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Indra's Net, by Rajiv Malhotra
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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 unified world view and a set of practices known today as Hinduism. Rajiv Malhotra offers a systematic rejoinder to such views and articulates the holographic understanding of reality that grounds Hindu dharma.
- Sales Rank: #1053889 in Books
- Published on: 2014
- Original language: English
- Number of items: 1
- Dimensions: 8.74" h x 1.42" w x 5.71" l, 2.43 pounds
- Binding: Hardcover
- 376 pages
About the Author
Rajiv Malhotra's books include The Battle for Sanskrit: Is Sanskrit Political or Sacred? Oppressive or Liberating? Dead or Alive?; Breaking India: Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines; Being Different: An Indian Response to Western Universalism. In addition, some of Rajiv's debates are showcased as the central topic of Invading the Sacred.
Most helpful customer reviews
42 of 44 people found the following review helpful.
A valid defense of Hindu Dharma against fragmentary and predatory vested interests
By INDER JIT SINGH MANN
Book review by S.Mann, PhD, an independent Business Consultant with deep interest in literature, inter-cultural studies and Hindu Dharm
Indra’s Net is an exquisitely well-researched and penetrating defense of the philosophical unity of the Dharmic traditions. A vividly compelling read, the book has the potential to catalyze an appropriate response against fragmentary and predatory vested interests working against Hindu Dharm, so as to prevent the loss of its nuclear concepts and eventual dissolution. It is a brave and commendable appeal on the part of Mr. Rajiv Malhotra for not allowing to go unchallenged, the insidious attempts to fragment Hindu Dharm and philosophy by the reductionist and short-sighted interpretations from an alien perspective. The book stands a worthy warrior, guarding what is a centuries-old, empirical, tested and tried, scientific system of thought. The metaphor of Indra’s net has been used to provide an analogy to denote the different levels of vastness, interconnectivity, as well as unity-in-diversity concepts of the Hindu Dharm. The book is a serious rebuttal of the cultural neo-colonialism, wearing the guise of globalization that has set into motion forces which furiously attempt a siege on the Hindu Dharm from the inside. It is a magnificent reminder of the fact that the ‘West’ does not always have to be the agent of change - and every country, culture and religion will always have the fundamental right to decide what it should accept or reject.
First of all, Rajiv Malhotra empirically demolishes (with substantial textual and historical evidence) the myth that Hinduism is an artificial construct created by thinkers like Vivekanand in response to the erstwhile colonial challenge. On the contrary, Hinduism factually emerges a lush and robust thought system that has survived and adapted to innumerable changes since prehistoric times rendering its scope beyond the hollow and reductionist logic of antagonistic Western ‘thinkers’. Hinduism is a tradition that is vibrant, alive and is supremely vaster than any one thinker, avatar or deity. Adi Shankaracharya as well as Swami Vivekanand, though existing in time-frames more than a thousand years apart, were both very integral part of the growth and evolution of Hindu thought. Additionally, both were valid interpreters of the Dharm in the context of their own times. Vivekanand had to address the consciousness of a nation undergoing a radical and forcefully invasive imposition as well as to position Vedant as a science in its own right with all its claims and experiences open to experimentation and validation. He made Vedant relevant to every householder rather than just the seekers of Moksh. This was in line with the ongoing consolidation of Hinduism as a movement towards an expanded sense of astik with many schools of thought and lineages being absorbed in it.
Rajiv Malhotra uses a prodigiously telling phrase “audacity of being different” to clarify that Hindu Dharm has some very basic differences from the Abrahamic religions. The most vital difference is that Hindus do not need a Prophet or a Messiah to connect to God. Abrahamic religions are primarily history-centric, and depending upon a singular historical revelation, wherein the ultimate truth is limited to a few select prophets and is made available to the many solely through them. As an academic example, a layman’s claim to a direct revelation or conversation with God would be tantamount to blasphemy in the eyes of the Abrahamic religious orders. By contrast, Hinduism is not history centric and is not dependent upon any specific incident, revelation-history, or person for its validity. Everyone is divine with the potential to discover one’s own divinity and has the prerogative to validate the experience of rishis as texted in shruti. This is in sharp contrast to, say, the Christian concept of all being ‘born sinners’ because of the primal sin of Adam and Eve.
Some basic concepts of Hinduism like the nature of Brahm both manifest and unmanifest and the related concept of mithya are succinctly explained. The complementary nature of Shruti with yog and anubhav, gyan with vigyan, para and apara knowledge with adhyatam vidya, are explained in a crisp and insightful manner. Hinduism is likened to an ecosystem where new species are born and nurtured and older species adapt or may even die. Another comparison is with an open architecture (and IT term), with a variety of modular components available to suit individual choices and needs, with the built-in potential for growth and experimentation within limits. There is place for all astik thought systems, and due respect for intercultural fertilization which stems from a genuine desire to enrich humanity at large.
