The Souls of China

The Souls of China: The Return of Religion After Mao by Ian Johnson
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

Recent surveys indicate that Chinese hold beliefs, but don’t claim to follow a religion.

The Souls of China by Ian Johnson focuses far too much on ritual (particularly funeral ritual) and too little on Chinese thought. If you want to learn about Chinese thought, then enroll in the edX online course on Humanity and Nature in Chinese Thought once it has been archived.

Readers will be surprised to learn about Xi Jinping's patronage of the Buddhist Linji Temple, where the monk Linji Yixuan founded the Linji School of Chan (Zen) Buddhism.

Johnson organizes his stories by seasons/months of the Chinese calendar, but in his afterword, he says that tian (heaven) is the aspiration of the people he followed for the book. Perhaps tian would have been a better way to organize this book. He says that tian suggests a sense of justice and respect and something higher than any one government. Tian might be a non-translatable, an ineffable concept.

For further reading, the Indian magazine Swarajya has an article Maoism Marries Confucianism - How China's Communists Are Appropriating Confucius. Appropriation serves Chinese nationalism, or what the article calls "Chineseness". I also think that Chinese leaders are concerned about materialism, consumerism, and the need for a moral compass.

Review of Wendy Doniger's book The Hindus: An Alternative History

Best use of Wendy Doniger's book The Hindus: An Alternative History (read my review):

Review of S.L. Bhyrappa's Aavarana

Aavarana by S.L. Bhyrappa
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I discovered Aavarana through the article Rending the veil of historical negationism in India on the IndiaFacts web site. Interestingly, Sandeep Balakrishna, the "writer, columnist, translator, and recovering IT professional" who translated Aavarana from Kannada to English, heads IndiaFacts.

Much of the history of the Muslim conquest of India was already familiar to me, so initially I thought that this book was merely polemic. Indeed, I have read some of the references that Bhyrappa cleverly inserted in the narrative.

The book closes with the words of Swami Vivekananda on the dangers of stumbling upon an inspired superconscious state without undertaking yogic discipline. Swami ji used Muhammad as a prime example. I had attended a study sponsored by the Vedanta Center, in which the swami bypassed these words, perhaps out of embarrassment of Swami Vivekananda’s forthrightness.

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Review of Indra's Net

Namaste

Indra's Net: Defending Hinduism's Philosophical Unity by Rajiv Malhotra
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

In the first part of Indra’s Net, Rajiv Malhotra traces the lineage of scholars who posit a “neo-Hinduism” invented by Swami Vivekananda. The most recent of this lineage is Anantanand Rambachan of St. Olaf College, who claims that Swami Vivekananda’s reliance on direct experience is incompatible with Shankara’s reliance on sruti.

Malhotra then proceeds to show that Rambachan’s concept of Hinduism is too narrow: namely, that Shankara did not dismiss direct experience out of hand and that Sankara’s Advaita Vedanta is only one system of knowing within Hinduism. Malhotra discusses how Hinduism has evolved over time and places Swami Vivekananda squarely in the Hindu tradition.

Malhotra then discusses “digestion” of Hinduism. By digestion, he means the process by which people absorb the parts of Hinduism that they like and excrete (my word, not his) the parts they don’t like. A good example is the de-contextualization of yoga from Hinduism, whereas the rest of Hinduism is trashed.

He introduces the concept of “poison pills” to prevent the “digestion” of Hinduism into other frameworks. These poison pills include characteristics of Hinduism (karma, re-incarnation, embodied knowing, integral unity) that cannot be reconciled with the traditional tenets of Abrahamic religion and force the spiritual seeker to make a choice among religions.

Indra’s Net is more accessible than Malhotra's book An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism; however, Being Different and Indra’s Net re-enforce one another. I would have to read both books several times to fully understand the concepts that Rajiv Malhotra introduces. My 3-star rating is less about the merits of the book and more about the limits of my understanding.


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Review of Understanding Hinduism

Namaste
Understanding Hinduism by Oxford Center for Hindu Studies
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book supplements the online continuing ed course Introduction to Hinduism–History, Text, Philosophy from the Oxford Center for Hindu Studies.

Virtues of this book:

It exercises caution in inferring what archaeological finds indicate about the Indus Valley Civilization.

