This paper explores the nature, ontological status, different spheres and symbolic representation of Vāc in the Vedic-Tantric tradition, and how it lends credibility to the theory of emancipation through prayer, worship and mantra-sādhana. Vedas, or the canons of Hindu philosophy, proclaim that in the beginning was Brahman and Brahman is Vāc. The word Vāc comes from the root Vac and in Sanskrit can mean both the voice and the word it utters³⁵. According to Śākta Tantra, this word is created by letters and the letters are the products of sound Evolution. This is the result of self-movement (Spanda) on the part of the Absolute or Śakti who is also termed as Parā-Vāc. It is this movement that brings about the distinction among the so far unified Word (Śabda), Object (Artha) and Cognition (Pratyaya). All these three are, therefore, aspects of the primal energy. That is why according to Vedic– Tantric tradition, the meaning of a word is not conventionally determined as is usually held by the Western thinkers, but always has its corresponding Meaning and referent and neither can be dissociated from the other. According to Tantric tradition, written Mantras are devoid of any power. They become effective only when heard from the lips of one’s spiritual master or an unattached Yoginī. Language therefore, is not something arbitrary or invented. In the words of Tantra Vāc there is Prakāśa or illuminating consciousness and the meaning of it is Vimarśa or the object of consciousness. Word is eternal in nature, by which it is meant that even after Mahāpralaya or complete annihilation of the universe, Word shall remain in its seminal form (Bījarūpa). Word, like material objects and individual existence can be either gross (Sthūla) or subtle (Sukṣma). A Sthūla or gross word is that form of the word which is spoken or written and known as Vaikharī Vāc. The other three stages of Vāc viz. Parā, Paśyantī and Madhyamā are subtle in nature. There are six Cakras or spiritual nerve centres in the human body and Śabda is present in those Cakras in its subtle form by Veda and Tantra. Śākta Tantra in particular proclaims that the Absolute is Śakti and She is Vāc, both the voice and the word it utters³⁵. According to Śākta Tantra, this word is created by letters and the letters are the products of sound Evolution. This is the result of self-movement (Spanda) on the part of the Absolute or Śakti who is also termed as Parā-Vāc. It is this movement that brings about the distinction among the so far unified Word (Śabda), Object (Artha) and Cognition (Pratyaya). All these three are, therefore, aspects of the primal energy. That is why according to Vedic–Tantric tradition, the meaning of a word is not conventionally determined as is usually held by the Western thinkers, but always has its corresponding Meaning and referent and neither can be dissociated from the other. According to Tantric tradition, written Mantras are devoid of any power. They become effective only when heard from the lips of one’s spiritual master or an unattached Yoginī. Language therefore, is not something arbitrary or invented. In the words of Tantra Vāc there is Prakāśa or illuminating consciousness and the meaning of it is Vimarśa or the object of consciousness. Word is eternal in nature, by which it is meant that even after Mahāpralaya or complete annihilation of the universe, Word shall remain in its seminal form (Bījarūpa). Word, like material objects and individual existence can be either gross (Sthūla) or subtle (Sukṣma). A Sthūla or gross word is that form of the word which is spoken or written and known as Vaikharī Vāc. The other three stages of Vāc viz. Parā, Paśyantī and Madhyamā are subtle in nature. There are six Cakras or spiritual nerve centres in the human body and Śabda is present in those Cakras in its subtle form by Veda and Tantra. Śākta Tantra in particular proclaims that the Absolute is Śakti and She is Vāc, designating the primordial sound AUM.

The article presents the aporias that are found in classical Brahmin philosophical systems when their ontological assumptions are confronted with the fundamental metaphysical thesis formulated in the Upanishads. This thesis determines the way in which the absolute being is described: sat ekam advitiyam (existing one only, without a second). The wording considerably resembles Parmenidesʼ description of being. Later European history of philosophy shows various problems that appear in subsequent systems when we attempt to construct a coherent ontological system which includes the Parmenidean concept of being. The account presented is not strictly comparative, and it mostly analyses selected Indian systems. It shows analogous processes of the origination of key metaphysical ideas peculiar to given traditions. It also indicates significantly similar difficulties which are connected with assuming the Parmenidean understanding of absolute being in Europe, as well as the Upanishadic thesis in India.

China under the late Ming witnessed a vast boom in book production and a rapid expansion of commercial printing, in particular in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. With the proliferation of imprints, however, both the artistic standards of the script styles used in printing and the quality of the woodblock cutting tended to decline. In place of characters in calligraphic styles of previous great calligraphers, mid– Ming printers began using the mediocre and nondescript “craftsmen style”. But other printers tried to counteract this standardisation and overall dullness of the script by having printing blocks cut from pages written in distinctive calligraphy. In this paper I intend to examine the new importance of calligraphy in late Ming China printing. After a brief outline of the general importance of calligraphy in Chinese culture and the change in calligraphic styles in printing after 1500, I will focus on a selection of imprints dating from the late Ming to illustrate how individual printers reinvented the particular importance of calligraphy in printing by faithfully translating the handwritten calligraphy into printing blocks. I shall also suggest how this examination can help facilitate a more nuanced understanding of the history of printing and book culture in imperial China and how it can shed light on a comparative analysis of China and Europe.

One of the key issues attracting thinkers throughout the history of science was to set and define criteria for studying language – whether that of man or God – and to study its relation to the mind on the one hand and to the external world on the other. The purpose of this paper is to investigate three Muslim thinkers’ views about the nature and ‘whatness’ of language by focusing on their works. The rationale to choose these three thinkers is the fact that their views and ideas cover the issues inherent in the purpose of this study extensively. The issues addressed in paper include:
1. What are the constituent elements of language?
2. How does it affect mind and thought?
3. What is its semantic function?
Our findings indicate that the ‘whatness’ and nature of language of both God and men are the same. The elements are written and spoken, gestures and entity that serve to communicate meaning. As for the second question, language elements act like signs which evoke meaning and assist communication. As far as the semantic functions of language elements are concerned, when the communication of meaning is undertaken, the truth of kalam (speech, word) is different from the ‘whatness’ of meaning and the mutakallim (the one who makes wordsn and speech). As a result of this discrepancy, language communicates something (i.e. meaning) different from the mutakallimʼs inner world. Although the constituent elements of language and how they affect mind and thought have been thoroughly investigated in Western philosophy (e.g. Wittgenstein), there has been little attention to such issues in Eastern philosophy. This paper is believed to be one of the few investigations that adopt a new perspective in attempting to provide a definition for language based on three Muslim thinkersʼ dialectics and logics. The paper contributes to the field by defining language in a way that all its functions, particularly the religious function – that explains the relation between man and God – are taken into account.

It is well-known that sacred scriptures play a dual role in many religions – cognitive (or informative) and non-cognitive (or performative). Arguably, the non-cognitive use of scriptures is especially prominent in Eastern Religions, such as Hinduism and Buddhism. The use of a text as a talisman to ward off evil forces, the uttering of mantras and sacred formulas, and the spinning of the “prayer wheels” containing scrolls of paper with excerpts from various sutras, are all examples of the use of the religious text in a non-cognitive manner. The paper aims to examine the philosophical background of such practices, and to identify the implicit metaphysical assumptions that allow the practitioners to use the word, whether in its written or spoken forms, as a sacred ritual object with real powers. The Mimamsa school from the Hindu tradition and the Shingon sect of Japanese Buddhism are selected as representative examples, and their respective approaches to language are examined. My further goal is to encourage a fresh look at the Eastern religious traditions, where local practices are not evaluated and categorised according to western standards, but are rather approached from the philosophical background of an indigenous tradition per se.