World of Philosophy

Author(s): Christopher Key Chapple, Intaj Malek, Dilip Charan, Sunanda Shastri, Prashant Dave
Publisher: Shanti Prakashan

Page 968

phy.. man is born divine, each soul is essentially divine. Divinity or God is there in the inmost hearts of every being We must have the perception to see that He dwells there hidden. We have so many interests in life, so the supreme within us is unrecognized. The philosophy of Bhagavdgita states " the sage whose passions are at rest sees within himself the majesty of the great real". [ 11.70-71).The supreme goal of human life is to manifest this divinity within by controlling internal and external nature. To realize this goal, Indian Philosophy prescribes the different paths to different kinds of people such as path of action, path of knowledge, path of devotion, path of Raja yoga and so on.
Philosophy is defined as 'love of wisdom'. The world philosophers must recover its true meaning of love of wisdom which is another word for spirituality. Veda or Vedanta Philosophy:
In the Indian philosophical field the holistic approach of the Vedic or Vedantic philosophy certainly provides lots of material to promote peace. It talks about unification of the world, inner unification of humanity, spiritual unity of all existence, universal love and brotherhood. It tells us that expanding once own individual consciousness in to every being and everything you can bring unity and thereby ultimate peace and limitless happiness (ananda).
The universality of outlook, the holistic approach, is specialty of Indian culture and its philosophy from the beginning of its history. Vedic philosophy talks about one family on earth by stating that 'the universe is a nest to live in[ vishvam bhavatýeka needam) i.e. universe is one family. The Rugveda, the oldest literary and religious document of the human race, talks about the unity of mind and hearts in the interest of humanity. It tells us to move together to develop common ideals and purposes for the benefit of mankind in the following terms:
"Meet together, talk together, May your minds comprehend alike. Common be you action and achievements, Common be your thoughts and intentions, Common be the wishes of your hearts, So, may there be union amongst you." [Rugveda. X-191.2-4].
The Vedas reflect the vibrance of an encompassing world view which looks upon all objects in the universe. living and so-called non-living, as being rooted in and pervaded by the One Divine power. The Rugvedic conception of One Supreme Reality or God behind all changing phenomena of the universe is the basis for the holistic approach of the Vedic and Vedantic culture. Several statements of the Rugveda such as "The Reality or God is One but wise call It by different names' [ eked sat vipra bahudha vadanti);
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