Traditions

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Vedanta

A family of interpretive schools centered on the Upanishads, the Brahma Sutras, and the Bhagavad Gita.

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Buddhism

A major tradition originating in ancient India, spanning many schools and cultures, with a distinctive analysis of self, suffering, and conduct.

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Jainism

An ancient Indian tradition known for a rigorous ethics of non-harm and a distinctive analysis of karma and the soul.

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Sikhism

A tradition originating in the Punjab in the late medieval period, emphasizing devotion, ethical living in the world, and social equality.

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Samkhya

A dualist philosophical system distinguishing pure consciousness from the material world it observes, offering a genuinely different metaphysics from Vedantic non-dualism.

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Nyaya

A school of formal logic and epistemology, concerned with what counts as a valid means of knowledge and how sound argument can be distinguished from sophistry.

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Vaisheshika

A school of natural philosophy proposing that reality is composed of discrete atoms and can be exhaustively classified into a fixed set of basic categories.

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Mimamsa

A school centered on the interpretation of Vedic ritual injunctions, holding scripture to carry authority independent of any author, human or divine.

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Charvaka

A materialist school rejecting karma, rebirth, and any authority beyond direct perception, known to us almost entirely through the hostile summaries of its philosophical opponents.

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Shaivism

A major devotional and philosophical tradition centered on Shiva, including an independent non-dual philosophy developed apart from the Vedantic schools this archive already covers.

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Vaishnavism

A major devotional tradition centered on Vishnu, distinguished by the doctrine of avatara — divine descent into the world across cosmic time to restore right order.

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Shaktism

A tradition centering the divine as dynamic, generative feminine power, offering a distinct alternative to metaphysics that treat ultimate reality as static or the manifest world as mere illusion.

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Tantra

A cross-cutting family of ritual and symbolic methods found across Hindu and Buddhist traditions, widely misunderstood in popular culture as a single doctrine centered on sexuality.

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Yoga Darshana

The philosophical school systematizing yoga as a disciplined path paired with Samkhya metaphysics, distinct from the broader family of practices covered under the general concept of yoga.

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