1.

As I develop love for my Hindu culture, how do I draw the line between Hindu
pride (externally) and self-awareness (internally)? We are being told that we
need to focus on self and much of that results in self-critical humility.
2. What are the parallels with the breakdown of the religions of the Native
American people by Europeans? Pagan religions have many aspects in common
with Hinduism: respect for nature, constructions of space and time etc. How was
India different, and why did Hinduism survive?
3. The Belgians introduced the arbitrary racial segregation in Rwanda that resulted
in the Rwandan genocide. Did the British do the same in India? What is the
history of the caste system? In Breaking India, I am astonished that so much
India has in common with the Rwandan classification system. Does this imply
that the caste system in India as we know it is only a couple of centuries old?
Sankara when asking a person to cast off his physical attributes, asks him to cast
off jati, niti, kula, gotra, nama, rupa, guna and dosha. There is no varna there!
So, what is the real equivalent of caste? Does Hinduism sanction discrimination
based on caste?
4. Could you elaborate on evolution? The evolution we know about is that we
evolved from lower life forms. But, our teachers also tell us about involution.
How do we reconcile between involution and evolution? How does the Integral
One manifest as the multiplicity? And how do I reconcile with the fact that there
is much violence in the world? Are we really all One?
5. Do religions change with time? After all we have new statement from the Pope
on environment, slavery was once given the go by the Church, fatwas are
routinely passed. Does Hinduism not change with time? In Indras Net, you argue
that the whole Neo-Hinduism thesis is false. There is an integral unity and social
consciousness that far predates Vivekananda. So, is Hinduism immune to
change?
6. In Indras Net, you made a case that Sankara did not reject yoga. Instead, he
rejected some yoga systems and did not reject all systems. He described
nidhidhyasana in detail in his text, but you put it thus, Nidhidhyasana
neutralizes the samskaras which distort reality into a sense that the Self is
finite. How does this neutralization differ from the philosophy of Nagarjunas
negation that leads to sunyata?
7. Hindus have a toolbox that is a palette of ideas handed over to us by our rishis.
This has been appropriated for mind sciences, mindfulness meditation,
neurosciences etc. But what exactly is the problem is allowing others to use
them? How would Hinduism lose?
8. What do you think youth should do in college regarding portrayal of Hinduism?
Our textbooks are full of wrong interpretations on Hinduism that talk of little else
but caste, cow and curry. US based Hindu studies even in the top Universities
has been reduced to Freudian psychoanalysis. How can we prepare? Do we
simply reject taking any school/college class on Hinduism? And should we
instead lead students to organizations such as Chinmaya Mission, Divine Life
Society and RK Mission?
9. You strongly warn us that Van der Veer is a scholar that insists that Hinduism in
the West was created for sinister political motives and characterizes Swami
Chinmayananda as a nationalist. He was a nationalist no doubt, but why is it

wrong for us to develop a Hindu identity? Is it not right to have pride on ones
own identity? How can we make the larger public aware of these false
insinuations?
10.India has many problems like poverty, accumulation of trash, many societal
wrongs, etc. How do we explain to our friends who see the horrific poverty in
India, and explain what Hindus do to address these wrongs? Do we merely
accept them? How can I profess my faith with pride when Hinduism does not
have an upheaval to address the misery of millions of Hindus who live in such
squalor?
11.I was very interested in the poison pill protection and porcupine defense you
suggest for repositioning Hinduism. That said, I found it hard to see how the
nastika and astika models fit into the discussion. Please explain this so we can
understand the approach better.
12.In your new book, The Battle For Sanskrit, could you please explain the
'insider'/'outsider' views of Sanskrit? What makes Sanskrit unique vis a vis Greek
or Latin - is it alive, liberating and sacred? The language was very dear to our
Gurudev and his gurus. How can we prevent the outsourcing of Sanskrit? Why is
Sanskrit important?