A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
Céline Leboeuf just interviewed me about philosophy for her “Why Philosophy?” newsletter. I discuss the role that Buddhism and Śāntideva have played in my philosophical formation and conception of philosophy, so I thought the interview might be of interest to Continue reading “Why Philosophy?” interview
The United States has always been a relentlessly pragmatic place, which doesn’t leave it much room for philosophy. Watching three Republican presidential candidates all take pot-shots at philosophy on the same night was only the most vivid recent example. But Continue reading You don’t have to drop philosophy for activism
The Indian Philosophy Blog began on 2 January 2014; we have now been up for a full ten years – with over 800 posts up by now, exploring Indian philosophy from many different angles, and nearly a thousand current subscribers. Continue reading The Indian Philosophy Blog is 10!
The past few years have taught me the wisdom in Daoist-influenced traditions of sudden liberation: in a certain way we can improve ourselves by not improving ourselves, through an acceptance of everything, including ourselves, in the present moment. Yet I Continue reading Sudden and gradual together
One of the things that helped me realize the need for self-improvement by not-self-improvement was regular practice with the excellent Headspace meditation app, created by a former Tibetan monk named Andy Puddicombe. Headspace is at the epicenter of “McMindfulness”: the Continue reading In praise of the present moment
Years ago, in a difficult period of my life, I had looked for philosophical help and explicitly found it in Buddhism and not Daoism, rejecting Daoism and its sudden-liberation views in about the strongest possible terms. But that wasn’t the Continue reading Self-improvement by not-self-improvement
While studying development sociology at Cornell in my early twenties, I took a trip to see my Marathi family in India. I was pleasantly sipping tea with older relatives whom my father was making conversation with. “One of Amod’s colleagues Continue reading Of races and other castes
Do you have a favorite Asian philosophical text to teach, one that you’re excited about and want to see taught in other classrooms? Bloomsbury Academic is soliciting contributions to a collection of entries for an electronic resource, Reading Primary Sources Continue reading Call for contributions: Reading Primary Sources in Asian Philosophies (Bloomsbury)
Western scholars of (socially) engaged Buddhism have often also considered themselves practitioners of engaged Buddhism, in a way that is more common than with other forms of Buddhism. Thus scholarship on engaged Buddhism often tends to take on a theological Continue reading What is engaged Buddhism, anyway?
When I was getting ready for my PhD program to study Indian philosophy, I figured I should get more acquainted with the classics, so I sat down to read through the Upaniṣads in their entirety. I was making my way Continue reading A beef with Hindutva