A group blog of scholars exploring Indian philosophy
On May 15, Harry Falk announced on the Indology mailing list that Johannes Bronkhorst had “left this world”. In the following weeks the mailing list (and, I am sure, other online forums) has been virtually monopolised by people remembering the Continue reading Thinking about Johannes Bronkhorst (with small updates)
I’m delighted to be giving a talk at Psychedelic Science 2025, the annual conference of the Multidisciplinary Association of Psychedelic Studies. The conference (June 17-20 in Denver) promises to be really fun and stimulating. If you can make it, I’d Continue reading After mystical experiences
Recently I wanted to explore a fascinating passage of the Daoist founder Zhuangzi, where the text recommends “sitting in oblivion” or “sitting and forgetting” (zuòwàng 坐忘). That passage bears striking similarities to mystical practices and experiences from around the globe. Continue reading Is Asian philosophy footnotes to the Buddha?
Swami, Mahāmahopādhyāya Bhadreshdas. Svāminārāyaṇasiddhāntasudhā. 3rd ed., Swaminarayan Aksharpith, July 2024, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, pp. 468. Sanskrit. ₹ 600. Digital Copy (Open Access): https://research.baps.org/publications/books/swaminarayan_siddhant_sudha/ The landscape of Indian philosophy continues to evolve with the arrival of a new vādagrantha—a philosophical treatise that Continue reading Book Review of Svāminārāyaṇasiddhāntasudhā by Mahāmahopādhyāya Bhadreshdas Swami (Reviewed by Aksharananddas Swami)
Veṅkaṭanātha has to adapt the Mīmāṃsā approach to free will to his Vaiṣṇava commitment to the role of God’s grace. He thus concludes that humans are free in their intentions, although they need God’s consent to convert them into action. Continue reading Veṅkaṭanātha on free will to surrender
Monism is the idea that everything is, or is ultimately reducible to, one. This is not quite the same as nondualism, a term increasingly common in mystical circles. Nondualism is the idea that everything is not two or more – Continue reading Nondualism without monism
Kalidas Bhattacharyya. New Perspectives in Indian Philosophy [Ed. Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty]. X+435pp., index. The Ramakrishna Mission Institute of Culture, 2023. ₹ 600.00 (paperback). The New Perspectives in Indian Philosophy (henceforth NPIP) edited by Chakraborty is a scholarly collection of philosophical Continue reading Book Review of Kalidas Bhattacharyya. New Perspectives in Indian Philosophy [Ed. Nirmalya Narayan Chakraborty]. (Reviewed by Krishna Mani Pathak)
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
Defenders of cross-cultural mystical experience are right to note that in many widely varying cultures, respected sages have referred to the experience of an ultimate nonduality: a perception that everything, including oneself, is ultimately one. But one might also then Continue reading Experiencing different ultimate unities
Pawel Odyniec, who is among the foremost experts on Vedānta and on K.C. Bhattacharya, organised a conference that looks extremely thought-provoking on May 22nd–24th. Please read more about the participants (among which Chakravarthi Ram-Prasad, James Madaio, Jessica Frazier, Karl-Stephan Bouthilette…) Continue reading Conference on “Spiritual exercises, self-transformation and liberation in philosophy, theology and religion”