Being different an Indian challenge to western universalism

Originally published in 2011.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 459-471) and index.

Introduction -- The audacity of difference -- Yoga: freedom of history -- Integral unity and synthetic unity -- Order and chaos -- Non-translatable Sanskrit versus digestion -- Contesting western universalism -- Conclusion: Purva Paksha and the way forward -- appendix A. The integral unity of dharma -- appendix B.A systems model of dharma and Abrahamic traditions.

"India is more than a nation state. It is also a unique civilization with philosophies and cosmologies that are markedly distinct from the dominant culture of our times -- the West. India's spiritual traditions spring from dharma which has no exact equivalent in Western frameworks ... Rajiv Malhotra addresses the challenge of a direct and honest engagement on differences, by reversing the gaze, repositioning India from being the observed to the observer and looking at the West from the dharmic point of view. In doing so, he challenges many hiterto unexamined beliefs that both sides hold about themselves and each other. He highlights that while unique historical revelations are the basis for Wester religions, dharma emphasizes self-realization in the body here and now. He also points out the integral unity that underpins dharma's metaphysics and contrasts this with Western thought and history as synthetic unity."--Jacket.