Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism

by Rajiv Malhotra, Kanchan Bhattacharyya (Narrator)

India is more than a nation state. It is also a unique civilization with philosophies and cosmologies that are markedly distinct from the dominant culture of our times - the West.

India's spiritual traditions spring from dharma, which has no exact equivalent in Western frameworks. Unfortunately, in the rush to celebrate the growing popularity of India on the world stage, its civilizational matrix is being co-opted into Western universalism, thereby diluting its distinctiveness and potential.

In Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism, thinker and philosopher Rajiv Malhotra addresses the challenge of a direct and honest engagement on differences by reversing the gaze, repositioning India from being the observed to the observer and looking at the West from the dharmic point of view. In doing so, he challenges many hitherto unexamined beliefs that both sides hold about themselves and each other. He highlights that while unique historical revelations are the basis for Western religions, dharma emphasizes self-realization in the body here and now. He also points out the integral unity that underpins dharma's metaphysics and contrasts this with Western thought and history as a synthetic unity.

Erudite and engaging, Being Different critiques fashionable reductive translations and analyses the West's anxiety over difference and fixation for order which contrast the creative role of chaos in dharma. It concludes with a rebuttal of Western claims of universalism while recommending a multicultural worldview.

Genres: Nonfiction, India, Philosophy, History, Religion, Hinduism, Spirituality

Audible Audio

First published January 1, 2011

About the author

Rajiv Malhotra is the founder and president of Infinity Foundation. An Indian-American entrepreneur, philanthropist and community leader, he has devoted himself, for the last ten years, to clarifying the many misperceptions about Indic traditions in America and amongst Indians.

He is an active writer, columnist, and speaker on a variety of topics, including the traditions and cultures of India, the Indian Diaspora, globalization, and East-West relations. Rajiv has been appointed to the Asian-American Commission for the State of New Jersey, where he serves as the Chairman for the Education Committee, which was created to start an Asian Studies program in schools. He also serves on the Advisory Board of the New Jersey Chapter of the American Red Cross and has volunteered in local hospice and AIDS counseling.

Reviews

[Ross Cohen]

I must admit, I started reading this book in a defensive posture. It's not easy to view one's culture through another's critical lens. But what good would there have been in being defensive and rigid for hundreds of pages?

Malhotra pushes back against Wester modalities of reasoning in order to create the type of tension Martin Luther King, Jr. believed fostered discussion and understanding. His writing is forceful, clear, and sympathetic to Western audiences without compromising Hindu beliefs.

By the end, this book wasn't about converting; rather, it was about celebrating difference. And if I still cling to the flower of my own culture, I walked away from this book with a better appreciation of the other flowers in the world's garden.

[Rajeev Mishra · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being an Indian if you have not read the book, you probably don't yet know who you are..

[Jonathan · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subtitle of "Being Different" is "An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism". Malhotra, an Indian Hindu who has chosen to settle in Massachusetts, starts off "Being Different" by asserting that his goal is to end mere "tolerance" of religious difference, but call for a new stage of mutual respect. Early in the first 50 pages that are constantly driven by this "mutual respect" theme, Malhotra asks a Lutheran minister, "Is the Lutheran doctrine merely to 'tolerate' other religions or also to respect them, and by respect I mean acknowledging them to be legitimate religions and equally valid paths to God?"

The strangest thing about the book is that Malhotra then spends the next 300 pages trying to argue why Dharmic Hindusim is the ultimate path to God and superior to all other religions. After the opening 50 pages asserting that all other faiths need to start practicing mutual respect, he then goes on a series of very academic rants about why "Abrahamic religions are inferior due to their history-centrism", "Abrahamic religions are inferior because they don't have a good enough history of experimentation in meditation", "Abrahamic religions are inferior because they aren't built on Sanskrit, the ultimate language for knowing religious truth", and on and on. For example, here are some of his subchapter headings:

"The Birth of the West: Inherent Problems"
"Incompatible: Christian Dogma and Greek Reason"
"Indian 'Chaos' and Western Anxiety"

Historic revelations, which Abrahamic religions are supposedly based entirely on and Dharmic religions are supposed free of, are explicitly argued as a faulty way to know the divine. Dharmic religions are built on a true "integral unity", while Abrahamic religions are built on a false "synthetic unity". Dharmic religions are fully compatible with all science while Abrahamic religions are completely incompatible with both science and reason. The word "anxiety" is repeatedly used to describe followers of Abrahamic religions, while "comfort" is the trait of Dharmic religions. Secularism in the West, while focused on much less, is also described as a vastly inferior and unsupportable system to Dharmic religion.

