It seems like everyone, from companies to online influencers to fitness coaches, talk about having mantras. But what are mantras, anyway? In this episode, we'll talk about how they compare to birdsong, Tibetan singing bowls, and spells at Hogwarts, as well as some ancient debates about whether they mean anything, and why that matters. Listen to more episodes of Sutras & Stuff at www.sutrasandstuff.com. Sounds and Music All music excerpts and soundbites used with an understanding of fair use ...
Dec 11, 2023•30 min•Season 4Ep. 3
Just keep swimming!
Mar 03, 2023•2 min
Does what goes around always come around? And is instant karma gonna get you? In the first episode of a season devoted to Sanskrit-to-English loanwords, we’ll examine how three groups of Indian philosophers understand karma: Jains, Buddhists, and Naiyayikas (or Nyaya philosophers). Sounds and Music All music excerpts and soundbites used with an understanding of fair use modification for educational purposes. Drake featuring Bryson Tiller, “Bad Karma” Alicia Keys, “Karma” John Lennon and Yoko Ono...
Jan 06, 2023•35 min
Taylor Swift says karma is her boyfriend, and Boy George sings about karma chameleons. In addition to “karma,” there are lots of other Sanskrit terms which have made their way into English: yoga, dharma, mantra, guru, Buddha, swastika, and more. In this season, we’ll focus on one word an episode to get a deeper understanding of what they meant in their original contexts, and how these meanings resonate today. Episodes of Season Four will air the first Friday of every month, beginning January 6, ...
Dec 16, 2022•2 min
In this episode, I talk with Tom Davies, Seymour Reader in Ancient History and Philosophy at the University of Melbourne, about how understanding Indian philosophy in relationship with the rest of the ancient world helps us reflect on what philosophy is, as a human activity, in different cultural contexts. Note : This is the final episode of the regular season, concluding the series of interviews with philosophers who taught Philosophy and Political Thought at Yale-NUS. Not every philosopher par...
Jun 16, 2022•15 min•Season 3Ep. 10
In this episode, I talk with Robin Zheng, Senior Lecturer at the University of Glasgow, about connections between social practices and knowing in premodern Indian philosophy and contemporary feminist philosophy. Further Resources: Robin Zheng’s website: https://www.robin-zheng.me/ Helen Longino: https://philosophy.stanford.edu/people/helen-longino Miranda Fricker: https://www.mirandafricker.com/ Christy Dotson: https://lsa.umich.edu/philosophy/people/faculty/kldotson.html Debating: https://sutra...
Jun 01, 2022•15 min•Season 3Ep. 9
In this episode, I talk with Cathay Liu, Senior Lecturer at the National University of Singapore, about philosophical systems and both Indian and European philosophy in the 17th century. Further Resources Rene Descartes https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/descartes/ The Tarkasamgraha at https://archive.org/details/tarka-samgraha-ramkrishna-mission/mode/2up How to Think Like a Nyāya Philosopher, Annambhatta's Primer on Reasoning (Part 1 of 4) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L14Q87r24Is The Craft o...
May 15, 2022•15 min•Season 3Ep. 8
In this episode, I talk with Neil Mehta, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Yale-NUS, about what exists and what we can say about it. Further Resources Neil Mehta’s website: http://www.profneilmehta.com/ Theory of Two Truths in India : https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/twotruths-india/ Graham Priest’s website : https://grahampriest.net Metaphysics of grounding : https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/grounding/ Nagarjuna: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nagarjuna/ Music Credits: Brittle Rille ...
May 01, 2022•17 min
In this episode, I talk with Matthew Walker, Associate Professor of Philosophy at Yale-NUS, about ancient philosophy, therapeutic arguments, reading practices, and the Bhagavad Gita. Further Resources Matt Walker’s website: https://sites.google.com/site/mattwalker2000/home Aristotle on the Uses of Contemplation: https://www.cambridge.org/core/books/aristotle-on-the-uses-of-contemplation/14962F5B7153012A256FB48B5A27CCE8 Aristotle https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/aristotle/ Zhu Xi https://plato....
Apr 14, 2022•16 min•Season 3Ep. 6
In this episode, I talk with Jay Garfield, Professor of Philosophy at Smith College, about the Buddhist philosopher Candrakirti and how teaching Indian philosophy at Yale-NUS impacted his understanding of Western philosophers like Hume. Further Resources Jay Garfield’s website: https://jaygarfield.org/ David Hume : https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/hume/ The Concealed Influence of Custom (Jay Garfield): https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-concealed-influence-of-custom-9780190933401 Cand...
