What Would Krishna Do? Or Shiva? Or Vishnu?
Jonardon Ganeri is a philosopher whose work draws on a variety of philosophical traditions to construct new positions in the philosophy of mind, metaphysics and epistemology. He advocates an expanded role for cross-cultural methodologies in philosophical research, together with enhanced cultural diversity in the philosophical curriculum. His research interests are in consciousness, self, attention, the epistemology of inquiry, the idea of philosophy as a practice and its relationship with literature. He works too on the history of ideas in early modern South Asia, intellectual affinities between India and Greece, and Buddhist philosophy of mind.
Jonardon Ganeri, Professor of Philosophy, Department of the Study of Religions, The School of Oriental and African Studies(SOAS), University of London displays a commendable understanding of Indian Schools of Thought in an interview that is titled, ‘What Would Krishna Do? Or Shiva? Or Vishnu?’ published by The New York Times in the Opinion posted by Gary Gutting on August 03, 2014. He shares an opinion of Hinduism as a profusion of gods and sacred texts that lack a single theological structure, but they sustain a long tradition of tolerance, and many paths to the divine.
In my analysis, Professor Jonardon Ganeri fails to acknowledge the Method of Inquiry used by Hinduism to discover the Ultimate Truth and Reality. In the Indian tradition, the Divine Mother Goddess Sarasvati symbolizes the Original Source of Pure Knowledge and Perfect Wisdom. All the Gods of Hinduism and all Hindus recognize the limitations of their own cognitive abilities. Without any exceptions all Gods including Krishna, Brahma, Vishnu, Shiva, and others worship Goddess Sarasvati with a great sense of devotion to receive the Gift of Knowledge.
Devotion is the Method of Inquiry to know the Reality of the man and the World:
What it is to be a Substance? and What it is to Exist? We need to establish knowledge about the man and the world on a firm basis and the information it provides must be tested for its accuracy and consistency with an external reality. We have to make the fundamental distinction between the living and the non-living matter. The scientific advances of the 19th and 20th centuries reinforced the materialistic position concerning the basic similarity of organic living and inorganic physical matter. The man is viewed as a product of natural evolution and is thought to be subject to the same laws of Physics and Chemistry or mechanistic principles.
We need a methodology to study philosophy and to understand philosophical statements. Logical Positivism, also known as Scientific Empiricism aims to clarify concepts in both everyday and scientific language. It describes analysis of language as the function of philosophy. This analysis of language and of concepts is important to understand questions of belief and ideology which affect what we think we ought to do individually and socially. I would use this method of ‘Applied Philosophy’ to analyze the concept of Spiritual Optics, the Spiritual dimension of designing the Solar System and the designing of the Living Systems. The principal Method of Inquiry I use is called Devotion or Bhakti in the Indian Sanskrit language.
In the context of knowing the man and the world, I discuss about the motions of Earth. The Milky Way Galaxy is moving at about 1.2 million miles/hour (not all the stars of the Milky Way Galaxy System move at this speed). Sun is moving at about 140 miles per second to revolve around the Galactic Center.. Earth is revolving around Sun at about 66,660 miles/hour and is spinning around its axis at about 1,000 miles/hour. In my life journey on the surface of planet Earth, I partake in all these motions as I have no other individual choice, no freedom of action or ability to rule or govern myself according to my individualistic choice.
Nicolaus Copernicus (1473-1543) Polish astronomer discovered that planets revolve around the Sun and that the turning of the Earth on its axis from West to East accounts for the apparent rising and setting of the stars (includes Sunrise and Sunset), and it forms the basis for modern astronomy.
Johannes Kepler (1571-1603) German astronomer and mathematician discovered the Kepler’s Laws of Motion.
Sir Issac Newton (1642-1727) English mathematician, physicist, and natural philosopher formulated the Laws of Gravity and Motion.
Albert Einstein (1879-1955), US physicist, born in Germany formulated the Theory of Relativity. The most important matter and energy equation is that of the ability of the living things to exploit matter and energy to their advantage in support of their own individualistic existence.
