Join Mukunda as we speak with Swami Sarvapriyananda, the Head Monk at the Vedanta Society of New York. Swami Sarvapriyananda is a well-known speaker on Vedanta and his talks are extremely popular globally via the internet. He has been a speaker on various prestigious forums such as TEDx, SAND, Google Talk etc. He has also been invited to speak at several universities across the world, including Harvard University. The swami has engaged in dialogue with many eminent thinkers such as Deepak Chopra, Rupert Spira, Rick Archer, David Chalmers and Sam Harris.

You can find Swami Sarvapriyananda at:

https://www.vedantany.org/

Twitter: @VedantaNY

Meru Media

www.meru.media

themerumedia@gmail.com

Twitter: @themerumedia @raghman36

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Join Mukunda as we speak with Dr. Javad Hashmi, a Phd. candidate at Harvard University in Islamic studies and is also a medical doctor. He has written numerous academic articles for a variety of academic journals and conferences along with engaging in discussions and debates about Islam, Islamism, Atheism and History of Islamic Thought. In this episode, we discuss a host of topics including:

00:01:20 Introduction to Dr. Javad Hashmi;

00:17:40 Modern Historical Critical vs. traditional approach to Islam;

00:25:30 Dr. Hashmi’s position on the divine nature of the Quran and the Prophet;

00:35:20 Who was the author of the Quran and how was it compiled and preserved;

00:42:30 What are the origins and the status of the Hadith in relation to the Quran;

00:47.15 Islamic Modernism;

01:08:15 How does the Quran and the Hadith address and engage with non-believers and non-Muslims;

01:19:10 What’s Dr. Hashmi’s position what Islam’s idea on the nature of God and God’s relation to human beings; How does Islam conceive of God and can God be experienced?;

01:30:30 Islamic Mystical traditions and experience;

01:34:20 How has the Muslim community responded to Islamic Modernist position and Dr. Hashmi;

01:41:40 Final Thoughts and Conclusions;

You can find Dr. Javad Hashmi at:

Twitter: @DrJavadTHashmi

https://harvard.academia.edu/JavadHashmi

Meru Media

www.meru.media

themerumedia@gmail.com

Twitter: @themerumedia @raghman36

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Join Mukunda as we speak with Dr. Anusha Rao, a Phd. candidate at the University of Toronto. Dr. Rao is currently finishing her Phd. on Dvaita Vedanta at the University of Toronto. She has written numerous professional articles for a variety of academic journals and conferences along with op-eds for the Deccan Herald. In this episode, we discuss a host of topics including:

00:01:20 Introduction to Dr. Anusha Rao;

00:08:40 The importance and power of the Mahabharata;

00:11:25 Dr. Rao’s dissertation focus on Vedanta and Poetry through Vadiraja and Ghanashyam;

00:20:30 Who is Madhvacharya and what is his importance;

00:35:00 What is the epistemology/Pramana of Dvaita;

00:42:00 The Metaphysics, Theology and Ontology of Dvaita, the concept of Panchabheda;

01:13.00 How does Dvaita address the Mahavakyas;

01:20:20 Who is Vishnu and what are Vishnu’s attributes;

01:26:00 What is Dvaita Soteriology, the means to Moksha;

01:29:30 Role of Women in the Dvaita tradition, the concept of Uttama Stri;

01:37:30 What role does varna play in Dvaita;

01:47:00 The role of the commentarial tradition in dealing with changing societies and values;

01:54:00 Why is Dvaita is important today;

02:00:40 Final Thoughts and Conclusions;

You can find Dr. Anusha Rao at:

Twitter: @anushasrao2

https://utoronto.academia.edu/AnushaSRao

Anushasrao310@gmail.com

Meru Media

www.meru.media

themerumedia@gmail.com

Twitter: @themerumedia @raghman36

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Join Mukunda and Dr. Omar as we speak with Prof. Vamsee Juluri, Professor of Media Studies at the University of San Francisco, on a joint Brown Pundits and Meru Media episode. Prof. Juluri is the author of Becoming a Global Audience: Longing and Belonging in Indian Music Television, The Mythologist: A Novel, Bollywood Nation: India through its Cinema and Rearming Hinduism: Nature, History and the Return of Indian Intelligence. His work has been published in journals such as Communication Theory, Television and New Media, European Journal of Cultural Studies, and Critical Studies in Mass Communication and in various scholarly anthologies on globalization, audiences, and Indian cinema. He has also written numerous op-eds and feature articles for the San Francisco Chronicle, Times of India, Open Magazine, India-West and On Faith, among other publications, and is a frequent contributor to The Huffington Post and The Indian Express.

In this episode, we discuss a host of topics including:

00:01:20 Introduction to Prof. Juluri;

00:04:10 What is Hinduism according to Prof. Juluri; The idea of the vertical and horizontal;

00:14:55 The problem of trying to find the lowest common denominator of Hinduism;

00:25:40 Problems of thinking of rituals into scientific terms;

00:29:40 Recognizing Limitations of Theory and Thoughts;

00:35:00 Hindus position of weakness and the idea of a wounded people/civilization/culture; The impact of modernity on Hindus and Hinduism;

00:49.30 What is Hinduphobia?;

00:55:20 If Hinduphobia is real and prevalent why do so many Indian or Hindu origin people deny that it exists;

01:09:15 What is the role of cinema in expressing native experiences and modernity; using the examples of Kantara and Balagam;

01:23:00 Final Thoughts and Conclusion;

You can find Prof. Vamsee Juluri at:

Twitter: @vamseejuluri

https://www.usfca.edu/faculty/vamsee-juluri

Meru Media

www.meru.media

themerumedia@gmail.com

Twitter: @themerumedia @raghman36

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A Conversation with Ghorangirasa and Pinakasena Join Mukunda as he speaks with the men behind the Twitter handles of @Ghorangirasa and @Pinakasena. Both Ghorangirasa and Pinakasena are scholarly practitioners of Saiva Siddhanta sampradaya and write many posts around the sampradaya. In this episode, we discuss a host of topics including: 00:01:20 Introduction to Ghorangirasa and Pinakasena along with brief history of Saiva Siddhanta; 00:06:30 The various schools of Saivism and demarcation of Atimarga and Mantramarga; 00:08:50 The difference between the 24 Tattva Samkhya schools and 36 Tattva of the Mantramarga schools; 00:10:00 History, Texts and Relationship between Ashtaprakarana Saiva Siddhanta and Vedas; 00:18:00 List of all Ashtaprakarana Primary Texts and their synopsis; 00:24:45 Relationship and Differences between Ashtaprakarana and Meyakandar schools; 00:30.20 What is Mala; How does it relate to Karma?; 00:43:15 Pati, Pashu and Pasha; 00:55:40 Deep Dive into Ishvara or Paramashiva; 01:06:50 Paramashiva, Shrikanta Rudra, Ananta and the various Rudras also their relationships with other Devatas within the hierarchy of being; 01:17:10 What is the nature of Shakti and Shiva?; 01:25:00 Brief conversation on the nature of Mukti/Moksha; 01:38:45 What role does varna-jati and gender play in Saiva Siddhanta; 01:48:45 How the Itihasas are viewed by Saiva Siddhanta; 01:53:40 Final Thoughts and Conclusion;

You can find both Guests at: Twitter: @ghorangirasa and @pinakasena

Meru Media

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themerumedia@gmail.com

Twitter: @themerumedia @raghman36

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