By Fabio Milioni
In order to approach the topic correctly, some preliminary axioms are considered essential to avoid ambiguities or misunderstandings:
Cultural misappropriation: a widespread misappropriation of terminologies and meanings is evident and easily verifiable; this involves the pollution of the original meanings in their integrity.
Saṃskṛta is a sacred language, in itself not translatable. To understand their meanings, it is essential to live them and penetrate them from within, under the guidance of a Master. Every translation is inherently limited and potentially misleading.
संस्कृतात्ऋतेगीतायाःमूलार्थःनज्ञायते
saṃskṛtātṛtegītāyāḥmūlārthaḥnajñāyate
without Sanskrit one cannot know the meaning of:
| India
Hinduism – Hindu Philosophy Indology/Tibetology (Indology, also known as South Asian studies, is the academic study of the history and cultures, languages, and literature of the Indian subcontinent, and as such is a subset of Asian studies) Kashmir Shaivism, Buddhism, Vedānta, Vaishnavism, Shaktism, Tantrism
University studies, specialization and PhD
Teacher training theoretical/practical training to transmit learned notions, without ethical-existential pre-conditions.
|
भारत Bhārata
Sanātana Dhārma Sanātana Dhārma Śruti (Rig-Veda; Yajur-Veda; Sama-Veda; Atharva-Veda) and Smṛti āstika आस्तिक, orthodox systems. Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Mimāṃsā, Vedānta
Dīkṣā दीक्षा - Sampradāya सम्प्रदाय - Paramparā परम्परा Gurū-śiṣya paramparā Adhikāra, Adhikārin
Sādhana साधन “means” of acquiring the knowledge of Brahman (Vedic revelation, not of human understanding) |
Vedānta and Saṃskṛta in the Italian academic world
University
In most cases, teachers have preference for Kashmir Shaivism and Buddhism and interpret Vedānta as influenced by these different points of view.
Università La Sapienza di Roma – Dipartimento studi orientali (Indology; Sanskrit Language and Literature)
https://web.uniroma1.it/diso/benvenuti
Università di Milano (Indology; Sanskrit Language and Literature)
https://sites.unimi.it/india/wikka.php?wakka=ProgrammiMaterialeDidattico
https://www.unimi.it/it/corsi/insegnamenti-dei-corsi-di-laurea/2024/indologia
Università di Napoli l’Orientale (Tibetology and Indology; Sanskrit Language and Literature)
Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia (Tibetology and Indology; Sanskrit Language and Literature)
https://www.unive.it/data/strutture/520070
Università di Torino (Tibetology and Indology; Sanskrit Language and Literature)
https://www.didattica-cps.unito.it/do/corsi.pl/Show?_id=8g05
Università di Firenze (Tibetology and Indology; Sanskrit language and Literature)
https://www.unifi.it/index.php?module=ofform2&mode=1&cmd=3&AA=2023&afId=665743
Università di Bologna (Indologia; Sanskrit Language and Literature)
Università di Palermo (Indology)
Università di Cagliari (Tibetology and Indology- Sanskrit Language and Literature )
https://web.unica.it/unica/it/dettaglio_aree_e_settori.page?contentId=GNC226991
Emeritus Professors:
Carlo Della Casa https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Della_Casa
Raniero Gnoli https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raniero_Gnoli
Federico Squarcini https://www.anvur.it/CV2022/VQR-CV/CV_SQUARCINI_Federico_13458.pdf
Raffaele Torella https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffaele_Torella
Open problems (only in Italy?)
- Academics and Scholars study and know the sacred texts of Vedānta with the Western hermeneutic approach, without living it. They can dissect it but cannot penetrate its profound existential meaning.
संस्कृत Saṃskṛta: sanctified, consecrated, initiated, purified (adj.); sacred usage (n.)
Source: https://www.learnsanskrit.cc/translate?search=saMskRta&dir=se
Vedānta in training courses taught Yoga
त्वम्संस्कृतंवदसि?
tvamsaṃskṛtaṃvadasi?
Do you speak Sanskrit?
