title: Vaishnavism

text: The "Bhagavad Gita" is a central text in Vaishnavism, and especially in the context of Krishna. The "Bhagavad Gita" is an important scripture not only within Vaishnavism, but also to other traditions of Hinduism. It is one of three important texts of the Vedanta school of Hindu philosophy, and has been central to all Vaishnavism sampradayas.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The "Bhagavad Gita" is a dialogue between Krishna and Arjuna, and presents Bhakti, Jnana and Karma yoga as alternate ways to spiritual liberation, with the choice left to the individual. The text discusses dharma, and its pursuit as duty without craving for fruits of one's actions, as a form of spiritual path to liberation. The text, state Clooney and Stewart, succinctly summarizes the foundations of Vaishnava theology that the entire universe exists within Vishnu, and all aspects of life and living is not only a divine order but divinity itself. Bhakti, in Bhagavad Gita, is an act of sharing, and a deeply personal awareness of spirituality within and without.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The "Bhagavad Gita" is a summary of the classical Upanishads and Vedic philosophy, and closely associated with the Bhagavata and related traditions of Vaishnavism. The text has been commented upon and integrated into diverse Vaishnava denominations, such as by the medieval era Madhvacharya's Dvaita Vedanta school and Ramanuja's Vishishtadvaita Vedanta school, as well as 20th century Vaishnava movements such as the Hare Krishna movement by His Divine Grace A. C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The "Pancaratra Samhitas" (literally, five nights) is a genre of texts where Vishnu is presented as Narayana and Vasudeva, and this genre of Vaishnava texts is also known as the Vaishnava Agamas. Its doctrines are found embedded in the stories within the Narayaniya section of the "Mahabharata". Narayana is presented as the ultimate unchanging truth and reality (Brahman), who pervades the entirety of the universe and is asserted to be the preceptor of all religions.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Pancaratra texts present the "Vyuhas" theory of avatars to explain how the absolute reality (Brahman) manifests into material form of ever changing reality (Vishnu avatar). Vasudeva, state the Pancaratra texts, goes through a series of emanations, where new avatars of him appear. This theory of avatar formation syncretically integrates the theories of evolution of matter and life developed by the Samkhya school of Hindu philosophy. These texts also present cosmology, methods of worship, tantra, Yoga and principles behind the design and building of Vaishnava temples ("Mandira nirmana"). These texts have guided religiosity and temple ceremonies in many Vaishnava communities, particularly in South India.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The "Pancaratra Samhitas" are tantric in emphasis, and at the foundation of tantric Vaishnava traditions such as the Sri Vaishnava tradition. They complement and compete with the vedic Vaishnava traditions such as the Bhagavata tradition, which emphasize the more ancient Vedic texts, ritual grammar and procedures. While the practices vary, the philosophy of Pancaratra is primarily derived from the Upanishads, its ideas synthesize Vedic concepts and incorporate Vedic teachings.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The three most studied texts of this genre of Vaishnava religious texts are "Paushkara Samhita", "Sattvata Samhita" and "Jayakhya Samhita". The other important Pancaratra texts include the "Lakshmi Tantra" and "Ahirbudhnya Samhita". Scholars place the start of this genre of texts to about the 7th or 8th century CE, and later.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The two Indian epics, the Mahabharata and the Ramayana present Vaishnava philosophy and culture embedded in legends and dialogues. The epics are considered the fifth Veda in Hindu culture. The Ramayana describes the story of Rama, an avatara of Vishnu, and is taken as a history of the 'ideal king', based on the principles of dharma, morality and ethics. Rama's wife Sita, his brother Lakshman, with his devotee and follower Hanuman all play key roles within the Vaishnava tradition as examples of Vaishnava etiquette and behaviour. Ravana, the evil king and villain of the epic, is presented as an epitome of "adharma", playing the opposite role of how not to behave.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Mahabharata is centered around Krishna, presents him as the avatar of transcendental supreme being. The epic details the story of a war between good and evil, each side represented by two families of cousins with wealth and power, one depicted as driven by virtues and values while other by vice and deception, with Krishna playing pivotal role in the drama. The philosophical highlight of the work is the Bhagavad Gita.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Puranas are an important source of entertaining narratives and histories, states Mahony, that are embedded with "philosophical, theological and mystical modes of experience and expression" as well as reflective "moral and soteriological instructions".


title: Vaishnavism

text: More broadly, the Puranic literature is encyclopedic, and it includes diverse topics such as cosmogony, cosmology, genealogies of gods, goddesses, kings, heroes, sages, and demigods, folk tales, travel guides and pilgrimages, temples, medicine, astronomy, grammar, mineralogy, humor, love stories, as well as theology and philosophy. The Puranas were a living genre of texts because they were routinely revised, their content is highly inconsistent across the Puranas, and each Purana has survived in numerous manuscripts which are themselves inconsistent. The Hindu Puranas are anonymous texts and likely the work of many authors over the centuries.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Of the 18 Mahapuranas (great Puranas), many have titles based on one of the avatars of Vishnu. However, quite many of these are actually, in large part, Shiva-related Puranas, likely because these texts were revised over their history. Some were revised into Vaishnava treatises, such as the "Brahma Vaivarta Purana", which originated as a Puranic text dedicated to the Surya (Sun god). Textual cross referencing evidence suggests that in or after 15th/16th century CE, it went through a series of major revisions, and almost all extant manuscripts of "Brahma Vaivarta Purana" are now Vaishnava (Krishna) bhakti oriented. Of the extant manuscripts, the main Vaishnava Puranas are "Bhagavata Purana", "Vishnu Purana", "Nāradeya Purana", "Garuda Purana", "Vayu Purana" and "Varaha Purana". The "Brahmanda Purana" is notable for the "Adhyatma-ramayana", a Rama-focussed embedded text in it, which philosophically attempts to synthesize Bhakti in god Rama with Shaktism and Advaita Vedanta. While an avatar of Vishnu is the main focus of the Puranas of Vaishnavism, these texts also include chapters that revere Shiva, Shakti (goddess power), Brahma and a pantheon of Hindu deities.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The philosophy and teachings of the Vaishnava Puranas are bhakti oriented (often Krishna, but Rama features in some), but they show an absence of a "narrow, sectarian spirit". To its bhakti ideas, these texts show a synthesis of Samkhya, Yoga and Advaita Vedanta ideas.


title: Vaishnavism

text: In Gaudiya Vaishnava, Vallabha Sampradaya and Nimbarka sampradaya, Krishna is believed to be a transcendent, Supreme Being and source of all avatars in the Bhagavata Purana. The text describes modes of loving devotion to Krishna, wherein his devotees constantly think about him, feel grief and longing when Krishna is called away on a heroic mission.


title: Vaishnavism

text: In the Warkari movement the following scriptures are considered sacred in addition to general body of the common writing:


title: Vaishnavism

text: Chaitanya Vaishnava traditions refer to the writings of previous acharyas in their respective lineage or "sampradya" as authoritative interpretations of scripture. While many schools like Smartism and Advaitism encourage interpretation of scriptures philosophically and metaphorically and not too literally, Chaitanya Vaishnavism stresses the literal meaning (') as primary and indirect meaning (') as secondary: "" - "The instructions of the should be accepted literally, without "fanciful or allegorical interpretations"."


