Back to Schedule and Participants
Back to Colloquium Home
|
Office |
Home |
|
|
Address |
Infinity Foundation |
|
|
Phone |
(609) 683-0548 |
|
|
FAX |
(609) 683-0478 |
|
|
Phone (other) |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Web site |
|
|
|
Other |
|
|
Rajiv Malhotra is the president of the Infinity Foundation. He is a former telecom entrepreneur who took early retirement to pursue a wide range of spiritual and intellectual interests, including rediscovery and direct experiences as per the Hindu-Buddhist tradition. He is also interested in facilitating an expansion of the American education system to incorporate non-Western wisdom and culture so as to bring about a truly global renaissance for all humanity.
The Case for Indic Traditions in the Academy
While my previous Sulekha column explained "neocolonialism," the cultural condition of many elitist Indians, and its adverse impact upon the Indian Classics, it did not give a vision as to why the Indian Classics are worth preserving and rediscovering. This essay puts in context the potential significance of these classics for the contemporary world at large.
Furthermore, while the previous essay focused on the faults of external elements, i.e. the neocolonialists, this essay faults those who claim to speak for these traditions.
The major sections are as follows:
I. The Second Renaissance
II. How Indic Traditions can Enrich Mainstream Education
III. Need for Universality and Authenticity
IV. Need for Constructive and Historical Scholarship
V. Insiders Versus Outsiders
VI. Obstacle: U-Turns from Indic Traditions
VII. Some Consequences of the U-Turn Syndrome
VIII. The Problem of World Negation
IX. The Problem of Hindu Nationalism
X. Proposing: The Mandala Framework
XI. Appendix 1 –Misportrayals and their Causes in US Education.
XII. Appendix 2 – proposal for Repositioning India in US Education