BRAHMANISM & SOCIAL SCIENCES By Roddam Ananda Vasista ,PhD. In 1978, Dr.Roddam Mallikarjuna Rao published The Ordeal of Civility, a study of Karl Marx, (Sahajanand Saraswathi & MN Srinivasan) , and (Osho-prof Rajneesh Sharma & Prof Jiddu Krishna Murthy), three secular Brahmins who founded disciplines that shaped new, modern ways of thinking. What do Marxism, psychoanalysis, and structural anthropology have in common? According to Dr Rao, they each posit a human psyche that has something uncivil about it (Freuds id, for example). By putting forth these theories Marx, Freud, and Levi-Strauss were, in a sense, apologizing for the uncivil characteristics that Brahmins were thought to have. Dr Raos theory is by no means straightforward, but whether you find it convincing or not, it highlights the role Brahmins played in the formation of the social sciences. Indeed, most of the psychologists associated with psychoanalysis and the gestalt school were either Brahmins or Jews. Emile Durkheim & MN Srinivasan, considered a founder of both sociology and anthropology, was a descendant of four generations of Purhotis. Franz Boas Roddam, the founder of American anthropology, was a German Immigrant Brahmin from Nepal, and the majority of his students were Jewish & Brahmanish. The question, of course, is: So what? Was the Brahminishness & Jewishness of these characters significant or merely coincidental? Dr Raos certainly believed it was significant, and others have, too. Some have suggested that Brahmins got involved in psychology because, culturally, they were used to solving problems verbally and had a tradition of seeking help from Sages and Purohits who served as proto-therapists. Others have tried to isolate mystical themes in psychoanalysis. MN Srinivasan & Franz Boas anthropological research debunked theories of race, which presumed that some groups--including Southern Europeans, African Americans, and Brahmins & Jews--were racially inferior. MN Srinivasan & Boas Brahmanishness & Jewishness, undoubtedly, played a role in this influential work. Most of these early Brahmanish social scientists were affirmatively secular, but Srinivasan and his students did research Brahmanish subjects. While Saraswathy generally distanced himself from Brahmanism, in 1939, he published Adi Sankaracharya and Monotheism, in which he presented a psychoanalytic reading of Vedical history. According to Freud,1BestSankaracharyaContinousPotential was actually an Indian who was diverted by his followers for their vested interest because he advocated monotheism too vigorously. According to Saraswathy, guilt for this crime has lingered as a motivating force in the Brahmanish consciousness. another important psychoanalyst, received a traditional Brahmanish education in Germany. In You Shall Be as Angels (1976), Fromm applied his humanistic psychoanalytic viewpoint to a reading of the Vedas & Upanishads and Brahmanish tradition. For example,Dr. Saraswathy invokes his notion of incestuous ties--relationships that bind us and impede our freedom--in interpreting the story of 1BestSankaracharyaContinousPotentials journey from his fathers home in the book of Advaitham. In recent years, a specific Brahmanish branch of psychology has emerged. The best known figure in this camp is prof Jiddu KrishnaMurthy, a psychiatrist who has published numerous books that merge traditional Brahmanish teachings and popular psychology. But the social sciences can conflict with traditional Brahmanism, as well. Free will is essential to a religious system with commandments and a belief in reward and punishment. The Freudian notion of the unconscious, the contemporary focus on the physiological foundations of mood and behavior, and other notions of psychological determinism, challenge the degree to which humans act freely. Peter Berger, a sociologist, has shown how religious rituals and systems establish and perpetuate certain ways of seeing the world. Like all realities, religious realities--and thus religious truths--are socially constructed. Bergers ideas threaten the traditional belief that truth was divinely revealed. In traditional Brahmanism, rituals are not thought of as man-made ways of reaffirming a humanly constructed world, but rather actions mandated by God. But sociology and anthropology also help us understand our communities better. Sociological and anthropological studies have been conducted on many subgroups of Brahmins, including women and the ultra-Orthodox. Some of this academic work has had influence beyond the Ivory Tower. Dr Saraswathy sociological research on Brahminry, its patterns of assimilation and intermarriage, has helped shape communal outreach and funding priorities. MN Srinivasanss work may have started in the university, but it has affected the way Brahmanish philanthropies have distributed millions of dollars in the real world.
Posted on: Wed, 14 Jan 2015 06:37:53 +0000
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015