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Bhakti movement originated among Vaishnavas of South India during the 7th-century CE, spread northwards from Tamil Nadu through Karnataka and Maharashtra towards the end of 13th-century, and gained wide acceptance by the fifteenth-century throughout India during an era of political uncertainty and Hindu-Islam conflicts.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Alvars, which literally means "those immersed in God", were Vaishnava poet-saints who sang praises of Vishnu as they travelled from one place to another. They established temple sites such as Srirangam, and spread ideas about Vaishnavism. Their poems, compiled as Divya Prabhandham, developed into an influential scripture for the Vaishnavas. The Bhagavata Purana's references to the South Indian Alvar saints, along with its emphasis on "bhakti", have led many scholars to give it South Indian origins, though some scholars question whether this evidence excludes the possibility that "bhakti" movement had parallel developments in other parts of India.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Vaishnava bhakti practices involve loving devotion to a Vishnu avatar (often Krishna), an emotional connection, a longing and continuous feeling of presence. All aspects of life and living is not only a divine order but divinity itself in Vaishnava bhakti. Community practices such as singing songs together ("kirtan" or "bhajan "), praising or ecstatically celebrating the presence of god together, usually inside temples, but sometimes in open public are part of varying Vaishnava practices. These help Vaishnavas socialize and form a community identity.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Vaishnavas mark their foreheads with "tilaka" made up of Chandana, either as a daily ritual, or on special occasions. The different Vaishnava sampradayas each have their own distinctive style of tilaka, which depicts the siddhanta of their particular lineage. The general tilaka pattern is of a parabolic shape resembling the letter U or two or more connected vertical lines on and another optional line on the nose resembling the letter Y, in which the two parallel lines represent the Lotus feet of Krishna and the bottom part on the nose represents the tulasi leaf.


title: Vaishnavism

text: In tantric traditions of Vaishnavism, during the initiation (diksha) given by a guru under whom they are trained to understand Vaishnava practices, the initiates accept Vishnu as supreme. At the time of initiation, the disciple is traditionally given a specific mantra, which the disciple will repeat, either out loud or within the mind, as an act of worship to Vishnu or one of his avatars. The practice of repetitive prayer is known as japa.


title: Vaishnavism

text: In the Gaudiya Vaishnava group, one who performs an act of worship with the name of Vishnu or Krishna can be considered a Vaishnava by practice, "Who chants the holy name of Krishna just once may be considered a Vaishnava."


title: Vaishnavism

text: Important sites of pilgrimage for Vaishnavas include Guruvayur Temple, Srirangam, Kanchipuram, Vrindavan, Mathura, Ayodhya, Tirupati, Pandharpur (Vitthal), Puri (Jaggannath), Nira Narsingpur (Narasimha), Mayapur, Nathdwara, Dwarka, Udipi (Karnataka), Shree Govindajee Temple (Imphal), Govind Dev Ji Temple (Jaipur) and Muktinath.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Vrindavana is considered to be a holy place by several traditions of Krishnaism. It is a center of Krishna worship and the area includes places like Govardhana and Gokula associated with Krishna from time immemorial. Many millions of "bhaktas" or devotees of Krishna visit these places of pilgrimage every year and participate in a number of festivals that relate to the scenes from Krishna's life on Earth.


title: Vaishnavism

text: On the other hand, Goloka is considered the eternal abode of Krishna, Svayam bhagavan according to some Vaishnava schools, including Gaudiya Vaishnavism and the Swaminarayan Sampradaya. The scriptural basis for this is taken in Brahma Samhita and Bhagavata Purana.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Vaishnavism traditions may be grouped within four sampradayas, each exemplified by a specific Vedic personality. They have been associated with a specific founder, providing the following scheme: Sri Sampradaya (Ramanuja), Brahma Sampradaya (Madhvacharya), Rudra Sampradaya (Vishnuswami, Vallabhacharya), Kumaras Sampradaya (Nimbarka). These four sampradayas emerged in early centuries of the 2nd millennium CE, by the 14th century, influencing and sanctioning the Bhakti movement.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The philosophical systems of Vaishnava sampradayas range from qualified monistic Vishishtadvaita of Ramanuja, to theistic Dvaita of Madhvacharya, to pure nondualistic Shuddhadvaita of Vallabhacharya. They all revere an avatar of Vishnu, but have varying theories on the relationship between the soul (jiva) and Brahman, on the nature of changing and unchanging reality, methods of worship, as well as on spiritual liberation for the householder stage of life versus sannyasa (renunciation) stage.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Beyond the four major sampradayas, the situation is more complicated, with the Vaikhanasas being much older than those four sampradayas, and a number of additional traditions and sects which originated later, or aligned themselves with one of those four sampradayas. Krishna sampradayas continued to be founded late into late medieval and during the Mughal Empire era, such as the Radha Vallabh Sampradaya, Haridasa, Gaudiya and others.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Bhagavats were the early worshippers of Krishna, the followers of "Bhagavat", the Lord, in the person of Krishna, Vasudeva, Vishnu or Bhagavan. The term "bhagavata" may have denoted a general religious tradition or attitude of theistic worship which prevailed until the 11th century, and not a specific sect, and is best known as a designation for Vishnu-devotees. The earliest scriptural evidence of Vaishnava bhagavats is an inscription from 115 BCE, in which Heliodoros, ambassador of the Greco-Bactrian king Amtalikita, says that he is a bhagavata of


title: Vaishnavism

text: Vasudeva. It was supported by the Guptas, suggesting a widespread appeal, in contrast to specific sects.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The "Pāñcarātra" is the tradition of Narayana-worship. The term "pāñcarātra" means "five nights," from "pañca", "five,"and "rātra", "nights," and may be derived from the "five night sacrifice" as described in the "Satapatha Brahmana", which narrates how Purusa-Narayana intends to become the highest being by performing a sacrifice which lasts five nights.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The "Narayaniya" section of the Mahabharata describes the ideas of the "Pāñcarātras". Characteristic is the description of the manifestation of the Absolute through a series of manifestations, from the "vyuha" manifestations of Vasudeva and pure creation, through the tattvas of mixed creation into impure or material creation.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The "Pāñcarātra Samhitas" developed from the 7th or 8th century onward, and belongs to Agamic or Tantras, setting them at odds with vedic orthodoxy. Vishnu worshipers in south India still follow the system of Pancharatra worship as described in these texts.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Although the "Pāñcarātra" originated in north India, it had a strong influence on south India, where it is closely related with the Sri Vaishnava tradition. According to Welbon, ""Pāñcarātra" cosmological and ritual theory and practice combine with the unique vernacular devotional poetry of the Alvars, and Ramanuja, founder of the Sri Vaishnava tradition, propagated "Pāñcarātra" ideas." Ramananda was also influenced by "Pāñcarātra" ideas through the influence of Sri Vaishnavism, whereby "Pāñcarātra" re-entered north India.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Vaikhanasas are associated with the "Pāñcarātra", but regard themselves as a Vedic orthodox sect. Modern "Vaikhanasas" reject elements of the "Pāñcarātra" and "Sri Vaishnava" tradition, but the historical relationship with the orthodox "Vaikhanasa" in south India is unclear. The "Vaikhanasas" may have resisted the incorporation of the devotic elements of the Alvar tradition, while the "Pāñcarātras" were open to this incorporation.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Vaikhanasas have their own foundational text, the "Vaikhanasasmarta Sutra", which describes a mixture of Vedic and non-Vedic ritual worship. The Vaikhanasas became chief priests in a lot of south Indian temples, where they still remain influential.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Smarta tradition developed during the (early) Classical Period of Hinduism around the beginning of the Common Era, when Hinduism emerged from the interaction between Brahmanism and local traditions. According to Flood, Smartism developed and expanded with the Puranas genre of literature. By the time of Adi Shankara, it had developed the "pancayatanapuja", the worship of five shrines with five deities, all treated as equal, namely Vishnu, Shiva, Ganesha, Surya and Devi (Shakti), "as a solution to varied and conflicting devotional practices."