This constant mantra of "The West is inferior, The West is inferior, The West is inferior" is so at odds with Malhotra's initial call for Mutual Respect that I began to question his own self-awareness in writing the book. (One may also question this self-awareness by noting that in the process of critiquing the inferior West, Malhotra never explains his own choice to follow hundreds of thousands of other wealthy Indians with mobility in immigrating to this inferior Western society.) It likely also explains why, by his own admission, his ideas get such a poor reception by most attendees of the "religious dialogue" meetings that he practices rhetorical combat in.

That main point aside, I want to look at the good and the bad in a few of the details:


The good:

while decrying the "Western digestion" of ideas in favor of "untranslatable Sanskrit", Malhotra actually does a great job in translating certain Dharmic concepts for a Western audience. He carefully walks through what various concepts mean and do not mean, in a manner that is accessible to western-educated readers. This is the most valuable contribution of the book.

Malhotra zeros in on the most unreasonable aspects of superficial pop Christianity and identifies true faults.

The author does well to focus on a false synthesis between aspects of Greek/Roman tradition and Christianity that were brought together in the 4th and 5th century. However, instead of analyzing this synthesis for how it happened, what is natural to Christianity and what is not, what Christianity should recover and what it should drop, he simply states the synthesis as an unalterable historical fact and additional evidence of the inferiority of the West. It was a good topic to bring up, but should have been covered much more extensively and fairly.


The bad:

The focus on the book is almost entirely limited to a very Bhramic understanding of Dharmic religion. Malhotra treats his understanding of Hinduism as if it is the only understanding of Hinduism. The religion of village people, tribal people, and lower-caste peoples, who together comprise the vast majority of Hindus, is simply ignored. The precepts in this book would be almost entirely foreign to them. Also, Buddhism is assimilated as a nice offshoot of Hinduism based on fundamentally the same principles, which fails to do justice to the uniqueness of Buddhism or its substantial critique of Hinduism.

Malhotra has a strong understanding of a superficial form of Christianity and a very limited understanding of Abrahamic religions otherwise. If he looked at Christianity with the same depth that he gives to Hinduism, or if he privileged the academic/intellectual/meditative forms of Christianity the same way he privileged the most intellectual/elite form of Hinduism, his comparisons would look quite different. Yet he repeatedly compares the most elite Hinduism to the most popular and superficial Christianity/Islam/Judaism, and as a result the comparison becomes worthless to anyone who practices anything other than this superficial faith.

In the process of declaring Dharmic religions free from history, Malhotra also makes them free from reality, making it unnecessary for him to support the superiority of Dharmic faith with superiority of result. On rare occasions he attempts to appeal to historical fact with the claim "Abrahamic religions start invasions, Dharmic religions don't" or "Abrahamic religions attempt to convert, Dharmic religions don't." The simplicity and suspect truth of such statements aside, they should open the door to many other questions. If Dharmic religion is truly such a superior way to encounter the divine, and if Dharmic society has truly been experimenting with and practicing these superior principles for such an extended time, is that reflected in the actual practices of Dharmic society? Are Dharmic societies a better place as a result of their superior principles?

Looking specifically at India, have the low-caste of India, the women of India, the dark-skinned of India, and the poor of India reaped the same benefits of Dharmic religion that high-caste Brahmins have reaped, and if not, then why not? On the ground, person-to-person level, is India a more truthful society, a less corrupt society, a less violent society, a more kind society, a less exploitative society? If not, then why not? Are Brahmins better people than those who do not practice Dharmic religion, and in what way does it show? And if they have the choice, what kind of society do most wealthy, mobile practitioners of Dharmic religion chose to locate themselves within?

Overall, Malhotra's book is a great way for many more people to understand the precepts of a particular form of religion. But the book fails to achieve its supposed objective of working towards "mutual respect", most particularly because the author himself does not appear to have embodied his own definition of such respect. And the book fails to elucidate the relationship between religious faith and the realities created by participation in that faith. A truly deep text would combine the insights of Dharmic religion in this book with the acknowledgement of social realities from popular-level books like "Being Indian" and "Games Indians Play", and ask the question relevant to most Indians, which is not simply, "What have we made as our faith?", but more significantly, "What has our faith made us?"

[Matagiri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Malhotra is crystal clear on the ways Indian spiritual practices, including yoga, have been appropriated and misused by the West.

