A Prophet Facing Forward

Extracts from “A Prophet Facing Forward”

“Because the pragmatism Ambedkar finds in Buddha’s teaching bears an uncanny resemblance with American pragmatism’s anti-metaphysical bent, it may create a suspicion that it was smuggled in by the America-educated, Dewy-influenced Ambedkar. But there is good evidence that the historical Buddha himself was deeply influenced by anti-Vedic naturalist philosophies prevalent in pre-Buddhist India, especially those of Lokayata (literally, ‘prevalent among the people’) and Sankhya (literally ‘reflection’)