Similarly, it is cautious about the Aryan Invasion Theory. All it says about the Aryans:

• AIT is a colonial construct (drawing upon Kim Knott's book Hinduism A Very Short Introduction)
• Vedic Sanskrit has linguistic similarities with other Indo-European languages
• We may infer that the Vedic people were agriculturists or pastoralists from their hymns

Understanding Hinduism notes that South Indian priests instructed North Indian priests in Vedic ritual after Islamic suppression of Hinduism. This is evidence of the cultural affinity between North and South (see Breaking India to see how various forces are alienating the South from the North).

I like Understanding Hinduism even better than Klaus K. Klostermaier's book A Short Introduction to Hinduism. Understanding Hinduism is the best introduction to Hinduism that I've read: therefore, I'm rating it 5 stars.

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Review of Breaking India

Namaste, 

Breaking India: Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines by Rajiv Malhotra
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

The book Breaking India by Rajiv Malhotra and Aravindan Neelakandan is about the forces that are fragmenting India. While Islamic radicalism and Maoist insurgencies are two forces that are fragmenting India, Breaking India focuses on the North-South divide, as evidenced by its subtitle Western Interventions in Dravidian and Dalit Faultlines.

Breaking India begins with a study of the construction of Aryan and Dravidian identities through the years and how this artificial divide was promulgated and led to setting different groups in opposition to each other. The book focuses on the construction of Dravidian identity, rather than on deconstruction of the AIT - perhaps because others have done that, the authors don't say.

The most eye-opening part of Breaking India is about the roles that academia, evangelical Christian organizations, NGOs, "think tanks," and governments play in undermining India's unity. Shared interests lead to unlikely pairings such as left-wing intellectuals with evangelical Christian interests. There are also unlikely alliances between Maoists and evangelical Christian entities in India's "Red Corridor."

I recommend Breaking India to anyone concerned about India's unity, and encourage readers to go beyond the main text to read the appendices and endnotes. Appendix B highlights references to the Vedas in Tamil religious literature and Tamil familiarity with smriti such as the Ramayana and Mahabharata - a testament to the unity in Indian civilization. Appendix C presents the extreme case of what can happen when separate identities are constructed and put in opposition to each other: the 1994 genocide in Rwanda that pitted Hutus and Tutsis against each other. Parallels are drawn with the bloody civil war in Sri Lanka that pitted Tamils and Sinhalese against each other.

Breaking India has a dedicated website, www.breakingindia.com.

Other examples of north/south interactions that I'd like to bring up (although they are not mentioned in the book):

Engaging Vishakha Desai, past President, Asia Society on Wendy Doniger's The Hindus

Namaste

Don't even ask why I'm spending so much time and effort on Wendy Doniger's The Hindus, but here is my missive to Vishakha Desai, formerly President of Asia Society:

Vishakha Desai

Dear Dr. Desai,

I am writing with respect to your opinion piece India's Move on 'Hindus' Shows Disturbing Fear of Free Expression that was published on the Asia Society web site, http://asiasociety.org/blog/asia/indias-move-hindus-shows-disturbing-fear-free-expression.

The web page listed your Twitter handle @VishakhaDesai but I see that you have been inactive on Twitter since December 2012. Since I couldn’t share my thoughts with you via Twitter, I decided to write this email.

Some questions and comments:

