Tag: Hinduism

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Catholicism Christianity Hinduism Interfaith Interview Meru Manthan Philosophy Spirituality Theology Vedanta Video Vishisthadvaita

Meru Manthan Episode 2: Conversation and Discussion with Father Francis X. Clooney

Estimated read time 1 min read

Join Mukunda as he speaks to Father Francis X. Clooney, Professor of Comparative Theology at the Harvard Divinity School. Father Clooney is a scholar of Hinduism specifically Visisthadvaita Vedanta and SriVaishnavism, he is equally a practicing Catholic in the Jesuit Order. In this dialogue, Father Clooney and I discuss Catholicism, Ramanujacharya, Visistadvaita Vedanta, the nature of comparative theology, Bhakti tradition, and other topics.

Meru Manthan Episode 2: Conversation and Discussion with Father Francis X. Clooney

Estimated read time 1 min read

Join Mukunda as he speaks to Father Francis X. Clooney, Professor of Comparative Theology at the Harvard Divinity School. Father Clooney is a scholar of Hinduism specifically Visisthadvaita Vedanta and SriVaishnavism, he is equally a practicing Catholic in the Jesuit Order. In this dialogue, Father Clooney and I discuss Catholicism, Ramanujacharya, Visistadvaita Vedanta, the nature of comparative theology, Bhakti tradition, and other topics.

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Ethics Hinduism Interview Nyaya Philosophy Spirituality Video Yoga

Conversation with Stephen Phillips

Estimated read time 1 min read

Join Mukunda as he speaks to Professor Stephen Phillips of the University of Texas at Austin. Professor Phillips is an academic in Philosophy with a wide area of expertise in the Indian/Hindu Philosophical systems particularly Nyaya, Vedanta, and Yoga. In this dialogue, we discuss Prof. Phillips journey into Hindu thought, his experiences living in India, learning Sanskrit, studying Indian Philosophy directly from indigenous experts, the concept of Pramanas, the idea of soul-making, Yoga and other topics. It was an honor and pleasure to be able to have this conversation.

Conversation with Prof. Stephen Phillips

Estimated read time 1 min read

Join Mukunda as he speaks to Professor Stephen Phillips of the University of Texas at Austin. Professor Phillips is an academic in Philosophy with a wide area of expertise in the Indian/Hindu Philosophical systems particularly Nyaya, Vedanta, and Yoga. In this dialogue, we discuss Prof. Phillips journey into Hindu thought, his experiences living in India, learning Sanskrit, studying Indian Philosophy directly from indigenous experts, the concept of Pramanas, the idea of soul-making, Yoga and other topics. It was an honor and pleasure to be able to have this conversation.

You can find Prof. Stephen Phillips at https://liberalarts.utexas.edu/philosophy/faculty/shp9
and you can buy his books at: https://www.amazon.com/Stephen-H.-Phillips/e/B001JRYN56/ref=ntt_dp_epwbk_0

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Caste Dharma Hinduism Interview Morality Philosophy Politics Spirituality Video

Conversation and Interview with Gopi Shankar Madurai, Founder of Srishti Madurai and LGBTQIA Hindu Activist

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After a long break, Meru Media is back with some more interesting, fascinating and informative conversations. Join Mukunda as he talks to Gopi Shankar Madurai, […]

A Conversation with Prof. Nicholas Sutton

Estimated read time 1 min read

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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Dharma Hinduism Interview Judaism Meru Manthan Philosophy Spirituality Video

Meru Manthan Series: Judaism and Hinduism A Discussion with Rabbi Alan Brill

Estimated read time 2 min read

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 religions. This series focuses on similarities, differences, and points of contention between the Dharma traditions themselves and also in regards to other world traditions.

