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This book is about how India differs from the West. It aims to challenge certain cherished notions, such as the assumptions that Western paradigms are universal and that the dharmic traditions teach ‘the same thing’ as Jewish and Christian ones. For while the Vedas say, ‘truth is one, paths are many’, the differences among those paths are not inconsequential. I will argue that the dharmic traditions, while not perfect, offer perspectives and techniques for a genuinely pluralistic social order and a full integration of many different faiths, including atheism and science. They also offer models for environmental sustainability and education for the whole being that are invaluable to our emerging world. The book hopes to set the terms for a deeper and more informed engagement between dharmic and Western civilizations.

Introduction-Being Different

India is more than a nation state. It is also a unique civilization with philosophies and cosmologies that are markedly distinct from the dominant culture of our times – the West. India’s spiritual traditions spring from dharma which has no exact equivalent in western frameworks. Unfortunately, in the rush to celebrate the growing popularity of India on the world stage, its civilizational matrix is being digested into western universalism, thereby diluting its distinctiveness and potential.

Synopsis

INTERVIEW: Rajiv Malhotra on where his work fits within the Hindu tradition

A Working Multicultural Model: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

A Working Multicultural Model: Necessary and Sufficient Conditions

V.V. Raman

V.V. Raman

Ami Ganatra

Ami Ganatra

Q: The belief in sameness of religions is a wonderful concept to reduce religious conflicts. Why does sameness of religions notappeal to you? R: I seek genuine understanding and mutual respect between religions. That is the only solution for lasting peace. Unfortunately, sameness doctrine has a disingenuous undertone to it. What does “two things X and Y are the same” mean?

Q&A: Rajiv’s Arguments Against Sameness

Vivekananda's ideas and the two revolutions in western thought

Vivekananda’s Ideas – Two Revolutions in Western Thought

A mosaic collection of online discussions between Rajiv Malhotra and other intellectuals on subjects of interest

Rajiv Malhotra Discussions

‘History Centrism’: A Challenge to Abrahamic Faiths

‘History Centrism’: A Challenge to Abrahamic Faiths

New Model Using History Centrism

New Model Using History Centrism

Dharmic Gaze

Dharmic Gaze

Dharma Bypasses ‘History-Centrism’

Difference with Mutual Respect

Difference with Mutual Respect

Tolerance Isn’t Good Enough

Tolerance Isn’t Good Enough

Reviewer: Subashish Chattopadhyay

Reviewer: Subashish Chattopadhyay

Difference With Mutual Respect: A New Kind of Hindu-Christian Dialogue

Dharma and the new Pope

Is Karma-Reincarnation Compatible With Christianity?

Response to the Doctrine of Sameness

Gandhi’s Dharma and the West

The Tiger and the Deer: Is Dharma being digested into the West?

Challenging Western Universalism

Reviewer: Dr.Shashi Tiwari, New Delhi

Reviewer: Dr.Shashi Tiwari, New Delhi

Yoga: Freedom from History

Hindu Good News

Dharma is Not the Same as Religion

Order, Chaos and Creation

A Different Kind of Hindu-Christian Dialogue

‘Holy Spirit’ Is Not The Same As ‘Shakti’ or ‘Kundalini’

Bhakti Vikas Swami, Vaishnav scholar and ISKCON sannyasi, author of twelve books

Bhakti Vikas Swami, Vaishnav scholar and ISKCON sannyasi, author of twelve books

Dr. Satya Narayan Das, Founder of Jiva Institute of Vedic Studies, Vrindavan

Dr. Satya Narayan Das, Founder of Jiva Institute of Vedic Studies, Vrindavan

Dr. Pandya, Head of All World Gayatri Pariwar and Chancellor, Dev Sanskriti University, Haridwar

Dr. Pandya, Head of All World Gayatri Pariwar and Chancellor, Dev Sanskriti University, Haridwar

Shrinivas Tilak, Ph D, history of religions, an independent researcher based in Montreal

Shrinivas Tilak, Ph D, history of religions, an independent researcher based in Montreal

Al Collins, Ph.D., former core faculty, California Institute of Integral Studies.

Rita D. Sherma, Executive Director, Confluence School of Faith Studies; co-editor ‘Hermeneutics and Hindu Thought: Towards a Fusion of Horizons’

Rita D. Sherma, Executive Director, Confluence School of Faith Studies; co-editor ‘Hermeneutics and Hindu Thought: Towards a Fusion of Horizons’

John M. Hobson, author of ‘The Eurocentric Conception of World Politics’ (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield, UK.

John M. Hobson, author of ‘The Eurocentric Conception of World Politics’ (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield, UK.

Reviewer: Don Wiebe, Prof. of Divinity, Trinity College in the University of Toronto; and past president of the North American Association for the Study of Religion.

Reviewer: Don Wiebe, Prof. of Divinity, Trinity College in the University of Toronto; and past president of the North American Association for the Study of Religion.

The Importance Of Debating Religious Differences

Dharma’s Good News: You Are Not a Sinner!

Tolerance Isn’t Good Enough: The Need for Mutual Respect In Interfaith Relations

A Hindu View of ‘Christian Yoga’

Myth of Hindu sameness

Civilizations Of The Forest And Desert

Response To The Postmodernist charge of “Essentialism” ‍

Problematizing God’s Intervention in History