Digest Number 249

[Guest guest]

>On Sat, 12 Jun 1999, Linda Gregory and family wrote:

>

>> lgregory (Linda Gregory and family)

>>

>>

>It may be slightly off the objective of the List, but let me respond.

>You are quite correct in saying that the heliocentric thinking is not

>new that came up only after Copernicus' time. In addition to the

>counter-Earth (another planet which shared the orbit of the Earth

>around the Sun) which you pointed out, there are other aspects of

>heliocentric thinking in pre-Copernicus time. For example, Aristarchus

>mentions the possibility of Earth orbiting around the Sun (rather the

>other way round) during his estimates of the relative sizes and

>distances of the Sun, Moon and the Earth. However, Aristotlean thinking

>is the one that predominated from around 200 BCE to 1400's. The

>heliocentric thinking took a firm foothold only after Copernicus' time.

>

>A parallel to this in advaita is: Shri Shankara is not the one

>who started the advaita philosophy. It was there in the upanishads

>and in GauDapAda kArikA. However, it is only after Shri Shankara's

>time that advaita took a firm foothold.

>

>Regards

>Gummuluru Murthy

>------

It was my original post that was indeed off the subject and I apologize,

but I am fascinated by parallels I see in the cosmolology of ancient Greek

and Hindu views of the universe, believing that the ancient Aryans were at

some point related and connected through the Sanscrit and IndoEuropean

languages as well as general cosmology. Phantom Planet and opposite Earth

idea appeals to me as well. The belief that the universe had a central

spiritual mountain like Meru or Sumeru was reinforced by the high plateau

of Tibet and the Himalaya. The Greeks of course had their Mount Olympus the

"home of the Gods," while Lord Shiva dwells on Kailash. Both mythologies

had an architect of divine palaces and temples. The great epics are full of

these descriptions and are rich in archetypal images with implications for

spiritual philosophy. Shankara himself travelled to sacred places in the

Himalayas we are told. So maybe we're not too far off the subject after

all. - Art

 

 

lgregory