Study centers
Sarva Yoga University
https://www.sarvayogauniversity.com/i-docenti/
Centro Studi Bhakti Vedānta
https://www.centrostudi.net/csbcorsi/corso-sanscrito-online.html
Sites and main Organisations
Vedānta
Edizioni Asram Vidyā
http://www.edizioniasramvidya.it/asramvidya/index.php/collezione-vidya
Vidya Bharata- Vedānta
https://www.vidya.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&id=14&Itemid=39
https://www.vidya.org/index.php?option=com_phocadownload&view=category&id=2:Vedānta&Itemid=49
Federazione Italiana Yoga
Eminent people:
Raphael
http://www.edizioniasramvidya.it/asramvidya/index.php/intervista-a-raphael
Open problems (only in Italy?)
- Those who teach or follow Yoga practice āsanas, a little prāṇāyāma; all almost always omitting not only the bases of yama and niyama, but also pratyāhāra; only to then claim to be able to meditate (dhyāna). Few know or study Patanjali's Yogasūtras, very few knows Vedānta, much less have the slightest basics of Sanskrit.
संस्कृतात्ऋतेगीतायाःमूलार्थःनज्ञायते saṃskṛtātṛtegītāyāḥmūlārthaḥnajñāyate
without Sanskrit one cannot know the meaning of the Bhagavadgītā
Vedānta in the Italian general public
The perception of India and its culture among the Italian population is largely conditioned by the mass media (newspapers, television, social media and publishing). Almost all of them are deeply contaminated by the market logic of globalization. All these scenarios are largely responsible for cultural misappropriation: parts of Indian culture are used both to package shoddy products resold as 'original' interpretations of Indian sources, and to use principles and concepts within the various aspects of Western culture without caring about cite sources.
It is enough to enter a bookshop, read newspapers or follow social media to realize the widespread pollution. Of course, it is not always just like this, there are and continue to be niches of correct thinking, totally alien to globalization and market logic, which seek to preserve and transmit the principles of Tradition in their pristine purity. Examples of this are the publisher Āśram Vidyā, who under the enlightened guidance of Raphael has accomplished a gigantic work of translation and publication of all the main sacred texts of Vedānta and the commentaries of Sri Śaṅkarāchārya, or the cultural centers that take care of the diffusion of the Vedānta.
In any case, in Italy the need for spirituality is widespread. The problem is that one finds fewer and fewer solid and credible references in which to express it. This need goes against the trend of the dominant culture which almost obsessively conveys the principles of materialist reductionism; almost all means of communication are functional to a globalization that flattens consciences into an increasingly narrow material dimension, where hedonism as an end in itself and therefore always unsatisfactory is exalted, in exchange for renouncing the dimension of the Sacred. Despite this, and the apparent successes of this materialist/reductionist approach, the need for Spirituality keeps alive the question "Who am I?", hence the existential discomfort that calls into question the exclusively physical/exoteric or materialist approach of existence.
Darśana Vedānta and Darśana Yoga
The vision of "The Yoga of Tradition"[1]:
- There are no Yogas, there is Yoga, (traditional, orthodox, an integral part of the Sanātana Dhārma) Darśana Yoga based on Patanjali's Yogasūtras and the commentaries of the great Masters. Learning about him is the existential path of the Sadhana. Respecting the continuity of initiatory transmission (paramparā).
- Being simple uninitiated researchers (the Yoga teacher certification is not an initiation nor inclusion in the paramparā), we try to spread the sacred texts (Śruti and Smṛti) and the commentaries of the great Masters (Acharya, Guru) in their integrity, without adding anything to their purity.
- We consider the activity we carry out as a welcome duty and recognition, without expecting anything from the fruit of the action.
- We believe that Darśana Yoga and Darśana Vedānta are complementary and fundamental for the path (मार्ग mārga) of any sincere researcher, both being respectful of the superior authority of the Śruti and purified of all deviations and pollutions widespread and extraneous to orthodoxy (āstika).
Integral parts of the Sanātana Dhārma are both the wisdom treatises of the Upaniṣads and Darśana Yoga which has Patañjali's Yogasūtras as its fundamental reference text.
In particular, the Yogasūtras constitute a scientific method of great rigor that allows you to complete the path practically and operationally, the " mārga", which leads to the higher states of Being, up to Enlightenment.
Which does not prevent, but rather stimulates, the re-appropriation of Yoga in its integrity.
