It shows that the older spiritual idea of India is still strong and is undergoing a resurgence. Today two different ideas of India are struggling with each other in a cultural war that is likely to continue for some time. The first can be called the “Nehruvian idea” of a modern post-independence India as a [...]
June 20, 2016
Vamadev Shastri
Analysis/Insights, Archives
Western colonialism did not die after the end of World War II when the West gave up its colonies. It merely changed to a more subtle form, which may prove more harmful to non-Western cultures in the long run.The expansion of Western culture has continued at an accelerated rate along with the denigration and decline [...]
February 19, 2016
Vamadev Shastri
Analysis/Insights, Archives, History, India
The minority has been continually oppressed, marginalised, converted or simply eliminated. Which religious group has the least amount of human rights in South Asia? The probable answer, perhaps surprisingly, is a group that few think about or recognise as existing – Pakistani Hindus. The plight of Pakistani Hindus is among the direst of any community [...]
January 14, 2016
Vamadev Shastri
Archives, Pakistan
“The anti-Hindu Left retains a strong place in journalism and academia, which became entrenched during the long period of the Congress rule. We must remember that India’s Left holds positions far to the left of mainstream liberal political parties in the West, and uses the rhetoric of the communist era. The Left is upset that [...]
October 18, 2015
Vamadev Shastri
Analysis/Insights, Archives
Even the US government is lamenting that political forces in India are trying to resist the PM’s economic reforms. It has been remarked how well Indians do outside of India. It could also be said how well Hindus do outside of India, and additionally how well Hindu-based teachings like yoga do outside of India. The [...]
September 9, 2015
Vamadev Shastri
Analysis/Insights, Archives
As the world was embracing Indian thought more and more, we seemed to be abandoning it. Perhaps the greatest challenge for India today is that its independence movement was only half-accomplished. While India is politically independent, intellectually it still is labouring under the shadow of outside influences that keep the country and its people divided. [...]
August 24, 2015
Vamadev Shastri
Analysis/Insights, Archives
Manu Smriti is an ancient law book of the Hindus, going back to the time of the Mahabharata, if not earlier, meaning that its core material is well over two thousand years old. This means that Manu Smriti is comparable in age to the Bible, if not earlier. Manu Smriti is the most important and [...]
June 16, 2015
Vamadev Shastri
Analysis/Insights
Yoga has become a diverse phenomenon throughout the world from spiritual gurus and meditation methods to physical fitness programs. Yet there is no doubt that Yoga as a term and as a movement overall has its roots in the Hindu and Vedic tradition over the last several thousand years and its prime texts like the [...]
June 9, 2015
Vamadev Shastri
Archives, Spirituality/Culture
There could be no more appropriate day for honoring Yoga throughout the world then on June 21, the day of the summer solstice. Yoga’s connection with light and with the Sun goes back to Yoga’s very origin thousands of years ago in India. The system of Yoga philosophy or Yoga Darshana, on which the Yoga [...]
June 4, 2015
Vamadev Shastri
Archives, Spirituality/Culture
Monotheism – particularly as viewed from the perspective of those who follow pluralistic traditions – often appears as a kind of arrogance, not as a type of true spirituality. That there is only One True God, and all other Gods, are false, sounds like a statement of arrogant intolerance, not an experience of higher consciousness. [...]
May 11, 2015
Vamadev Shastri
Articles, Spirituality/Culture