Prof. Ran Nath Jha will provide the specialty of Ananda Sutram as a solution to vexing spiritual queries. Dr. Aditya Mohanty will talk about the intuitive cognition and how it manifests in a neohumanist way of life. Dada Shambhushivananda will expound on intrinsic nature of faith, dogmas and spiritual path.
Dr. Aditya Kumar Mohanty – Neohumanism & Spirituality
The globe is engulfed in an unprecedented crisis. Humanity is left with two exclusive alternatives: either to opt for collective co-existence or court mass extinction. On account of explosion of knowledge, height of scientific progress and technological innovations we live in a globalised world. But ironically, man is divided in the name of religion, nationality, ethnicity, language and ideological divides. Pollution of air and water, erosion of soil, warming of the planet, disequilibrium in the ecology has led to the belated realisation that the only way for sustained living on this planet is to embrace the creed of ‘live and let live’. ‘Neo-humanism’, is a socio-economic paradigm, enunciated by Shri Prabhat Ranjan Sarkar who envisions a social order where human-beings live in loving fellowship not only with their fellowmen but also with flora, fauna and inanimate nature. It is based on the truistic vision that though things and beings appear as disparate and disconnected they partake of the same essence at the core and are bound to one another by the bond of cosmic fellowship. This being the cherished goal of humanity, spirituality spells out the existential strategy to attain it keep humanity immune to the baneful fallout of the divisive ideas and ideals promoted by the Self-centric, Matter-centric and Dogma-centric paradigms. Spirituality which brings about the progressive expansion of human psyche, broadening the frontiers of empathy, remains the only way to translate the Neohumanistic vision into a living reality.
Dada Shambhushivananda – Pseudo vs Perfect Spirituality
Faith has been a potent force in human society. However, it can either stall its progress and turn into dogmas, or it can transcend into higher spirituality endowed with inspiration to unite one and all under the umbrella of one cosmic transcendental entity. What distinguishes pseudo-spirituality from perfect spirituality? How can spirituality be the corner stone of revolution in present times? How can we protect ourselves from falling in the abyss of dogmatic beliefs?
Presenters:
Dada Shambhushivananda
Dada ShambhushivanandaDada Shambhúshivánanda is the Chancellor of Ánanda Márga Gurukula. Dadaji has been a yogic monk and teacher of meditation since 1979. Prior to his life as a monk, he was a gold medalist of Punjab University, and received Masters and PhD in Business and Applied Economics from the Wharton School, School of Arts and Sciences of the University of Pennsylvania. He has served on the faculties of several universities (University of Scranton, Rutgers, Drexel, PCTS (Philadelphia University), etc, in the Eastern United States before dedicating his life for the cause of building “One Human Society” based on spiritual lifestyle. In 1992, Dadaji was the honourable recipient of the International Mahatma Gandhi Award for his contribution towards building a global community based on ecological ethics and spiritual values. The Indian Research Association also awarded him the Karyalaya Shiromani Award the same year.
Since 1990 Dadaji has been the Chancellor of Ánanda Márga Gurukula (AMGK). Dadaji works to develop and coordinate all of the activities of the neohumanist international network, and has contributed greatly to the development of the Neohumanist Education system around the world. Dadaji is also the founding director of CNS-Sweden, NERI (Netherlands) and AM Gurukul Teachers Training College (TTC) at Anandanagar, West Bengal, India. He is the author of PROUT-Neohumanist Economics (1989) Mystic Verses (2016), Thoughts for a New Era (2018) , a contributor to ”Economic Renaissance in the age of Artificial Intelligence”(2019), and Towards a Brighter Future (2020).