[Anita · Rating 5 out of 5]

Eye opener! Having grown up on History written by the Victors of war, I realize only now how brain washed I was regarding our history, and culture. Very highly recommended!!

[Kaustubh Prabhu · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are Indian, you must read this book.

[Sathyanarayanan D · Rating 5 out of 5]

Reflections: On “Being Different” by Rajiv Malhotra

Mr. Rajiv Malhotra is a hero for those Hindus who think that they know for sure that the truth is on their side but they don’t know what it is. Being Different of Mr. Malhotra shall surely help Hindus whose culture is denigrated in popular culture through vulgar interpretations of outsiders (the term – to understand which you shall read “The Battle for Sanskrit) whose agenda is driven by ulterior motives. I was first introduced to Mr. Malhotra through his book – Invading Sacred. I could not complete it, just read some 50 pages. I felt that Invading sacred was more of a collection of quotes and utterances (mostly derogatory and pervert) of western scholars in their work about Hindus in particular and Hinduism as a religion in general and their culture rather than any analysis. But that book (invading the sacred) has indeed outraged Hindus as they have come to know the truth as to how Hinduphobia was spread systematically by leftwing groups abroad and in India and other enemies of India.

But Being Different is indeed different in its approach. It shows the mirror to the abusers of Hinduism and Hindus in a scholarly fashion. And the arsenal of Hindus is now surplus with the vocabulary, arguments and truths about the proponents of religions of middle east’s deserts (mainly Christianity, which Mr. Malhotra calls as western universalism) and return the favor by making them understand who they really are and the dogmas that haunt the cult which they espouse as greatest of all, is nothing but a heap of unpractical garbage. No profanity intended. Much of it is certainly garbage, if not all.

In this book Mr. Malhotra has shown that how the middle east religion (Christianity) which the west has accepted unquestioningly insists on sameness and how India celebrates the difference, by meticulously going through their positions one by one and highlighting the hollowness in their arguments. The major breakthrough in this work is that the author shows how Christianity is a victim of History-Centrism, that at a particular date in a year Jesus was born and he did certain things and that we are all born sinners and these should be accepted unquestioned and uncontested. The whole foundation is based on that historical incident be it the birth of Jesus Christ or other incidents. On the contrary Hinduism allows questioning of its core principles and there is a freedom for practitioners to experience things on their own through the methods prescribed without explicitly accepting anything as an ultimate truth. In this context I would like to use Sadhguru’s phrase – “India is a land of seekers, not a land of believers” ie., people have the freedom to seek the truth, they don’t have to believe it because it is said by some priest.
Some honest scholars (like Prof. Morgenthau for eg) in west accept Christianity (including all its denominations) as a political religion. Ever since Constantine codified much of what we know today as Christianity (including the Nicene creed) millions perished for resisting the dogmas of Christianity. The worst victims were women. For centuries the Church debated whether Woman should be considered as a Human being, i.e., on par with a man. These are the same people who have no qualms about lecturing Indians about sanity.

The methods may have changed, but it is the same old game – For centuries the church used direct violence with the help of kings, queens and emperors for conversion but in the recent years they have found a useful ally, especially in the case of India. When it comes to the destruction of India and its culture, Missionaries collaborate with Leftists, in fact the communists collaborate with any one including the Islamic Jihadists to destroy India.

An important theorization by Mr. Malhotra in this book is about “Mutual Respect V/S Mutual Toleration”. The west (i.e., Christianity) has realized that it cannot be at war with others all the time, hence it has come up with concept out of necessity called Mutual Toleration, without realizing the inherent weakness of that term which also exposes itself. Now what exactly they mean by mutual toleration? Let me explain. During the Goa inquisition Hindus were burned alive and Hindu women were raped enmasse on the halls of church in Goa for practicing their religion, now the church cannot tolerate such acts (ie., Hindus practicing their religion) hence the violence is meted out to them as a punishment. Only recently it has realized that it cannot commit resources on such direct violence, because in the post colonized world the hard power of former colonies had grown to a considerable extent, hence it cannot use the past methods like direct violence, but other methods like inducing them through money. Mutual Tolerations means – “I want to kill you, but since I can’t I will tolerate your existence”, there is nothing to celebrate about it. On the contrary Hindus believe in Mutual Respect – Tolerance is a given thing, beyond that Hindus say “we respect you for who you are (ie, your religion and culture) and we have no objections about your way of worship and other things.” That is the nature of a Hindu. There is no scripture of Hinduism that demands from its followers to engage in violence against non-believers. The moral standards of the Mutual Respect which Hindus offer cannot be matched with the sub-standard Mutual Tolerance.
Digestion of Cultures – One remarked difference of between Christianity and Islam is that Islam rejects outright any concept beyond its stipulated prescriptions whereas Christianity observes the best things about other cultures and claims as its own and discredits its source. The first step is imitation. Have you seen Churches built like temples and pastors donning saffron robes and chanting “Om Jesus namah “etc.? And mother Mary carrying Lord Ganesh instead of Infant Jesus? This is primarily to confuse Hindus to begin with. Missionaries practicing such acts of chicanery is not a new phenomenon. In Being Different, Author shows Jesuit Roberto do Nobili as an example, who studied Tamil and Sanskrit rigorously and lived life like a Brahmin and went about marketing Christianity among Hindus. Christianity lacks the esthetic appeal; hence it takes the best things from others. To give you an example, Christian Yoga. It is a monumental stupidity of Hindus who cannot assert Yoga with Hinduism, and there will be protests on the roads of India if someone dared to call Yoga as a gift of Hindu culture to the world.

