Saturday, September 12, 2009

 
antinomianism - ("against the law") the theological doctrine that by faith and God's grace a Christian is freed from all laws (including the moral standards of the culture)

autochthonous: Native to the place where found; indigenous; Originating, where found; "the autochthonal fauna of Australia includes the kangaroo";

Akrasia weakness of the will; "lacking command (over oneself)", occasionally transliterated as acrasia, is the state of acting against one's better judgment;
Irrationality: An Essay on Akrasia, Self-Deception, and Self-Control (1987)
posted by Sastry Rama 4:35 PM

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

 
"The startling idea of the Hindu Vedantins, again, is that the way out of colossal error is to embed within the illusion the catalyst of its own destruction. The Upanisad is a ‘Trojan text’, a false gift that will blow up in the mind of its recipient, destroying the error of which it too is a part. It is a false vehicle with a true content."
[Ref: Page 3 of "The concealed art of the soul : Theories of Self and Practices of Truth in Indian Ethics and Epistemology"By Jonardon Ganeri (2007, OUP)]

(hermeneutics: The theory and methodology of interpretation, especially of scriptural text; the branch of theology that deals with principles of exegesis;
exegesis:An exposition or explanation of a text, especially a religious one)
[Hermeneutics and Hindu Thought: Toward a Fusion of Horizons by: Rita Sherma (2009, Springer)]

(panegyric: a formal public speech, or (in later use) written verse, delivered in high praise of a person or thing, a generally highly studied and discriminating eulogy, not expected to be critical.)

"...For Voltaire, Asia was the ideal. In fact, in the eighteenth century, Voltaire was a principle panegyrist and official defender of Asia’s moral rectitude."
[Ref: Aryans, Jews, Brahmins : theorizing authority through myths of identity - Dorothy M. Figueira (2002, SUNY Press)]

posted by Sastry Rama 2:31 PM

Sunday, September 06, 2009

 
"Narayana parovyakthaath" Narayana is beyond the unmanifest.
"Andam Avyaktha sambhavam" This manifest world came from the Unmanifest.
[Ref: MUSINGS ON THE FUNDAMENTALS OF HINDUISM ; Also in Introductory Part of Shankara Bhasya of Srimad Bhagavad Gita]

"The Vedic dharma (religion) is verily twofold, characterised by Pravritti (social action) and Nivritti (inward contemplation), designed to promote order in the world; this twofold dharma has in view the true social welfare and spiritual emancipation of all beings."
[Ref: Pravritti-Nivritti]

Pravritti done in a righteous manner provides sustenance.

Catechism: an elementary book summarizing the principles of a religion; written as questions and answers
posted by Sastry Rama 4:20 PM