FAQ’s
On the philosophy (darshan)
- Whose work is this? How did it come about?
- What efforts have you made so far, and what are the results?
- Who does this apply for? Who is eligible?
- What is your Objective & vision?
- Who are the people involved in this initiative?
- Where/How can I get started? Get involved?
- How can I verify the validity of the proposal?
- How & where can I study this?
- Different Terms – Madhyasth Darshan, Jeevan Vidya, Coexistentialism..what do they mean?
your doubts, answered…
- Is Jeevan Vidya an enforcement on me?
- If this is the work of one person, how can it be applicable/true for everyone?
- Do you have any political affiliation? Do you take donations? How are you organized?
- Isn’t this just a combination of ‘science’ and ‘spirituality’?
- Are you promoting Eastern or Indian – Vedic wisdom? or just putting Oriental or Eastern thought in a new bottle?
- Are you against other beliefs, philosophies and ideologies/systems?
- A lot of people and thought-systems have made the same claims. How is this any different?
- The language seems difficult & arcane….
- This seems to be a lot of words. How does it come in living?
On the philosophy (darshan)
1) Whose work is this? How did it come about?
This has been propounded by Shri A.Nagraj of Amarkantak, MP, India (Originally from village Agrahara, Hassan, Karnataka). A.Nagraj lived until the age of 96 and passed away in March 2016.
This finding was the culmination of a rigorous practice of investigation that he undertook using Indian vedic methods, and finally, a self-improvised technique. Although the background for this proposal is in the Vedas, the Madhyasth Darshan proposal does not have any connection or interest in the vedas, or any other belief system or religion, etc. Read more about A Nagraj here.
2) What efforts have you made so far, and what are the results?
‘We’ are not a formal organization. We are just a group of concerned, well-meaning humans. We have been working in taking this message to humanity in general using introductory workshops, rigorous full-time study study programs, as well as starting a new-alternative school, interventions in current educational curricula via value education programs both in schools and in higher education.
We are also in favor of, and practitioners of correct justice systems, health, appropriate exchange and nature-friendly technologies, agriculture, dairy and ways of living.
You can read more about us here. Read about our programs here.
3) Who does this apply for? Who is eligible?
Every Human Being. Madhyasth Darshan – Coexistentialism (Jeevan Vidya) is not affiliated or limited to any class, caste, creed, religion, sect, gender, geography or time. It is not for a ‘select few’. It applies for all human beings – from children to adults, to those that are old. It is Universal, for entire humankind. It is based on Reality – and reality is the same for every person.
4) What is your Objective? What is the scope of your vision?
The basic Objective is to ensure an Undivided Human Society and Universal Orderliness on this planet, wherein human-human relationships and human-nature relationships are in Harmony, and continue to be so. We can call this Happiness, Peace, Satisfaction and Bliss, or Intellectual Resolution in every Individual, Material Prosperity in every family, Trust in Society and Coexistence with nature.
See ‘Objective & Scope‘ for more details.
5) Who are the people involved in this initiative?
We are human beings. We are people like you, who want to have answers to the principle questions in their lives – in a universally consistent and verifiable manner and are concerned about the state of humankind and the state of the planet. We want to work for Universal Good. We are ‘self-sufficient’ ; we are not dependent on any contingency fund or donations of any kind. We come from a wide variety of backgrounds – from housewives to businessmen, students from marquee institutes to engineers, scientists and farmers, etc. You can go through some profiles here.
6)Where/How can I get started? Get involved?
Reading is the first step to understanding. You can read the books, but this is not sufficient. It needs a human to explain it, since the meanings reside in the human, in the conscious aspect, the symbols for the words are in the books. Attending a 7 day introductory workshop is a good starting point. You can also visit the study locations or download some reading material here.
7) How can I verify the validity of this proposal?
This is via a process of Scrutiny, Observation & Survey (निरीक्षण, परीक्षण, सर्वेक्षण).
There are 4 basic parameters of evaluation. The proposals are:
- Universal (for all Humans, in all places)
- Perennial (does not change with time)
- Livable (Leading to Harmony – with humans and with nature)
- Communicable (non-mystical, comes in Education)
- Verifiable (Using Reason, Experentially & Behaviourally)
See more in method of study.
In sum, you will need to verify this in your own right. This takes time. You cannot do the “verification” just by “reading”. You will need to first listen to this from a person, a human, for which you need to attend a workshop, or meet someone.
8) How & where can I study this?
The realization comes through Adhyayan (systematic study) under the guidance of a person who has this understanding. As a result of understanding, the person starts recognizing harmony at all levels and responsibly participates in human-human systems and human-nature systems and thus produces evidence of happiness in oneself and becomes the source (inspiration) of happiness for others.
Read the following:
- About Study
- Guidance to Proceed and
- Method of Study.
- Visit a study location here.
9) Different Terms – Madhyasth Darshan, Jeevan Vidya, Coexistentialism… what do they mean?
Madhyasth Darshan =
- Holistic View of Harmony. Basic Study of the Reality of Coexistence, set of books that enable the same.
- ‘Madhyasth’ means mediating or ‘centredness’. It indicates the Centredness of Space, Centredness of the central part of every atom and the Centredness of the conscious unit ‘jeevan’
- ‘Darshan’ – means understanding reality as-it-is or ‘realistic-view’. For such understanding, we need a seer, the reality being seen, and sight. I.e. for दर्शन we need दृष्टा, दृष्टि and दृश्य
Coexistentialism (Sahastitvavaad) =
- Elaborations of the realities seen at the level of ‘Darshan’
- Dialectic – logical consistency and arguments for the darshan
Jeevan Vidya =
- The awareness (education) program to make this realization (Madhyasth Darshan) accessible for all
- The knowledge of Jeevan (conscious entity). ‘Jeevan’ is the name for the conscious aspect in a human being, what we refer to commonly as ‘conscious’ or ‘Self’ or ‘I’.