Apr 01, 2022•15 min•Season 3Ep. 5
In this episode, I talk with Kathryn Muyskens, Philosophy Lecturer at Yale-NUS College in Singapore, about the Buddhist philosopher Shantideva and bioethics, health care, and compassion. Further Resources Kathryn Muyskens’ papers on Philpapers: https://philpeople.org/profiles/kathryn-muyskens Shantideva: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/shantideva/ https://iep.utm.edu/santideva/ YouTube video on Shantideva with Connie Kassor and Stephen Harris: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PQVLrbk0yKM Music...
Mar 01, 2022•15 min
Content note: There's one instance of the "F-word" in English towards the end of the interview. In this episode, I talk with Andrew Bailey, Associate Professor of philosophy at Yale-NUS College in Singapore about the Buddhist philosopher Nagarjuna and analytic metaphysics, Gandhi on technology, and Nyaya philosophers on inference. Further Resources Andrew Bailey’s website: https://www.andrewmbailey.com/ Nagarjuna: https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/nagarjuna/ David Lewis: https://plato.stanford....
Feb 14, 2022•17 min•Season 3Ep. 2
In this episode, I talk with Bryan Van Norden, Professor of philosophy at Vassar College in the United States about how he came to Indian philosophy, what he enjoys about teaching it, as well as connections between ideas about knowing in Indian and Chinese philosophy. Further Resources Bryan Van Norden’s website: http://www.bryanvannorden.com/ “Less Commonly Taught Philosophies” bibliography: http://www.bryanvannorden.com/suggestions-for-further-reading The Questions of King Milinda: My YouTube ...
Jan 30, 2022•16 min•Season 3Ep. 1
How does a 9th century Nyaya philosopher addresses the intersection of religious conflict and ruling power in India? Are feelings of offense reason to exclude certain religious practices? What lessons can we take from Nyaya philosophers on religious toleration, and are they internally consistent here? To read the whole play, get the Clay Sanskrit Library translation of Much Ado about Religion by Csaba Dezsö , published 2005 by NYU Press. https://nyupress.org/9780814719794/much-ado-about-religion...
Jan 31, 2021•17 min•Season 2Ep. 10
Join our hero Sankarshana as he travels around the kingdom, vanquishing foes...with reason. Part 1 of 2. To read the whole play, get the Clay Sanskrit Library translation of Much Ado about Religion by Csaba Dezsö, published 2005 by NYU Press. https://nyupress.org/9780814719794/much-ado-about-religion/
Jan 15, 2021•12 min•Season 2Ep. 9
When is a door not really a door? When it's ajar! That old joke equivocates on two meanings of "ajar" In this episode we look at how equivocation can impact our reasoning, like when we ask, When is a doctor not really a doctor? We explore a few other ways that reasoning can go wrong and force us to lose in a debate. And listen until the end to hear what's planned for Episode 9. Sources: Matthew Dasti and Stephen Phillips, The Nyaya-sutra: Selections with Early Commentaries, Hackett Publishing, 2...
Jan 01, 2021•13 min•Season 2Ep. 8
Quick announcement about Episodes 8 through 10.
Dec 30, 2020•1 min
Sutras (and stuff) will return next week for a new episode. Apologies for the delay and thanks for your patience!
Oct 16, 2020•3 min
We can’t directly see it but we know it exists by extending our vision with special tools. We can reason about when it’s present based on associations. We can share facts about it with each other. And we can learn its name by comparing it to other similar kinds of things. I’m talking about the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19, and in this episode we’ll focus on how early Nyāya philosophers might explain our knowledge about this disease, and how they think all human beings have the ability to know ...
Sep 18, 2020•15 min•Season 2Ep. 1
When I started this podcast in February 2020, I envisioned a first season of ten episodes. I wrote, recorded, and scheduled the most recent episode (Episode 8) before the nationwide protests against police brutality began in the United States, which is my country of origin and my current home while I am on leave from my college. Given current events, even though I strongly believe that philosophy, and even premodern Sanskrit philosophy, has an important role to play in shaping a more just and eq...
