamentalism in a very interesting debate. [...]

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to the United States brought about many glowing statements from the American government, both about Modi and about India. These included productive meetings with President Barack Obama, Vice-President Joe Biden, and Secretary of State John Kerry, who were quite elated with Modi’s visit. The camaraderie extended to Bill and Hillary [...]