I Believe (An Old Book)

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About the Book Dr. Karan Singh was born (March 9, 1931) heir-apparent to the Maharaja of Jammu and Kashmir. In 1949, at the age of eighteen, he was appointed Regent and was Head of State thereafter for eighteen years as Regent, elected Sadar-i-Riyasat and as Governor. In 1967, he was inducted into the Union Cabinet by Shrimati Indira Gandhi. He held important Cabinet portfolios of Tourism & Civil Aviation, Health & Family Planning and Education & Culture. His appointment as India's Ambassador to the United States was warmly welcomed by both countries.

He was awarded a Ph.D. by the University of Delhi for his thesis on the Political Thought of Sri Aurobindo. He has been Chancellor of Jammu & Kashmir University and Benaras Hindu University, President of the Authors' Guild of India, the Commonwealth Society of India, People's Commission on Environment & Development; Chairman of the Temple of Understanding, a global Interfaith organisation: Member of the Club of Rome, the Club of Budapest,and the Green Cross International. He was a four-time Member of the Lok Sabha and since 1996 is a Member of the Rajya Sabha, re-elected in December 2005. He is Chairman, Ethics Committee of the Upper House of Parliament, Chairman, Governing Board of the Auroville Foundation, Chancellor of the prestigious Jawaharlal Nehru University, and President of the Indian Council for Cultural Relations, having rank equal to Central Cabinet Minister.

Karan Singh has written many books and has lectured on political science, philosophy, education, religion and culture, in India and abroad. He is recognised as one of India's outstanding thinkers and leaders.

The depth and sweep of his amazing mind emerges in great clarity from a description he himself provides. "As I travel around the world I am often asked "What is your philosophy?" While I speak extensively on the philosophy of Vedanta, of the Upanishads, of Sri Aurobindo and so on, that does not answer the question. So I thought I would try and spell out what precisely I believe in. Our beliefs flow from the totality of experience to which we have been exposed. In many ways my exposure has been more varied and intense than falls to the lot of most people. There are four main sets of factors that have moulded my thinking books, music, travel and people. In all four I have had the good fortune of an extremely wide and stimulating contact. In any case, I have tried briefly to identify the major beliefs I have come to hold, even though I am acutely aware of the difficulty in expressing complex ideas in simple words."

Prologue As I travel around the world I am often asked, usually by younger people, a simple but formidable question "What is your philosophy?" While I speak extensively on the philosophy of Vedanta, of the Upanishads, of Sri Aurobindo and so on, that does not answer the question. On 9th March 2006, I turn seventyfive, so I thought this would be as good an occasion as any to try and spell out what precisely I believe.