[Y-Indology] De-Essentializing the 'Eastern Wisdom'.

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, "Rajiv Malhotra" <rajiv.malhotra@a...> wrote:

 

> B: How does one explain the 'intellectual' success of Buddhist

>Studies in academia, when at least as much philosophical value lies

>within the non-Buddhist areas of IP? Could the answers partially

>be: (1) Buddhism was never colonialized with the same intensity

>and duration, and hence its scholarship was never so Eurocentric;

>(2) Buddhism is not as big a target for Missionary wars today

>(China bans proselytizing), and hence there is less 'market'

>sponsorship for negative portrayals (to use his A factor); and

> (3) being non-theistic makes it less threatening, as it can be made

>to fit alongside Christianity or appropriated as 'secular'.

>Hinduism having its own theistic and secular dimensions is proving

>more resilient to digest and eliminate.

 

I'm sure Indologists and V. Sundaresan will have insights to share.

One time, Vidyasankar wondered about Dalai Lama's popularity.

Does the Tibet question have anything to do with the growth of

Tibetan studies? Also, many Buddhist works' nature of

teaching morals resembles church preachings. As Prof. Witzel

points out, these all go back to Zoroasterian reform.

Alexander Soper, a Sinologist and art historian, argues for

the beginning of Maitreya, a bodhisattva descending from Heaven

is the idea of Messiah from Iran in Buddhism. This Maitreya -

Iranian connexion is implemented in Bhagavadgita, I think.

 

Not only Bhagavadgita is not mentioned (I have not

seen it in Alvars) in Alvars, the gita-teaching Krishna

to Arjuna in sculpture is absent in old times.

Like Buddhist teachings, Europeans found gita interesting

and something like their Bible, they translated it in large numbers,

now Indians use the popular book to build a kitabi religion

and use it like bible or quran. Sankara, probably chose BhG

after knowing about Islam in Keralan coast.

 

The West probably sees bible in buddhism and gita, and so

studies more of them. But Hinduism sounds alien.

 

Regards,

N. Ganesan