Colonial Discourse and the Suffering of Indian American Children Book Cover.webp

In this book, we analyze the psycho-social consequences faced by Indian American children after exposure to the school textbook discourse on Hinduism and ancient India. We demonstrate that there is an intimate connection—an almost exact correspondence—between James Mill’s colonial-racist discourse (Mill was the head of the British East India Company) and the current school textbook discourse. This racist discourse, camouflaged under the cover of political correctness, produces the same psychological impacts on Indian American children that racism typically causes: shame, inferiority, embarrassment, identity confusion, assimilation, and a phenomenon akin to racelessness, where children dissociate from the traditions and culture of their ancestors.


This book is the result of four years of rigorous research and academic peer-review, reflecting our ongoing commitment at Hindupedia to challenge the representation of Hindu Dharma within academia.

Śuddhamāyā

From Hindupedia, the Hindu Encyclopedia

By Swami Harshananda

Śuddhamāyā literally means ‘pure māyā’.

In the Siddha system of medicine, śuddhamāyā is pure matter and aśuddha-māyā is impure matter. The aśuddha-māyā is corruptible whereas the śuddha-māyā is always incorruptible. When by a special method, the aśuddhamāyā is purified and brought into the line of śuddhamāyā, there will be no bodily death. However, the method has to be learnt from the expert Siddhas.

In Kāśmīr Śaivism, śuddhamāyā is the intrinsic power of Śiva to create the world, sustain it and withdraw it like the burning power of fire in its purest form. When it manifests itself in the form of the five kañcukas[1] and apparently binds Śiva it becomes aśuddhamāyā or impure māyā.


References[edit]

  1. Kañcukas means sheaths.
  • The Concise Encyclopedia of Hinduism, Swami Harshananda, Ram Krishna Math, Bangalore

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