International Nath Order talk:Community Portal

From International Nath Order

End of article headings

Some ideas for subheading conventions. I think we should use something like Recommended reading as a heading for links to Dadaji's works rather than External links. Where there are links to other sites than mahendranath.org, we could also have an external links section. I propose that the order and use be,

1. Recommended reading - links to related writings of Shri Gurudev Mahendranath
2. References (and further reading?) - links to Wikipedia, etc.
3. External links - references to any other site

Adityanath

I think this is a sound convention to use consistently. --Kapilnath

I would also propose the use of italics for See also: entries after the main definition. --Kapilnath

Both are used on Wikipedia. See also: is probably good for our purposes but should be used with the list following on the same line as done on Wikipedia. When the list gets too long or there is some reason to emphasize it is when the heading + ordered list should be used. --Adityanath

Spelling conventions

We should discuss how to spell Adi-Nath. Should it be one or two words? Should it have a hyphen? I used Adi-Nath on the Scrolls site, but that can be changed.

1. Adinath
2. Adi Nath
3. Adi-Nath

Adityanath

I think the Adi-Nath hyphen convention is fine and already established at mahendranath.org. I see no reason to change it unless there is a compelling argument to the contrary. --Kapilnath

Hindu and Hinduism

I propose that the words Hindu and Hinduism be deprecated on this website. The use of these words is contentious between various scholars and parties. In my own definitions I have used "Indian" as a geological pointer to a land and tradition as a pointer to the beliefs and practices of the referenced parties on said land.

I believe this is important to underline the message that the INO is NOT any form of Hindu group or form of Hinduism. The INO is a modern cosmopolitan order of Naths who have sprung from the cradle of the Indian subcontinent and ancient tradition.

There is a reason why Dadaji wanted to move things beyond India and the prevailing beliefs and social attitudes of that region.

Kapilnath

There are still quite a few occurences of Hindu. Should they all (or most) be changed to Indian? For example, I think it was you who put the phrase Hindu Sannyasi on the main page... --Adityanath

The "Hindu" issue arose in my mind after tending to many Sanskrit definitions. It is not intended that the INO appear or become confused as a "Hindu" hybrid of some or any stripe. It is intended to be profiled as a wisdom/transmission order and modern cosmopolitan transplant.

Some references may be changed with advantage toward the intended profile. Some can't really be changed without perhaps rendering the reference less clear. I think we should consider each instance and do the best we can.

I believe for example, "hindu calendar" is a known thing. Indian calendar may be more ambiguous in its context. I believe the example you gave: "hindu sannyasi" should be changed as the context makes clear that the INO is not a sannyasi order. It does not however make explicitly clear that the INO is not some form of "hindu" order. Thanks for pointing out this reference. I'll make the change. --Kapilnath

If you plug "Hindu" into the search box and hit "search" rather than "go," it turns up about a dozen more references... --Adityanath