Hinduism

On the Nature of Religious Experience, Moral and Spiritual Values, and Human Conduct

by Bansraj Mattai, Ph.D

Hinduism
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Hinduism

On the Nature of Religious Experience, Moral and Spiritual Values, and Human Conduct

by Bansraj Mattai, Ph.D

Published Aug 13, 2009
305 Pages
6.14 x 9.21 Black & White Paperback
Genre: RELIGION / Spirituality


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Book Details

A PERSPECTIVE ON THE

EXAMINED LIFE

The aim of this book is to present Hinduism in all its impartial nakedness, unencumbered by partisanship, prejudice, or emotion, and drawing on its ultimate source in the philosophy of the Veda and Upanishads, the latter of which, in the words of Professor Alfred N. Whitehead, constitute "the most impressive metaphysics the human mind has conceived."

 

Book Excerpt

To the mind that truly grasps the essence of Indian philosophy, it would seem no accident that India which, outwardly and geographically speaking, can boast of the highest peaks on earth, as objectified in the Himalayas, should at the same time be blessed with a literary and philosophical tradition that speaks, beyond the power of eloquence, to the 'Himalayas' or highest aspirations of the human soul. The searching hymns of the RIG VEDA, the depth and eternity of the UPANISHADS, the glorious appeal and mercy of the BHAGAVAD GITA, the sheer breadth and intensity of the MAHABHARATA of which the BHAGAVAD GITA is merely a small part, and finally, the humanity and grace of the RAMAYANA have been, and continue to be, living monuments to the awesome possibilities of the spiritual consciousness of human kind. This book on Hinduism seeks to place the unifying message in all these works in its proper perspective, and to definitively establish its relevance to the world in which we live.

 

About the Author

Bansraj Mattai, Ph.D

Professor Emeritus Bansraj (a.k.a Baba) Mattai, Ph.D., who hails from Guyana, is a long-standing student of the Classical Languages (Latin and Greek) and Philosophy. He holds degrees from four universities in the United Kingdom, and has taught in colleges and universities in Guyana, the United Kingdom, and the United States. He lectures and writes on topics in Philosophy, Religion, Ethics, and Education.



Dr. Mattai’s interest in this work focuses on the logical, ethical, and metaphysical foundations of Hinduism. His abiding concern in writing it is with the pursuit of truth, the conception of which, in the Gandhian sense, as Divine in origin and purpose, and in the Platonic sense, as having a coincidence with beauty and goodness, he argues, speaks directly to the basic premise of Hinduism. The strength of his emphasis on this consideration as well as the discursive, analytical, and comparative approach that he brings to the subject-matter draw a sharp distinction between the work, he claims, and any other recent book on Hinduism.