Cultures and Cosmos (The Cosmic Anthropological Principle)

The present volume, Cultures and Cosmos: The Cosmic Anthropological Principle is an endeavour to explore the numerous dimensions of the fundamental concepts in Cosmic Anthropology such as Nature, Sound, Space, Time, Mind, etc. This remarkable work reflects the importance of Cosmology in human organization, which is an important tool for understanding human nature and culture

The book is pioneering attempt to explore the cosmic principle while integrating it with Anthropology and Sociology. It will help the reader to discern a crucial dimension of human self and organization. It is hoped that this interdisciplinary study will facilitate a deeper comprehension and evoke a stimulating response from students, scholars and general readers alike. With increasing specialization and fragmentation, this is a unique work of reflection and integration.

About the Author:

Baidyanath Saraswati was born in Mithila and now lives in Varanasi. A former Professor of Anthropology at North-Eastern Hill University; Ranchi University; Visva-Bharati; Fellow of the Indian Institute of Advanced Study, Shimla; he also worked as UNESCO Professor in Culture and Development at Indira Gandhi National Centre for the Arts, New Delhi.

He is the author of Pottery-making Cultures and Indian Civilization, Brahmanic Ritual Tradition, Kashi: Myth and Reality, The Spectrum of the Sacred, The Sacred Science of Man, The Sacred Science of Nature, and has written many articles on Religion, Culture, Art, Anthropology. He is also the editor of seven volumes of Culture and Development and two volumes of Prakriti. Baidyanath Saraswati is the founder of N.K. Bose Memorial Foundation, a Gandhian Institution experimenting with children's education, and a center for heritage research in Varanasi.

Acknowledgements
List of Illustrations
Introduction

1. THE LIVING UNIVERSE
   The Golden Germ
   Brahman Zero God One
   The One and the Many
   God One Animal Two
   Unique Forms
   Animal Two Man Three
   Animal Weirdness
   Positive Symbiosis

2. THE ORDER OF NATURE
   The Sacred Numbers
   The Living Matter
   The Fivefold Order
   The Integral Vision
   The Ayurvedic Tradition
   The Ritualistic Tradition
   The Musical Tradition
   The Form and the Formless
   Geometrical Forms
   Conceptual Forms

3. THE NATURE OF SOUND
   The Supreme Soundless
   The Soul of Sound
   The Organic Sources of Sound
   The Sound of Nature
   Sound Contexts
   Chaotic Sound
   Sound as Measure
   Sound as Ritual
   Sound and Light
   Sound and Time
   The Sound Beyond

4. THE ARENA OF SPACE
   The Body of the Universe
   The Four Quarters of the Sky
   The Worlds of Endless Space
   The Articulation of Sacred Space
   Patterns in Social Space
   Canons of Ritual Space
   The Cosmic Play
   Transforming Principle
   Beyond the World of Inner and Outer

5. THE APPERCEPTION OF TIME
   Meditation Upon Time
   Upon Time All the Worlds Repose
   The World Beyond Time
   Cosmology of Time
   Time Born with Sacrifice
   Form of Time
   Experiencing Time
   Multiple Time Systems
   Space-Time
   Act-Order-Time
   Transcendence of Time
   The Presence of Future Time
   Great Time
   The Seven Sutras

6. THE ONTOLOGY OF MIND
   What is Mind? Who is It?
   What is Man? Who is He?
   Man and Mind
   Mind and Maya
   What is Mask? Who is it?
   Mind and Mask
   Who Masks Whom
   The Mind Metaphor

7. THE COSMIC ANTHROPOLOGICAL PRINCIPLE
   The Manu Principle
   One as Many
   Man as Microcosm
   Science as Society
   Theodicy as Cosmodicy
   Mind as Cosmos
   Word as World'
   Knowledge as Experience
   Knowledge as Culture
   Nature as Culture
   Ritual as Language
   Tradition as Hiero-history
   Unification Principle
   Ecological Principle
   Ordering Principle
   Transcending Principle
   The One Mystery