Abstract
Western civilisation is generally presented as a journey from the world of many gods, to the world of one god, to the world of no god, i.e. from myth, to religion to science. This, we are told, is progress, the march of civilisation towards equality, hence Universal Human Rights, one that the rest of the world from Africa through India to China is expected to emulate. But is it? This paper asserts, but does not argue (for that would mean subscribing to the Western myth of one truth) that this view of the world is based on Western myth that tends to be universal, linear, singular, and objective-driven. There are other ways of seeing the world, shaped by different myths, the Indian myth, for example, that makes our worldview contextual, cyclical, plural and consequence-based (Pattanaik 2013a). Considering such non-Western worldviews will help the West realise how the West’s current conflict with immigrants is not modern, or unique, but timeless, an integral part of its worldview.
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Notes
Nina Paley’s blog is http://blog.ninapaley.com/
The official website is http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/
The official website is http://sedermasochism.com
Pattanaik (2013a) refers to ‘rana-bhoomi’ versus ‘ranga-bhoomi’
Mahāparinibbānasutta (in Davids 2000)
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Some important source-content for the ideas showcased in this paper are from the following books by the author: i) Myth= Mithya, 2006, Penguin Books India; ii) Shiva to Shankara: Decoding the phallic symbol, 2006, Indus Source; and iii) The book of Ram, 2009, Penguin Books India.
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Pattanaik, D. A Different Way of Seeing the World. Hu Arenas 1, 386–395 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-018-0041-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s42087-018-0041-7