Join Mukunda as he talks to Jodh Singh (Twitter@jungnihang) about Sikhism. We go through a detailed history of 10 Gurus, the socio-political environment in that period, the practices of the Sikhi Dharm and other topics. If you want to learn and understand Sikhism, this is the podcast episode for you.
Join Mukunda as he talks to Gopi Shankar Madurai, Founder of Srishti Madurai and an LGBTQIA Hindu Activist. They discuss biological sex, gender identity, sexual […]
Join Mukunda as he talks to Prof. Nicholas Sutton, Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies. They discuss Prof. Sutton’s journey into Hindu thought and his life of studying Dharma, Philosophy, Bhagavad Gita, Mahabharata and other texts/traditions. They delve into morality and ethics, the idea of Dharma, deontological morality, virtue ethics, diversity in Hindu thought, the conundrum of God in the world vis-a-vis Krishna and numerous other ideas.
You can check out Prof. Sutton’s lectures and talks at: https://www.youtube.com/user/HinduStudies
and you can get his books at:
https://www.amazon.com/s?k=nicholas+sutton&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss_1
https://ochs.org.uk/people/dr-nicholas-sutton
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We are launching a new series called Meru Manthan: The Churning of Ideas, where we engage with thinkers, ideas and viewpoints from all traditions and […]
Join Mukunda as he speaks to Shambhav Sharma, the host and creator of the Sham Sharma show. In this atypical Meru podcast, (we focus more on social and political issues), we discuss a myriad of topics including Sham’s life in India, my time in India, free speech, feminism and misogyny in cultures, ideas about the Truth, Muslimphobia, Tulsi Gabbard and Hinduphobia (starts around 58 min 45 second mark), discussion about Pieter Friedman (author of the hit piece on Tulsi), Kashmir, social and media issues in India, (sorry for the video/audio issue at 1 hour and 48 min mark) and a few more socio-political issues.
You can check out the Sham Sharma Show at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCs0kMbzhUYV2lhIV7xoWhoA
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Join Mukunda as he speaks to Suhag Shukla, Esq., the Executive Director of the Hindu American Foundation (HAF), a non-profit and non-partisan Hindu advocacy group in the United States. In this podcast, we discuss a myriad of topics including growing up as part of the Indian and Hindu diaspora in the US, the issues that Hindus in the US have to deal with, diversity in thought in Hinduism and its traditions, the role that HAF plays in the US, education controversies that arose regarding teaching Hinduism in the education system in the US, the problems and issues around the term Hindutva, brief conversation about “woke” culture, Kashmir and other interesting topics
Join Mukunda and Racchit, as we speak to Prof. Prakash Shah, Department of Law at Queen Mary University of London, about the Caste System and its conceptual foundations in the Western world. We discuss the idea of Caste and how much of it was developed through the lens of the West’s engagement with India by imposing their ideas and concepts of what they thought was the social fabric of India was like into their own world views. Even today there is not an intelligible definition of what caste is or isn’t, rather we assume it is a reality.
Let us put a caveat here, there is no disagreement or contention that violence between groups or social status between groups is a reality rather the point here is that the idea of Caste, itself, is a western invention and conceptual framework which is alien and unknown to India until the Western world began to interact and try to understand India. This is a controversial topic and in this podcast, we deal with it using nuance and critical thought.
Join Racchit and I as we trialogue with Prof. Vamsee Juluri, Professor of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco. We discuss the media on the whole. depiction of Hindus in the media, Hinduphobia, Prof. Juluri’s books and many other topics.
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Join Mukunda as he speaks to Razib Khan and Omar Ali of the Brown Pundits.
In this episode, Mukunda speaks to Kushal Mehra, the host of The Carvaka Podcast. We discuss Hindutva, Social Media, Hinduism, Secularism, Indian Politics, Philosophy, Morality, and other topics.
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Join Mukunda, Racchit and Professor Jeffery Long, Professor of Religious and Hindu Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania in this episode of the Meru Media Podcast. Professor Long is the author of many books and articles on Hinduism, Jainism and Buddhism. Most recently Professor Long is the editor of “Perspectives on Reincarnation: Hindu, Christian, Scientific”. In this episode, we discuss Professor Long’s journey into Hinduism, Ramakrishna Paramahamsa, the Vedanta Society, and Reincarnation/Karma/Samsara, we even discuss Japan and its deep connection to Hinduism and Indic thought.
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Join Mukunda and Professor Ramdas Lamb, Professor of Religious Studies and Hinduism at the University of Hawaii, Manoa and the author of Rapt in the Name: Ramnamis, Ramnam, and the Untouchable Religion in Central India. In this episode we discuss:
1. Ramdas Lamb’s fascinating journey from Watts, California and a Catholic background to India and Hinduism then to Hawaii. Prof. Lamb lived through such amazing times in both the USA and India from the 1950’s to the 1980’s, anyone who is interested how Hinduism and America intersected in this period, it is a great story from Prof. Lamb’s experience. His experiences meeting westerner sadhus and legendary gurus like Neem Karoli Baba, Muktananda and others.