I respectfully acknowledge their contributions and there are several others who had verified the information provided by them. However, it may be noted that none of those contributors are physicians and their primary concern is not about the problems of human existence. For man is a mortal being, there is no escape from the problems of aging, and longevity. Man exists with a life-span, and has a lifetime which is measured by the time interval between two events that cause a significant environmental change that the human body recognizes as if it is operated by a precise clock. Of all the motions that I described, to account for the problems of human existence, I have to examine the spinning motion of Earth around its own axis. All other celestial motions are relevant but my life’s journey on planet Earth is impacted by Earth’s spinning motion. In Medical Science, we recognize Vital Functions, Vital Operations, and Vital Principles. A physicist has not accounted for any of the Vital Functions that govern or rule or regulate the human existence. So, at a fundamental level, to understand the issues that involve human existence, we need a method of inquiry that a physicist may not use.
I am asking my readers to learn to make the distinction between mechanical actions and intelligent actions. We need to separate mechanical operations from vital operations. There is the difference between mechanical performance and intelligent performance. People make the distinction between Transitive Action and Immanent Action. The action performed by an inert body on another inert body is called Transitive Action. In contrast, Immanent Action perfects the agent that performs the action. To establish life, in the performance of the vital, living functions, the agent is perfected by its own actions such as growing, sensing, understanding, and developing. For example, heating is a Transitive Action for the hot thing loses its own heat. In the performance of Vital Functions and Intelligent Actions, the results of action remain in the agent to provide some benefit, advantage, or purpose. The term purposiveness describes actions that are guided to achieve a future end and it includes the selection or the choice of means to accomplish or obtain the desired goal.
The word ‘animal’ is derived from Latin name for “SOUL” the Vital Principle of animation. It helps to divide Matter into two kinds; animate, and inanimate, living, and nonliving, sensible, and insensible, or Physical Matter, and Living Matter. The biological property called consciousness describes the difference between Vital Powers and the Capacities of inert or Physical Matter. Consciousness describes the difference between animate and inanimate things. Consciousness accounts for the power of Self-Nutrition ( In Physiology, called ‘NUTRITION’), which is the original Power the possession of which leads us to speak of things as living or nonliving. Apart from Physics, Biology demands explanation for knowing Matter, Energy, and Motions of Objects. The Laws of Physics cannot account for the correct understanding of Vital Powers, Vital Functions, Vital Operations that are based on Intelligent Actions.
In the Divine Song popularly known as The Bhagavad Gita, Chapter VII, verse #25, Lord Krishna speaks to Prince Arjuna: “Naham prakasah sarvasya Yoga-Maya-samavrtah; Mudho’ yam nabhijanati loko mam ajam avyayam.” “I am never manifest to the foolish and unintelligent. For them I am covered by My eternal creative potency (“MAYA”) and so the deluded world knows Me not, who am unborn and infallible.”
The scientific method of inquiry is relevant to understand certain aspects of Matter, Energy, and Motion. There is an aspect of human existence that is operated by the Force of Grand Illusion(“MAYA”) and this existence is not accounted by the realities of the world and the universe in which man finds his existence without any choice of his own. To account for this human existence which needs the operation of illusion, I make my inquiry using “DEVOTION” as my tool or method to investigate the problem.
MADHU, MADHAVI, AND MADHURYA:
Sugar, alcohol and sweetness are related terms. Photoreception is the basis for Photosynthesis and it always performs a creative action to produce sugars and other plant products. We often miss the point about the creative generation of sugars. Madhavi symbolizes a person associated with this creative power that is involved in the generation or production of sugar (the fermented liquid, wine or alcohol is called Madhu) and it is easily identified by the taste sensation it imparts. In other words, the creative power, potency can be physically experienced using the taste sensation. Creation is not an abstract idea. The man experiences the fact of creation using the five organs of sense perception.
Simon Cyrene
The Rudolf-Rudi doctrine of Spiritualism 
