The Christocentric Superimposition:
A Warning to Traditional Hindus


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By Durgadas, Ved Kovid

It is always interesting when we bring in traditional views and correct many neo-Vedantin and neo-Hindus about their views being incorrect, that rather than learning, they see this as an opportunity for an intellectual war!

While I have referred to this as the "Christocentric Superimposition", due to the asuric or rather, ahamkaric samskaras created by association with faiths such as Christianity which are quite dogmatic, I have been challenged so by white-skinned "Hindus" who still feel their views are right and tradition is wrong - even when they've undermined it.

It is also interesting that when the threefold approach is taken giving:

(a) Facts of tradition in India / Hinduism

(b) Scriptural evidence to the same from Vedic / Hindu texts

(c) Pointing out that their views are nowhere found in either of (a) or (b)

These types attack full-scale with personal attacks about the person and ignore these. I never get into personalism in philosophical debates, except to point out their views nowhere match those of Traditional Hindu views.

It appears that facts and logic to them appear as visha or poison. Hmm...I have found this with Pentecostal Christians also, as I shall discuss further later!

Many now hide behind the veils of their "Jnana" and "Sarvam Khalvidam brahma" speeches, and yet clearly contradict this by undermining and not understanding the Truth of how concepts of Advaita are actually seen in Hindu / Smarta traditions and never get the hint!

As Bhaja Govindam itself states:

"Let a man read but a little from geeta, drink just a drop of

water from the ganges, worship but once Murari. He then will

have no altercation with Yama." (Bhaja Govindam, 20)

One must go through the stages of Bhakti to attain Jnana. Shankara in his works has even criticised the neo-Vedantins also.

We may compare this to how in Yoga, we start off with Asana or seated postures for stilling the mind and senses as also Pranayama and stilling the pranas, as any movement (gati) does not make the mind ekagra (single-pointed), and these limbs must be perfected first before going in for the deeper limbs towards Samadhi, or the mind will be not stilled and purified properly!

Shankara himself also stresses the importance of Yoga and stilling the mind (thus going through the Ashtangas) and adherence to the Yamas and Niyamas of Yoga to attaining Jnana, which contradicts the view of neo-Vedantins or "modern Jnanis" who think they can dispense with these:

“The first steps to Yoga are control over the speech, not receiving gifts, not entertaining expectations, freedom from activity and always living in a retired place.

“Living in a retired place serves to control the sensory-organs; control of the senses helps to control the mind – through control of the mind, egoism is destroyed; and this again gives the Yogi an unbroken realisation of the Bliss of the Supreme. Therefore, the man of reflection should always strive to control the mind” (Vivekachudamani, 367-368)

“The body, vital breaths (pranas), sensory-organs, mind, intellect and the rest – with whatsoever of these supervening adjuncts the mind is associated, the Yogi is transformed, as it were, into that.

“When this is stopped, the man of reflection is found to be easily detached from everything, and to get the experience of an abundance of everlasting Bliss”

(Vivekachudamani, 370-371).

Going in for Jnana without Bhakti then is like one dismissing the lower angas or limbs of Asana, Pranayama etc. and trying to go directly into Samadhi. As we see, Shankara himself addresses these issues!

Traditionally - it just cannot work. Yet - remaining at the stage of Asana, as with Bhakti is just as blind, and needs to be complimented by Jnana, just as one must move on from fixation on Asana towards Dhyana, Dharana, Pratyahara etc. Yoga itself also include Ishvara-pranidhana or devotion to the deity, however as an Integral part and as it's highest Niyama!

Shankaracharya in his Vivekachudamani states that devotion or Bhakti is an integral aspect towards liberation by seeking one's true nature and that one must be devoted - at least to the Guru in the initial stages (Vivekachudamani, 31-36).