• How can you say that Wendy Doniger’s opponents are well-funded? Do you have a money trail that you can show? Asia Society lists donors who contribute more than $50,000, and you were probably instrumental in getting contributions of this magnitude when you were President of Asia Society. I doubt that Wendy Doniger’s critics have those resources.
• Would you have the nerve to denounce Muslim groups that force censorship (often with the threat of violence or even violence itself) in the way that you have denounced the “right-wing” Hindus who sought recall of Doniger’s book? I suspect not, as “right-wing” Hindus (particularly an 88-year-old man) are a soft target.
• You promoted debate instead of censorship. Here are some comments on your opinion piece: 
• Wendy Doniger has refused to engage in debate: for example, “she did not participate in a discussion of her book at the annual conference of AAS (Association of Asian Studies) at Hawaii in 2011.” 
• “What discussion can you have with obnoxious findings without any proof?” for example, claiming that Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda had a homosexual relationship. I would also like to point out that Wendy Doniger has stooped to name-calling: she told one of her critics that he was a “mouse turd.” 
• “There is no debate possible with Wendy Doniger or her students - it was tried fruitlessly about a decade ago (Google for "RISA Lila"). But since Doniger is a Western academic, a colleague in the same power structure that Ms. Vishaka N. Desai belongs, Ms Desai will not point it out.” Indeed, you’ve closed ranks with the academic establishment. 
• You wrote,”it's heartening to see that all major newspapers, especially those in English, are full of major stories and editorials by well-known writers and thinkers, all condemning the decision by Penguin … But where was the organized effort to ensure that the climate of fear and intimidation would not continue to allow the destruction of more books deemed to have a view of Indian culture different from the right-wing Hindu zealots?” Well, the English language media in India, academia, and your writers and thinkers are that organized effort. Once again, it is telling that you singled out “right-wing Hindu zealots,” not Christian zealots, not Muslim zealots.
• Wendy Doniger’s critics do not have a level playing field to engage her. It is true that the Internet and social media have been great levelers, but access to traditional media is still important. Her critics do not have access to marquee publishers like Penguin with its marketing muscle (it could give away copies of “The Hindus” – I know, because Penguin sent me a free copy in advance of the release date) and mainstream media. Wendy Doniger and “The Hindus” controversy were featured on NPR’s All Things Considered and PRI’s The World radio programs. USA Today did interview Rajiv Malhotra, Wendy’s foremost critic, at length, but his comments were not included in the final article that was published.
• Wendy Doniger’s “The Hindus” is prescribed in various syllabi. What will be the effect on Hindu students? Will they be subject to mockery, taunts, and worse, on account of Ms. Doniger’s interpretation of the “sexualized nature of Hinduism,” as you call it? (I call her interpretation pornography) In this politically correct climate, other groups would protest if they receive similar treatment, and academia would give in to them. 

I have derived a lot of satisfaction from cultural events sponsored by Asia Society in DC. It pains me to see that Asia Society published your opinion piece, but I will not demand that it remove it. Given that, your viewpoint should not go unchallenged.

I was surprised to get a quick reply from Ms. Desai: go past the jump to read it:

Revisiting The Hindus: An Alternative History by Wendy Doniger

I've been fairly obsessed about Penguin India's recent decision to recall and pulp Wendy Doniger's The Hindus: An Alternative History.

Here I have to make a disclosure: Penguin (US) actually gave me a complimentary copy.  It was flattering that a big operation like Penguin took note of my little blog and it appealed to my sense of vanity.

Here are a couple of worthwhile commentaries on Penguin India's recent decision to recall and pulp The Hindus: An Alternative History:

• Sandeep Balakrishna writes that the "outrage cleverly sidesteps the valid and vast critiques of Wendy Doniger’s scholarship and frames the issue as one of a book ban and Hindu fundamentalism" in his commentary Why the Wendy Doniger episode is not a free speech issue.
• Koenraad Elst describes the Hindu victory in getting Penguin India to recall and pulp The Hindu as a "Pyrrhic victory" (which it is) in his commentary Banning Wendy Doniger's "The Hindus."

In his article, Elst notes Vishal Agarwal's effort to compile a chapter-by-chapter refutation of The Hindus.  You may find Vishal's chapter-wise review at http://vishalagarwal.voiceofdharma.com/articles/thaah/.

Lastly, I have made a few changes in the last paragraph of my review on Goodreads.

The Blood Telegram: India's Secret War in Pakistan by Gary J Bass

Namaste

The Blood Telegram : India's Secret War in East Pakistan by Gary J. Bass
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book was released in the U.S. as The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger, and a Forgotten Genocide. This version was released in South Asia as The Blood Telegram: India's Secret War in Pakistan.

The U.S. title is more accurate. Nixon and Kissinger claim the opening to China as their greatest foreign policy success. In actuality, Pakistan was the conduit to the U.S. opening to China. To reward Pakistan, Nixon and Kissinger shipped arms, which Pakistan in turn used to brutally crack down on the Bengalis in East Pakistan, resulting in a near-genocide of Bengali Hindus. In The Blood Telegram, Garry Bass seeks to correct Nixon and Kissinger's foreign policy record.


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Review of Kim Knott's Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction

Namaste, 

Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction by Kim Knott
My rating: 2 of 5 stars

After reading Klaus K. Klostermaier's book A Short Introduction to Hinduism, I downgraded my rating of Kim Knott's Hinduism: A Very Short Introduction from 3 stars to 2 stars.

I was wary about the chapter on women and dalits, as the treatment of women and dalits has been a cudgel to beat Hindu society. The chapter also plays into the Western stereotype of India as "caste, curry, and cows." I think that Knott included the chapter as her Western audiences associate Hinduism and caste.

I want to point out that the Indian Constitution bans untouchability. Subsequent laws criminalize violence against dalits. A contentious issue now is reservations, akin to affirmative action. Thus, discrimination against dalits is social, not legal.