Felling proud because we are studied by West – The foolishness of Hindus has no bounds. They feel so elated because they are being studied by west. A cockroach or a frog being studied in a biology lab may not celebrate because some scientists are studying it. Ultimately both the cockroach and the frog will be cut in to pieces. Hence, the author urges Hindus to reverse the gaze. Enough of West of studying us. It is time for us to study the west and interpret it through our lens, i.e., a first step towards Purva Paksha.

If the combined metaphysical muscle of Hindu Civilization is used to respond to Western and Christian distortions of Hindu culture among other things, the whole Western Civilization will collapse like a house of cards on the intellectual plane.

Oh Hindus! wake up, is the clarion call of the author. It is time to begin reading Mr. Malhotra’s next book – Breaking India.

[Prakash · Rating 5 out of 5]

I heard Rajivji speak at the Hindu Heritage Centre in Streetsville, Ontario, Canada in August 2014. I bought "Being Different" afterwards and got him to autograph it on his way out.

Being from India and growing up in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada -- a majority white-Christian city, I could not understand why white Christian people were so convinced of their superiority, supremacy, etc. and how well this culture was maintained until I read "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" many years after leaving Halifax.

Having read "The Autobiography...," I was very open to the ideas in "Being Different" which is a landmark book for me and offered me something like "The Autobiography..." but much more scholarly and about the country I come from and religion I was born into. It is a must read and a wake-up call to all of us with this background who have been subjected to white/European domination and oppression. It will create a pride in our history and the achievements of our people that is very much needed.

The book has an index, a bibliography and chapter end notes for those who have the time and interest to read more about the philosophy of great Indians who influenced the author: M. K. Gandhi, Sri Aurobindo and others.

[Düsty · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book should by every Indian who aspires to decolonize his mind. Rajiv is one of the better thinkers of our times and he puts forward his arguments very thoughtfully and then does a purva paksha as well. The clarity of his thoughts is piercing.

[Cold Cream 'n' Roses · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book compares/contrasts Western thought with dharmic thought. Erudite and deep.

[Chaitra · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thought provoking book which addresses how Indian culture is completely different from that of the globalised culture of west, why one should take pride in it instead of basing their identity on the validation by the west and of course why plurality in the world is way better than rigid, narrow and single pressing point of view of the world which has become very dominant since ages. What I loved about the book is Rajiv ji explains why we should 'mutually respect' other cultures than just 'tolerate' them. He points at how most of us take pride in our culture only if someone from the west involves in it and the author keenly points out how a westerner appreciates our culture without criticising his own. From calling out the assimilation of Indic cultures into the western faiths to stressing on the underappreciated integral unity of the multi-diversed India the author is fearless and non-hesitant in his strong unfiltered writing.
He upholds the pluralistic essence of the Dharma religions explaining how such ideology encourages the harmony and mutual respect among the mass where the truth is sought with more of a divergent approach rather than impose of the rigid truth and belief system upon everyone whose background doesn't parallel with that of the imposer. The author stresses on how truth or Ultimate Reality can be sought through different means as per the needs and manners of the seeker. He evidences how Indic even Chinese for that matter have their own exuberant cultures, great contribution to the world which is disregarded by the west only because they think superior to the world. The author writes how Yoga has been assimilated digested with its roots cut off by the west, he also talks how the extreme divisions of orders and chaos and others do not promote any integrity and development but through Indic point of view explains how both Order and Chaos are the essentials required for the transformation. He calls attention to the way Sanskrit words and terminologies are often misunderstood and how they promote misconceptions to the general population. nceptions to the general population. What I really loved about the book is Rajiv Ji talks about the Purva Paksha, the dharmic point of view which integrates not just your point of view but also encourages you to look at the world from their perspective which is absent in the west. This is a highly recommendable book because it addresses plethora of interesting topics and issues which most of us are not even aware of. Personally, I learnt a lot from this book and realised we have been fed with the convergent thinking where we disregard others viewpoints. I don't feel like I'm eligible to make even a small review on this. One could learn a lot, really a great deal of stuff from this work. Unlike I feared the book turned out to be really easy and it keeps you hooked till the end. The language is really simple and there are a number of diagrams and charts to simplify the complex things. It turned out to be my most favourite nonfiction book of this year which is also probably the last of 2020 however it was worth a read.