title: Vaishnavism

text: Traditionally, Sri Adi Shankaracharya (8th century) is regarded as the greatest teacher and reformer of the Smarta. According to Hiltebeitel, Adi Shankara Acharya established the nondualist interpretation of the Upanishads as the touchstone of a revived "smarta" tradition.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Alvars, "those immersed in god," were twelve Tamil poet-saints of South India who espoused bhakti (devotion) to the Hindu god Vishnu or his avatar Krishna in their songs of longing, ecstasy and service. The Alvars appeared between the 5th century to the 10th century CE, though the Vaishnava tradition regards the Alvars to have lived between 4200 BCE - 2700 BCE.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The devotional writings of Alvars, composed during the early medieval period of Tamil history, are key texts in the bhakti movement. They praised the Divya Desams, 108 "abodes" (temples) of the Vaishnava deities. The collection of their hymns is known as the "Divya Prabandha". Their Bhakti-poems has contributed to the establishment and sustenance of a culture that opposed the ritual-oriented Vedic religion and rooted itself in devotion as the only path for salvation.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Sri Vaishnavism is a major denomination within Vaishnavism that originated in South India, adopting the prefix "Sri" as an homage to Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. The Sri Vaishnava community consists of both Brahmans and non-Brahmans. It existed along with a larger Purana-based Brahamanical worshippers of Vishnu, and non-Brahmanical groups who worshipped and also adhered by non-Vishnu village deities. The Sri Vaishnavism movement grew with its social inclusiveness, where emotional devotion to the personal god (Vishnu) has been open without limitation to gender or caste.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The most striking difference between Sri Vaishnavas and other Vaishnava groups lies in their interpretation of Vedas. While other Vaishnava groups interpret Vedic deities like Indra, Savitar, Bhaga, Rudra, etc. to be same as their Puranic counterparts, Sri Vaishnavas consider these to be different names/roles/forms of Narayana, claiming that the entire Veda is dedicated for Vishnu-worship alone. Sri Vaishnavas have remodelled Pancharatra homas like the Sudarshana homa to include Vedic Suktas in them, thus giving them a Vedic outlook.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Sri Vaishnavism developed in Tamilakam in the 10th century. It incorporated two different traditions, namely the tantric Pancaratra tradition, and the Puranic Vishnu worship of northern India with their abstract Vedantic theology, and the southern bhakti tradition of the Alvars of Tamil Nadu with their personal devotion. The tradition was founded by Nathamuni (10th century), who along with Yamunacharya, combined the two traditions and gave the tradition legitimacy by drawing on the Alvars. Its most influential leader was Ramanuja (1017-1137), who developed the Vishistadvaita ("qualified non-dualism") philosophy. Ramanuja challenged the then dominant Advaita Vedanta interpretation of the Upanishads and Vedas, by formulating the Vishishtadvaita philosophy foundations for Sri Vaishnavism from Vedanta.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Sri Vaishnava includes the ritual and temple life in the tantra traditions of Pancharatra, emotional devotion to Vishnu, and the contemplative form "bhakti", in the context of householder social and religious duties. The tantric rituals refers to techniques and texts recited during worship, and these include Sanskrit and Tamil texts in South Indian Sri Vaishnava tradition. According to Sri Vaishnavism theology, "moksha" can be reached by devotion and service to the Lord and detachment from the world. When "moksha" is reached, the cycle of reincarnation is broken and the soul is united with Vishnu after death, though maintaining their distinctions in Vaikuntha, Vishnu's abode. Moksha can also be reached by total surrender and "saranagati", an act of grace by the Lord. Ramanuja's Sri Vaishnavism subscribes to "videhamukti" (liberation in afterlife), in contrast to "jivanmukti" (liberation in this life) found in other traditions within Hinduism, such as the Smarta and Shaiva traditions.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Two hundred years after Ramanuja, the Sri Vaishnava tradition split into the "Vadakalai" (northern art) and "Tenkalai" (southern art) sects. The "Vadakalai" regard the Vedas as the greatest source of religious authority, emphasising bhakti through devotion to temple-icons, while the "Tenkalai" rely more on Tamil scriptures and total surrender to God. The philosophy of Sri Vaishnavism is adhered to and disseminated by the Iyengar community.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Sadh Vaishnavism is a major denomination within Vaishnavism that originated in Karnataka, South India, adopting the prefix "Sadh" which means 'true'. Madhvacharya named his Vaishnavism as Sadh Vaishnavism in order to distinguish it from the Sri Vaishnavism of Ramanuja. Sadh Vaishnavism was founded by the thirteenth century philosopher Madhvacharya. It is a movement in Hinduism that developed during its classical period around the beginning of the Common Era. Philosophically, Sadh Vaishnavism is aligned with Dvaita Vedanta, and regards Madhvacharya as its founder or reformer. The tradition traces its roots to the ancient Vedas and Pancharatra texts. The Sadh Vaishnavism or Madhva Sampradaya is also referred to as the Brahma Sampradaya, referring to its traditional origins in the succession of spiritual masters (gurus) have originated from Brahma.


title: Vaishnavism

text: In Sadh Vaishnavism, the creator is superior to the creation, and hence moksha comes only from the grace of Vishnu, but not from effort alone. Compared to other Vaishnava schools which emphasize only on Bhakti, Sadh Vaishnavism regards Jnana, Bhakti and Vairagya as necessary steps for moksha. So in Sadh Vaishnavism Jnana Yoga, Bhakti Yoga and Karma Yoga are equally important in order to attain liberation. The Haridasa movement, a bhakti movement originated from Karnataka is a sub-branch of Sadh Vaishnavism. Sadh Vaishnavism worships Vishnu as the highest Hindu deity and regards Madhva, whom they consider to be an incarnation of Vishnu's son, Vayu, as an incarnate saviour. Madhvism regards Vayu as Vishnu's agent in this world, and Hanuman, Bhima, and Madhvacharya to be his three incarnations; for this reason, the roles of Hanuman in the Ramayana and Bhima in the Mahabharata are emphasised, and Madhvacharya is particularly held in high esteem. Vayu is prominently shown by Madhva in countless texts.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The most striking difference between Sadh Vaishnavas and other Vaishnava groups lies in their interpretation of Vedas and their way of worship. While other Vaishnava groups deny the worship of Vedic deities such as Rudra, Indra etc., Sadh Vaishnavas worship all devatas including Lakshmi, Brahma, Vayu, Saraswati, Shiva (Rudra), Parvati, Indra, Subrahmanya and Ganesha as per "Taratamya". In fact, Madhvacharya in his Tantra Sara Sangraha clearly explained how to worship all devatas. In many of his works Madhvacharya also explained the Shiva Tattva, the procedure to worship Panchamukha Shiva (Rudra), the Panchakshari Mantra and even clearly explained why everyone should worship Shiva. Many prominent saints and scholars of Sadh Vaishnavism such as Vyasatirtha composed "Laghu Shiva Stuti", Narayana Panditacharya composed Shiva Stuti and Satyadharma Tirtha wrote a commentary on Sri Rudram (Namaka Chamaka) in praise of Shiva. Indologist B. N. K. Sharma says These are positive proofs of the fact that Madhvas are not bigots opposed to the worship of Shiva. Sharma says, Sadh Vaishnavism is more tolerant and accommodative of the worship of other gods such as Shiva, Parvati, Ganesha, Subrahmanya and others of the Hindu pantheon compared to other Vaishnava traditions. This is the reason why Kanaka Dasa though under the influence of Tathacharya in his early life did not subscribe wholly to the dogmas of Sri Vaishnavism against the worship of Shiva etc., and later became the disciple of Vyasatirtha.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The influence of Sadh Vaishnavism was most prominent on the Chaitanya school of Bengal Vaishnavism, whose devotees later started the devotional movement on the worship of Krishna as International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) - known colloquially as the Hare Krishna Movement. It is stated that Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1496–1534) was a disciple of Isvara Puri, who was a disciple of Madhavendra Puri, who was a disciple of Lakshmipati Tirtha, was a disciple of Vyasatirtha (1469–1539), of the Sadh Vaishnava Sampradaya of Madhvacharya. The Madhva school of thought also had a huge impact on Gujarat Vaishnava culture. The famous bhakti saint of Vallabha Sampradaya, Swami Haridas was a direct disciple of Purandara Dasa of Madhva Vaishnavism. Hence Sadh Vaishnavism also have some influence on Vallabha's Vaishnavism as well.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Gaudiya Vaishnavism, also known as Chaitanya Vaishnavism and Hare Krishna, was founded by Chaitanya Mahaprabhu (1486–1533) in India. "Gaudiya" refers to the Gauḍa region (present day Bengal/Bangladesh) with Vaishnavism meaning "the worship of Vishnu or Krishna". Its philosophical basis is primarily that of the Bhagavad Gita and Bhagavata Purana.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The focus of Gaudiya Vaishnavism is the devotional worship ("bhakti") of Radha and Krishna, and their many divine incarnations as the supreme forms of God, "Svayam Bhagavan". Most popularly, this worship takes the form of singing Radha and Krishna's holy names, such as "Hare", "Krishna" and "Rama", most commonly in the form of the Hare Krishna (mantra), also known as kirtan. It sees the many forms of Vishnu or Krishna as expansions or incarnations of the one Supreme God, "adipurusha".