Aditya Mohanty
Aditya MohantyDr. Aditya Kumar Mohanty, currentlty, Professor in the Department of Philosophy, Central University Tripura, was formerly Professor and head , Centre of Advanced Study in Philosophy, Utkal University. He graduated from B.J.B. College, Bhubaneswar, and was topper in the university in Philosophy Honours in the year 1974. He had his post graduation in philosophy from Utkal University, Bhubaneswar and received the University Gold medal in 1976 for occupying the first position in M.A. Philosophy. He has the rare distinction of graduating simultaneously in Philosophy honours and English honours. He had his M.Phil and Ph.D from North Eastern Hill University (NEHU), Shillong and completed his Ph.D in record time of four months. Dr. Mohanty obtained his D.Litt degree from Utkal University in the year 2006. He has to his credit eleven books and a number of research publications in Indian Philosophy, Ethics, Religion. The published books are (1) Knowable and the Sayable (1986), (2) The Upanishads – Rediscovered (1992), (3) Philosophy of Value (1999), (4) Call of Messiah, (5) Dharma (1998), (6) Concepts and Issues in Indian Philosophy, (7) Karma (2004), (8) Gurutattva, (9) Comparative Religion (2006), (10) Cycle of Creation, and (11) Philosophy: Why, What, How? (12)Yoga- Concept & Practice (13) Bhakti- Concept & Cult. He represented Hinduism from India in the International Seminar on “Inter-Religious Dialogue” at Poland. Besides academic pursuits, he has the consuming passion to serve the poor and the down troden and was a recipient of the Jana Seva Shield in 1983 for extensive relief work among the flood stricken people, Excellency Award in 2006 in the field of Social Action, Gold medal for Social Service, Rotary Award for working for the unprivileged, Pratibha Sammana and Indradyumna Award in social work in 2009, Samaj Ratna Award in 2013, Saraswat Sammana- 2013 and R.M.Memorial Service Award in 2014. He is the founder chairman of RAWA Academy which runs a network of children homes across the state of Orissa, devoted to the rehabilitation of deserted, unclaimed, parentless destitute children. Presently, he is a member of Global Advisory Committee of Renaissance Universal and engaged in research and application of Microvita (Anujivat).
Ram Nath Jha
Ram Nath JhaProfessor Ram Nath Jha, School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies, received his early education up to B.A. (Two Years) at his native place and B.A. Third Year (Bridge Course) and M.A. in Sanskrit form Hansraj College, University of Delhi. After getting selected for JRF/SRF by the UGC he completed his M. Phil. and Ph. D. on Acharya Shankara’s Epistemology under the supervision of Prof. Baldev Raj Sharma from Sanskrit Department, University of Delhi. Currently he is teaching at School of Sanskrit and Indic Studies, Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. His teaching and research areas include Vedic Studies, Indian culture, Comparative philosophy, Indian Philosophy (Vedanta, Samkhya, Yoga, Navya-nyaya) and Philosophy of Sciences. He has participated in 118 Seminars/Conference/Workshops at National and International level. He has many books and research papers to his credit published by national and international publishers. He visited USA, UK, West Indies, Indonesia, South Korea, New Zealand and other countries to participate in conferences and also for other research purposes. He delivered 125 special lectures in reputed institutes within and outside Delhi including sixteen special lectures for Indian Foreign Service (IFS) probationary officers. 70 researchers have already completed their Ph.D. and M. Phil. under his supervision on different aspects of Indian knowledge systems including Indian philosophy, culture and philosophy of sciences. He has worked on three National/International projects on following themes : (1) UGC Sponsored Major Research Project To Prepare a Reader in Indian Philosophy as Principal Investigator (2) UPOE Project of JNU titled Multilingual, Multimedia Encyclopaedic Dictionary of Intellectual Terms of Indian Philosophy as Co-investigator and (3) International Project Towards an Asian/Continental Poetics : A Study in Inter-Cultural Space with Special Reference to the Works of Han Yong-un & Rabindranath Tagore as Co-investigator funded by Academy of Korean Studies, South Korea. Currently he is working as a principal investigator on a project Models of Consciousness in Indian Philosophy and Science funded by JNU under UPE-II Scheme. He is one of the editors of an International Journal Vedic Venues (Annual). He is member in different committees of reputed Institutes and has long association with Bharatiya Vidya Bhavan and NCERT.