Jun 04, 2020•2 min
Binge-watching. You sit down, popcorn and soda at the ready, and before you know it, three hours have gone by and Netflix pops up with a message: “Are you still watching?” While binge-watching is a fairly new English phrase (attested by the OED back to 1998 in verb form) in the sense of “overindulgence,” binging goes back to the 19th century, associated with gluttony. While binging on television may be a particularly modern phenomenon, the connection between gluttony and aesthetic taste is not. ...
May 29, 2020•14 min•Season 1Ep. 8
Do you wish things were different right now? Is there some experience you used to have that you miss? Are you having unpleasant feelings? If so, you've got a lot in common with Buddhist practitioners and philosophers from the 4th century CE. In this episode, I speak with Bryce Huebner, Provost's Distinguished Associate Professor of Philosophy at Georgetown University in Washington, D.C. We talk about how some Buddhist philosophers think our mental lives are interrelated with our emotions, how th...
May 15, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 7
Who should you listen to? Now, more than ever before, we have access to advice from a range of self-proclaimed experts. Anyone with a webcam and an Internet connection can dole out advice. But how do we tell if someone is trustworthy? In this episode, I test some so-called experts based on the requirements from Nyaya philosophers. Let's see who makes the cut... Sources and Links Quotes from Caraka’s Compendium are from Domink Wujastyk’s The Roots of Ayurveda and the Caraka Samhita Online Quotes ...
May 01, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 6
Who should you listen to? Now, more than ever before, we have access to advice from a range of self-proclaimed experts. Anyone with a webcam and an Internet connection can dole out advice. But how do we tell if someone is trustworthy? In the next episode, I test some so-called experts based on the requirements from Nyaya philosophers, with a litle help from Caraka. Let's see who makes the cut... Background music by junkfood2121 on freesound , used under Creative Commons Attribution License. *Oop...
Apr 24, 2020•46 sec
Love, happiness, and disease. These are a few things that today we call "contagious." But how did thinkers in the Indian subcontinent, before the discovery of viruses, understand diseases and their treatment? This podcast is part two of a two-part interview with Patricia Sauthoff, an expert in the history of alchemy and medicine in India. Sources and links Dominik Wujastyk, The Roots of Ayurveda Caraka Samhita online Patricia Sauthoff is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta wit...
Apr 17, 2020•15 min•Season 1Ep. 5
Love, happiness, and disease. These are a few things that today we call "contagious." But how did thinkers in the Indian subcontinent, before the discovery of viruses, understand diseases and their treatment? This podcast is part one of a two-part interview with Patricia Sauthoff, an expert in the history of alchemy and medicine in India. Sources and links A Planet of Viruses , Carl Zimmer Patricia Sauthoff is a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Alberta with the The AyurYog project....
Apr 03, 2020•17 min•Season 1Ep. 4
I want to hear from you. Send me a voice message through Anchor or email me at sutrasandstuff@gmail.com and I might use your messages on an upcoming episode. Be well, everyone.
Mar 28, 2020•1 min
If you’re going to recline your seat on an airplane, you should do it gently. And if you’re going to kill your enemy with the shyena ritual, you should build a brick altar. But should we do either of these things? Mimamsa and the logic of troubling commands. Sources and Links BBC clip from “ Corona Virus: What is social distancing ?” Kei Kataoka (2011), Kumarila on Truth, Omniscience, and Killing . Elisa Freschi, Andrew Ollett & Matteo Pascucci (2019), " Duty and Sacrifice: A Logical Analysi...
Mar 27, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 3
What does an ancient Sanskrit text have to tell us about reasoning about the coronavirus and debating with people about its treatment? Caraka’s Compendium, a medical treatise, gives some guidelines for when to bother debating with people, and whom we should trust with our health. Sources & links Online Searchable Caraka Samhita Translation of Caraka Samhita from the episode Philosophy and Medicine in Classical India Project BBC Interview with Prof. Robin Shattock, Imperial College London The...
Mar 20, 2020•13 min•Season 1Ep. 3
Taylor Swift does it, and so does Kalidasa. How does figurative speech work and why do we enjoy it so much? In this episode, I talk about how figurative language from Sanskrit poetry to William Shakespeare to Taylor Swift. Sources and Links Taylor Swift, “The Man” music video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AqAJLh9wuZ0 Yigal Bronner, Extreme Poetry http://cup.columbia.edu/book/extreme-poetry/9780231151603 Kālidāsa, Raghuvaṃśa https://archive.org/details/raghuvamsaofkali00kliduoft/page/n5/mode/2u...
Mar 13, 2020•16 min•Season 1Ep. 2