A corollary and complementary step to this re-appropriation is the awareness that Yoga is in turn inextricably connected with the Wisdom of the Upaniṣads, which represent its philosophical/metaphysical dimension.
Unfortunately, in the West the essence of Yoga is largely misunderstood as it has been degraded to a physical/gymnastic discipline and sterilized of all the ethical/moral/spiritual components that constitute the antidote to materialist/reductionist pollution. Many Yoga courses focus on āsana and normally avoid its founding bases, namely Yama and Niyama. This exclusion is even theorized by various authors, even famous ones, who justify it on the grounds that 'Yama and Niyama are too onerous and difficult for people to comply with.' For anyone who feels the desire and urge to face the operational Way (Sādhana) of the Yoga of Tradition, the study and reflection/concentration/meditation of the Sacred texts is a welcome duty (explicitly prescribed in Patañjali's Yogasūtras); Svādhyāya is pillar of Yoga and link to Śruti.
Sūtra II. 29:
यम नियमासन प्राणायाम प्रत्याहार धारणा ध्यान समाधयोऽष्टावङ्गानि ॥२९॥
yama-niyama-āsana-prāṇāyāma-pratyāhāra-dhāraṇā-dhyāna-samādhayaḥ aṣṭau-aṅgāni ||29||
Sūtra II. 32:
शौच संतोष तपः स्वाध्यायेश्वरप्रणिधानानि नियमाः ॥३२॥
śauca-saṃtoṣa-tapaḥ svādhyāya-īśvara-praṇidhānāni niyamāḥ ||32||
Sūtra II. 44:
स्वाध्यायादिष्टदेवता संप्रयोगः ॥४४॥
svādhyāyāt-iṣṭa-devatā-saṃprayogaḥ ||44||
The Upaniṣads, for this purpose, represent a fundamental reference, together with the Bhagavadgītā and the Brahmasūtras.
The study of the Upaniṣads requires jijñāsā, a constant and prolonged commitment, they are texts to be read, read, reread continuously. Reflecting in a focused way on each sentence. Better if under the guidance of a Master, a condition that is increasingly difficult to satisfy.
Synoptic diagrams taken from https://www.sanskritfromhome.in/course/foundation-sanatana-dharma
Open problems (academics and Sadhana; Yoga teachers and practitioners and Sadhana).
Darśana दर्शन
Philosophy is known as darśana or “vision of truth” in India. The word darśana is derived from the root √dṛś which means ‘vision’ and also the ‘instrument of vision. Six orthodox systems or ṣaḍdarśanas, all of which cite Vedic authority as their source:
- Nyāya न्याय, the school of logic
- Vaiśeṣika वैशेषिक, the atomist school
- Sāṃkhya संख्या , the enumeration school
- Yoga योग, the school of Patañjali
- Mimāṃsā मीमांसा, the tradition of Vedic exegesis
- Vedānta वेदान्त or Uttaramīmāṃsa उत्तरमीमांस, the Upaniṣadic tradition.
Āstika आस्तिक, orthodox systems.
All the above six systems [Sāṃkhya, Yoga, Nyāya, Vaiśeṣika, Mimāṃsā, Vedānta] are known as the āstika or the orthodox systems as they accept the authority of the Vedas. Āstika is a believer in the sacred tradition, the vēdas. Are āstika the schools which accept the Vedic authority, and the schools which do not accept the Vedic authority are named nāstika.
Open questions:
Hinduism
According to Scholars, Hindu philosophy is including, in addition to the six Āstika, also the schools of Vaishnavism, Shaivism, Shaktism.
or
Sanātana Dharma सनातन धर्म, meaning "eternal dharma", or "eternal order.
Śruti श्रुति (Rig-Veda; Yajur-Veda; Sama-Veda; Atharva-Veda) and Smṛti स्मृति are Āstika, are Sanātana Dharma.
Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism are Āstika, are Sanātana Dharma?
Relationship between Vedānta and Vaishnavism, Shaivism and Shaktism???
Relationship between Vedānta and Yoga ( both Darśana and Āstika) !!!
