Thinking The Navayana Way

0 Thinking The N avayana W by Mangesh Dahiwale ay Dedicated to all those seeking the Freedom of Mind The New Vehicle is an Imprint of the Insight Multipurpose Society (IMS). IMS is driven by a sincere desire to deepen people’s theoretical engagement with meaning(s) and truth(s). The New Vehicle endeavours to promote knowledge that is emancipatory in nature and help realize civility in self and society. It aims to further rational thought and humane philosophical discourse through publishing content across varied theoretical domains. The New Vehicle signifies the moving wheel of change and impermanence, also called anicca in pali. Knowledge and insights are fundamental to this change process. Our publishing house provides space for engaging, experiencing and articulating this anicca. EBook edition 2019: ISBN 978-81-942059-3-7 Published in India by Insight Multipurpose Society, Wardha, Maharashtra © 2019, Mangesh Dahiwale Cover Art Work: Mr.Radja Perumal Prefatory Introduction While some of the concrete social conditions and thematic issues reflected in this book are critical, it is the method employed for reflection that deserves greater conceptual focus and a deeper theoretical discussion. What constitutes a Navayana way of Thinking is what Mangesh attempts to unravel, problematizing in the process, other normative ways of thinking that we have been so accustomed to and have taken for granted. At the outset, I would like to state that like Mangesh, I also draw heavily from Babasaheb Dr. B.R. Ambedkar’s experiential insights, sophisticated theoretical propositions, his expansive knowledge cutting across disciplinary domains and his principled political struggle. Each of the ideas that I plan to explicate in this prefatory introduction in relation to the book are sourced directly from Babasaheb himself, or at least, my reading and understanding of his methodological and theoretical propositions. Mangesh has touched upon very complex philosophical, historical and social issues with ease and helped provide superior insights into the problematics of each domain. Beginning with the explication of the buddha-dhamma, he discusses the theory and history of buddhism, captures the process of social transformation ushered by the buddhist framework, identify ‘torch bearers’ of the buddha-dhamma across context and concludes with clarifying the task ahead for people treading the Navayana path. Throughout the text he shows us how to think the Navayana Way. i Pulling thread from Mangesh’s praxis, I will attempt to equanimously self-reflect on his text and unravel my understanding, of the navayana way of thinking. The concept Navayana here connotes ‘newness’, and is often read to mean ‘the New Vehicle’. I will use the concept in the same way as Mangesh has framed in this text. I will approach the same by thinking deeply on a question that confronts many buddhist intellectuals on the Navayana path today - How do persons who see value in this unique, very contextual path to freedom of mind within the framework of the buddha-dhamma, think about philosophical dimensions of realities in general and methodologies of viewing society in particular? From my point-of-view, I opine that a Navayana way of thinking that draws its ontological source from Babasaheb Ambedkar, first and foremost requires a cultivation of mind that is fundamentally distinct from other epistemological paths. Further it also needs a methodological clarity of specific theoretico-contextual domains. These domains constitutes first and foremost an experiential understanding of (i) the philosophy of the buddha-dhamma-sangha, also known as triratna or Triple Gem, followed by (ii) an understanding of the method employed by Dr.Ambedkar in the study of Indian society, then (iii) the twin buddhist methods of sa