This devotion can also be towards the Devata as the Atmaguru, as many have used such forms as Shiva Yogeshvara, Dattatreya, Tryambaka Babaji Maharaj (Kriya Babaji), Dakshinamurthi, Sri Krishna and others as their inner Guru. Sri Ramana Maharishi attested he had a non-human Guru and was close to Lord Shiva. So, bhakti is always there before attaining Jnana!

Shankaracharya's Dakshinamurthi Stotram itself reveals the nature of bhakti towards the Atmaguru. Many Jnanis are hence bhaktas or devotees of Shiva in his form as Dakshinamurthi - note rejecting devotional images and such altogether, as, as Shankara himself notes, as does Sri Ramana Maharishi - one needs a Guru, and the chief method to attaining the Guru's grace is Bhakti, as Shankara himself admits (again, whether the Guru is human or Devic is a personal choice).

How many Westerners take up Advaita however and think themselves greater than Shankaracharya, Sri Ramakrishna and Sri Ramana Maharishi who were Bhaktas and Jnanis as they noted that Bhakti was a prerequisite to Jnana (as noted through the Guru even) and think they need no Guru - mortal or Devic, can be down only to a Western conditioning of arrogance alone on their behalf, as tradition contradicts such a view!

Yet, Arthur Avalon (Sir John Woodroffe), a British turned Hindu-Shakta, and an authority on Hinduism with knowledge far surpassing the neo-Vedantins and others points out and his Shakti and Shakta in 1918 (“Tantra and Veda, Chapter IV), re the misinterpretation of Hinduism and Hindu concepts, and also how many Hindus (Indians) themselves follow likewise (thus affected by the Christocentric Superimposition):

“Even when giving an account of Eastern thought the Western is apt to take up a "superior" attitude because he believes himself to be superior. The Bishop of Durham very clearly reveals this sense of superiority (Christian Aspects of Life, by B. F. Westcott, 175) when after stating that the duty of the Christian missionary was to substitute for "the sterile theism of Islam and the shadowy vagueness of Hindu Philosophy a belief in a living and speaking God" he goes on to point out that "our very advantages" by way of "the consciousness of social and intellectual superiority with which we are filled" and "the national force which sets us as conquerors where we come as evangelists" constitute a danger in the mission field. It is this notion of "superiority" also which prevents a right understanding, and which notwithstanding the facts, insists on charges which, if established, would maintain the reputation for inferiority of the colored races. It is this reiterated claim to superiority that has hypnotized many persons amongst Eastern races into the belief that the European is, amongst other things, always a safe and learned critic even of their own beliefs and practices…”

He continues (with respect to how this affects the Hindu psyche):

“There are, however, still many Indians, particularly those of my own generation, whose English Gurus and their teaching have made them captives. Their mind has been so dominated and molded to a Western manner of thinking (philosophical, religious, artistic, social and political) that they have scarcely any greater capacity to appreciate their own cultural inheritance than their teachers, be that capacity in any particular case more or less. Some of them care nothing for their Shastra. Others do not understand it. The class of whom I speak are, in fact, as I have said, the Manasaputra of the English in a strict sense of the term. The Indian who has lost his Indian soul must regain it if he would retain that independence in his thought and in the ordering of his life which is the mark of a man, that is of one who seeks Svarajya-siddhi. How can an imitator be on the same level as his original? Rather he must sit as a Cela at the latter's feet. Whilst we can all learn something from one another, yet some in this land have yet to learn that their cultural inheritance with all its defects (and none is without such) is yet a noble one; an equal in rank, (to say the least), with those great past civilizations which have molded the life and thought of the West. All this has been admitted by Indians who have discernment. Such value as my own remarks possess, is due to the fact that I can see and judge from without as an outsider, though (I will admit in one sense) interested observer -- interested because I have at heart Indian welfare and that of all others which, as the world now stands, is bound up with it.”

He has clearly outlined and identified the root of the problem here; a Christian view of the world when one becomes a Hindu or tries to become an authority on it, with a total disregard for tradition!