title: Vaishnavism

text: After its decline in the 18-19th century, it was revived in the beginning of the 20th century due to the efforts of Bhaktivinoda Thakur. His son Srila Bhaktisiddhanta Sarasvati Thakura founded sixty-four Gaudiya Matha monasteries in India, Burma and Europe. Thakura's disciple Srila Prabhupada went to the west and spread Gaudiya Vaishnavism by the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON).


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Manipuri Vaishnavism is a regional variant of Gaudiya Vaishnavism with a culture-forming role among the Meitei people in the north-eastern Indian state of Manipur. There, after a short period of Ramaism penetration, Gaudiya Vaishnavism spread in the early 18th century, especially from beginning its second quarter. Raja Gharib Nawaz (Pamheiba) was initiated into the Chaitanya tradition. Most devotee ruler and propagandist of Gaudiya Vaishnavism, under the influence of Natottama Thakura's disciples, was raja Bhagyachandra, who has visited the holy for the Chaytanyaits Nabadwip.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Warkari sampradaya is a non-Brahamanical bhakti tradition which worships Vithoba, also known as Vitthal, who is regarded as a form of Krishna/Vishnu. Vithoba is often depicted as a dark young boy, standing arms akimbo on a brick, sometimes accompanied by his main consort Rakhumai (a regional name of Krishna's wife Rukmini). The Warkari-tradition is geographically associated with the Indian state of Maharashtra.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Warkari movement includes a duty-based approach towards life, emphasizing moral behavior and strict avoidance of alcohol and tobacco, the adoption of a strict lacto-vegetarian diet and fasting on "Ekadashi" day (twice a month), self-restraint ("brahmacharya") during student life, equality and humanity for all rejecting discrimination based on the caste system or wealth, the reading of Hindu texts, the recitation of the "Haripath" every day and the regular practice of "bhajan" and "kirtan". The most important festivals of Vithoba are held on the eleventh ("ekadashi") day of the lunar months" Shayani Ekadashi in the month of Ashadha, and Prabodhini Ekadashi in the month of Kartik.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Warkari poet-saints are known for their devotional lyrics, the abhang, dedicated to Vithoba and composed in Marathi. Other devotional literature includes the Kannada hymns of the Haridasa, and Marathi versions of the generic aarti songs associated with rituals of offering light to the deity. Notable saints and gurus of the Warkaris include Jñāneśvar, Namdev, Chokhamela, Eknath, and Tukaram, all of whom are accorded the title of Sant.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Though the origins of both his cult and his main temple are debated, there is clear evidence that they already existed by the 13th century. Various Indologists have proposed a prehistory for Vithoba worship where he was previously a hero stone, a pastoral deity, a manifestation of Shiva, a Jain saint, or even all of these at various times for various devotees.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Ramanandi Sampradaya, also known as the Ramayats or the Ramavats, is one of the largest and most egalitarian Hindu sects India, around the Ganges Plain, and Nepal today. It mainly emphasizes the worship of Rama, as well as Vishnu directly and other incarnations. Most Ramanandis consider themselves to be the followers of Ramananda, a Vaishnava saint in medieval India. Philosophically, they are in the Vishishtadvaita (IAST ) tradition.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Its ascetic wing constitutes the largest Vaishnava monastic order and may possibly be the largest monastic order in all of India. ascetics rely upon meditation and strict ascetic practices, but also believe that the grace of god is required for them to achieve liberation.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Kabir was a 15th-century Indian mystic poet and sant, whose writings influenced the Bhakti movement, but whose verses are also found in Sikhism's scripture Adi Granth. His early life was in a Muslim family, but he was strongly influenced by his teacher, the Hindu bhakti leader Ramananda, he becomes a Vaishnavite with universalist leanings. His followers formed the Kabir panth.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Dadu Dayal (1544—1603) was a poet-sant from Gujarat, a religious reformer who spoke against formalism and priestcraft. A group of his followers near Jaipur, Rajasthan, forming a Vaishnavite denomination that became known as the Dadu Panth.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Odia Vaishnavism ( Jagannathism)—the particular cult of the god Jagannath () as the supreme deity, an abstract form of Krishna, the Purushottama, and Para Brahman—was origined in the Early Middle Ages. Jagannathism was a regional state temple-centered version of Krishnaism, but can also be regarded as a non-sectarian syncretic Vaishnavite and all-Hindu cult. The notable Jagannath temple in Puri, Odisha became particularly significant within the tradition since about 800 CE.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Mahanubhava Sampradaya/Pantha founded in Maharashtra during the period of 12-13th century. Sarvajna Chakradhar Swami a Gujarati acharya was the main propagator of this Sampradaya. The Mahanubhavas venere Pancha-Krishna ("five Krishnas"). Mahanubhava Pantha played essential role in the growth of Marathi literature.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Since 15th century in Bengal and Assam flourished Tantric Vaishnava-Sahajiya inspired by Bengali poet Chandidas, as well as related to it Baul groups, where Krishna is the inner divine aspect of man and Radha is the aspect of woman.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Ekasarana Dharma was propagated by Srimanta Sankardev in the Assam region of India.It considers Krishna as the only God. Satras are institutional centers associated with the Ekasarana dharma.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Radha-centered Radha Vallabh Sampradaya founded by the Mathura bhakti poet-saint Hith Harivansh Mahaprabhu in the 16th century occupies a unique place among other traditions. In its theology, Radha is worshiped as the supreme deity, and Krishna is in a subordinate position.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Pranami Sampradaya (Pranami Panth) emerged in the 17th century in Gujarat, based on the Radha-Krishna-focussed syncretic Hindu-Islamic teachings of Devchandra Maharaj and his famous successor, Mahamati Prannath.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Swaminarayan Sampradaya was founded in 1801 in Gujarat by Sahajanand Swami from Uttar Pradesh, who is worshipped as Swaminarayan, the supreme manifestation of God, by his followers. The first temple built in Ahmedabad in 1822.


