Sri Yantra and the Geophilosophy of India

Fantastic! 'Sri Yantra and the Geophilosophy of India' stands as a significant scholarly work, especially in its detailed analyses of numerous pilgrimage sites and shrines across India. The author meticulously presents data and insights that not only illuminate the religious and spiritual landscape of India but also contribute profoundly to the field of geophilosophy.

this is a excellent book on Sri Chakra. This book will give u in depth picture of the Sri Chakra and its unknown existence in various places of the world. wonderful research by the Author and it is a very different book about Sri Chakra and its power.

He asked his holiness to write a forward for his book but it didn’t happen and he Niraj wrote whole lot of bad things about his holiness the Dalai Lama which hurt many all over the world

Geophilosophy is philosophy conceived as a function of geography. Is it a pure accident that the contours of the “Perennial Philosophy” of India, the acknowledged nerve-centre of spiritual metaphysics, are what they are? Or, are there more fundamental causes at work that lend a spiritual turn to its philosophical speculations? The book under review propounds the thesis that “the concept of geophilosophy, or to be more precise geometaphysics, is an enduring bond between the philosophical thought and its terrestrial support” (blurb). The major premise of Geophilosophy is “that essentially, the geographical positioning of a country influences its thinking and thus impacts its philosophy”. The significant corollaries of such a novel postulate are (a) the pivotal role of a country’s location in fashioning its philosophy and (b) the role of the physical shape and profile of the country in determining the parameters of its basic trends of speculation.The first chapter of this thought-provoking book titled “The Geophilosophy of India and Sriyantra” enunciates and elaborates the basic canons of geophilosophy. The second chapter, captioned “What is India?” attempts to examine and understand the drift of India’s metaphysical speculation in the light of the canons enunciated. Such crucial factors as India’s history from antiquity, its narratives in mythologies, and epics revolving round its salient geographical features, its special focus on Mt Meru, the axis mundi of the cosmos, the popularity of pilgrimages, the algorithm of Indian landscape, the rich legacy of India consisting in its mountains, seven sacred rivers, seven seers, and so on, the much-touted fact of unity in diversity, and numerical addiction to such numbers as seven and three are all studied as the factors moulding the unique profile of India. At the end of the chapter, the author poses some pertinent questions: “How does geophilosophy that reflects India’s unique triangular landscape reshape the grammar of sanctification? How does Sri-yantra emerge as the site for the synthesis of varying thought-currents? Can we view Sri-yantra as abstract encapsulation of the structure of Indian civilisation?” (p. 47).The title of the third chapter, “Sri-yantra the Ultimate Code of Indian Civilisation” says it all. The central theme of this and the following chapters is Sri-yantra, which “has made a strong footprint in the geophilosophy of India and beyond, and has a major stake in India’s landscape, code of Indian civilization” (blurb). It spells out the conspicuous characteristics of Indian thinking such as “preponderance of abstract notion, abstract conceptions treated as concrete realities, fondness for the negative expression, grasping the absolute negatively, attraction for the unknown, minimizing individuality and specific preferences, unity of all things, static quality of thought, lack of commonsense concept of time, continuity of one’s self and other selves, consciousness of existence of self, lack of notion of order in the objective natural world, lack of historical consciousness and introspective and metaphysical character of thinking” (p. 48). We are also reminded “how thinking and culture in India are governed by context sensitive grammar” (ibid.).The dominance of triadic thinking in Indian mind, which itself is the offshoot of the geophilosophical domain, is ascribed to the influence of the triangular topography. The diagrammatic details of Sri-Chakra, its symbolic significance, its resemblance to the human body in microcosmical terms, its unique profile with the interlocking of primary triangles which produces secondary triangles, the six-pointed hexagram embedded in its design, are all dealt with here. The Sri-yantra is called the king of yantras. The description of how a sacred triangle can be drawn on India’s geobody is also given.The fourth chapter identifies Sri-yantra with Meru. The origin of the concept of Meru is analysed. Contributions of eminent mathematicians such as Aryabhata and Varahamihira to the unravelling of Meru concept are recorded and explained. Sri-yantra is called