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  1. S

    Rethinking Brahman

    Some musings I have been having recently. At the moment I am just speculating about the possibilities as Brahman is so mysterious! I wonder what does it mean to say Brahman is infinite consciousness? Can infinite consciousness be conscious of itself? It does not seem logically possible because...
  2. S

    Quantum physics can account for miracles

    I am starting a separate thread to discuss mind and matter interactions, as the original thread is about consciousness, and consciousness and mind are not the same thing, at least not in the Indian tradition of philosophy. In any case mind-matter interactions involves another subject of...
  3. S

    Vedic Science: Constructing a scientific religion

    It is curious that when we interrogate discourses about science and religion, these discourses are often very culturally specific and stem predominantly from Western philosophical and Abrahamic discourse. The separation between science and religion has been institutionalized by the Cartesian...
  4. S

    Consciousness is NOT caused by the brain

    This is continuation of the previous debate which happened in the thread "No objective reality" but which was off-topic there, hence I am starting its own thread to focus on the topic of why consciousness is not produced the brain(no objective reality does not entail anything about consciousness...
  5. S

    What is the need for idol worship and temples?

    This in response to a request by a member in the Hinduism DIR thread to open this as a separate debate. I want to open this debate in the general religious forum so all religious can participate, understanding other religions hold strong views on idol worship and temple worship/pilgrimages and...
  6. S

    Reality as mental modification: No objective reality

    In the Indian philosophical and religious tradition reality is considered to be a mental modification, chitt-vritti, and as such Indian philosophies ontologically are idealist for they posit that reality is a mind-stuff, not a physical stuff. This informs the religious practices of the Indian...
  7. S

    Does God speak to you?

    I am trying to understand theism, and prayer, worship and devotion more. As I have a very strongly intellectual and scientific mind to me theism is completely alien, and I am inclined to just dismiss it as superstition. At the same time I have gone through a theistic period in my younger years...
  8. S

    Religion and falsificationism: Religion and bad theory

    I wonder why do we not apply the Popperian falsification method used to differentiate bad theories from good theories in science by falsifying falsifiable statements within scientific theories, to religion? While, many religious statements are unfalsifiable like the existence of God, there are...
  9. S

    Hindu and Atheists: Hinduism and Atheism

    I am starting this debate as a debate between Hindus and Atheists. I am a Hindu Atheist myself, and I have personally noted a persecution complex by many Hindus here that consider me not a legitimate Hindu because I am an an atheist and even feel justified to attack me personally(I am treated...
  10. S

    Refutation of a personal creator god

    I am posting a refutation of the personal creator god(Ishvara) from the Hindu Advaita canonical text Brahma Sutras, with the commentary of Shankara and some of my comments. I think these are strong logical argument, but I want to see how well they stand to scrutiny from others. This refutation...
  11. S

    The efficacy of rituals/magik/witchcraft

    Hi, I am interested in understanding more about ritual, especially from the point of view of majik and witchcraft. Why are rituals done and do they actually work? I would be interested in others experiences with rituals and the kind of results they get, and how can they be sure that the result...
  12. S

    Does quantum physics prove......

    1) The human mind creates the physical or empirical reality 2) The one true sun-god exists Somebody made these claims, and I am not a quantum physicist, but my major is philosophy of science so my own understanding of quantum physics knows these claims to be NOT true, but I would like to get...
  13. S

    Religious pluralism in Islam

    Hi, I am interested in getting the views of and the official views and scriptural evidence of religious pluralism in Islam? What I mean by religious pluralism is the idea that other religions are just as equally valid paths to liberation/salvation or attainment of god. Do Muslims think that...
  14. S

    Hindu: The fallacy of 'Hinduism'

    My position: My argument is that the term 'Hinduism' is meaningless. It is a fallacious term that does not describe a single comprehensive religion, in the way Buddhism describes the religion founded by the Buddha and has central doctrines like the 4 noble truths, or Christianity describes the...
  15. S

    Idol worship vs Deity worship

    In the Hinduism DIR forum I have seen a few Hindus, both Krishna-worshipers who regularly go temples and worship statues(murtis) of the ONE God Krishna, consecrate it, feed it milk, pray to it, offer fruits and flowers to it and sing to it, claim this is deity worship and not idol worship, hence...
  16. S

    Am I am an atheist?

    I am interested in getting the views of actual atheists on whether they consider me, a Hindu Advaitin(non dualist, only accept the existence of the absolute reality of self, all else is illusion, the purpose of life is to realize that essential reality) to be an atheist, as I have been accused...
  17. S

    What do Buddhists think of the Vaishnavists accepting Buddha as an avatar of Vishnu?

    I am interested in knowing the actual views and opinions of Buddhists on the Hindu Vaishnavist sect claiming that Buddha is an avatar of Vishnu as the deceiver, who incarnated on Earth to deceive the ignorant worldly people by teaching them an atheist philosophy to ultimately bring them back to...
  18. S

    Vedanta: Advaita vs Dvaita

    Background: Vedanta, meaning the end of the Vedic phase, refers to the Vedic corpus known as the Upanishads, which appear at the end of the Vedic ritual texts known as the Brahmanas and Aranayakas, focusing on the knowledge portion of the Vedas. In the Upanishads much of the concepts which later...
  19. S

    The Dogma of Bhakti: The views of a dissident Hindu

    Namaste, I have posted before on this forum with my current handle Surya Deva and previously as Suraj, and then I stopped posting because I found the topics got repetitive and there seemed to be a very strong Bhakti bias among the posters. To be honest, the more I talked with fellow Hindus...
  20. S

    Hinduism and representation in academia

    I was recently reading the articles of the scholar Raji Malholtra, who was one of the key thinkers behind the recent California textbook controversy and a major international scholar who looks in particular at how Hinduism is represented in the West. I agree with him when he says Hinduism is...
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