title: Vaishnavism

text: The Vaishnavism sampradayas subscribe to various philosophies, are similar in some aspects and differ in others. When compared with Shaivism, Shaktism and Smartism, a similar range of similarities and differences emerge.


title: Vaishnavism

text: There is no data available on demographic history or trends for Vaishnavism or other traditions within Hinduism.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Estimates vary on the relative number of adherents in Vaishnavism compared to other traditions of Hinduism. Klaus Klostermaier and other scholars estimate Vaishnavism to be the largest Hindu denomination. The denominations of Hinduism, states Julius Lipner, are unlike those found in major religions of the world, because Hindu denominations are fuzzy, individuals revere gods and goddesses polycentrically, with many Vaishnava adherents recognizing Sri (Lakshmi), Shiva, Parvati and others reverentially on festivals and other occasions. Similarly, Shaiva, Shakta and Smarta Hindus revere Vishnu.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Vaishnavism is one of the major traditions within Hinduism. Large Vaishnava communities exist throughout India, and particularly in Western Indian states, such as western Madhya Pradesh, Rajasthan, Maharashtra and Gujarat and Southwestern Uttar Pradesh . Other major regions of Vaishnava presence, particularly after the 15th century, are Odisha, Bengal and northeastern India (Assam, Manipur). Dvaita school Vaishnava have flourished in Karnataka where Madhavacharya established temples and monasteries, and in neighboring states, particularly the Pandharpur region. Substantial presence also exists in Tripura and Punjab.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Krishnaism has a limited following outside of India, especially associated with 1960s counter-culture, including a number of celebrity followers, such as George Harrison, due to its promulgation throughout the world by the founder-acharya of the International Society for Krishna Consciousness (ISKCON) A.C. Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada.


title: Vaishnavism

text: Vaishnava theology has been a subject of study and debate for many devotees, philosophers and scholars within India for centuries. Vaishnavism has its own academic wing in University of Madras - Department of Vaishnavism. In recent decades this study has also been pursued in a number of academic institutions in Europe, such as the Oxford Centre for Hindu Studies, Bhaktivedanta College, and Syanandura Vaishnava Sabha, a moderate and progressive Vaishnava body headed by Gautham Padmanabhan in Trivandrum which intends to bring about a single and precise book called "Hari-grantha" to include all Vaishnava philosophies.


title: Reality

text: Reality is the sum or aggregate of all that is real or existent within a system, as opposed to that which is only imaginary. The term is also used to refer to the ontological status of things, indicating their existence. In physical terms, reality is the totality of a system, known and unknown.


title: Reality

text: Philosophical questions about the nature of reality or existence or being are considered under the rubric of ontology, which is a major branch of metaphysics in the Western philosophical tradition. Ontological questions also feature in diverse branches of philosophy, including the philosophy of science, philosophy of religion, philosophy of mathematics, and philosophical logic. These include questions about whether only physical objects are real (i.e., physicalism), whether reality is fundamentally immaterial (e.g. idealism), whether hypothetical unobservable entities posited by scientific theories exist, whether a 'God' exists, whether numbers and other abstract objects exist, and whether possible worlds exist. Epistemology is concerned with what can be known or inferred as likely and how, whereby in the modern world emphasis is put on reason, empirical evidence and science as sources and methods to determine or investigate reality.


title: Reality

text: A common colloquial usage would have "reality" mean "perceptions, beliefs, and attitudes toward reality", as in "My reality is not your reality." This is often used just as a colloquialism indicating that the parties to a conversation agree, or should agree, not to quibble over deeply different conceptions of what is real. For example, in a religious discussion between friends, one might say (attempting humor), "You might disagree, but in my reality, everyone goes to heaven."


title: Reality

text: Reality can be defined in a way that links it to worldviews or parts of them (conceptual frameworks): Reality is the totality of all things, structures (actual and conceptual), events (past and present) and phenomena, whether observable or not. It is what a world view (whether it be based on individual or shared human experience) ultimately attempts to describe or map.


title: Reality

text: Certain ideas from physics, philosophy, sociology, literary criticism, and other fields shape various theories of reality. One such belief is that there simply and literally "is" no reality beyond the perceptions or beliefs we each have about reality. Such attitudes are summarized in the popular statement, "Perception is reality" or "Life is how you perceive reality" or "reality is what you can get away with" (Robert Anton Wilson), and they indicate anti-realism – that is, the view that there is no objective reality, whether acknowledged explicitly or not.


title: Reality

text: Many of the concepts of science and philosophy are often defined culturally and socially. This idea was elaborated by Thomas Kuhn in his book "The Structure of Scientific Revolutions" (1962). "The Social Construction of Reality", a book about the sociology of knowledge written by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, was published in 1966. It explained how knowledge is acquired and used for the comprehension of reality. Out of all the realities, the reality of everyday life is the most important one since our consciousness requires us to be completely aware and attentive to the experience of everyday life.


title: Reality

text: Philosophy addresses two different aspects of the topic of reality: the nature of reality itself, and the relationship between the mind (as well as language and culture) and reality.


title: Reality

text: On the one hand, ontology is the study of being, and the central topic of the field is couched, variously, in terms of being, existence, "what is", and reality. The task in ontology is to describe the most general categories of reality and how they are interrelated. If a philosopher wanted to proffer a positive definition of the concept "reality", it would be done under this heading. As explained above, some philosophers draw a distinction between reality and existence. In fact, many analytic philosophers today tend to avoid the term "real" and "reality" in discussing ontological issues. But for those who would treat "is real" the same way they treat "exists", one of the leading questions of analytic philosophy has been whether existence (or reality) is a property of objects. It has been widely held by analytic philosophers that it is "not" a property at all, though this view has lost some ground in recent decades.


title: Reality

text: On the other hand, particularly in discussions of objectivity that have feet in both metaphysics and epistemology, philosophical discussions of "reality" often concern the ways in which reality is, or is not, in some way "dependent upon" (or, to use fashionable jargon, "constructed" out of) mental and cultural factors such as perceptions, beliefs, and other mental states, as well as cultural artifacts, such as religions and political movements, on up to the vague notion of a common cultural world view, or .


title: Reality

text: The view that there is a reality independent of any beliefs, perceptions, etc., is called realism. More specifically, philosophers are given to speaking about "realism "about"" this and that, such as realism about universals or realism about the external world. Generally, where one can identify any class of object, the existence or essential characteristics of which is said not to depend on perceptions, beliefs, language, or any other human artifact, one can speak of "realism "about"" that object.


title: Reality

text: One can also speak of "anti"-realism about the same objects. "Anti-realism" is the latest in a long series of terms for views opposed to realism. Perhaps the first was idealism, so called because reality was said to be in the mind, or a product of our "ideas". Berkeleyan idealism is the view, propounded by the Irish empiricist George Berkeley, that the objects of perception are actually ideas in the mind. In this view, one might be tempted to say that reality is a "mental construct"; this is not quite accurate, however, since, in Berkeley's view, perceptual ideas are created and coordinated by God. By the 20th century, views similar to Berkeley's were called phenomenalism. Phenomenalism differs from Berkeleyan idealism primarily in that Berkeley believed that minds, or souls, are not merely ideas nor made up of ideas, whereas varieties of phenomenalism, such as that advocated by Russell, tended to go farther to say that the mind itself is merely a collection of perceptions, memories, etc., and that there is no mind or soul over and above such mental events. Finally, anti-realism became a fashionable term for "any" view which held that the existence of some object depends upon the mind or cultural artifacts. The view that the so-called external world is really merely a social, or cultural, artifact, called social constructionism, is one variety of anti-realism. Cultural relativism is the view that social issues such as morality are not absolute, but at least partially cultural artifact.


