Thoughts

Let me start this essay about wisdom with the question regarding the evolution of knowledge. We all know from our experience that during life we gather knowledge about more things – it increases in quantity and at the same time we gain more detailed knowledge about certain subjects – the quality improves. When we relate this to the evolution of knowledge, we are referring to both quantity and quality of knowledge. Or not which I hope to show later.…

Let us focus on the next topic and that is rta. Remember in the shanti discussion when we talked about the feeling of peace and that it comes from an alignment with what is natural? Let us draw a picture of vedic thought about what is natural. Rta is a very potent word and concept. It stands for the cosmic order, that which is invisible but behind all forms of creation, maintenance, and destruction. Without realizing it, all that…

I have chosen peace as the first concept to discuss. Let us first define the word shanti as it is used in the vedic philosophical system. Most commonly, shanti expresses the presence of positive desired qualities such as peace, tranquility, or calm. Connected with it is the opposite view portraying shanti as an absence of negative, shanti disturbing factors. The texts offer cessation of hostility, settlement of differences, exculpation or absolution from blame, a satisfaction of hunger or even…