influence) has become more socially conscious. Persistent perceptions such
as these are not only inaccurate; they have also colored much Western
discourse about India.
There are certain basic assumptions which need to be challenged as one
begins to study Indian religion. One of these is what might be called
“tempocentrism.” This is a view that understands the “modern” to be the
optimal moment in history, the apex of human achievement; development,
often understood in economic terms, is thought to be superior to something
called “tradition.” The “past” is presumed to be bad or primitive and “tradi-
tion” something that needs to be discarded. In fact, India’s past has been
rich indeed, and, as we shall note later, “tradition” and “modernity” are not
opposites. Indeed, the modern moment in India is frequently characterized
by selective appropriation from the past, and the construction of “tradition.”
Another of these basic assumptions is the supremacy of a “logocentric”
approach to knowledge – that is, the idea that the word or the text should
have priority in one’s study of people. Many in the West, especially those
engaged in the study of religion, have assumed that texts embody the
quintessence of religion. Of course, Indian religion includes a vast reservoir
of texts; but of at least equal importance in the expression of religion on the
subcontinent is the role played by ritual, iconography, temple architecture,
and other manifestations of visible, even somatic, expressions. Further, we
soon learn that one cannot entirely trust anybook (including this one) which
purports to interpret Indian religions, for every book has a point of view;
even every text written in India reflects the milieu of its author.
Yet another perspective that inhibits the study of Indian religion is that
which assumes that certain forms of practice derived fromIndia are the same
as the classical forms of religion found inIndia. Nowhere is this more clearly
demonstrated than in the way yogahas been appropriated in the West.
Yoga has become a form of bodily exercise, taught in churches and YMCAs,
usually stripped of its cosmological and soteriological underpinnings.
It has been adapted to the Western penchant for health and bodily fit-
ness, but is not necessarily consistent with the way it was understood or
practiced in classical India. Similarly, various techniques of meditation
have been marketed in the West as “quick fixes” for whatever ails one and
have been accommodated to various religious orientations. One cannot
assume these Westernized practices are one and the same as classical
practices of meditation in India.
In short, some of our perceptions of religion in India need to be
unlearned or, at least, “put on hold,” as one seeks to gain a balanced under-
standing of religion on the subcontinent. There is a need to re-examine the
presuppositions, theories, and paradigms with which any author or student
engages in the study of religion in India.
8 On Wearing Good Lenses