title: Reality

text: A correspondence theory of knowledge about what exists claims that "true" knowledge of reality represents accurate correspondence of statements about and images of reality with the actual reality that the statements or images are attempting to represent. For example, the scientific method can verify that a statement is true based on the observable evidence that a thing exists. Many humans can point to the Rocky Mountains and say that this mountain range exists, and continues to exist even if no one is observing it or making statements about it.


title: Reality

text: The nature of being is a perennial topic in metaphysics. For, instance Parmenides taught that reality was a single unchanging Being, whereas Heraclitus wrote that all things flow. The 20th-century philosopher Heidegger thought previous philosophers have lost sight the question of Being (qua Being) in favour of the questions of beings (existing things), so that a return to the Parmenidean approach was needed. An ontological catalogue is an attempt to list the fundamental constituents of reality. The question of whether or not existence is a predicate has been discussed since the Early Modern period, not least in relation to the ontological argument for the existence of God. Existence, "that" something is, has been contrasted with "essence", the question of "what" something is.


title: Reality

text: Since existence without essence seems blank, it associated with nothingness by philosophers such as Hegel. Nihilism represents an extremely negative view of being, the absolute a positive one.


title: Reality

text: The question of direct or "naïve" realism, as opposed to indirect or "representational" realism, arises in the philosophy of perception and of mind out of the debate over the nature of conscious experience; the epistemological question of whether the world we see around us is the real world itself or merely an internal perceptual copy of that world generated by neural processes in our brain. Naïve realism is known as "direct" realism when developed to counter "indirect" or representative realism, also known as epistemological dualism, the philosophical position that our conscious experience is not of the real world itself but of an internal representation, a miniature virtual-reality replica of the world.


title: Reality

text: Timothy Leary coined the influential term Reality Tunnel, by which he means a kind of representative realism. The theory states that, with a subconscious set of mental filters formed from their beliefs and experiences, every individual interprets the same world differently, hence "Truth is in the eye of the beholder". His ideas influenced the work of his friend Robert Anton Wilson.


title: Reality

text: In the philosophy of mathematics, the best known form of realism about numbers is Platonic realism, which grants them abstract, immaterial existence. Other forms of realism identify mathematics with the concrete physical universe.


title: Reality

text: Some approaches are selectively realistic about some mathematical objects but not others. Finitism rejects infinite quantities. Ultra-finitism accepts finite quantities up to a certain amount. Constructivism and intuitionism are realistic about objects that can be explicitly constructed, but reject the use of the principle of the excluded middle to prove existence by reductio ad absurdum.


title: Reality

text: The traditional debate has focused on whether an abstract (immaterial, intelligible) realm of numbers has existed "in addition to" the physical (sensible, concrete) world. A recent development is the mathematical universe hypothesis, the theory that "only" a mathematical world exists, with the finite, physical world being an illusion within it.


title: Reality

text: An extreme form of realism about mathematics is the mathematical multiverse hypothesis advanced by Max Tegmark. Tegmark's sole postulate is: "All structures that exist mathematically also exist physically". That is, in the sense that "in those [worlds] complex enough to contain self-aware substructures [they] will subjectively perceive themselves as existing in a physically 'real' world". The hypothesis suggests that worlds corresponding to different sets of initial conditions, physical constants, or altogether different equations should be considered real. The theory can be considered a form of Platonism in that it posits the existence of mathematical entities, but can also be considered a mathematical monism in that it denies that anything exists except mathematical objects.


title: Reality

text: The problem of universals is an ancient problem in metaphysics about whether universals exist. Universals are general or abstract qualities, characteristics, properties, kinds or relations, such as being male/female, solid/liquid/gas or a certain colour, that can be predicated of individuals or particulars or that individuals or particulars can be regarded as sharing or participating in. For example, Scott, Pat, and Chris have in common the universal quality of "being human" or "humanity".


title: Reality

text: The realist school claims that universals are real – they exist and are distinct from the particulars that instantiate them. There are various forms of realism. Two major forms are Platonic realism and Aristotelian realism. "Platonic realism" is the view that universals are real entities and they exist independent of particulars. "Aristotelian realism", on the other hand, is the view that universals are real entities, but their existence is dependent on the particulars that exemplify them.


title: Reality

text: A traditional realist position in ontology is that time and space have existence apart from the human mind. Idealists deny or doubt the existence of objects independent of the mind. Some anti-realists whose ontological position is that objects outside the mind do exist, nevertheless doubt the independent existence of time and space.


title: Reality

text: Kant, in the "Critique of Pure Reason", described time as an "a priori" notion that, together with other "a priori" notions such as space, allows us to comprehend sense experience. Kant denies that either space or time are substance, entities in themselves, or learned by experience; he holds rather that both are elements of a systematic framework we use to structure our experience. Spatial measurements are used to quantify how far apart objects are, and temporal measurements are used to quantitatively compare the interval between (or duration of) events. Although space and time are held to be "transcendentally ideal" in this sense, they are also "empirically real", i.e. not mere illusions.


title: Reality

text: Idealist writers such as J. M. E. McTaggart in "The Unreality of Time" have argued that time is an illusion.


title: Reality

text: As well as differing about the reality of time as a whole, metaphysical theories of time can differ in their ascriptions of reality to the past, present and future separately.


title: Reality

text: Time, and the related concepts of process and evolution are central to the system-building metaphysics of A. N. Whitehead and Charles Hartshorne.


title: Reality

text: The term "possible world" goes back to Leibniz's theory of possible worlds, used to analyse necessity, possibility, and similar modal notions. Modal realism is the view, notably propounded by David Kellogg Lewis, that all possible worlds are as real as the actual world. In short: the actual world is regarded as merely one among an infinite set of logically possible worlds, some "nearer" to the actual world and some more remote. Other theorists may use the Possible World framework to express and explore problems without committing to it ontologically.


title: Reality

text: Possible world theory is related to alethic logic: a proposition is "necessary" if it is true in all possible worlds, and "possible" if it is true in at least one. The many worlds interpretation of quantum mechanics is a similar idea in science.


title: Reality

text: The philosophical implications of a physical TOE are frequently debated. For example, if philosophical physicalism is true, a physical TOE will coincide with a philosophical theory of everything.


title: Reality

text: The "system building" style of metaphysics attempts to answer "all" the important questions in a coherent way, providing a complete picture of the world. Plato and Aristotle could be said to be early examples of comprehensive systems. In the early modern period (17th and 18th centuries), the system-building "scope" of philosophy is often linked to the rationalist "method" of philosophy, that is the technique of deducing the nature of the world by pure "a priori" reason. Examples from the early modern period include the Leibniz's Monadology, Descartes's Dualism, Spinoza's Monism. Hegel's Absolute idealism and Whitehead's Process philosophy were later systems.


title: Reality

text: Other philosophers do not believe its techniques can aim so high. Some scientists think a more mathematical approach than philosophy is needed for a TOE, for instance Stephen Hawking wrote in "A Brief History of Time" that even if we had a TOE, it would necessarily be a set of equations. He wrote, "What is it that breathes fire into the equations and makes a universe for them to describe?"


