Modernism and education

[Steve Wray]

[snip]
> This is the thing.  my opposition to such thinking is not
> because it is too modern but because
> _it_is_not_modern_at_all_.  What passes for "modern" Hinduism
> is just a hodge-podge of wooly-headed romanticism, half-baked
> mysticism and wishful thinking.  Those who wish to be modern
> should drop the Upanishads for a while and read Nietzche,
> Godel, Huxley, Breton, Orwell, Sartre, Berlin, Levi-Strauss,
> Primo Levi and a host of others.

I'd have to stick my neck out and recommend much of so-called
'classical western occultism' which seems to have begun
in an effort on the part of europeans to comprehend vedanta.
Some, without studying it, might be tempted to place it
in the "half-baked mysticism" category but having studied it
in some depth I can assuredly say that it is fully baked
and quite educational.

I notice that you mainly mention western philosophers belonging
to the 'continental philosophy' school! The typical modern
philosopher in the west is of the 'analytical' bent and far too
obsessed with finding fault in the reasoning of others to
express himself creatively (for fear of ridicule by other
'analytical' philosophers).

When I began my study of Indian philosophy, in a department
largely dominated by 'analytical' philosophy I was extremely
impressed at the way Indian philosophers operated and most
importantly I was impressed at the intellectual integrity
and tolerance exhibited; while the typical western philosopher
is mainly concerned with disputation, the Indian philosopher
is free to think.


> If any reader is seriously interested in improving the world
> and their fellow man, they must seriously search for the
> truth.
> Education whether it is in Sanskrit, science,
> sociology, anthropology, and history or preferably all of
> them is the key.  It will be hard work but one who is not
> prepared to do hard work will never amount to anything.

Only by recombining the hard work that many human beings
have put in over countless generations can we discern the
truth that they all discovered, seemingly independently.
There are many commonalities between seemingly diverse
cosmologies from Vedanta to physics, from shamanism to science.
By opening our eyes and minds to the study and contemplation
of a wide variety of these we can build up a better picture
of whats *really* going on behind the appearance that most
call the real world.

This act of cutting through the veil of illusion to discern
the true nature of reality first hand is surely what all
philosophy _should_ ultimately be about.