{"id":101334,"date":"2017-11-06T12:00:38","date_gmt":"2017-11-06T12:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/?p=101334"},"modified":"2017-11-03T20:17:48","modified_gmt":"2017-11-03T20:17:48","slug":"raimon-panikkar-2-nov-1918-26-aug-2010-a-bridge-between-cultures","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/2017\/11\/raimon-panikkar-2-nov-1918-26-aug-2010-a-bridge-between-cultures\/","title":{"rendered":"Raimon Panikkar (2 Nov 1918 – 26 Aug 2010): A Bridge between Cultures"},"content":{"rendered":"

Raimon Panikkar, an Indian Roman Catholic theologian well versed in Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist and Western philosophical thought developed the need for \u201ccultural disarmament\u201d (1)<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

\"\"<\/a>Cultural disarmament entails a criticism of culture, a radical examination of the ways ideas have shaped practices and institutions.\u00a0 Such criticism can not be carried on only within the intellectual framework of the culture in question.\u00a0 Rather what is required is an intercultural framing of the critical approach.\u00a0 As Panikkar stresses<\/p>\n

\u201cThe solution to the problems of the world is not to be sought within one culture, nor will it be possible to find it monoculturally\u2026 We all need one another, and are all interdependent in all areas.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

For there to be fruitful intercultural criticism and thus cultural disarmament, there must be universal myths which give people a certain common ground from which to discuss.\u00a0 Myths are the ground upon which intelligibility is founded.\u00a0 If there are not common myths, and if the intellectual foundations of cultures are too far apart, no meaningful communication is possible.\u00a0 A myth is not an ideology, being more complex and less rigid. \u00a0Myths are stories that put into narrative form supreme realities.\u00a0 Panikkar outlines briefly three such myths, stressing their non-dualistic (advantic) character, for \u201cReality is indivisible\u201d\u201d<\/p>\n

The first myth is that of cosmic order.\u00a0 \u201cHuman peace is bound up with the cosmic order, the human peace is our share of that order.\u201d<\/em>\u00a0 Panikkar goes on to develop this insight by using the anti-nuclear-weapon peace symbol with its three equal divisions which he sees as Harmony, Freedom, Justice, justice being used in the sense of dharma.\u00a0 Based on these three values of harmony, freedom, and justice, he calls for efforts which develop the approach of Pythagoras, joining theoria, praxis, and therapeia.<\/p>\n

Just as the Cosmic Order cannot separate \u201cabove\u201d and \u201cbelow\u201d, so also time cannot be separated into a conflictual present and a divinely completed future of peace, which is the linear image of much apocalyptic thought.<\/p>\n

\u201c Pax in terries is a problem that concerns the entire being of each person as such, since his final destiny is at stake in the civitas hominis itself.\u00a0 The city of earth is regarded no longer as simply a preparation for heaven, or as a reflection of the city of God, but as an arena in which man\u2019s ultimate destiny is being forged.\u00a0 And this is the case regardless of whether the life after death is denied or affirmed.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The third universal myth is that of Gaia.\u00a0 In ancient mythologies, planet earth was seen as a goddess, and the Greeks gave her the name Gaia \u2013 the Mother of all Living Things.\u00a0 Today, the image of the earth as an intelligent living organism based on science has been proposed by James Lovelock in Gaia<\/em> (Oxford University Press, 1979)<\/p>\n

These three universal myths, stressing an end to dualistic ways of viewing the world, reduce the monocultural and militant aspects of many of today\u2019s ideologies which are nearly always dualistic.\u00a0 These myths may be important elements to transform the clash of civilizations into mutually profitable dialogues and synthesis.<\/p>\n

NOTE:<\/strong><\/p>\n

1) Raimond Panikar. Cultural Disarmament. The Way to Peace (<\/em>Louisville, KY: Westminster\/John Knox Press, 1995)<\/p>\n

See also his best known study: The Unknown Christ of Hinduism <\/em>which was his PhD thesis and The Silence of the Buddha: A regeneration of cultures.<\/em><\/p>\n

_______________________________________<\/em><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Ren\u00e9 Wadlow is a member of the Fellowship of Reconciliation\u2019s Task Force on the Middle East, president and U.N. representative (Geneva) of the Association of\u00a0World\u00a0Citizens, and <\/em>editor of <\/em>Transnational Perspectives. He is a member of the <\/em>TRANSCEND Network for Peace Development Environment<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Raimon Panikkar, an Indian Roman Catholic theologian well versed in Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist and Western philosophical thought developed the need for \u201ccultural disarmament.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[214],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-101334","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-biographies"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101334","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=101334"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/101334\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=101334"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=101334"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.transcend.org\/tms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=101334"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}