A reasoned argument or tarka is essential for a wholesome vāda that aims at establishing the truth. A strong tarka constitutes of a number of elements including an anumāna based on a valid hetu. Several scholars, such as Dharmakīrti, Vasubandhu and Dignāga, have worked on theories for the establishment of a valid hetu to distinguish it from an invalid one. This paper aims to interpret Dignāga’s hetu-cakra, called the wheel of grounds, from a modern philosophical perspective by deconstructing it (...) into a simple probabilistic mathematical model. The objective is to understand how and why a vāda based on a probabilistically weaker hetu can degrade into a Jalpa or vitaṇḍā. To do so, the paper maps the concept of ‘Bounded Rationality’ onto the hetu-cakra. Bounded Rationality, an idea coined by the management thinker Herbert Simon, is often employed in understanding decision-making processes of rational agents. In the context of this paper, the concept would state that the prativādin and ālocaka (debater) may not hold unbounded information to back their pratijñā (proposition). The paper argues that within the probabilistically deconstructed hetu-cakra model, most people argue in the ‘Zone of Bounded Rationality’, and thus, the probability of a debate degrading into Jalpa or vitaṇḍā is high. -/- . (shrink)

하타 요가(Haṭha Yoga)의 미세 신체론의 핵심 관념 중 하나인 차크라(cakra)는 현대에 요가 수행이나 비의적 치유와 연관하여 광범위하게 사용되고 있다. 현재 사용되고 있는 차크라 관념은 거의 대부분 Ṣaṭcakranirūpaṇa의 일곱 차크라론에 뿌리를 두고 있다. 이보다 더 원형적인 형태를 살펴보기 위해서 현재의 차크라 관념이 정립되기 이전의 초기 하타 요가 문헌들에 나타난 이 관념에 대해 고찰하였다. 초기 하타 요가 문헌 중 중요하다고 여겨지는 『카울라갸나니르나야』(Kaulajñānanirṇaya), 『고라크샤샤타카』(Gorakṣaśataka), 『싯다싯단타팟다티』(Siddhasiddhāntapaddhati), 이 세 문헌을 택하여 이것들에 나타난 차크라의 개수를 비롯하여 속성들 즉 명칭, 위치, 모양, 발생 초자연력 등을 문헌별, (...) 차크라 순서별로 상호 비교해 보았다. 초기 문헌들에 이 관념이 어떻게 나타나고 있는지 살펴보는 것은 이 관념을 보다 풍부하고 정확하게 이해하는 데 도움이 될 것이다. (shrink)

인도의 수행 전통 속에서 수행자의 표상으로 전승되었던 ‘요가적 좌법으로서 아사나’가 수행차제에서 그 위상을 상실한 듯하다. 아사나는 8지 중의 쁘라나야마처럼 쁘라나(氣)를 중심으로 한 기체(氣體)로서 몸에 대한 경맥학적 원리를 내재한 것으로 이해할 수 있다. 아사나 단계에서는 체표로 떠서 상기(上氣)하는 열기를 제어하여 순행시킨다. 그래서 소화기관(6부)에 연결된 나디들을 정화하면서, 체표로 흩어지는 열기를 복부로 하강시키고 사지 말단까지 나디(경맥)를 소통시킨다. 그 결과 아사나는 불(火)을 요소로 하는 maṇipura-cakra의 자리인 배꼽을 중심으로 ‘소화의 불’을 일으키게 되고, 이렇게 발생된 복부의 열은 꾼달리니 현상의 발단이 된다. 쁘라나야마 단계에서는 호흡에 따라 체내외로 (...) 연결된 나디들을 소통시켜서 전신의 나디 체계에 장애가 없도록 정화한다. 이때 쁘라나를 보유하는 kumbhaka을 수련할 수 있는 조건이 구비된다. 그 결과 saṃyama 단계에서는 나디들이 몸의 중심과 anāhata-cakra(心中)이나 ājñā-cakra(미간)에 몰입되는 수련으로 진전된다. 이러한 전체 수행차제는 유출(流出) 내지 원심성 수행에서 시작하여 환멸(還滅) 내지 구심성 수행으로 진전된다. 본론에서는 요가의 수행차제가 쁘라나(=氣)와 나디(=經脈)를 근간으로 한 경맥학적 원리에 따라, 아사나 단계에서부터 체계화되어 있음을 고찰했다. (shrink)

Tries To Analyse 9 Symbols As Represented In The Art Forms, Religion And Philosophies Of India-These Symbols Are; Rudraksha, Cakra, Prabha-Mandlas, Mudra, Salagrama, Svastika, Sikhara, Circumambulation And Philosopher`S Stone. In Short This Book Tries To Discover India Through Symbols.