[The Conch · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though there are few authors such as by Richard Lanoy, Tzvetan Todorov, Ranjit Guha, Swami Vivekananda and Shri Aurobindo who studied West, however, the 'Being Different' can be considered as a major attempt by the author Shri Rajiv Malhotra "to begin a "dharmic purva paksha" (reversing the gaze) of the West."

The Author,Rajiv Malhotra, uses Bharat's "dharmik tradition as a kind of mirror.....using it to reflect Western civilization, in particular its religious and metaphysical structure." This book differentiates between pillar of Western civilization, the Judeo-Christian religions coupled with Greek reasoning, and Bharat's dharmik civilization; in short a comparison between desert civilization with forest civilization.

The book is helping readers to understand very deep differential aspects between two civilizations:
1. Embodied knowing (adhyatimkta / spirituality is inherent property of consciousness)
vs.
History centrism : Judeo-Christian religions' dependency on particular history and eternal remaining gulf between God and human

2. Integral unity: Bharatiya Dharma considers everything is Brahman, One and others are just projection
vs.
Synthetic unity: For west everything is seperate and needs force to make them united

3. Anxiety over chaos : West can't tolerate chaos and tries to control
vs.
Comfort over chaos: Dharma can leave peacefully with complexities

4. Cultural digestion: Dominant civilizations eat weaker one and make it their part
vs.
Sanskrit non-translatables: "Sanskrit is the unifying substrate of dharmik civilization."

The book's last chapter 'Contesting Western Hegemony' exposes negative attitude of many eminent Western thinkers such as Schlegel and Hegel towards Indic civilization and shows how to challenge West.

This is the book of millennium and readers will be hugely benefited.

[Pradeep T · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an exceptional book. As I went through each and every chapter slowly and steadily, I have understood what the exact intention of the "West" as pointed out by Rajiv Malhotra. Having read the other book "Breaking India" and understood about the "atrocity literature" prepared by the west to "Break" India, this book has went a step ahead and clearly explained the logic and analysis of "Being Different" juxtaposed with the western counterpart. It is the lack of knowledge among the new generation Indians about their culture and traditions and scriptures is what making our country lack in philosophical studies and religious doctrines. Rajiv Malhotra clearly explained and warned the Indians and coming generation of Indians about the grave danger that our country is heading to. It is a must read book for every Indians. Though it is slightly difficult to understand each chapter in one go, but certainly it succeeds in passing the message it was intended to carry. And, one can proudly say that after reading this book, YES, "Being Different" is not a tolerant characteristic, rather, it is just way how it should be.

[Arjun Pradhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

must read, highly recommended for all indians

[Ajay · Rating 5 out of 5]

Highly recommended. Please go for it.

[Max Nemtsov · Rating 5 out of 5]

Абсолютно необходимая книга, которую русские издатели, конечно, ссут издавать. Потому что это ценный и обстоятельный критический взгляд на западную (авраамическую, иудео-христианскую, эллинистическую) систему ценностей вообще, а наши даже самые либеральные мыслители к такому не готовы, поскольку грош цена широте их взглядов. Меж тем критикует наш автор отнюдь не с позиций национализма, как это пытаются выставить те же мыслители, а просто в сопоставлении с дхармическим мировоззрением, беромым вполне широко. Ну а в России публикация этой книги прольет воду отнюдь не на антизападную мельницу, а напротив послужит подрыву еще более замшелых скреп махрового православия и домостроя. Так что - ни шанса, увы.
С узкопрофессиональной точки зрения глава о санскритских "непереводимостях", конечно, мировоззренчески верна и просвещает, но едва ли все эти понятия можно считать "непереводимостями" - речь тут скорее о мировоззренческих несводимостях, они выходят далеко за рамки перевода. Это дело толкования и объяснения, не перевода.

