Spirituality And Indian Culture

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This book is based in the understanding that spirituality is at the centre of the dynamics of Indian culture. It sees culture as a product of the human quest of eternal truth, goodness and beauty in all the dimensions of human existence, especially the epistemic, ethical and aesthetic. This comprehensive approach is typical of the Indian mind. The quest itself is characteristic of Indian spirituality, which exists both in the theistic religions of Indian origin, as well as non-theistic, purely meditative religious systems.

This book explains the essential nature of Indian culture and spirituality and then explores how they are reflected in some major discourses of contemporary life, particularly in its 'philosophy of education' and in the universal phenomenon of love, both in its mundane and spiritual connotations.

Dr. M.M. Agrawal read western philosophy at University of London and subsequently taught it at various Universities abroad. In India, he has been a fellow at the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla. Also, he held the Chair of Culture at North-Eastern Hill University, Shillong.

Agrawal has many books to his credit, including Individuality and Reincarnation (1978), The Philosophy of Non- attachment (1982), Consciousness and the Integrated Being (1991), Ethics and Spirituality (1998), and Freedom of the Soul (2003).

This book has emerged from my reflections in Philosophy of Culture which I taught for several years at North East Hill University in Shillong. Since this course was in the department of Philosophy, it had to have a philosophical edge rather than an anthropological or literary. It was not a very difficult goal to achieve as soon as I realized that Indian culture is so heavily indebted to, and indeed rooted in, the Indian philosophical traditions. But since the philosophical traditions are themselves rooted in the most ancient spiritual and religious traditions, the culture of India must be understood by reference to the sacred and the extraordinary quest of Truth which the Indian intellect and imagination so passionately engaged in.

This most incredible culture of India is rightly assessed as the best example of a sustained evolutionary exercise in "enquiry" which the human mind has conducted in ancient times. The philosophical insights concerning the nature of Existence, which appeared as spiritual realizations to the seekers of Truth, seeped into the entire web of human communities living in India and shaped their ways of life most profoundly. All along and everywhere the most central realizations were never forgotten. Most importantly the view of reality alluded to in the ancient scripture of Rig Veda, where it is described as "one divine reality" from which all existence emanates, has provided an extraordinary sense of the unity of life, its integrity and its meaningful evolutionary goals. Thus the Indian culture came upon the exhaltation and celebration of dictums like "Vasudhaival Kutumbkam" meaning 'the world is one family", and "Ekam Satya Vipra Bahudha Vadanti" meaning 'truth is one but the learned. express it differently'. This background of fundamental insight into the nature of reality is what explains the extraordinary variety and the unity in diversity' of Indian culture. This is also what explains the central value of an unending quest of Truth, Goodness and Beauty which informs all cultural endeavours in India and yields the framework of virtues of tolerance, non-violence and compassion which constantly engage our minds and guide in shaping our social, intellectual, artistic and political institutions.

If my intuition about this holy alliance between Indian spirituality and its culture is correct, then, surely, this study opens up a new approach to any serious attempt in understanding Indian culture.

**Contents and Sample Pages**