John Vattanky

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Rev. John Vattanky

Christian Theology.[2]

His book on

Kanchi Sankaracharya.[5]

His Life and Work

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Professor John Vattanky was born at Palakkattumala,

Trivandrum
, Kerala, organizing a Research Centre in Indian Philosophy and Religion.

During this time, he has published several scholarly research articles in standard research journals both in India and abroad. His major book, Gangesa's Philosophy of God was published in 1984 by the Adyar Research Library, Madras and has won the admiration of scholars as well as the award of all India Philosophical Association.

Then he moved on to Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth in Pune where he was teaching classical Indian philosophy and Sanskrit.[6] During this time he also developed the Centre for Advanced Indian Studies and continued his researches. He also lectured in various universities in India and abroad. Many times he was visiting professor of Indian philosophy at the Hochschule fuer Philosophie, Munich, Germany.

He has also presented papers at various conferences, national and international. Thus in 1974, he presented a paper at All India Oriental Conference, Kurukshetra; in 1978, gave papers at the University of Kerala and in Sanskrit College, Trippunithara, Kerala; in 1982, he presented a paper at the Faculty of Theology, University of Passau, Germany and at the International Conference on Buddhist studies at Oxford. In 1984, he presented a paper at the International Conference on Comparative Philosophy at Honolulu, Hawaii, U.S.A. In 1985, he presented a paper at All India Philosophical Conference, Hyderabad. In 1986, he presented papers at the University of Munich, at the Oriental Institute, University of Oxford, to the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Texas, Austin, U.S.A., and to the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Washington, U.S.A. In the same year, he was one of the main speakers at the seminar on the Nyaya System of Indian philosophy at New Delhi. In 1987, he presented a paper to the Faculty of Humanities at Thammasat University, Bangkok. In the same year he was a visiting professor at Santa Clara University, U.S.; he also gave a lecture on 'The Analytical Tradition in Indian Philosophy' to the Faculty of Philosophy of the same university.

In 1993, his book 'Development of Nyaya Theism' was published by the Intercultural Publications, New Delhi.

Santiniketan
and participated in the conference on the dialogue of civilizations at India International Centre, New Delhi and presented a paper on 'Argumentation in Nyaya'. In 2001, he was a visiting Life Member at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, England. In 2002, he participated in the International conference on Syriac Studies at Kottayam, Kerala.

In 2003, he was a visiting Life Member at Clare Hall, University of Cambridge, England; in the same year he also gave a lecture on 'Sankara and Christian Theology' at the Faculty of Theology, University of Tübingen, Germany. Further, in the same year he participated in the International Philosophy Conference at Istanbul, Turkey and presented a paper on "Nyaya and Buddhist Logic'. In 2004, he was a visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, University of Oxford; in the same year he also participated in an International Conference on Theology at Beirut and presented a paper on Sankara and Eastern Theology'. In 2005, he participated in an International Conference on Eastern Theology in Beirut and presented a paper on Sankara and Apophatic Theology'. Further in the same year he presided at the inaugural session of a seminar organized by the Indian Council of Philosophical Research, Imphal, Manipur and afterwards presented a paper on 'Word and Meaning'; he was also a visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, University of Oxford. In 2006 he participated in the International Conference at Bialowieza, near Warsaw, Poland and presented a paper on 'Theism, the Culmination of Nyaya Logic'; in the same year he was also a visiting Scholar at Campion Hall, Oxford. In 2007, he participated in an International Conference on Nyaya and Formal Logic at Jadavpur, Kolkata and presented a paper on 'The Integral Humanism of Nyaya'; in the same year he was also a visiting scholar at Campion Hall, University of Oxford. In 2008, he presented a paper on 'Ephrem and Sankara; a Dialogue Between Two Creative Thinkers' at an International conference in Granada, Spain. In 2009, he participated in the National Conference on Logic and its Application at the Mathematical Institute, Chennai. In 2010, he participated in the International Conference on Syriac Theology at SEERI, Kottayam, and presented a paper on 'Understanding Christian Eschatology Against the Background of the Thought of Ephrem and Sankara'.

Professor Vattanky was one of the much sought after resource persons in refresher courses for University lecturers from all parts of India. He has thus lectured for such groups in Lucknow, Pune, Santi Niketan and so on. He was also a visiting scholar at the Centre for Advanced Studies in Simla. He participated in various seminars on Classical Indian Philosophy.

Although the Centre for Advanced Indian Studies formerly directed by him is materially a small institute, it pursues intensively research in one of the most difficult systems of Indian thought- the Nyaya system which has a history of more than twenty centuries. The Institute specializes in what is called NavyaNyaya which traditionally is dated from 13th Century to the present day. The Institute has already translated and interpreted important sections of authoritative works on Navya-Nyāya and these works have won the admiration of scholars working in the field.