[Akhil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Christianity and islam tolerates other religion they don't respect other religions because respecting other religion implies it is legitimate for them. For them thier religion is the only true religion.

The harsh condition of the desert has shaped the Abrahamic faiths. The Christian and Islamic Ethos Is built on this sense of scarcity and fear. Nature is not supportive but profoundly threatening – an enemy to be tamed, civilized and controlled. To overcome these circumstances, the desert dweller looks for relief from a God above. Desert people crave greenery so much that it is their sacred color (as in Islam).

Christian dogmas and Greek Aristotle philosophies has had the effect of promoting exclusivism and simplistic binary categories of true/false, good/ evil, self/other, and thus precluding any middle ground soon–leaving little room for diversity for creative growth. The West sees chaos as a profound threat that needs to be eradicated either by destruction or by complete assimilation. We must create unity not uniformity.

These Religions are always used as another mode of conquest. They have deemed superiority. They are taught by the church that they have the divine right to educate the infidel so all their actions were beyond reproach and sanctioned by the religions authorities. To go out and change indigenous civilizations to bring the light of wisdom to them. That's the reason why none of the Abrahamic religions has ever integrated with another.

Their jealous dictator God demands unconditional obedience through His firebrand prophets and threatens to unleash His wrath or eternal damnation in hell if His strict rules of worship and conduct are not obeyed.

In anglo-saxon nations no of people attending the church ceremonies has dropped by almost half. To bring them back Christians denigrate the principles of another cultures to look nicer and better from selling point . They usually criticize cast system in india and jihad in islam and do negative branding of these religions.

The one thing standing between a pagan and their acceptance of Christ was a social structure and the manner in which communities had good relations with each other. So they introduced a hereditary hierarchy and endogamy ( to make people cast/ class conscious ) to create rift in society and Create people who are so ostracized from society that they themselves would feel oppressed and Christians make them aware that all are equal under the eyes of our God if you join us there is no hierarchy.

The whole reason behind the Syrian war is a dangerous Christian belief. Christians believe in the God's promise of the Holy Land to the Jews . Holy Land, is the real estate on both sides of the Jordan River which include present area of Syria and Lebanon .So the expansion of Israel is really important for the Christians. It is written in the book of revelations notes that Christ will return to earth at the end time and then proceeding millennium will be ruled by the Christ. The sign of the end time was the gathering of all Jews in exile to the holy land of Israel in 1948 .

[Mohit Dhanjani · Rating 5 out of 5]

I purchased this book (quite fashionably) in June 2015 without giving much thought. The subtitle sounded cool for a person like me back then. I tried reading a chapter only to give up.

Years passed, I went into philosophical crisis, questioning everything, from nation to Self. I read about Western philosophy mainly. Fortunately for me, I was introduced to the 'Nyaya' tradition in Indian philosophy by Sundar Sarukkai via a chapter he contributed ("To Question and Not To Question: That is The Answer") in the book The Public Intellectual in India.
As I went deeper and was questioning about the purpose of life, I came up with my own theory while contemplating. I had no words to describe this theory of mine which was disturbing me because telling this to others would have been entirely new and alien to them. Especially for the uncritical minds around me.

I am glad I read this book now because it has given me words and structure to what I discovered myself, even though it falls short of that I have contemplated (but of course, that's not the job of this book, that's my job to write about my theory). Moreover, the blissful part is that it gave me those non-translatable Sanskrit words and more importantly a guide to explore and discover more.

I believe it a must read for anyone who is too consumed by the "coolness" of Western thought and values, especially the ones who believe that the Western ideas are neutral to all and the structures they provide promote equality. Far from it.

If you are ready to drop your biases once and read this book, you will discover the richness and diversity that our civilization provides. If perceived and applied properly, then it serves as the most pragmatic way for almost everything material and spiritual.

[Siddhartha · Rating 5 out of 5]

Are all religions equal ? It seems fashionable these days to so proclaim, but more or less, the folks that thus proposition, do so as a final word in an argument, i am looking at you liberals. No seriously. How many that say all religions are equal have actually studied the theology of even one religion? Let alone social and political aspects of religions ?

This book asks the question and goes on to answer it. Slowly, in a detailed manner. It goes into origins, evolution and current status of the 4 major religions in the world now.

There are some dense philosophical discussions, but well worth the time and effort that goes into reading them.