Existence centered Human focused Contemplation (astitva moolak manav kendrit chintan) =
- Contemplation (finding out the purpose, participation) of the Human Being (myself) in relation to Existence (Coexistence = all that exists, reality)
your doubts, answered…
1) Is Jeevan Vidya an enforcement on me?
This proposal is not an imposition on anyone or a request for you to understand. You can understand this if you want to. The right to do so remains with you.
Madhyasth Darshan – Coexistentialism does not talk of “Do’s & Don’ts” and is not a ‘belief system’. It is not something to be ‘learned’ and ‘followed’ – but to be studied and ‘understood’. If we ‘understand’ reality, it naturally comes in our living. Jeevan Vidya is presented in the form of propositions, and does not expect anything to be accepted on faith but to thoroughly examine the truth or veracity of these propositions via self-investigation, in one’s own right.
Reality does not belong to anyone. Reality IS. Madhyasth Darshan – Coexistentialism (Jeevan Vidya ) is a proposal about reality. The choice & responsibility to evaluate its ability to do so, rests with you, the reader – with every human being.
2) If this is the work of one person, how can it be applicable/true for everyone?
The human is the seer, or the one who understands existence. Hence, any proposal regarding reality for humankind will have to come from the human-being himself. This can be seen from numerous examples in human history, including modern-science, where an individual first proposes, and everyone else then verifies it and it then comes into general acceptance.
3) Do you have any political affiliation? Do you take donations? How are you organized?
“Madhyasth Darshan -Coexistentialism (Jeevan Vidya)” is not an “organization” or a group. It is a knowledge system, a proposal on reality, that has been written in Literature form and whose meanings reside in humans that have understood it. . “It” does not ‘advertise’ or ‘evangelize’. All humans have a need to ‘know’, and living with such knowledge results in happiness. Thus, this is a proposal for all humans. Those who want to study it; can do so – free of cost, since knowledge cannot be sold, reality cannot be ‘sold’. Everyone has the right to evaluate it, and accept or reject it after evaluation.
- There is no ‘central organization’, ‘hierarchies’, ‘franchisees’, ‘certifications’ or ‘certified people’. It is not a ‘following’. There are no ‘memberships’ or ‘titles’. Has no political connection or inclinations of any nature.
- There is no interest in money or donations of any kind. Every individual/family involved looks after their own expenses and do not get paid for the time/effort put in. We study and teach this, for ourselves.
4)Isn’t this just a combination of ‘science’ and ‘spirituality’?
No. It may seem like it, since the words used are similar, but madhyasth darshan proposes on reality ‘ground-up’ wherein the words used are from existing human language-traditions, but the definitions/meanings have been given totally anew. It so happens that spirit, spirituality, matter, material, conscious, consciousness, can all be known and are actually all inter-related, or ‘connected’.
5) Are you promoting the Vedas or Indian thought? Isn’t this just putting Oriental or Eastern thought in a new bottle?
No. Although the origins of Madhyasth Darshan lie in Indian Vedic methods of investigation into reality, the entire proposal has been given “ground-up” based on A.Nagraj’s direct-experience or realization of reality as-it-is. Madhyasth Darshan does not refer to, quote, or promote any Eastern or Oriental thought, or ‘Western Philosophies’ for that matter.
Madhyasth Darshan, or Coexistentialism is being proposed as an Alternative to the ‘way of looking at reality so far’:
- ‘Instability-Indefiniteness based physiochemical matter centric thought or Materialism’ (Science) and
- ‘Secrecy/Mysticism based God centric Thought’ or Idealism (Spiritualism, Pantheism and Super-Naturalism)
Read Originators Note, The Alternative
6) Are you against other beliefs, philosophies and ideologies/systems?
No. Madhyasth Darshan is concerned with reality as-it-is and has proposals for the same. The Literature comments on what humankind has been able to achieve to date, and what remains to be done, and how it may be done.
Madhyasth Darshan stands for an Undivided Human Society and Human Orderliness.
7) A lot of people and thought-systems have made the same claims. How is this any different?
You will need to study this to really get that answer. Meanwhile, you can read the comparison in this article here. While the words used are from existing human tradition, the definitions have been given totally anew. A lot of people have attempted to understand reality, and there has been success in many aspects. Hence, many concepts may seem ‘familiar’.
8) The language seems difficult & arcane….This seems tough. Is there an easier introduction?
To draw an analogy from current day science: Just because the formula for a particular chemical compound seems complicated, does not mean we change it, since by changing it, the compound (chemical reality) will not be indicated anymore.
The primary purpose of language is to communicate meanings, reality between humans. Hence, if needed, language needs to change to accommodate or indicate reality so that on listening to such words, the human can understand the meanings of the words, understand the reality.
If we have the need to understand, we can do so – and then the words do not seem difficult. If you want to understand reality: yourself, existence and human purpose; have answers you will need to understand this as-it-is. Since, if we change the words, the meanings indicated will be lost, the reality obscured. And if that were to happen, what is the whole point?
9) This seems to be a lot of words. How does it come in living?
Word leads to meaning. Meaning leads to understanding. Understanding comes in living. This manifests in living in behavior with other humans and in work with rest of nature. Practice in behavior and in work is an integral part of the Method of Study. See method of Study