Some of His Writings

His Philosophical Vision

When one has studied the foundational texts of a school of

Tattvacintāmaṇi.[5] The wider implications of the explanations and argumentations developed in this text began to dawn upon him quietly and consistently. Why is it that according to Nyaya logic, it is possible to establish the existence of God while in the Buddhist logical system it is not possible to establish the existence of God? An adequate answer to this question lies in the concept of knowledge of the different systems leading to different kinds of understanding of human beings themselves. Thus Nyaya system has as horizon a theory of knowledge which renders possible the discourse about God; it could even be asserted that according to Nyaya, the Absolute becomes the horizon of all knowledge and therefore also of all human activities.[3]

Such an understanding of Nyaya helped him to develop his own philosophy. A human being can be fully understood only if his metaphysical relation with the Absolute is accepted as a constitutive principle of his very being. In other words, an integral humanism calls for transcendence. Such a view naturally rejects a purely empiricist understanding of a human being. This means that the fullness of being human can be achieved only in and through the transcendent. This is because the transcendent remains not only at the theoretical level but at the actual existential plane the center of human beings and hence it invests human life with a unique value and significance not confined merely to the world that is experienced by the senses. However, this world is not denied; it has its value. It is in and through this world that transcendence operates. Therefore, being human is being fully immersed in this world and fully in the transcendent. Hence to present a humanism without placing the transcendent at its center is to impoverish human beings; it will be the greatest injustice to them.

But concretely, what is the nature of this transcendence? In order to grasp this and to develop his original view of it, the

Advaita
perspective of Sankara's Vedanta is most properly and eminently personal, indeed the Super-person.

This Brahman or God can be described in many ways, but chiefly in the negative, the superlative, the world-relational, the ego-relational and the essential manner. The negative description differentiates God from all other reals by stating that it is not so, it is not so (neti neti). Such description teaches us that no term or concept can express God properly because the expressive power of terms and concepts is restricted to the empirical and hence it denies all idea of finitude in God. Asserting absolute transcendence of God, saving our mind from all temptations of pantheism, this description leads us to apophatic theology. The superlative portrayal of God accounts for the negative description. Because God is Fullness of Being, supreme in every regard He is unlike anything finite. God is the Fullness (purna) of all illimitable perfections; He is the very fullness; He is intensive fullness, not fullness by addition. He is thus the most desirable, the supreme value. He is homogeneous goodness (ekarasa). We have no example of such fullness in our experience. Yet all the beings we know directly have a relation of similarity to God and they can enrich our idea of God. The world-relational definition of God asserts that he is the sole cause of the universe. God provides both the reality and the orderly structure and course of the universe. But this does not imply any change in God; He just gives reality and order from its own fullness. Such a causality of God is so universal and ontologically complete that it is the innermost self of every single entity. The ego-relational description of God operates with reference to the knowing individual self. Each one knows from one's own experience that the ego is agent, enjoyer and knower, but its tadatmya relation with God is not known. The fundamental nature of the self is its relationship with God. And God being the innermost self of man, the former imparts his luster to the individual even to his body and organs especially the intellect. The final description of God is essential. God's essence, is truth, knowledge and being infinite. The two terms reality and knowledge together indicate that in God there is no distinction or composition.

In Sankara the external world is described as

Edessa
. The Supreme reality is communicated to us in the universe which is a vast assembly of symbols singing the goodness of God and this is his philosophy. Infinite are the possibilities of developing this line of thought inspired by the intuitions of Sankara and Ephrem.

A Festschrift, Logic and Love: Reflecting on Professor John Vattanky's Contribution to Indian Philosophy and Spirituality, was brought in his honour in 2019.[8] An earlier festschrift An Indian Ending: Rediscovering the Grandeur of Indian Heritage for a Sustainable Future: Essays in Honour of Professor Dr. John Vattanky Sj on Completing Eighty Years was published in 2013.[9]

Final Position

He served as Founder/Director, Centre for Advanced Indian Studies, which was earlier located at De Nobili College, Pune, India. He was active in research and publication in Indian philosophy. Even in his Emeritus status, he had been physically active, intellectually keen and spiritually alert. He wrote numerous articles, attended seminars and was available for guidance. In June 2013, From De Nobili College (Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth), Pune, he moved to Kanjirapally, Kerala. After suffering illnesses for more than six years, he had a stroke on 30 December 2014 and was recuperating at Christ Hall, Kozhikode, Kerala. He breathed his last at 4:30 AM, February 22, 2021.

References

  1. ^ For some of his important contributions, see http://philpapers.org/s/John%20Vattanky
  2. ^ "FR JOHN VATTANKY S.J.: Committed to Indian Logic and Passionate about Christian Faith". Light of Truth. May 2021. Retrieved 13 August 2021.
  3. ^ a b Vattanky, John. 1993. Development of Nyaya theism. New Delhi: Intercultural Publications.
  4. Tattvacintāmaṇi with a study of the development of Nyaya theism
    , Adyar Library series. Madras: Adyar Library and Research Centre.
  5. ^ a b See also Vattanky, John, Bhattacarya Visvanatha Nyayapañcanana, and Dinakarabhatta. 1995. Translation and interpretation of Karikavali, Muktavali, and Dinakari. 1st ed, Sri Garib Das Oriental series no. 187. Delhi: Sri Satguru Publications.
  6. ^ Handbook, Jnana-Deepa Vidyapeeth, Pune, 2007.
  7. ^ "Search results for 'John%20Vattanky' - PhilPapers".
  8. ^ Logic and Love : Reflecting on Professor John Vattanky's Contribution to Indian Philosophy and Spirituality
  9. ^ An Indian Ending: Rediscovering the Grandeur of Indian Heritage for a Sustainable Future: Essays in Honour of Professor Dr. John Vattanky Sj on Completing Eighty Years. Serials Publications. 2013.

External links

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