In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:Political AuthorityThe Two Wheels of the DharmaWhalen Lai“The twin wheels of the dharma The two wings of the dove”The twin wheels of the dharma, one of power and the other of righteousness, is the classic metaphor in the Buddhist view of the state and the saṅgha. We will first register the distinction of that metaphor by going back to its historical roots, showing how and why it is more (...) meaningful for Buddhists than for Hindus. Then we will map its structural growth sociologically, weigh its overall strengths and weaknesses, and consider other Buddhist options for civil order and interstate relationships. Finally we will examine the price of modernity and the crisis of authority that Buddhist culture faces.Toward a Genealogy of the Twin WheelsThe legend of the Buddha is by now well known. Prince Siddhārtha left family and home, and renounced the kingdom and the world. He had seen the inevitability of suffering. He vowed to find its cause to eliminate that result. After his enlightenment, he reflected upon releasing that path to the world. When the Buddha so taught the Four Noble Truths and the Noble Eightfold Path to his old companions at Benares, tradition then remembers that as the Buddha “turning the wheel of dharma.” The wheel (cakra) is a metaphor; it refers to the wheel of a sun chariot and is now on the national flag of India. That cosmic wheel has rolled on since time immemorial; as saṃsāra, it has been endless suffering. That is, until the Buddha so turned the sun wheel anew, marking it possible for the first time end that cycle and point the way to nirvāṇic liberation. History was so changed with that act of the Buddha at Benares. Mankind turned a corner. Christianity sees the event on the cross to be, likewise, a break in time. History as we know it had ended. The end time, the eschatological kingdom with its promise of a new heaven and a new earth, have dawned. The price of Adam’s sin was death. Christ’s resurrection turned that around.In Buddhism, the normal course of life and death (rebirth: saṃsāra) also ended [End Page 171] with the Buddha’s enlightenment under the Bodhi tree. The path to nirvāṇa was open. The city of nirvāṇa is in sight. Or as a Buddhist miracle would tell it, the water of the Ganges flowed backward in response to an act of truth (satyāgraha).The event at Benares when the Buddha turned the wheel of dharma anew may be a major inspiration for the ideology of the twin wheels. In general, Hinduism needs only to presume one wheel; it does not count a second. Although Hinduism knows its share of renunciation and liberation (mokṣa), the Brahmanical system set down by the Vedas is committed to safeguarding the sanctity of the caste system. It can absorb mokṣa under the larger law for its varṇāśramadharma. The renunciation is ideally the last station in life, coming after formal retirement from active household duties, and well approaching old age and a good time for learning how to transcend it. Buddhism challenged the caste system by setting up the saṅgha, a new Buddhist community. Hinduism lacks that call for reconstituting society. It does not know the “saṅgha and state” tension that Buddhists know like Christians would the tension between church and state. In the end, the Vedānta philosophy in Hinduism does not postulate that tension. The ātman-brahman identity of self and universe is inherently monistic.This is not to say Hindus do not face a basic conflict between two contrary worlds. It does but it solves it differently. The tragic dilemma in the Bhagavadgītā is that Arjuna, who came to embrace nonviolence like a Buddhist or a Jain would, was eventually persuaded to fight, namely, to perform his caste duty of being a warrior, ready to kill and be killed. That, in a Greek tragic term, is the dike of some cosmic dharma wheel. Oedipus Rex, in the end, must bow to his fate and lot... (shrink)

Chakras are a basic concept of yoga but typically are ignored by scientific research on yoga, probably because descriptions of chakras can appear like a fanciful mythology. Chakras are commonly considered to be centers of concentrated metaphysical energy. Although clear physiological effects exist for yoga practices, no explanation of how chakras influence physiological function has been broadly accepted either in the scientific community or among yoga scholars. This problem is exacerbated by the fact that yoga is based on subjective experience, (...) and practitioners often shun objective descriptions. This essay builds on earlier work hypothesizing that intercellular gap junction connections provide a physiological mechanism underlying subtle energy systems described in yoga as well as other disciplines such as acupuncture. Three physical aspects of chakras are distinguished that are integrated through gap junction mechanisms and are proposed to have arisen during embryological development. Furthermore, electrical conductance associated with a high concentration of gap junctions could generate phenomena that, when subjectively experienced, have the radiant qualities attributed to chakras. This theory provides a scientific rationale for previously unexplained details of chakra theory and offers a new orientation to conceptualizing and studying such subjective phenomena. (shrink)