From ancient times of history, the Indian subcontinent appears as an attractive habitat for human livelihood. The culture of India has been formed by its old and long history, unique geography, various demographics and different customs, tradition and philosophy also. In spite of the innumerable regional, social and linguistic diversities of the country, there always has been a basic unity in Indian culture. This is very vast and valuable culture which also enriched by great philosophical thoughts. Moreover this culture also maintained an unbroken continuity from Vedic times to the present day, though it faces so many wars within country, invasions from outside. This unbroken continuity of Indian culture is derived from its deep spiritual thought. In this article I will try to draw an outline of the deep rooted relation between Indian culture, its five thousand years old civilization and its philosophy.                                                                                                                                     

                                   Culture means cultivation of human’s mind. It refers to a state of intellectual development or manners. Culture means the development and growth of ancient customs, behavioral patterns, lifestyle, habits, values of life, religious beliefs, principles, spiritual knowledge, and creation of art and literature of particular group of people, which is passed on from generation to generation. Indian culture is rich and diverse. It has attained a prominent place among all the cultures of the world. Their customs, manners, way of communicating with one another, these all are one of the important components of this culture. Even though Indians have accepted modern means of living has improved their living standard but their values and beliefs still remain unchanged. A modern Indian can change his way of clothing, way of eating and living but the rich values in a person always remains unchanged because they are deeply rooted within their hearts, mind, body and soul which they receive from their culture.                                                                                                         

                                                                                                                                                                                                            Culture and Civilization are the unique and distinguishing features of mankind. Culture also indicates to achieve highest ideals of mankind. The life – centre of Indian culture is its spirituality. This meant a way of life oriented to the ultimate purpose or goal of life which is the realization of the Supreme Spirit or God. Indian culture visualizes the life with a rare vision and achievement.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      Indian culture is the only culture in the world which spreads its glorious realization about Supreme Consciousness. Philosophy arose in India as a result of an enquiry into the mystery of life and existence. Though this same situation arose in ancient Greece but the Greek philosophers limited their enquiries which were carried out in the inner world. They also wanted to realize the highest truth in life. It is the practical realization of the spiritual truth. Indian sages are called ‘Rishis’ who developed special techniques of transcending the senses and control the ordinary mind of the people through the path of yoga. With the help of the techniques they delved deep into the depth of consciousness and discovered important truths about the real nature of man and the universe.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         The cultural heritage of India in the field of literature is very rich with its philosophical thoughts. From ancient time, Indian literature is known for its unique philosophical feature and the deep impact of Veda and Vedanta. The Veda, which means knowledge, their authorship is unknown to us. But the traditional claim that the Veda were originally ‘heard’ by sages and then passed on orally through generations of teachers. They were finally written down to ensure their preservation.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                     The first Veda, the Rig Veda is the most ancient book of Indian literature. It consists of 1028 verses. Most of these verses are mainly prayers of Gods. The later Yajur Veda and Sama Veda borrowed much from the Rig Veda, and were largely for the use of priests. Finally, the fourth Veda is the Atharva Veda, contained original hymns and various types of ritual and samskaras. ‘Upanishad’ means ‘sitting at the feet (of a master). This specific meaning indicates the vital idea inherent in Indian Philosophy that truth is generally discovered by questions asked by a pupil to his master or guru. The Upanishadic  literature are enriched with deep philosophical thought, gives us a vivid description and analysis of the beginning of the universe, the mysteries about life and death, materialistic and spiritual world etc. ‘Brihadaranyaka, and ‘chhandogya’ are the earliest of Upanishad in the dialogue form expressing the deepest thoughts in a very simple and lucid way.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                           ‘Vedanta’ means ‘the end of conclusion of the Veda. It is a philosophical system associated especially with Indian culture. The spiritual foundation of this system is that Reality (Brahman) is One or Absolute, changeless, perfect and eternal. The ordinary human world is consisted to many separate and finite things which our mind represents by our senses are illusion. Through meditation and pure consciousness one can experience his true self which is Brahman, God, and the One infinite eternal thing which causes and connects many things. According to Indian philosophy true enlightment is Self-realization, to experience the supreme reality as self.                                                                                                               

                             Indian philosophy is inseparable from the doctrines of Indian religion. The unification of Indian philosophy with Indian religion is a remarkable synthesis which also creates new conception about life. It also helps to grow philosophical progress. Therefore the insights of Buddha or

Question by Renae: how Greek philosophers have influenced modern Western culture.?

Best answer:

Answer by Caudex
A number of ways, most of which are not philosophical in the modern sense. Ancient philosophers were the scientists of their day; mathematical development in Europe relied on the works of the likes of Pythagoras and Archimedes for hundreds of years. Medical beliefs remained unchanged from Greek and later Roman views (all of which HEAVILY relied on Greek precedent) right through to the development of the microscope. There are less beneficial ways. The American South used Plato’s theory of natural slavery, that some people are born incapable of independent thought and therefore need to be controlled, to justify the enslavement of black workers. As with everything, the good comes with the bad.

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BLOG greatmindsongod.blogspot.com Facebook Page on.fb.me Twitter twitter.com —————————————————————– Colin McGinn is a British philosopher currently working at the University of Miami. McGinn has also held major teaching positions at Oxford University and Rutgers University. He is best known for his work in the philosophy of mind, though he has written on topics across the breadth of modern philosophy. Ontological Argument: An ontological argument for the existence of God attempts the method of a priori proof, which uses intuition and reason alone. The argument examines the concept of God, and states that if we can conceive of the greatest possible being, then it must exist. In the context of the Abrahamic religions, ontological arguments were first proposed by the Medieval philosopher Anselm of Canterbury (in his Proslogion). Important variations were developed by later philosophers like René Descartes, Gottfried Leibniz, Norman Malcolm, Charles Hartshorne, and Alvin Plantinga. A modal-logic version of the argument was devised by the mathematician Kurt Gödel. The differences among the argument’s principal versions arise mainly from using different concepts of God as the starting point. Anselm, for example, starts with the notion of God as a being of which no greater can be conceived, while Descartes starts with the notion of God as being totally perfect, and Leibniz with something having all “perfections”. The ontological …
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Religion without the Holy Spirit Christianity without Christ Forgiveness without regeneration Salvation without regeneration Politics without God Heaven without Hell The Renaisance eliminated sin – French philosophers said we are all good Classical era eliminated revelation – we have to be rational Modern era eliminated faith – Just believe in science what you can see. Post Modern era eliminated God – there is no god, materialism Post Christian era – eliminated Christianity – we tried Christ, but found Christianity lacking.