Now, one also notices that traditional Western Hindus also have little to do with these groups in the West and their views and also discard them - taking the Hindu side and approach - much like Arthur Avalon. This is a total change in their samskaras - a Hindu way of thinking opposed to their Christian samskaras they were brought up with or culturally influenced by. They have negated their samskaras.

Such true Hindus include Sivaya Subramuniyaswami, who became the head of the Saiva Siddhanta Movement in Southern India and as a great defender of traditional Yoga and Hinduism, as well as Pandit Vamadeva Shastri (David Frawley) - himself a Vedic-Hindu in a Western body, as also some such as Yogi Baba Prem, who some will know as also a great defender of Vedic and Hindu Dharma, a true Yogi, Acharya traditionally trained and also a Hindu in a Western body alone - reborn to share the ancient teachings of the Rishi paramparas with humans today.

To these types mentioned above, I class them, although in Western bodies, as much closer to the Vedic Rishis than even modern Hindus are to the greater modern Gurus! For most part, Hindus are largely ignorant of their own culture - for the reasons which Arthur Avalon has also stated in his "Shakta and Shakti" as I have quoted.

Naturally however for us, there is a lot of Ego in today's world, as the Kali-Yuga and immature mind likes to think it is always right - this again comes from egocentric faiths, namely Christianity which teach you can always be right - just mention the Bible or "God said" - throw logic, facts and tradition out the window in support of your claims and above all, never, ever admit you are wrong or have limited knowledge about something! It is the culture of counter-attack, and as noted, not just the West (from where it has come), but in India it exists among Hindus who have also been tainted by this view by association which has developed out of the Superiority complexes of European Christians hundreds of years ago, and even in Hindus, Buddhists or atheists - the traces of this arrogance still exists!

At many times when I have tried to correct Westerners about their (clearly) distorted views about own - or even my own traditions, I am attacked that I am being narrow-minded; yet they have reduced Jnana down to meaning intellect (buddhi) alone, not as in Atmajnana, of which it has been implied. I often find in them a complete misunderstanding of Advaita concepts and traditions, and they quote only Wikipedia or a few books to support their claims - or most often, mind-born ideas!

I compare them, when they get personal, to Max Mueller and his (little) knowledge of Sanskrit compared to our Pandits! Just as Max Mueller never went to India to actually learn Sanskrit, so these know-all Western Hindus who challenge tradition and "know it all" (somehow, without logic or reason) are often in a similar position, and are like a personal standing outside a concrete building without windows and trying to see what is within!

They try and argue that they alone know what is within the building (although they cannot see it, clearly), and yet those inside the building are clearly wrong - even though they clearly see what is inside (Traditional Hindus).

Now, where does the origin of creating mind-born ideas come from? That's right - the Christian culture of Europe which always asserts "God alone knows" and "it's in the Bible" even if it is not. It has bred an arrogance among it's people - all that have come into contact with it, like a pinch of turmeric, when dropped into a glass of water, permeates and stains the whole of the water yellow with it's imprint.

Interestingly, I have found that the arrogance, lack of logic, facts etc. of these neo-Vedantins to match that of Pentecostal Christians! When they are shown to be clearly wrong or having no foundations for their (imaginary or ill-conceived) claims, they attack by ranting, raving and playing semantic games and attack minor points superficially without the solid whole facts in front of them.

Unlike the Pentecostals, they don't try and close the debates by calling one "Satanic" or "Satan", but they do replace these words with saying that the person themselves is "arrogant and ill-informed about their own traditions" - snap! The Superiority complex has clearly raised it's ugly head again! I have seen this on numerous occasions where they get personal and give personal attacks rather than try and state their misconceptions about Hinduism are wrong, or give examples to state they are right.

 And dare to call themselves Hindus! Hindus use pratyaksha (direct perception), anumana (inference) and shabda (verbal testimony) - not personal insults and attacks when one doesn't want to admit their ego has been wounded and they are wrong and expounding a neo-Hindu or neo-Vedantic concept. Again, the Christocentric Superimposition comes in. It cannot be denied!