Sources and references
Publications in Italian:
- Sarvepalli RADHAKRISHNAN, La filosofia indiana (Voll. I-II), Āśram Vidyā, Roma, 1998
- Upaniṣad, traduzione e note di Raphael , Bompiani, Milano, 2010
- Bṛhadāraṇyaka Upaniṣad, con il commento di Śaṅkara, Āśram Vidyā, Roma, 2004
- Chāndogya Upaniṣad, con il commento di Śaṅkara, Āśram Vidyā, Roma, 2006
- Taittirīya Upaniṣad, con il commento di Śaṅkara, Āśram Vidyā, Roma, 2006
- Māṇḍūkya Upaniṣad, con le Kārikā di Gauḍapāda e il commento di Śaṅkara, traduzione e note di Raphael, Āśram Vidya, Roma, 1986
- Īśa e Kaṭha Upaniṣad, con il commento di Śaṅkara, Āśram Vidyā, Roma, 2007
- Śvetāśvatara Upaniṣad, con il commento di Śaṅkara, Āśram Vidyā, Roma, 2007
- Bhagavadgītā, il Canto del Beato, Āśram Vidyā, Roma, 2006
- Brahmasūtra, a cura di Raphael, Āśram Vidyā, Roma, 2013
- Ādi Śaṅkaracārya, Vivekacūḍāmaṇi Il gran gioiello della discriminazione, YCP, 2021, pgg.350 ISBN | 979-12-20375-63-4
- Ādi Śaṅkara Ātmabodha, Jivanmuktānandalaharī, in “Opere Brevi, trattati ed inni”, Āśram Vidyā, Roma 2012
- Ādi Śaṅkara Aparokṣānubhūti- Autorealizzazione, Āśram Vidyā, Roma 1995
- Ādi Śaṅkara Vivekacūḍāmaṇi- Il gran gioiello della discriminazione, Āśram Vidyā, Roma 2004
- https://www.advaita-Vedānta.org//texts/shankara_works.html
- Bibliography of ‘Lo Yoga della Tradizione’
https://loyogadellatradizione.com/bibliografia/
- Editions of “Lo Yoga della Tradizione” edited by Fabio Milioni and Liliana Bordoni
- Yogasūtra di Patañjali. Le fondamenta: Yama e Niyama, seconda ed., 2020, pagine 626, ISBN: 9791220306836
- Īśvarakṛṣṇa Sāṃkhyakārikā ISBN |979-12-20305-84-6
- Pātañjala Yogasūtrāṇi - Yogasūtra di Patañjali, ISBN | 9788831636988 e ISBN | 9788831637145
- Yoga pratyāhāra porta di accesso allo yoga interiore. Alcuni strumenti operativi yoga-nidrā, antar mouna, marmasthāna, trāṭaka, a cura di L. Bordoni e F. Milioni, ISBN: 9791221497229 ISBN | 9791222714806
- Ādi Śaṅkarāchārya, Vivekacūḍāmaṇi Il gran gioiello della discriminazione, ISBN | 9791220375634
- La Serie Rishikesh, ISBN | 9788831696456
- Svādhyāya. Japa e Gāyatrī Sāvitrī Mantra ISBN | 9788831616300
- Yama e Niyama utilizzando le energie di viparītakaraṇīmudrā nella pratica di pratyāhāra, ISBN | 9788827864845
- Pratica di Yoga classico. Sequenza di base, ISBN | 9788827862698
- Pātañjala Yogasūtrāṇi, Yama e Niyama, i Doveri (astensioni e osservanze), I ed. ISBN | 9788892625952
- Solstizio d’inverno. Devayāna, la porta degli dèi nella Tradizione Una, ISBN | 9788827864791
- OṀ AUM Oṃkāra Praṇava Udgītha Ekākṣara, ISBN 978-88-31649-46-9
- Nāḍī-śodhana. La purificazione energetica secondo la Tradizione, ISBN | 9788831665124
Sanskrit teaching texts in Italian: Ashok Aklujka; Carlo Della Casa
Indian sources not very widespread and known.
Vyoma (saṃskṛtam)
https://www.sanskritfromhome.org
Ramakrishna Math and Ramakrishna Mission
https://belurmath.org/vedanta-and-indian-culture/
The Divine Life Society
Indica courses
Institute for Indian knowledge systems.
