1 Wk 01 Wed, Jan 6 Wk 01 Wed, Jan 6 By Friday Introduce yourself to the class in the discussion thread on Canvas. Sign up for a 5-min slot to get acquainted between W-F. Have your feedback at hand F during section to raise your unanswered questions, discussion points.
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Wk 01 Wed, Jan 6Wk 01 Wed, Jan 6
By Friday Introduce yourself to the class in the
discussion thread on Canvas. Sign up for a 5-min slot to get acquainted
between W-F. Have your feedback at hand F during
section to raise your unansweredquestions, discussion points.
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Next Class, Mon Papers for Monday:
– Potter 2001, Parametric typology of Karma– Bhattacharji 1982, on Fatalism– Ghosh Dastidar 1987, on Freedom / Autonomy– Reincarnation Aklujkar 2001 Optional: Perrett 1987, inductive proof of rebirth
purpose Perrett on Indian Philosophy Potter on Karma
– 1964: Naturalistic Principle of Karma– 1980: Details for Yoga & Advaita theories
Lippner’s overview of karman (= karma)
Eastman on (Western?) Philosophy
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Philosophy vs. Metaphysics Understanding the human predicament
– Why do I exist?– What has meaning?
Question of ultimate human fulfilment– What’s my purpose?
Philosophy ought to be a tool to answer this question– Critical thinking
Eastman on Metaphysics “As human beings, we have a physical
capacity, a psychological capacity, an intellectual capacity; and a metaphysical capacity which transcends the other capacities in its ability to witness, reflect and explore every aspect of these other capacities without itself being incorporated into them (5).”
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Similar Sentiments?“Science is organized common sense. Philosophy is organized piffle.”
-- Bertrand Russell, philosopher and mathematician.
“That Man is the product of causes which had no prevision of the end they were achieving; that his origin, his growth, his hopes and fears, his loves and his beliefs, are but the outcome of accidental collocations of atoms; that no fire, no heroism, no intensity of thought and feeling, can preserve an individual life beyond the grave; that all the labours of the ages, all the devotion, all the inspiration, all the noonday brightness of human genius, are destined to extinction in the vast death of the solar system, and that the whole temple of Man’s achievement must inevitably be buried beneath the debris of a universe in ruins--all these things, if not quite beyond dispute, are yet so nearly certain, that no philosophy which rejects them can hope to stand. Only within the scaffolding of these truths, only on the firm foundation of unyielding despair, can the soul’s habitation henceforth be safely built.
– Our focus: Ancient Period (900 BCE-200 CE) + early Classical (200-400 CE)
Eastern “Philosophy” Is Different
Primary purpose is:● Freedom from bondage / karma● = Liberation
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Diff. from Western Philosophy West: “pure theory”
– knowledge for its own sake– excludes religious practice, theology, dogma, tradition– critical thinking
East: soteriological orientation – focus on liberation, mokṣa– advocates transcendence of everyday world– critical of mere theory– “apologetics” for acceptance of Vedas, tradition
Is this a valid distinction?
Critique of reason/argumentation Use of reason to scorn orthodox Vedic
tradition– by heterodox opponents (Buddhists, Jains,
materialists) Logician = heretic! Analytic reasoning alone cannot provide
truth of ātman.– logic useful in refuting opposing views
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Potter (1964)Naturalistic Principle of Karma
Law v. Principle (39-40) Naturalism = belief that only natural (as
opposed to supernatural or spiritual) laws and forces operate in the world. (OED)
“paradox of human freedom (44)”– Freedom = overcoming “habit” saṃskāra, vāsanā, bhāvanā Freedom from suffering (49)
– habituation1 v. habituation2 (46)
Potter (1965), cont’d “we will have renounced choice because
we will have renounced all desires arising from the not-self (47)”
Corollaries to karmic principle:– Doctrine of reincaranation– Principle of beginninglessness
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Setup for Potter (1980) Yoga Advaita Vedānta Terms
– Brahman– Dharma– Caste, varṇa x Life stage, āśrama– Vāmadeva myth
At the end of a mahāyuga, a “minor” dissolution of world, followed by a mahāyuga of rest and return to cosmic non-differentiation.
Approx. 1½ “Brahmā-minutes”
A kalpa or 1000 mahāyugas, 4,320,000,000 years comprises one day for Brahmā!
Scale of time, cont’d At the end of each kalpa,
4.32 billion years, there is a “major” dissolution which lasts for a kalpa, a night for Brahmā
A year of Brahmā is 360 days and nights of Brahmā.
After 120 Brahmā-years everything, including Brahmā dissolves. (120 x 360 x 2 x 4.32 billion years = 373.248 trillion years!)– Currently in 51st Brahmā-
year
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SaṃsāraWe are in an infinite cycle of birth-aging-
death-rebirth, metempsychosis Purānic cosmology: 7 heavens, 21 or 28
hells These are merely stops on the endless
journey – reap the results of our actions Nature of birth determined by karma
The Four Castes, varṇa-s“Twice-born”1. Brahmin
– Vedic priests, scholars2. Kṣatriya
– rulers, warriors, landowners3. Vaiśya
– traders, merchants, farmers
4. Śūdra– laborers, indigenous
BG 4.13, cf. RV 10.90.12
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Four Stages, āśrama-s of life1. brahmacārī, student2. gṛhasta, householder3. vānaprasthī, forest-dweller4. sannyāsī, renunciate
varṇa & āśrama determine one’s dharma– specific, viśeṣa-dharma– common to all, sāmānya-dharma
1. regular rites, nitya-karman2. special occasion rites, naimittika-karman3. rites to attain specific desires, kāmya-karman4. rites for atonement, prāyaścitta-karman
B. Forbidden, niṣedha
Advaita Vedānta 3 types of stores of karma
1. prārabdha-karma, active in present life2. sañcita-karma, inactive, accumulated over
past lives3. āgāmī-karma, to be effective in the future =
kriyamāṇa-karman, in the making (Lipner 2012)
3 paths after death (Potter 1980, 251-2)
1. uttarāyaṇa, devāyana, Northern path2. dakṣināyana, pitrāyaṇa, Southern path3. saṃyamana, world of Yama, lord of death
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Liberation in Advaita Vedānta Achieved through knowledge of identity