the indexical representation of Meru. The obsession of various branches of Indian philosophy with Meru is highlighted. Meru is described as “the ultimate Utopia of Indian mind where there is neither sorrow nor old age, disease, or lack of any splendid thing” (p. 74). It is pointed that Sri-yantra emerged only under the influence of mathematicians. The three ways of creating Sri Chakra are spelt out. To quote the author, “Sri-yantra is the synthesis of different routes to apprehend Meru, the peak of immortality” (p. 79). Sri-yantra is hailed as “the combinatorial matrix of Indian civilization. It is the Meru of Indian civilization” (ibid.).Chapters five and six titled, “Sri-yantra: Structural Properties” and “Sri-Yantra and Quest for Higgs Boson” respectively, are difficult to negotiate as they abound in mathematical, algebraic, and geometrical formulae, symbols, and computations, and are couched predominantly in mathematical jargon. A good grounding in higher mathematics and physics would seem to be necessary to understand the chapters. Suffice it to say that the sciences of mathematics and physics lend their weighty support to the authenticity and utility of Sri-yantra as a spiritual launching-pad and spacecraft to reach the great beyond.In chapter seven titled “Sri-yantra: Footprints from Katra to Paris”, the exciting story of the discovery of the geometrical patterns similar to those embedded in Sri-yantra in a certain spot in Paris and also in Katra, the foothill of the sacred seat of Vaishno Devi Shrine in India is narrated with a plethora of geographical details.Chapter eight titled “Bharata Mata: Map and Sri-yantra” launches a scholarly attempt to study the parallels between the form and structure of Sri-yantra and those of the map of Bharata Mata, India. A typically representative extract from the chapter should reveal the direction in which the winds of creative reflection and analytical thought are blowing. Adverting to the parallelism between Bharata Mata and Tripurasundari, the author says, “Bharata Mata emerged from the evolving form of the Tripura Goddess. The cult of Maha-Tripurasundari and the Sri-Vidya is the sheaf that binds India’s different traditions. . . . Sri-Vidya tradition is also the ritualization of triadism inherent in Indian civilization. There are three levels of worship—sthula (gross), suksma (subtle), and para (transcendental). One can see how in the case of Bharata Mata, she is worshipped as an idol, as the cartographic map and then as the patriotic spirit. Just like Sri-Vidya, where there is another triad of yantra-mantra-tantra, the Bharata Mata case is characterized by the slogan, “Vande Mataram”, the map is a homologic resonance to Sri-yantra with its abstract symbolism and the image of Bharata Mata itself appears to be the image Tripurasundari. Just as Sri-yantra is the seat of Goddess Tripura (Lord of Three Cities), cartographic map is the seat of Bharata Mata. Sri-yantra is covered by a bhupura, a rectangular boundary. The map of Bharata is enclosed within a rectangular boundary” (pp. 155–56).Chapter nine is titled “Pleading for a New National Flag”. Positing that the core of the task of conceptualizing and designing of the national flag is the choice of an evocative emblem, the author eloquently says that “the emblem must echo the heart and mind of the people. Sri-yantra, as an emblem in a triangular national flag retaining the tri-colour will be unique and also represent the soul and territory of India” (p. 204). A diagrammatic representation of the proposed “simple flag incorporating India’s triadic destiny” (ibid.) is given in this chapter. It is recommended as a template for devising “a truly Indian flag that will encapsulate India’s history and territory” (ibid.). The bibliography and the index given at the end of the book are quite useful.The well-produced book, bearing on its front cover the crimson-hued representation of Sri-yantra in sparkling brightness, promises an exciting swing through the variegated and complex landscapecomprising verdant meadows of descriptive narrative, undulated terrain of abstruse analysis in terms of physics and mathematics and radiant avenues of robust thinking and passionate exposition. The book is a welcome stimulant to the avid layreader while it is a veritable feast for the specialist with devout and spiritual sensibilities. (N. Hariharan, Prabuddha Bharata or Awakened India, November 2014, Vol. 119, No. 11)

Heights of irony to see a person discrediting one of the most renown spiritual leaders of Buddhism-His Holiness the 14th Dalai Lama-yet using the same religion as a source of his personal income. I don’t see why anyone would ever use any of his books on Buddhism as a reference to learn about it.

The book arrived as stated and I found it very interesting in explaining the Sri Yantra. The first half of the book was a little difficult for me to understand, but after that it was informative.Barbara Miller