Vedānta Students (learning)
https://Vedāntastudents.com/about-us/
Resources of ‘Lo Yoga della Tradizione’
https://loyogadellatradizione.com/link/
References
https://loyogadellatradizione.com
https://www.facebook.com/LoYogadellaTradizione/
https://independent.academia.edu/FabioMilioni
https://yogaromapuntoit.wordpress.com/fabio-milioni/
Rajiv Malhotra:
Ananda Balayogi Bhavanani
https://www.academia.edu/49533466/Yoga_and_Cultural_Misappropriation?sm=b
https://www.academia.edu/69719445/Cultural_Appropriation_or_Cultural_Misappropriation_of_Yoga?sm=b
Addendum – open questions from/to?
From Sanātana Dhārma TO Vedānta v/s From Vedānta to Sanātana Dhārma
FROM Śruti and Smṛti TO Commentary v/s FROM Commentary TO Śruti and Smṛti
and/or?
Vedānta AND Yoga v/s Vedānta OR Yoga
Misappropriation of culture?
How many principles of Vedānta (and Yoga) have been reused in the West without declaring their source?
Feedback (from/to and to/from)
To what extent has the spread of Vedānta in the West generated a reflection in the opposite direction?
What is the influence of the Western interpretation of Vedānta in Bhārat?
Vedānta and the Theosophical Society
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theosophical_Society ?
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helena_Blavatsky
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alice_Bailey
https://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lucis_Trust ?
Is everything normal and consistent?
Some reflections are perhaps appropriate?
Open systems v/s Universalism-Syncretism
Ambiguities to face and resolve?
From the ONE of Tradition to open systems?
From open systems to the ONE of Tradition?
The publishing market in the West
Influence of the editorial policy of large publishing and distribution houses
Is anyone missing?
Why is it that the thought and contribution of some great Sri, (i.e. Sivananda, Cidananda and Krishnananda) is largely unknown in the West?
Why does Surendranath Dasgupta’s contribution, particularly on pariṇāma arouse little interest at an academic level?
Why is René Guenon's contribution[2] scarcely considered, despite still representing, today, a fundamental tool for recognizing the importance of Sanatana Dharma and Vedanta in the initiatory field?
Sivananda's 1950 tour of भारत Bhārat
Forgotten warnings?
https://www.dlshq.org/books/sivanandas-lectures-all-india-and-ceylon-tour-in-1950/
Something is missing?
Dīkṣā - Sampradāya - Paramparā (Initiation and continuity of the initiatory chain)
Guru śiṣya paramparā
Adhikāra, Adhikārin (concept of Qualification in Traditional teaching)
Guru v/s certified teacher
Vedānta and/or Artificial Intelligence?
Human Spiritual Evolution or Technological domination?
The oneness of open systems or reductionist unipolarity?
End of Kaliyuga? Next step?
सत्यमेव जयते Satyameva Jayate
[1] https://loyogadellatradizione.com
[2] « « Ce rôle de conservation de l’esprit traditionnel, avec tout ce qu’il implique en réalité lorsqu’on l’entend dans son sens le plus profond, c’est l’Orient seul qui peut le remplir actuellement; nous ne voulons pas dire l’Orient tout entier, puisque malheureusement le désordre qui vient de l’Occident peut l’atteindre dans certains de ses éléments; mais c’est en Orient seulement que subsiste encore une véritable élite, où l’esprit traditionnel se retrouve avec toute sa vitalité. . Quoi qu’il en soit, l’Inde a en un certain sens, dans l’ensemble de l’Orient, une situation privilégiée sous le rapport que nous envisageons, et la raison en est que, sans l’esprit traditionnel, l’Inde ne serait plus rien. »
Introduction générale à l’Étude des doctrines hindoues. Paris: Éditions Trédaniel, 1921.
L’Homme et son devenir selon le Vedanta. Paris: Éditions Traditionnelles, 1925.
Le Théosophisme, histoire d’une pseudo-religion. Paris: Éditions Traditionnelles, 1921.
Orient et Occident. Paris: Éditions Trédaniel, 1924.
L’Homme et son devenir selon le Vedanta. Paris: Éditions Traditionnelles, 1925.