At the same time, this very nurturing openness and inclusiveness makes Hinduism vulnerable to fragmentation and digestion by predators. Rajiv Malhotra provides numerous examples and explains this construct, and the process of digestion. Unfortunately, the sinister implications of this process of digestion are many and all too real: the tendency to treat the Hindu sources as irrelevant, scope for serious distortions or misunderstanding, generating interest in the superficial and the loss of contact with the true Dharmic source, and the potential that the original idea never reaches full fruition.
Rajiv Malhotra initiates a very meaningful and critical debate on safeguarding the core of Hindu Dharm. Hinduism’s core tenant is that we are all born divine (sat chit anand) and that the basic premise of Karm and reincarnation are non-negotiable. This along with Jivamukti can be assigned a nuclear role in Hindu Dharm. He constantly reiterates that Karm and reincarnation can never be removed from Vedant nor can Yog be separated from its own yam and niyam, as well as the fundamental unity-of-nature that is at the heart of Hinduism. All ideologies that are grounded in the nastic concept and those that are in contradiction with any of these basic premises need to be recognized and should not be allowed to infiltrate the Dharmic tradition. He discusses some strategies like the “poison pill” and the porcupine defense and welcomes inputs and elaboration in this field.
This book may not be for the faint of heart but it is unquestionably the holy grail of “must-reads” for all who have a stake in the future of Hinduism as a coherent tradition with its respected place in world religions. Thus it is not just for scholars of religion but for everyone who truly believes in the basic human right to dignity and independent thought including respect for his/her own race, culture, religion and language. Millenniums-old Dharmic traditions cannot be allowed to be misinterpreted with malignant and insidious intent lest the future generations are deprived of the most invaluable heritage of all - their right to reach God. Indra’s Net equips the reader with a sound knowledge base and provides a holistic perspective that is indispensable in overcoming the insular cocoon of complacency so dangerous in today’s world. The book is a clarion call to establish the place of Hinduism among the world’s traditions and to prepare this generation and all those that follow to overcome the most strident challenges in an age of unprecedented threats and opportunities.
32 of 33 people found the following review helpful.
A definitive response to anti-Hindu rhetoric
By S.K.
Most Hindus are aware of the many Western intellectuals who romanticized and marveled at the insights and wisdom of Hindu thought. Thanks to Rajiv Malhotra's first book "Invading the Sacred", many Hindus are aware of recent Anti-Hindu scholarship in Western Academia and the names of people behind it.
What in Unknown to most Hindus is the deeply negative counter-current rhetoric that has been brewing in the Western Academia over the last 100 odd years and spilling into and disrupting the peace and tranquility of Hindu neighborhoods and their private community living. Cohesion and alignment of such anti-Hindu polemical scholarship is unmistaken and its shared intent to vilify Hinduism and weaken Hindu identity is evident. Unfortunately, such incessant and unrelenting negative rhetoric has penetrated some of the Westernized intellectuals and journalists in India and is attempting to reach mainstream voice and disrupt Hindu identity.
Negative portrayals of cherished Hindu leaders, who sought to revive Hindu identity and unity, is on the rise. Any attempt to speak of Hindu identity is trashed as incoherence and mindless homogenization. Great Hindu leaders like Swami Vivekananda are portrayed as wily Hindu nationalists who sought Hindu unity for political expedience. Any practicing peaceful Hindu, who has read Swami Vivekananda and experienced the positive outlook for their unity and identity and found their lives enriched as a process, is flabbergasted to hear such treachery is seeping into their very own backyard masquerading as scholarship and historical analysis.
Indra's Net is a timely response to set the matters straight. Hindus are at a critical juncture with this avalache of negative portrayals crashing in. Their inward focus will no longer do. Hindu scholarship needs to respond and correct the narrative. Hindus should take charge of their own grand narrative.
Rajiv Malhotra's second book Breaking India highlighted how some negative forces are manifesting in India to disrupt and break India, to weaken any efforts among Hindus to find a common identity.
In his next book Being Different, Rajiv Malhotra shows the common heritage to all Dharma traditions and contrast them to Abrahamic religions. He also highlights origins of exclusivity in the history-centric religions, and resulting difference-anxiety-from-above that leads to intolerance in Western minds.
In his new book Indra's Net, Rajiv Malhotra takes on some of the key ideological and intellectual precepts on which these divisive forces operate. Rajiv Malhotra systematically identifies some of the key myths on which these negative narratives and portrayals are built, debunks those myths, and exposes the myth-makers.