In this inaugural episode, I speak to Rabbi Alan Brill, Professor of Jewish Studies at Seton Hall University and the author of many books including Rabbi on the Ganges: A Jewish-Hindu Encounter. We delve into his background, a few of the Jewish traditions, how he found himself engaging with Hinduism and going to India, the points of similarity and difference between the Jewish traditions and Dharma traditions, Vedanta and Kabbalah, how the Jewish Bible and tradition differs from Christianity and Islam and a host of other topics. I learned a lot from reading Rabbi Brill’s book and even more speaking to him, which I hope you all do too. It was a fascinating and truly fun conversation.

You can reach out to Rabbi Brill at ka******@gm***.com and you can purchase his books at
https://www.amazon.com/Alan-Brill/e/B001KITI7M/ref=dp_byline_cont_book_1
and you can check out his website at: https://kavvanah.wordpress.com/

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Discussion with Sham Sharma, host and creator of the Sham Sharma Show

Estimated read time 1 min read

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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Interview and Discussion with Suhag Shukla, Esq. Executive Director of Hindu American Foundation

Estimated read time 1 min read

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

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Caste Hinduism Interview Politics Video

Western Foundations of the Caste System: Discussion with Dr. Prakash Shah

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.

Western Foundations of the Caste System: Discussion with Dr. Prakash Shah

Estimated read time 2 min read

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.

Media and Hinduism: Discussion and Conversation with Prof. Vamsee Juluri

Estimated read time 1 min read

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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Atheism Dharma Ethics Hinduism Interview Morality Philosophy Politics Social Media Video

Discussion with Kushal Mehra, Host of The Carvaka Podcast

Estimated read time 1 min read

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.

You can find Kushal and the Carvaka Podcast at:
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCKPxuul6zSLAfKSsm123Vww
https://www.stitcher.com/podcast/the-carvaka-podcast
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-c%C4%81rv%C4%81ka-podcast/id1445348369

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Hinduism Interview Philosophy Spirituality Video

Interview and Discussion with Prof. Jeffery Long (Part 3 of 4)

Estimated read time 1 min read

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Join Mukunda, Racchit, and Professor Jeffery Long, Professor of Religious and Hindu Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. 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”. This is part 3 of 4 of our discussion and in Part 3 we discuss:
1. We discuss the different types and ideas of Karma. (from beginning to 5 min mark)
2. Defense of the Rationality of Reincarnation, we discuss the rationality of believing in Reincarnation through logic and even scientific studies. We throw into the mix Samkhya, Panpsychism, the hard problem of consciousness, Jainism, and Sri Aurobindo’s ideas. (from 5 min mark to the end)
You can download Perspectives on Reincarnation at https://www.mdpi.com/books/pdfview/book/1097

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Dharma Hinduism Indology Interview Philosophy Video Wisdom

Interview and Discussion with Professor Jeffery Long (Part 2 of 4)

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Join Mukunda, Racchit and Professor Jeffery Long, Professor of Religious and Hindu Studies at Elizabethtown College in Pennsylvania. 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”. This is part 2 of 4 of our discussion and in Part 2 we discuss:
1. We discuss the work of Prof. Jeffrey Kripal on Ramakrishna Paramahamsa both from the academic perspective and the traditional Ramakrishna perspective along with ideas of hermeneutics and how to be sensitive to both the traditions and the perspectives of academic freedom. (from start to 15 min 55 sec mark)
2. We discuss the idea of purva paksha, steelmanning and how to engage with diverse perspectives and experiences. (from 15 min 55 sec mark to 24 min 06 sec)
3. We discuss the Jain idea of Aneka Vada (Multiple perspectives of Truth), Syaadavada (conditional perspectives) and Nayavada (theory of viewpoints). (starts at 24 min 06 sec mark to 36 min and 15 sec mark)
4. Prof. Long provides an overview and how the book Perspectives on Reincarnation came into being. (start at 36 min and 15 sec mark to the end)

You can download Perspectives on Reincarnation at https://www.mdpi.com/books/pdfview/book/1097

Interview and Discussion with Professor Jeffery Long

Estimated read time 1 min read

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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.

Interview and Discussion with Prof. Ramdas Lamb

Estimated read time 2 min read

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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.

Interview and Discussion with Nithin Sridhar

Estimated read time 0 min read

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