The most important part of the book is the importance of not being able to translate theological/spiritual terms from one language to another without losing the entire gamut of meanings and context behind the word. Once we lose the root meaning of a word, it becomes a target for digestion or benevolent assimilation, like how Guru is now used in all sorts of pop culture references while in its original Sanskrit, it is a profound word that bestows a very high status on the one who is called that.

This book lays the foundation for the Purva Paksha that later produced 'The Battle for Sanskrit', by the same author.

All in all a very good read.

[Me · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being Different was a great book. I really enjoyed it so much. Many would think this is a book promoting a religion over another, but this book is exactly not > doing that. My mother recommended me the book, and I sat down with my sister to read this book, and it was amazing. I enjoyed reading all the current events in the book, including events that are widely known. A reader will not be in the dark if they want to read this book. Being Different explains how someone should deal with being different, talks about what people can do to become one, to list a few. Also, in the end of the book, there is a thick section where there are foot notes (in case the current topics and connections are somewhat difficult to understand). This book talks about topics such as Dharma, Vedas, misinterpretations of Hinduism, and Western Influence. "There is a way of dealing with difference anxiety that is especially dangerous, in part because it is largely invisible..."
The author dealt with the difference topic very nicely. 5 stars for this book :)

[Mayank Pandya · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is a must buy for every Hindu, especially "english educated/confused" lot. Rajiv Malhotra made a strenuous effort in coming up with this book. The cover rightly depicts the deep "manthan" he did to present the arguments in his book. Appendices are also a compelling read to understand the integral unity of Dharmic traditions. With christian/western appropriations of Hindu concepts and spiritual methods, the importance of Sanskrit non-translateables can never be over emphasized. A major insight of the book is the 'history-centrism' of abrahamic religions and 'Embodied Knowing' of Dharmic civilizations, which explains the aggressive/proselytizing nature of those faiths (ofcourse not Jewish faith). Finally "difference anxiety" tells it all about the implications of western universalism - the tilted global platform for non-westerners - in many ways

[Saravana Sastha Kumar · Rating 5 out of 5]

A book that any inquisitive person from the sub-continent must read. The author advocates a 'dharmic-gaze' of the west and the fundamentals of secular traditions initiated by the west that is mostly critical of the Orient frequently crossing over to supremacist perspective. Contrary to tolerance between religious traditions, the author seeks 'mutual respect' between beliefs, the former being a superior-inferior paradigm rather than mutual respect and mutual entitlement. Brilliant. Rajiv Malhotra is perhaps the pioneer of reverse-gazing the western traditions from dharmic lens.

[Arvind · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is a must read for any Indian. We have always been taught about history or very own history from an Englishman's point of view. The first book which talks from an Indian perspective. Highly recommend this book. In fact I started this book after i saw an interview of Dr Subramaniam Swamy

[Vikrant Singh · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely astounding work by Rajiv Malhotra sir. Must must read by every Indian, especialy Hindus or followers or believers of Sanatana Dharma. Don't miss this. It is a piece of gem and i hope soon will be part of school text book.

[Chittu Thogarchedu · Rating 5 out of 5]

Being Different: An Indian Challenge to Western Universalism.
Review

Rajiv Malhotra, authour of Being Different “hopes to set the terms for a deeper and more informer engagement between dharmic and Western civilizations.” This book has nothing to do with converting others. He talks about India and the people of India. Rajiv Malhotra talks about how India isn’t just a nation; it is an ancient and diverse civilization with a distinct culture and various philosophies. By looking at the West with an Indian, specifically Hindu pair of eyes, he highlights the challenges that both parties face about themselves and others. The philosophy that Rajiv Malhotra speaks about in Hinduism portrays the Hindu Indian and allows the reader to connect to themselves and understand others. I enjoyed reading this book because it educated me about my spiritual, philosophical, cultural, and my entire background. Being Different really talked about Being Different, and how the Westerners and the Indians handle the abundance of diversity within a person. This book isn’t just meant for Hindu, Indian, or brown readers. This book connects to everyone on a universal level, addressing everyone simply with the eyes of Dharma. Not only does Rajiv Malhotra bring up other religions, he discusses everyone. Although Indian readers will understand this easier, for other readers, an amazing footnote section in the back is provided to allow for clarifications.
This book allows for Indians to learn about themselves, others to learn about Indians, and people to just learn and accept each other. With the knowledge of others, a sense of acceptance will come, and this is what I really love about this book. A definite 5/5!