For the anti-Hindu camp, there is one fatal flaw in this book: book makes eminent sense and more importantly brings understanding of Hindu unity. Prejudice is the death knell for the anti-Hindu scholarship.
Highly recommended book not only to understand the integral unity that forms the common base on which Hindu diversity, pluralism, and dynamism thrive but also expose the true colors of disruptive forces that seek to undermine and misrepresent it.
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful.
Provocative But Perimetric
By L. Ron Gardner
I was inititially attracted to this book because I recently began working on a Buddadharma text and need to bone up on Indra's Net because of its central role in Hua Yen Buddhism. I wanted to get a nuanced Hindu perspective-- with Brahman, and not emptiness, as the noumenal foundation of the Net--and this book provided it, to a limited extent. However, because this book is essentially about "defending Hinduism's philosophical unity," it did not deeply consider the Vedic view of Indra's Net versus the Buddhist.
What this book does deeply consider, however, is how modern and post-modern intellectual forces in the West are conspiring to de-legitimize Hinduism as a genuine and coherent religion. And according to Malhotra, the reason they do this is "to protect Western hegemony." These forces, he says, have an academic and political agenda which is best served by depicting Hinduism as a "random juxtaposition of incoherent and fragmented traditions." By undermining any idea of coherency in Indian civilization, these forces in effect champion Western supremacy. As Malhotra puts it, "In the intellectual kurukshetra of globalization, civilizations compete to gain `mindshare.'"
Malhotra has little regard for the prevalent Western ethos or "mindset" that is behind the attack on a legitimate Hinduism. He views the West as representing "brute-force reduction of diversity into homogenity, where diverse living substances are transformed into uniformly lifeless ashes." The West, as he sees it, is about normative order rather than profound, variegated culture.
According to Malhotra (who uses the term "neo" in a disparaging sense, as a synonym for "pseudo"), the thesis of the neo-Hinduism forces looking to subvert Hinduism can be summarized thus:
1) Swami Vivekananda manufactured a new religion, popularly called Hinduism, and other Indian nationalists such as Gandhi, Radhakrihnan, Rabindranath Tagore, and Sri Aurobindo subsequently crystallized it.
2) The Bhagavad Gita was not a central text until Western Indologists made it important.
3) Christian ideals of helping society and Western secular theories of social ethics inspired Indian nationalists appropriate them; karma yoga was used merely as a garb to make the plagiarized ideas look Hindu.
4) Hinduism is inherently oppressive of minorities such as Muslims, Christians, Dalits, and women. It forces others into its own homogeneity for gaining political control. Hindutva is its latest incarnation and its goal has been to impose homogeneity.
5) Hinduism is a dangerous conspiracy that is being spread worldwide by duping naïve Westerners into thinking that it is a genuine tradition of peace and equality, which it is not.
Malhotra provides an in-depth counter-thesis to the neo-Hindu thesis, and anyone interested in the debate between these two diametrically opposed theses will doubtless find this book a compelling read.
Who exactly are the founders and proselytizers of the neo-Hinduism thesis? Malhotra identifies them, providing about twenty names. Most of these people are academics with an agenda, and once you have their names, you can, if you're so inclined, find and read what they've written on the subject.
Malhotra is a genuine scholar, and in the course of elaborating his thesis, he provides interesting material on the spiritual history of India. He's clearly a big fan of Swami Vivekananda, and presents arguments to defend him against his detractors. He also has a lot to say about Shankara, which should be of interest to students of Advaita Vedanta.
While I found this text an interesting and educational read, I felt that it didn't identify the "disease" that is causing the "symptom" of neo-Hinduism. Although the text properly identifies the agenda and limitations of the modern Western Weltanschauung; it fails to get to the root of the problem: Progressivism, left-wing neo-Marxist fascism, an ideology coincident with America being hijacked and effectively privatized by a private, central Banking Cartel in 1913. This private Banking Cartel named itself The Federal Reserve, but it is not Federal at all, and neither is its collection agency, the Internal Revenue Service. In the twentieth century, Progressivism took over the American educational system, and 94% of all university professors now identify themselves as Progressives, or left-wing liberals. In short, it is this cancerous Progressivism, being peddled around the world as "Integral Globalism" by the likes of Ken Wilber, which is overtly and covertly waging war on Hinduism and any ideology anathema to its hegemony.
In summary, this text is provocative and worth reading, but it is also perimetric because it doesn't identify the "Heart of the Beast" seeking to de-legitimize Hinduism--Progressivism.
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