Jun 22, 2024
I'd say that's the politically correct side of Hinduism that assimilates the sramanic, subversive countercultures of Jainism and Buddhism. Asceticism is implicitly anti-natural, but for reasons laid out by Leo Strauss, ancient thinkers didn't want to shoot themselves in the foot by alienating unenlightened society, so political realists absorbed the counterculturalists' uncompromising ideals, making for Hinduism's hierarchies of goods.
The emphasis on "harmony" is largely political, not philosophical or revelatory. A conservative or centrist will maintain that extremes are complementary, whereas a radical will draw up uncompromising dichotomies.