[Abhishek · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a thought provoking book which clearly raised the many of the ongoing relevant issues about context of Indian and western discourses based on philosophy, religion and state.
Pros:
1. Takes up the major issues of contrast between Indian Dharma and Abrahamic religion.
2. Raises the issue of tolerance verses mutual respect aptly. Author clearly points out that for dialogues to be possible between different faiths mutual respect is required instead of tolerance.
3. Shows fundamental schism between Indian and Abrahamic thoughts about living with different ideologies. Where the Indian philosophies respected difference and tried to come to terms with the various different school of thoughts often evolving in the process, the Abrahamic religions suppressed the differences vigorously.
4. Contrasts the history centric approach of the west to the embodied knowledge of the east, expansionist versus accommodative thinking.
Cons:
1. This book could have been better with more research. The prose seems literally repitative every 25 or so pages though the topics seemed different.
2. The author doesn't seemed to present a balanced view, but as the title suggest it is the defense of Indian philosophy against western universalism. As in the chapters on yoga and Mantra, the author seemed genuinely believing on the mystic powers of both.
3. Editing in some parts needs to be checked.

This book clears some of the misinterpretations of scholars trying to bundle all philosophies as same.

[Himanshu Chauhan · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book deserves a standing ovation for three factors:
1. Ability to describe intertwined ideas of a very large philosophical complex into simplified, comprehensible and structured narrative.
2. Deep research into philosophical aspect and optimum output that compliments brevity, without any under treatment of the cause with which this text has been written.
3. Usage of strong examples, logical arguments and sharp rebuttals to drive the point home.

This book is one of the most important books of our time in my personal opinion because it slashes through the confusion created by the convolution of semi literate and ill researched scholarship of Dharmic thought to give a very, to be least, sincere opinion upon the concept, western prejudices against the concept, the underpinnings of these prejudices, effects and the way forward. Also, this is a good book just to understand Dharmic/Easter and Abrahamic/Western though on a standalone basis because of the well defined composition.

There was initial hesitation to give this book a full rating in my humblest opinion for the reason that it overlooked those conclusions that a typical outsider/abrahamic observer might have which may be true de facto. However, the book is strictly from an insider perspective and that has been mentioned clearly right on the onset.

It is a must read for everyone interested in Dharmic thought, irrespective of your line of thought, ideology or purpose.

[Rohith · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author is attempting to challenge the very notion "that institutions based on Western Philosophy are the solution to world's problems". Though some Westernized Indians know that there is a huge problem with the western solutions to the world problem, we are not sure about the exact cause of these problems.

To explain that he first needed to explain the origin of Western Universalism framework and interpret it in terms of Indic Philosophical (or Dharmic philosopical) perspective. This was done brilliantly. Being a moderately westernized Indian, I have some trouble to understand the full depth of the Indian Philosophical overview he provides in this book. It will take some time for me to sink in views he presented. As he suggested, I may have to master the sanskrit language in order to fully appreciate his views.

Nevertheless a great read for those who are interested in "connecting the dots" of various aspects of society (politics, economics, science etc ).

[Vasudevah Survam · Rating 5 out of 5]

I liked the Idea of Integral Unity which is indigenous to every one of us, who follows the Dharmic perspective. This is the inner scienctific view where we CONSIDER everyone as ourself untill unless realized through various methods of Gyan,Bhakti,karm ,hath or Rajyoga. The Western thoughts are materialistic based which is based on outer science on which they try hard to Show off thier unity which is false. Hence each and everytime when they boastoff their Synthetic Unity at the end they reach nowhere and hence dissatsfaction among most of the followers of Western Thoughts. Moreover, our Mahtama Rishis have developed these inner science based on experiments and realizations, which Westerns dont accept as a Science. For them "Science" only means calculations on which they can achieve only some materialistic based outcome but not "Vigyan" (Vishesh gyan) of Integral Unity, which brings peace and harmony among all the relagions and paths.

[Karan Khatri · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is awesome. Rajiv Malhotra has done a great job & I suggest the every Indian should read this book. Thinks which I liked the most about this book is as follows:
1. This book puts light on that all religion are not same. Yes, one might think this will create conflict, but no this book explains how all religion are different from each other & we all should celebrate this difference.
2. This book has been written with full research & noting is said abruptly. Every chapter has been researched and published. (you will find every reference & notes of the claims made in the book at end of the book which it self is around 80+ pages)
3. Interesting part discussed in this book is how we need 'mutual respect' and not mere 'tolerance' of religion.
4. One chapter which is also great to read is the Sanskari non-translatable(must read)
5. This is the greatest response to western universalism.
This are some points, but I must say the whole book is superb & must read especially Indians.