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Hindu Ethics edited by Harold G. Coward
Publisher: State University of New York Press, 1989
ISBN: 0-88706-763-8 hardback -6 paperback
The early Indologists were not noted for a sympathetic approach
to their subject. Frequently coming from the angle of devout Christianity
they viewed Hinduism, whose scriptures completely contradict many
accounts found in the Bible, as a threat that needed to be thoroughly
discredited. Sadaputa Dasa (Richard Thompson) illustrates this
point nicely: 'Bentley and other pioneer Indologists such as Sir
William Jones and Max Muller worked hard, and quite successfully,
to convince people that the Vedic scriptures are nothing but fables
and fiction. They started a school of thought that is solidly established
in modern universities, both in Western countries and in India itself.
One of the teachings of this school is that all Vedic literature,
from the Rg Veda to the Puranas, is essentially a
fraudulent concoction written in recent times.' ('World Views: Vedic
vs Western', Back to Godhead, January/February 1993).Hindu
Ethics is a book that should be read against this background.
The authors of these three essays are not holding a priori
assumptions that Hinduism and its scriptures are simply a creation
of some 'impostors, cheaters and superstitious fools' which has
become the prevalent academic view today. They strive to maintain
a total academic objectivity, offering little overt value judgments
on the matters discussed. However, everyone holds their own beliefs
and assumptions and thus objectivity may be an impossible ideal.
It is clear that the assumptions of these authors are somewhat at
variance with those held by a practising devotee of Krsna, who would,
of course, hold that the Vedas are revealed, axiomatic truths.
Nevertheless, the authors have thoroughly researched their subjects
in the Vedic literatures and the resultant essays are certainly
thought-provoking.
The first essay, 'Purity in Hinduism', by Prof. Harold Coward of
the University of Calgary, examines Hindu attitudes towards external
and internal cleanliness. Coward examines his subject thoroughly
from four angles: suddha (purity), subha (auspiciousness),
sattva (goodness) and sauca (cleanliness). Although
employing the standard academic dating of Vedic texts, Coward has
nonetheless extracted an accurate analysis of the positions they
espouse. He has carefully and painstakingly put together a picture
of a classical Vedic lifestyle in relation to the above four concepts.
This is useful in showing how there is a real depth and coherent
philosophy underpinning classical Vedic ethics. Not that, as many
academics might suggest, it is all just ignorance and superstition.
Of course, without understanding the basic Vedic assumption that
life is meant for ultimate liberation rather than material gain,
the Vedic lifestyle will always be enigmatic as it does not easily
admit to academic understanding. However, by reading Coward's essay
one will at least appreciate that it is a sophisticated and intelligent
culture with a consistent, if complex, value structure and inspire
further enquiry by the reader.
The second essay on abortion, by Julius Lipner of Cambridge University
was, I felt, perhaps the most lucid. Again, it contains a very thorough
study of the classical Vedic position. Lipner examines the attitude
towards abortion from all angles: social, moral and religious.
However, it is perhaps a little disappointing that scholars of such
stature as Lipner should make free use of the term 'Hindu' in referring
to the attitudes of a society that substantially pre-dates the introduction
of this term. Lipner's approach unnecessarily polemicises the issue
and takes from the universal stance of the Vedic statements that
form the basis of his research. However, this criticism could be
applied to all the essays, which all share the general academic
viewpoint that attitudes within the Vedic tradition are formed by
a synthesis of scriptural and social influences. This approach
does not accept authority as such, and apparent contradictions in
the Vedic position are not reconciled. Rather, the scriptural position
is seen as having always been open to interpretation and expedient
application, rather than being divinely originated, authentic and
indeed, once practised. In fact, Lipner appears to almost mock when
scriptural statements defy logic and current experience. (For example,
a reference where Vyasadeva is said to have immediately flown a
large distance is given the jocular aside of 'superman'). However,
he does labour at length to establish the exact position of the
Vedas on the sensitive and controversial issue of the rights of
the unborn. As he himself comments: 'I venture to say that the
topic of this essay has rarely, if ever, had the benefit of the
study brought to bear here.' From that point of view, it is certainly
worth reading.
The final essay by Katherine Young of McGill University, deals with
the issue of euthanasia, or self willed death - istamrtyu.
Yet again, her careful analysis of the Vedic scriptural position struggles
to piece together the complete picture of Vedic morality and its underlying
philosophical basis, and makes it difficult to reconcile the Vedic
juncture that human life has a higher purpose with modern attitudes
towards euthanasia. Indeed some forms of voluntary death are quite
consistent with Vedic morality; for example, a ksatriya's death in
battle or the forest-bound ascetic's praya vow (starvation).
Of course, even these forms of dying must be considered in relation
to time and place and may not be appropriate in the modern context.
But at any time, suicide that is not sanctioned by scripture is sinful.
Voluntary death in order to relieve suffering has no place in Vedic
morality, where the knowledge of karma and the next life exists.
Ms Young does make this distinction clear, although her attempts to
define the Vedic position are strictly relativised. For example,
with reference to the Mahabharata she says the following: 'It
is as if a brahmin author were attempting to ... woo ksatriyas back
from Buddhism.' She makes an interesting examination of the problem
of how any form of religiously acceptable suicide is open to abuse;
for example, the sati rite (saha marana), the suicide of a
widow on her husband's pyre, which has been seriously abused in modern
India and is now outlawed. The analysis of this phenomenon is useful
and needs to be carefully considered by those who would advocate a
return to the old standards of Vedic morality.