The chapter cites Manusmriti as the source for the attitudes toward women and dalits. While the chapter outlines the responses of women and dalits toward their marginalization, it does not cover modern critical examination by Hindu leaders of the place of Manusmriti in the body of Hindu texts.

Knott lost me on the comparison between the cow and Hinduism at the end of the book. I thought that her likening Hinduism to a family, often with contentious relations among members, was useful.

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A Brief History of India, by Alain Daniélou

A Brief History of India by Alain Daniélou
My rating: 1 of 5 stars

Alain Daniélou was a famous Indologist. He had an amazing life: read Shiv Sharan: Not Your Typical French Hindu.

I have read Part 1: Origins, which covers:

* The First Civilization: the Proto-Australoids (Munda)
* The Second Civilization: the Dravidians
* The Third Civilization: the Aryans

I have to say it's rather fanciful. Daniélou states that Shaivism predates the Vedas, whereas all other sources that I've read indicate the opposite. Furthermore, he perpetuates the Aryan Invasion Theory myth. He characterizes the Aryans as more primitive than the Dravidians. If the Aryans were that primitive, how did they develop a language as evolved as Sanskrit? Furthermore, he employs what I think is dubious etymology.

My other criticism is about Daniélou's characterization of the Mahabharata War. He describes it as a war between the (good) Dravidians, as represented by the Pandavas (of the Pandya dynasty) and the (bad) Aryans, as represented by Kauravas. Later on, however, he writes [p. 43]:

It appears that by the time of the Mahabharata war, the Aryans had already largely assimilated the ancient Dravidian civilization, and the Dravidians the Aryan institutions. The conflict was social, rather than cultural.

As I continue reading this book, I will share more insights with you.



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Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power

Namaste, 

I discovered the book Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power by Robert D. Kaplan through updates from the Asia Society.  Its premise is that the locus of power will shift from the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans to the Indian Ocean.  America will have to share power in the Indian Ocean.  Monsoon also regards China's maritime ambitions as benign, which is nonsense.

These opinions are actually superfluous to the book itself, which focuses on the author's travels to countries in the Indian Ocean region.  While I read the book from cover to cover, I have to say that I was turned off after Chapter 6, The Troubled Rise of Gujarat.  The author describes the Muslims who burned Hindu pilgrims alive at Godhra as "victims of taunts."  Who, then, were the Hindus pilgrims, many of whom were women and children, if not victims?   It reminded me of the reporting of Rajiv Chandrasekharan (now National Editor of the Washington Post), which was tantamount to blaming the victims.

Kaplan also ponders, is Narendra Modi a fascist?  Kaplan ultimately comes down on the side that Modi is not a fascist, but calls him the "most dangerous politician in India."  He also says that Modi suffered setbacks when the BJP did poorly in polls.  This is not true.  Modi continues to be popular, and those who live outside Gujarat see the good governance that he has provided to Gujarat and would like for him to become PM.

I would like to point out that Breaking India reported on a seminar hosted by Asia Society on, Is India Becoming a Fascist State?   No wonder Asia Society promoted Monsoon: The Indian Ocean and the Future of American Power.

INDIA'S BISMARCK: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

Cover of INDIA'S BISMARCK: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel

I received an email from Indus Source, a book publisher in Mumbai, alerting me to the publication of INDIA'S BISMARCK: Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, in response to my article The Assertive Indian.

INDIA'S BISMARCK covers Sardar Patel's career as a satyagrahi, creator of the Indian Administration Service (IAS), and Congress Party boss. Given their strong wills, it should not be surprising that Sardar Patel clashed with Netaji when Netaji presided over Congress, my article on The Assertive Indian notwithstanding.

The most important part of INDIA'S BISMARCK covers Sardar Patel's leadership as Unifier of India. He used Indian troops to compel accession of Junagadh (in Gujarat) and Hyderabad. His lasting achievement was the accession of 560 princely states to form the geographic whole that is India.

Westerners know about Gandhi and Nehru, but don't know about Sardar Patel. While the widely read Freedom at Midnight discusses Sardar Patel, his leadership as Unifier of India gets short shrift and ultimately, he is treated almost as an afterthought in the epilogue (Sardar Patel died in 1950, only three years after Independence). Even many Indians might not be familiar with Sardar Patel's accomplishments. I recommend INDIA'S BISMARCK to these reader audiences.

You may purchase INDIA'S BISMARCK on Amazon.com.