title: Reality

text: On a much broader and more subjective level, private experiences, curiosity, inquiry, and the selectivity involved in personal interpretation of events shapes reality as seen by one and only one person and hence is called phenomenological. While this


title: Reality

text: form of reality might be common to others as well, it could at times also be so unique to oneself as to never be experienced or agreed upon by anyone else. Much of the kind of experience deemed spiritual occurs on this level of reality.


title: Reality

text: Phenomenology is a philosophical method developed in the early years of the twentieth century by Edmund Husserl and a circle of followers at the universities of Göttingen and Munich in Germany. Subsequently, phenomenological themes were taken up by philosophers in France, the United States, and elsewhere, often in contexts far removed from Husserl's work.


title: Reality

text: The word "phenomenology" comes from the Greek "phainómenon", meaning "that which appears", and "lógos", meaning "study". In Husserl's conception, phenomenology is primarily concerned with making the structures of consciousness, and the phenomena which appear in acts of consciousness, objects of systematic reflection and analysis. Such reflection was to take place from a highly modified "first person" viewpoint, studying phenomena not as they appear to "my" consciousness, but to any consciousness whatsoever. Husserl believed that phenomenology could thus provide a firm basis for all human knowledge, including scientific knowledge, and could establish philosophy as a "rigorous science".


title: Reality

text: Husserl's conception of phenomenology has also been criticised and developed by his student and assistant Martin Heidegger, by existentialists like Maurice Merleau-Ponty and Jean-Paul Sartre, and by other philosophers, such as Paul Ricoeur, Emmanuel Levinas, and Dietrich von Hildebrand.


title: Reality

text: Skeptical hypotheses in philosophy suggest that reality could be very different from what we think it is; or at least that we cannot prove it is not. Examples include:


title: Reality

text: Jain philosophy postulates that seven tattva (truths or fundamental principles) constitute reality. These seven "tattva" are:


title: Reality

text: Scientific realism is, at the most general level, the view that the world (the universe) described by science (perhaps ideal science) is the real world, as it is, independent of what we might take it to be. Within philosophy of science, it is often framed as an answer to the question "how is the success of science to be explained?" The debate over what the success of science involves centers primarily on the status of entities that are not directly observable discussed by scientific theories. Generally, those who are scientific realists state that one can make reliable claims about these entities (viz., that they have the same ontological status) as directly observable entities, as opposed to instrumentalism. The most used and studied scientific theories today state more or less the truth.


title: Reality

text: The latter is the claim that the world is mind-independent: that even if the results of a measurement do not pre-exist the act of measurement, that does not require that they are the creation of the observer. Furthermore, a mind-independent property does not have to be the value of some physical variable such as position or momentum. A property can be "dispositional" (or potential), i.e. it can be a tendency: in the way that glass objects tend to break, or are disposed to break, even if they do not "actually" break. Likewise, the mind-independent properties of quantum systems could consist of a tendency to respond to particular measurements with particular values with ascertainable probability. Such an ontology would be metaphysically realistic, without being realistic in the physicist's sense of "local realism" (which would require that a single value be produced with certainty).


title: Reality

text: A closely related term is counterfactual definiteness (CFD), used to refer to the claim that one can meaningfully speak of the definiteness of results of measurements that have not been performed (i.e. the ability to assume the existence of objects, and properties of objects, even when they have not been measured).


title: Reality

text: Local realism is a significant feature of classical mechanics, of general relativity, and of electrodynamics; but quantum mechanics has shown that quantum entanglement is possible. This was rejected by Einstein, who proposed the EPR paradox, but it was subsequently quantified by Bell's inequalities. If Bell's inequalities are violated, either local realism "or" counterfactual definiteness must be incorrect; but some physicists dispute that experiments have demonstrated Bell's violations, on the grounds that the sub-class of inhomogeneous Bell inequalities has not been tested or due to experimental limitations in the tests. Different interpretations of quantum mechanics violate different parts of local realism and/or counterfactual definiteness.


title: Reality

text: The quantum mind–body problem refers to the philosophical discussions of the mind–body problem in the context of quantum mechanics. Since quantum mechanics involves quantum superpositions, which are not perceived by observers, some interpretations of quantum mechanics place conscious observers in a special position.


title: Reality

text: The founders of quantum mechanics debated the role of the observer, and of them, Wolfgang Pauli and Werner Heisenberg believed that it was the observer that produced collapse. This point of view, which was never fully endorsed by Niels Bohr, was denounced as mystical and anti-scientific by Albert Einstein. Pauli accepted the term, and described quantum mechanics as "lucid mysticism".


title: Reality

text: Heisenberg and Bohr always described quantum mechanics in logical positivist terms. Bohr also took an active interest in the philosophical implications of quantum theories such as his complementarity, for example. He believed quantum theory offers a complete description of nature, albeit one that is simply ill-suited for everyday experiences – which are better described by classical mechanics and probability. Bohr never specified a demarcation line above which objects cease to be quantum and become classical. He believed that it was not a question of physics, but one of philosophy.


title: Reality

text: Eugene Wigner reformulated the "Schrödinger's cat" thought experiment as "Wigner's friend" and proposed that the consciousness of an observer is the demarcation line which precipitates collapse of the wave function, independent of any realist interpretation. Commonly known as "consciousness causes collapse", this interpretation of quantum mechanics states that observation by a conscious observer is what makes the wave function collapse.


title: Reality

text: The multiverse is the hypothetical set of multiple possible universes (including the historical universe we consistently experience) that together comprise everything that exists: the entirety of space, time, matter, and energy as well as the physical laws and constants that describe them. The term was coined in 1895 by the American philosopher and psychologist William James. In the many-worlds interpretation (MWI), one of the mainstream interpretations of quantum mechanics, there are an infinite number of universes and every possible quantum outcome occurs in at least one universe, albeit there is a debate as to how real the (other) worlds are.


title: Reality

text: The structure of the multiverse, the nature of each universe within it and the relationship between the various constituent universes, depend on the specific multiverse hypothesis considered. Multiverses have been hypothesized in cosmology, physics, astronomy, religion, philosophy, transpersonal psychology and fiction, particularly in science fiction and fantasy. In these contexts, parallel universes are also called "alternative universes", "quantum universes", "interpenetrating dimensions", "parallel dimensions", "parallel worlds", "alternative realities", "alternative timelines", and "dimensional planes", among others.


title: Reality

text: Each individual has a different view of reality, with different memories and personal history, knowledge, personality traits and experience. This system, mostly referring to the human brain, affects cognition and behavior and into this complex new knowledge, memories, information, thoughts and experiences are continuously integrated. The connectome – neural networks/wirings in brains – is thought to be a key factor in human variability in terms of cognition or the way we perceive the world (as a context) and related features or processes. Sensemaking or sense-making is the process by which people give meaning to their experiences and make sense of the world they live in.


title: Reality

text: Sensemaking and determination of reality also occurs collectively, which is investigated in social epistemology and related approaches. From the collective intelligence perspective, the intelligence of the individual human (and AI entities) is substantially limited and advanced intelligence emerges when multiple entities collaborate over time. Collective memory is an important component of the social construction of reality and communication and communication-related systems, such as media systems, may also be major components .


title: Reality

text: A theory of everything (TOE) is a putative theory of theoretical physics that fully explains and links together all known physical phenomena, and predicts the outcome of "any" experiment that could be carried out "in principle". The theory of everything is also called the final theory. Many candidate theories of everything have been proposed by theoretical physicists during the twentieth century, but none have been confirmed experimentally. The primary problem in producing a TOE is that general relativity and quantum mechanics are hard to unify. This is one of the unsolved problems in physics.