Overall I found the book interesting, especially the many quotes
notusually encountered in ISKCON publications, and also the analysisof
how the interpretation of the Vedas has been possibly influencedby
different social phenomena over the years. I would recommend itto
anyone concerned with modern attitudes towards the Vedic tradition.
Krishna
Dharma Dasa
__________________________________________
Christian Theology and Inter-Religious
Dialogue Author: Maurice Wiles
Publisher: SCM Press, 1992
ISBN: 0-334-02523-0
Some thirty years ago, the theologian Wilfred Cantwell Smith asserted
that any serious intellectual statement of the Christian faith must
include, if it is to serve its purpose, some sort of doctrine of
other religions. 'We explain the fact that the Milky Way is there
by the doctrine of creation,' he wrote, 'but how do we explain that
the Bhagavad-gita is there?'
Thirty years later, Cantwell's question is also the concern of
Maurice Wiles, Regius Professor of Divinity Emeritus at Oxford University.
For Prof. Wiles, the close co-existence of different faith communities
in the modern world is as important as a background to Christian
theology as the rise of the mechanistic, scientific worldview.
At a time of increasing conservatism and opposition to interfaith
activity, Prof. Wiles' book is something of a radical departure
from the traditionally narrow Christocentric approach of the established
churches. It is a soul-searching book, which begins by asking whether
acceptance of the possibility of open dialogue with other religions
is not a desertion of the way in which the church has understood
its faith through the ages. Both Catholic and Protestant churches
have traditionally been somewhat averse to venturing outside their
own territory. In the fifteenth century, the Council of Florence
affirmed that:
No-one outside the Catholic church, not only pagans, but also
Jews and heretics and schismatics, can share eternal life, but
will perish in the eternal fire pared for the devil and his angels.
One hundred years later, Martin Luther wrote in strikingly similar
terms:
Those who are outside Christianity, be they heathens, Turks,
Jews or even false Christians and hypocrites . cannot expect either
love or any blessing from God, and accordingly remain in eternal
wrath and perdition.
Of course, these declarations are not conducive to interfaith dialogue,
and Prof. Wiles painstakingly disassociates himself from this stance
by constructing a personal theology for dialogue without compromising
traditional Christian theology. He emphasises that a vital feature
of a Christian theology for dialogue is a revisionary approach to
the faith and its practices, but without surrendering the absoluteness
of commitment to Jesus. These, he argues, are not incompatible; loyalty
to one's own faith and self-criticism can co-exist. Indeed, the former
implies the latter. Wiles is hopeful that a theology arising out of
the experience of dialogue with other religions will raise new possibilities
and new necessities of further revision.
However, Christian Theology and Inter-Religious Dialogue
is not an easy book to read. As it reveals the mind of a Christian
who is genuinely concerned to construct a coherent theological position
of faith, and is replete with Christian terminology, it is essentially
a specialist publication. Although at times difficult to follow,
it is nonetheless interesting, and is a helpful book for all those
who have an interest in interfaith dialogue.
Deepak Vorha
__________________________________________
A Global Ethic: The Declaration of the
Parliament of the World's Religions
edited by Hans Küng and Karl-Josef Kuschel
Publisher: SCM Press Ltd., London
ISBN: 334-02561-3
During the Parliament of the World's Religions in Chicago, a declaration
was passed that was subscribed to by representatives from all the
major faiths in the world - the 'Declaration Toward a Global Ethic.'
At just over one hundred pages, this book describes the historical
background of how the declaration toward a global ethic was conceived
and the principles it adheres to. The understanding behind this
initiative is that there can be no improved world order without
a global ethic and that this basis for such an ethic can be found
in an already existing fundamental consensus concerning values,
standards and moral attitudes among the world's religions.
Prof. Hans Küng, who was largely responsible for the wording of
the declaration, states in the preface of this book that
. a global ethic seeks to work out what is already common to the
religions of the world now despite all their differences over human
conduct, moral values and basic moral convictions. In other words,
a global ethic does not reduce the religions to an ethical minimalism
but represents the minimum of what the religions of the world already
have in common now in the ethical sphere.
The Global Ethic is based on four basic directives or principles,
namely:
- Commitment to a culture of non-violence
and respect for life.
- Commitment to a culture of solidarity
and just economic order.
- Commitment to a culture of tolerance
and a life of truthfulness.
- Commitment to a culture of equal
rights and partnership between men and women.
According to Vedic literature, progressive human life is based in
the development of four basic human qualities, namely mercy, truthfulness,
austerity and cleanliness. The Vedic tradition is formed in such a
way as to promote the development of these basic human qualities and
in that way advance the human race. It is interesting to see the
same approach being taken in the 'Declaration of a Global Ethic',
where the importance of people 'changing their hearts' and 'transforming
their consciousness' as a means of solving the world's problems is
stressed.
Prof. Küng makes the point that the declaration is not an end in
itself, but should serve as a basis for continued discussion and
further progression towards gradually making individuals, organisations
and political establishments aware of the importance of taking personal
responsibility for the state of the world by developing their own
inner character towards nobility.
Discussion on this theme is already underway in many countries
and will also be on the agenda of the next meeting of the World
Conference of Religion and Peace (WCRP) in Italy at the end of 1993.
As followers of the Vaishnava tradition, ISKCON welcomes the initiative
of working towards a change in individual consciousness as a means
of solving global problems, and now have the opportunity to do so
in co-operation with many other spiritually-minded people.
I strongly recommend that anyone involved with interfaith dialogue
read this book, whose concept could open up many opportunities for
such contact.
Premarnava Dasa
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