[Y-Indology] Thesis on Kundalini

[Guest guest]

INDOLOGY, Robert Zydenbos <indologist@o...>

wrote:

> And some people (both older, established scholars

> as well as younger, innovative scholars and students) fail to

> understand that the academic study of religion is not some kind of

> missionary activity.

>

> RZ

>

> Prof. Dr. Robert J. Zydenbos

> Department für Asienstudien - Indologie / Philosophie-Department

> Universität München

 

 

A very interesting and lengthy reply. I read it a couple of times.

So I guess it's alright to have a personal interest in the religion

ones work concerns, as long as one doesn't fail to communicate

rationally in the given academic setting. Personally I have a few

ideas and theories I'm very anxious to present in my thesis. Does

this mean I'm a missionary? (*chuckle*) I'm not of the faith I'm

writing about, I just take an interested in it. After all, who would

study Hinduism or tantric texts their entire lives, if they're *not*

interested. That would be madness imho.

 

The relationship between the vedic gods, and the pranic/kundalini

energies in man are one of the things I'd like to write about. Most

of the academic literature I've skimmed through fail to mention

anything about this, even though it's not exactly grand news. Even

the famous seventeenth-century tantric Baskararaya was of the opinion

that parts of the vedas were tantric/esoteric texts. I just feel that

theories like these are neglected and almost ignored in most

secondary litterature on vedanta and yoga-tantra.

 

If I can't find any serious indologists or scholars who echo the

ideas I wish to explore in my masters, should I just drop the

subject? Without "serious" references (whatever that is), it's hard

to get the thesis accepted.

 

Fred M.

UiO.

[Guest guest]

It is not easy to find a way out for the problem of accommodating discourses

related to deep subjective experiences into the rational traditions espoused by

modern Universities .Experimental psychology does not pose much problem if

accompanied by vigorous scientific methodology, but in the case of spiritual

disciplines, the very fact that they are being observed is regarded as an

inhibitting factor.The scientific community has been consistently sceptical

about even desciplines like parapsychology and phenomena like ESP.So the

problems about various sadhanas vis a vis modern research could be summed up:

1. Is the particular spiritual practice open to all, including the sceptic?

2. Is the spiritual experience repeatable at will ?

3.Is it capable of being generalised into a natural law?

4. Can it be substantiated in a rational , dispassionate discourse?

Of course I do not deny the possibility of valid knowledge existing outside the

contours of experimental science in the strict sense of the term

Rajendran

 

 

Dr.C.Rajendran

Professor of Sanskrit

University of Calicut

Calicut University P.O

Kerala 673 635 Phone: 0494-2401144

Residential address:28/1097,Rajadhani Kumaran Nair Road,

Chevayur, Calicut Kerala 673 017 Phone: 0495-2354 624

 

 

 

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