Author Archives: Tony Librizzi

Reviewer: Kapil Kapoor, Former Rector and Professor of English and Sanskrit Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, and Chief Editor of Encyclopedia of Indian Poetics

Being Different is an excellent treatise on an epistemic conflict that goes back to the ancient opposition between Hebraic and Vedic knowledge cultures, and between God-centred and Pagan worldviews. The six paradigmatic distinctions explained in this book underpin the absolutist … Continue reading

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Reviewer: Makarand R. Paranjape, Professor of English, Jawaharlal Nehru University

Being Different offers crucial strategic perspectives for Indian civilization, a civilization that is only now emerging from centuries of oppression and slavery, but still has a long way to go before it can manifest its native genius in an unfettered, self-confident, … Continue reading

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Reviewer: John M. Hobson, author of ‘The Eurocentric Conception of World Politics’ (Cambridge University Press, 2012) and Professor of Politics and International Relations at the University of Sheffield, UK.

What has the insight of a seemingly obscure agglomeration of religions (obscure to us in the West) that reside under the umbrella term known as the ‘dharmic tradition’ got to do with the major problems that haunt world politics today? … Continue reading

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Reviewer: Rita D. Sherma, Executive Director, Confluence School of Faith Studies; co-editor ‘Hermeneutics and Hindu Thought: Towards a Fusion of Horizons’

Being Different makes it astoundingly clear that the ‘global’ civilization today is actually nothing of the kind. It is not an integrative fusion of beneficial ideas and perspectives from every civilization across the globe. It is, instead, a swallowing up … Continue reading

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Reviewer: Al Collins, Ph.D., former core faculty, California Institute of Integral Studies.

In 1957, Mircea Elaide wrote that “Western culture will be in danger of a decline into a sterilizing provincialism if it despises or neglects the dialogue with the other cultures.” Tragically it has neglected this dialogue and is reaping the … Continue reading

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Reviewer: Shrinivas Tilak, Ph D, history of religions, an independent researcher based in Montreal

In Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism Rajiv Malhotra has set for himself the challenging task of contesting the self-serving universalism that is readily apparent in the ‘grand narrative’ (whether secular or religious) produced by the West in … Continue reading

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Reviewer: Ramakrishna Puligandla, Emeritus professor of Philosophy, University of Toledo

Rajiv Malhotra richly deserves to be congratulated for making available his masterly work, Being Different: Indian Challenge to Western Universalism. With analytical clarity and systematic argumentation, grounded in documentation from the original sources, Rajiv Malhotra at once offers excellent clarification … Continue reading

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Reviewer: Dr. Pandya, Head of All World Gayatri Pariwar and Chancellor, Dev Sanskriti University, Haridwar

Since time immemorial, Indian spiritual exemplars had a strong tradition of studying competing schools of thoughts and debating them vigorously; but the recent leaders have ignored the need to analyze and debate Western religions and philosophical systems using Indian frameworks. … Continue reading

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Reviewer: Dr. Satya Narayan Das, Founder of Jiva Institute of Vedic Studies, Vrindavan

Many Indian spiritual leaders, lacking a profound knowledge of their own culture, and feeling inferior to the West, try to respond to the Western challenge by showing how Indian and western religions are the same. They chant “sarva-dharma-sama-bhava” (all religions are … Continue reading

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Reviewer: Dr. Sampadananda Mishra, Director, Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Indian Culture (SAFIC), Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry

Being Different is a highly successful attempt in exploring the major differences between Indian and Western worldviews, metaphysics, cosmologies and philosophies which have not previously been adequately appreciated by scholars and spiritual seekers. The thoughts presented and the insights given … Continue reading

Posted in Reviews | Comments Off on Reviewer: Dr. Sampadananda Mishra, Director, Sri Aurobindo Foundation for Indian Culture (SAFIC), Sri Aurobindo Society, Pondicherry