By Ravi Kant Sharma - Greater Kashmir - Srinigar,India
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
We must not meddle with complex philosophies of history, as that will lead us nowhere
Ravi Kant Sharma responds to Shahnaz Bashir:
My basic premise for writing this column is that I agree with Shahnaz Bashir that the concept of Kashmiriyat as pronounced by so called intellectuals is incorrect. I agree with him on two counts. One, that the Kashmiriat is an amalgamation of Saivism (read as Kashmir Saivism) and Sufism is incorrect. Two, it is used by some intellectuals to present romanticized versions of history or as Shahnaz has put it “history is being fudged to suit someone’s interests”. Notwithstanding my agreement with Shahnaz on the statements made above I would like to present a perspective to the distortions and realities of philosophical, cultural and somewhat entangled political history of Kashmir.
Kashmir Saivism is a monistic, non dual philosophy, the essence of which is merging of individual (limited consciousness) to the universal consciousness (unlimited and eternal consciousness). Its essential focus is on recognition (Pratibhjna) and freedom (Swantarya) is the outcome of the recognition, since it frees us from bondage of ignorance. According to Vedanta philosophy, refined soul is God. All divine power according to the Vedanta philosophy resides in this physical body. All the grandeur and magnificence of divine potentialities of the Almighty are present in its entirety in dormant centers of human soul. He can be seen only in one’s own inner-self. Our entire life is God’s direct manifestation. The ascetic asks, “For whom should we worship (kasmai devaya bavisha vidhema). The emphatic answer is, we should worship for the God within us (Atma-Dev).
The central doctrine of Sufism, sometimes called Wahdat or Unity, is the understanding of Tawhid: all phenomena are manifestations of a single reality, or Wujud (being), or Al-Haq (Truth, God). It is often understood to imply that every phenomenon is an aspect of Truth and at the same time attribution of existence to it is false. The chief aim of all Sufis then is to let go of all notions of duality, therefore the individual self also), and realize the divine unity.
It is therefore abundantly clear that all three philosophies have some similarities and differences though it is believed that Sufism post Mansur-bin-Hallaj had Vedantic influence. What I fail to understand is who among the Saivites has said that Kashmir Savism or Saivism has sown the seeds of Islam or Saivism is a proto form of Liberal Islam or Sufism. Atleast I don’t know of any. If there are any they should be asked to explain the same except for Congressmen (including Nehru) who have license to lie.
(...)
Friday, November 24, 2006
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Friday, November 24, 2006
Kashmiriat is no amalgamation of Saivism and Sufism
By Ravi Kant Sharma - Greater Kashmir - Srinigar,India
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
We must not meddle with complex philosophies of history, as that will lead us nowhere
Ravi Kant Sharma responds to Shahnaz Bashir:
My basic premise for writing this column is that I agree with Shahnaz Bashir that the concept of Kashmiriyat as pronounced by so called intellectuals is incorrect. I agree with him on two counts. One, that the Kashmiriat is an amalgamation of Saivism (read as Kashmir Saivism) and Sufism is incorrect. Two, it is used by some intellectuals to present romanticized versions of history or as Shahnaz has put it “history is being fudged to suit someone’s interests”. Notwithstanding my agreement with Shahnaz on the statements made above I would like to present a perspective to the distortions and realities of philosophical, cultural and somewhat entangled political history of Kashmir.
Kashmir Saivism is a monistic, non dual philosophy, the essence of which is merging of individual (limited consciousness) to the universal consciousness (unlimited and eternal consciousness). Its essential focus is on recognition (Pratibhjna) and freedom (Swantarya) is the outcome of the recognition, since it frees us from bondage of ignorance. According to Vedanta philosophy, refined soul is God. All divine power according to the Vedanta philosophy resides in this physical body. All the grandeur and magnificence of divine potentialities of the Almighty are present in its entirety in dormant centers of human soul. He can be seen only in one’s own inner-self. Our entire life is God’s direct manifestation. The ascetic asks, “For whom should we worship (kasmai devaya bavisha vidhema). The emphatic answer is, we should worship for the God within us (Atma-Dev).
The central doctrine of Sufism, sometimes called Wahdat or Unity, is the understanding of Tawhid: all phenomena are manifestations of a single reality, or Wujud (being), or Al-Haq (Truth, God). It is often understood to imply that every phenomenon is an aspect of Truth and at the same time attribution of existence to it is false. The chief aim of all Sufis then is to let go of all notions of duality, therefore the individual self also), and realize the divine unity.
It is therefore abundantly clear that all three philosophies have some similarities and differences though it is believed that Sufism post Mansur-bin-Hallaj had Vedantic influence. What I fail to understand is who among the Saivites has said that Kashmir Savism or Saivism has sown the seeds of Islam or Saivism is a proto form of Liberal Islam or Sufism. Atleast I don’t know of any. If there are any they should be asked to explain the same except for Congressmen (including Nehru) who have license to lie.
(...)
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
We must not meddle with complex philosophies of history, as that will lead us nowhere
Ravi Kant Sharma responds to Shahnaz Bashir:
My basic premise for writing this column is that I agree with Shahnaz Bashir that the concept of Kashmiriyat as pronounced by so called intellectuals is incorrect. I agree with him on two counts. One, that the Kashmiriat is an amalgamation of Saivism (read as Kashmir Saivism) and Sufism is incorrect. Two, it is used by some intellectuals to present romanticized versions of history or as Shahnaz has put it “history is being fudged to suit someone’s interests”. Notwithstanding my agreement with Shahnaz on the statements made above I would like to present a perspective to the distortions and realities of philosophical, cultural and somewhat entangled political history of Kashmir.
Kashmir Saivism is a monistic, non dual philosophy, the essence of which is merging of individual (limited consciousness) to the universal consciousness (unlimited and eternal consciousness). Its essential focus is on recognition (Pratibhjna) and freedom (Swantarya) is the outcome of the recognition, since it frees us from bondage of ignorance. According to Vedanta philosophy, refined soul is God. All divine power according to the Vedanta philosophy resides in this physical body. All the grandeur and magnificence of divine potentialities of the Almighty are present in its entirety in dormant centers of human soul. He can be seen only in one’s own inner-self. Our entire life is God’s direct manifestation. The ascetic asks, “For whom should we worship (kasmai devaya bavisha vidhema). The emphatic answer is, we should worship for the God within us (Atma-Dev).
The central doctrine of Sufism, sometimes called Wahdat or Unity, is the understanding of Tawhid: all phenomena are manifestations of a single reality, or Wujud (being), or Al-Haq (Truth, God). It is often understood to imply that every phenomenon is an aspect of Truth and at the same time attribution of existence to it is false. The chief aim of all Sufis then is to let go of all notions of duality, therefore the individual self also), and realize the divine unity.
It is therefore abundantly clear that all three philosophies have some similarities and differences though it is believed that Sufism post Mansur-bin-Hallaj had Vedantic influence. What I fail to understand is who among the Saivites has said that Kashmir Savism or Saivism has sown the seeds of Islam or Saivism is a proto form of Liberal Islam or Sufism. Atleast I don’t know of any. If there are any they should be asked to explain the same except for Congressmen (including Nehru) who have license to lie.
(...)
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