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In the classical philosophical landscape of India, the Advaita of Śaṅkara occupies central stage. Besides the Upaniṣadic literature, the Gauḍapāda-kārikā (GK) of Gauḍapāda is the primary text in this school. Relying primarily on the GK, this essay explores the ways the issue of change can be addressed within the Advaita paradigm. For Advaitins, there exists only the singular reality of Brahman, of the character of non-differentiated consciousness. In this paradigm, the attributes of both being and blissfulness never change. Furthermore, the central teaching of Gauḍapāda is the doctrine of 'non-origination' (ajāti), that nothing is ever originated. For Advaita, change or deviation is possible only under the spell of illusion, as the absolute is changeless. By comparing the position of Gauḍapāda with other classical, non-dual philosophies, this paper explores arguments for and against change in the classical philosophical school of Advaita. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Team-based Learning (TBL) and Problem-based Learning (PBL), both active teaching methodologies, are known for improving problem-solving abilities, clinical reasoning, and motivating students for self-directed studies. Although both active methods, TBL and PBL, differ in methodology and required resources, it is always a challenge to choose active methods that are more feasible and effective in the undergraduate medical curriculum. Aim: To compare two active teaching strategies, viz., the effectiveness of TBL vs. PBL in first-year Bachelor of Medicine, Bachelor of Surgery (MBBS) students in terms of learning outcomes, development of critical thinking skills, and retention of knowledge. Materials and Methods: This quasi-experimental study was conducted at Department of Biochemistry, NKP Salve Medical College and RC Nagpur, Maharashtra, India from August 2017 to October 2017. A total of 150 first-year MBBS students were included in the study. TBL and PBL were performed following the protocols of their respective methodologies, and scores for learning gain and critical thinking were compared between the TBL and PBL groups. Student perception regarding the procedures was collected using a prevalidated structured questionnaire. The retention of knowledge was assessed by comparing scores from a pretest and a test conducted two months later. Data were statistically analysed using the Wilcoxon signed-rank test and the Mann-Whitney U test. Results: In the present study, the mean age of the participating students was 20±2 years. Post-test results, obtained just after the intervention, demonstrated a significant learning gain in students using both methods, with a statistically higher gain in TBL (p-value <0.0001) compared to PBL. PBL was appreciated for providing freedom of learning style and facilitator guidance during discussions. Critical thinking skills improved more in PBL, particularly in terms of drawing inferences and interpretations (p-value <0.001). However, no statistically significant differences were found in knowledge retention when the test was conducted two months later in both groups. Conclusion: Learning gain was higher with TBL compared to PBL, with no difference in knowledge retention and the effect on different parameters of critical thinking skills. Students found TBL to be more beneficial for the undergraduate curriculum. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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This article focuses on the cultural appropriation of Tantra in India and the West. The term ‘Tantra’ evokes one sentiment in contemporary India, the birthplace of Tantra, and a widely divergent meaning in the West. In these contrasting understandings of Tantra as the black magic or as sex, the sacred of some has been turned into an object for appropriation and commodification for others. This shift relies on identifying Tantra as the ‘other’, in relation to what the mainstream culture defines itself as the ‘self’. Due to secretive nature of Tantric tradition since the classical times, Tantra has never found its own voice, and with the mainstream culture claiming the power over truth, marginal voices repressed within the rubric of Tantra have never been heard. The emergence of religious consumerism has assisted in peeling off this secretive Tantric body, bringing the heart of sacred practices from India to the consumers in the West. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The article presents a study on Josmanī, the Sant tradition observed in northeastern Nepal and among the Nepali-speaking community in Assam, India. It examines the private and public domains of Josmanīs, their Yoga practice and their social life within the context of their worldview. It also explores the role of syncretic traditions prevalent in the northeastern region of the subcontinent.

Indian aesthetics provides a framework for reading Tantric traditions. Tantras describe the public and private domains of ritual in language that grounds esoteric experience while referring to commonsense entities. Their language is highly metaphoric, and uses conceptual blend, indication, and indirect suggestion. The experience transformed through meditation and ritual practice in this depiction parallels aesthetic bliss, and the theme of this description is the recognition of the true nature of the self, considered as concealed in mundane experience. The central argument of this paper is that the application of the aesthetic theories of rasa and dhvani to a reading of Tantra allows a deeper insight into Tantric rituals, their mystical writings, and esoteric practices. By studying two select cases of the description of esoteric bliss and consciousness, this essay contextualizes two aspects of aesthetics, rasa and dhvani, as tools for deciphering esoteric Tantric literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents abstracts related to Indian religious thoughts which include the role of Mammai Mataji as the Godhead of the Sorathiya Rabari pastoralists in Saurastra and the Mammai Dharma as their path to salvation, the concepts of painting and the figure of the painter based on selected Sanskrit sources, and the application of the aesthetic theories of rasa and dhavani to the reading of Tantra.