2. We discuss the Ramananda sampradaya and Prof. Lamb’s experiences in the monastic life, secluded practices (tapasya and yoga) in the Himalayas and forests, sacred texts, views on caste, and bhakti. Prof. Lamb discusses the nature of a guru, surrendering to the guru and how it is important to find a dharmic guru. (starting 39 min mark)
3. Discussion on Valmiki Ramayana, Adhyatma Ramayana and Tulsidas’s Ramcharitamanas (starting at 1 hour and 9 minute mark)
4. Discussion on Untouchability, the Ramnamis, their beliefs, rituals, modernity, and Rama. (starting at 1 hour and 20 min mark). This is a fascinating section that deals with understanding the diversity of Hindu thought and practices that are developed within non-main stream communities.
5. Caste, Identity (Dalit vs Harijan vs SC/OBC/Adivasi), and Issues (starting at 1 hour and 52 mark)
6. Sahayog Foundation that Prof. Lamb started, it is a foundation that helps young low caste or Harijan girls go to school and get educated. (starting at 2 hour and 9 min mark) (if you want to contribute to this amazing cause please reach out to Sahayog Foundation and Ramdas Lamb at
ra*******@gm***.com
)
Ramdas Lamb teaches introductory religion courses as well as courses dealing with contemporary religion and society, fieldwork, and mysticism. The focus of his current research is on monastic traditions and religion among the low castes in central and northern India. He was a Hindu sadhu (monk) in north India in the Ramanandi sampradaya from 1969 until 1978.
Meru Media Video Interview with Nithin Sridhar
Mukunda and Nithin discuss a wide host of topics relating to Vedanta, Indic Culture, Menstruation Ideas across Cultures, the Sabarimalai Controversy, Sati, including:
Advaita Vedanta (starting at 10 min mark)
Discussion on Nithin’s Books (starting at 32 min mark)
Indic Civilizational Ethos and the clash with Modernity (starting at 38 min mark)
Education system and imparting of Indic values (starting at 53 min mark)
Indic views on Menstruation and Feminism (starting at 1 hour and 5 min mark)
Sabarimalai Controversy (starting 1 hour and 40 min mark)
Discussion on the Practice of Sati and Suicide (starting 1 hour and 58 min mark)
About Nithin Sridhar: With a degree in civil engineering, and having worked in construction field, Nithin Sridhar passionately writes about various issues from development, politics, and social issues, to religion, spirituality and ecology. He is based in Mysore, India. His first book “Musings On Hinduism” provided an overview of various aspects of Hindu philosophy and society. His latest book “Menstruation Across Cultures: A Historical Perspective” examines menstruation notions and practices prevalent in different cultures & religions from across the world. Tweets at @nkgrock
You can purchase Nithin’s book Sabarimalai Confusion: Menstruation Across Cultures below
https://www.amazon.com/Menstruation-Across-Cultures-Sabarimala-Perspective/dp/9386473461
In this second part to Episode 4a, Racchit and Mukunda discuss Kama and Moksha, the last two parts the Purusharthas. They explore the various ideas of Kama as sex, desire, pleasure and other roles then connect it to the modern world. Finally they briefly delve into Moksha and Nirvana but only enough to get a quick taste, that topic will require significantly more time and episodes. So sit back and join us
Mukunda and Prof. Joydeep Bagchee discuss Indology, Philology, Historism and the Mahabharata. We discuss the issues and history of Indology and Philology then we jump to the basics of the composition of the Mahabharata and the themes that it delves into. We broach many topics including racism in historical Indology, how modern Indology has shaken those roots, the Mahabharata as a text and how it was interpreted over the past 150 years, ahimsa, dharma and much more.
Hi Everyone, Join Racchit and Mukunda as they discuss the ideas of Varna, Ashrama and Purushartha. This is the first part of a 2 part […]
Meru Media Interview Series Episode 1 Interview with Professor Jain Guest: Professor Pankaj Jain Associate Professor of Religious Studies at University of North […]
Raghu Kumar, a successful entrepeneur and founder of Upstox and Rain Hedge Fund, and I decided to record a podcast at 1 am in the morning in his son’s play room sitting on baby stools, sometimes random decisions produce really interesting conversations. This is one of those conversations, we discuss Carnatic Music, Sports and Mahabharata plus a bunch of other tangents. It’s a fun and engaging conversations even at 1 am. Join us!
Welcome to Episode 3, The Framework for Understanding the Indic Reality, History, and Ideas. We delve into the Indian Ideas of Understanding History and Tradition […]
Welcome to Episode 2! Join me and Racchit as we discuss what is driving us to take up this endeavor of discussing, promoting and preserving Indic Culture and Thought. We weave around from topic to topic and have a very broad discussion, some funny, some serious and mostly entertaining, we hope. We hope you enjoy this episode and please leave your comments, thoughts, criticisms, and suggestions.
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