title: Reality

text: Initially, the term "theory of everything" was used with an ironic connotation to refer to various overgeneralized theories. For example, a great-grandfather of Ijon Tichy, a character from a cycle of Stanisław Lem's science fiction stories of the 1960s, was known to work on the "General Theory of Everything". Physicist John Ellis claims to have introduced the term into the technical literature in an article in "Nature" in 1986. Over time, the term stuck in popularizations of quantum physics to describe a theory that would unify or explain through a single model the theories of all fundamental interactions and of all particles of nature: general relativity for gravitation, and the standard model of elementary particle physics – which includes quantum mechanics – for electromagnetism, the two nuclear interactions, and the known elementary particles.


title: Reality

text: Current candidates for a theory of everything include string theory, M theory, and loop quantum gravity.


title: Reality

text: Media – such as news media, social media, websites including Wikipedia, and fiction – shape individuals' and society's perception of reality (including as part of belief and attitude formation) and are partly used intentionally as means to learn about reality. Various technologies have changed society's relationship with reality such as the advent of radio and TV technologies.


title: Reality

text: Research investigates interrelations and effects, for example aspects in the social construction of reality. A major component of this shaping and representation of perceived reality is agenda, selection and prioritization – not only (or primarily) the quality, tone and types of content – which influences, for instance, the public agenda. Disproportional news attention for low-probability incidents – such as high-consequence aviation accidents – can distort audiences' risk perceptions with harmful consequences. Various biases such as false balance, public attention dependence reactions like sensationalism and domination by "current events", as well as various interest-driven uses of media such as marketing can also have major impacts on the perception of reality. Time-use studies found that e.g. in 2018 the average U.S. American "spent around eleven hours every day looking at screens".


title: Reality

text: "False social reality" refers to widespread beliefs that are shown to be false. A study introduced the concept, showing that (a sample of) Americans widely underestimate general public support for climate change mitigation policies by a large margin.


title: Reality

text: Virtual reality (VR) is a computer-simulated environment that can simulate physical presence in places in the real world, as well as in imaginary worlds.


title: Reality

text: The virtuality continuum is a continuous scale ranging between the completely virtual, a virtuality, and the completely real: reality. The reality–virtuality continuum therefore encompasses all possible variations and compositions of real and virtual objects. It has been described as a concept in new media and computer science, but in fact it could be considered a matter of anthropology. The concept was first introduced by Paul Milgram.


title: Reality

text: The area between the two extremes, where both the real and the virtual are mixed, is the so-called mixed reality. This in turn is said to consist of both augmented reality, where the virtual augments the real, and augmented virtuality, where the real augments the virtual.


title: Reality

text: Cyberspace, the world's computer systems considered as an interconnected whole, can be thought of as a virtual reality; for instance, it is portrayed as such in the cyberpunk fiction of William Gibson and others. "Second Life" and MMORPGs such as "World of Warcraft" are examples of artificial environments or virtual worlds (falling some way short of full virtual reality) in cyberspace.


title: Reality

text: On the Internet, "real life" refers to life in the real world. It generally references life or consensus reality, in contrast to an environment seen as fiction or fantasy, such as virtual reality, lifelike experience, dreams, novels, or movies. Online, the acronym "IRL" stands for "in real life", with the meaning "not on the Internet". Sociologists engaged in the study of the Internet have determined that someday, a distinction between online and real-life worlds may seem "quaint", noting that certain types of online activity, such as sexual intrigues, have already made a full transition to complete legitimacy and "reality". The abbreviation "RL" stands for "real life". For example, one can speak of "meeting in RL" someone whom one has met in a chat or on an Internet forum. It may also be used to express an inability to use the Internet for a time due to "RL problems".


title: Bob Weir

text: Robert Hall Weir ( ; né Parber, born October 16, 1947) is an American musician and songwriter best known as a founding member of the Grateful Dead. After the group disbanded in 1995, Weir performed with The Other Ones, later known as The Dead, together with other former members of the Grateful Dead. Weir also founded and played in several other bands during and after his career with the Grateful Dead, including Kingfish, the Bob Weir Band, Bobby and the Midnites, Scaring the Children, RatDog, and Furthur, which he co-led with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. In 2015, Weir, along with former Grateful Dead members Mickey Hart and Bill Kreutzmann, joined with Grammy-winning singer/guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge, and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti to form the band Dead & Company. The band remains active.


title: Bob Weir

text: During his career with the Grateful Dead, Weir played mostly rhythm guitar and sang many of the band's rock & roll and country & western songs. In 1994, he was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of the Grateful Dead.


title: Bob Weir

text: Weir was born in San Francisco, California, to John (Jack) Parber (1929-2015), of Italian and German ancestry, and a fellow college student, Phyllis Inskeep (1924-1997), of German, Irish, and English ancestry, who later gave him up for adoption; he was raised by his adoptive parents, Frederic Utter Weir and Eleanor ( Cramer) Weir, in Atherton. He began playing guitar at age thirteen after less successful experimentation with the piano and the trumpet. He had trouble in school because of undiagnosed dyslexia and he was expelled from nearly every school he attended, including Menlo School in Atherton and Fountain Valley School in Colorado, where he met future Grateful Dead lyricist John Perry Barlow.


title: Bob Weir

text: On New Year's Eve 1963, 15-year-old Weir and an underage friend were wandering the back alleys of Palo Alto, looking for a club that would admit them, when they heard banjo music. They followed the music to its source, Dana Morgan's Music Store. Here, a young Jerry Garcia, oblivious to the date, was waiting for his students to arrive. Weir and Garcia spent the night playing music together and then decided to form a band. The Beatles significantly influenced their musical direction. "The Beatles were why we turned from a jug band into a rock 'n' roll band," said Bob Weir. "What we saw them doing was impossibly attractive. I couldn't think of anything else more worth doing." Originally called Mother McCree's Uptown Jug Champions, the band was later renamed The Warlocks and eventually the Grateful Dead.


title: Bob Weir

text: Weir played rhythm guitar and sang a large portion of the lead vocals through all of the Dead's 30-year career. In the fall of 1968, the Dead played some concerts without Weir and Ron "Pigpen" McKernan. These shows, with the band billed as "Mickey and the Hartbeats", were intermixed with full-lineup Grateful Dead concerts. In his biography of Jerry Garcia, Blair Jackson notes, "Garcia and Lesh determined that Weir and Pigpen were not pulling their weight musically in the band… Most of the band fights at this time were about Bobby's guitar playing." Late in the year, the band relented and took Weir and Pigpen back in full-time.


title: Bob Weir

text: The incident apparently led to a period of significant growth in Weir's guitar playing. Phil Lesh said that when drummer Mickey Hart left the band temporarily in early 1971, he was able to hear Weir's playing more clearly than ever and "I found myself astonished, delighted and excited beyond measure at what Bobby was doing." Lesh described Weir's playing as "quirky, whimsical and goofy" and noted his ability to play chord voicings on the guitar (with only four fingers) that one would normally hear from a keyboard (with up to ten fingers).


title: Bob Weir

text: In the late 1970s, Weir began to experiment with slide guitar techniques and perform certain songs during Dead shows using the slide. His unique guitar style is strongly influenced by the hard bop pianist McCoy Tyner and he has cited artists as diverse as John Coltrane, the Rev. Gary Davis, and Igor Stravinsky as influences.


title: Bob Weir

text: Weir's first solo album "Ace" appeared in 1972, with the Grateful Dead performing as the band on the album, though credited individually. Included in this line-up were Keith Godchaux and his wife Donna, both of whom would be in the band by the time of the album's release. A live version of the album's best-known song, "Playing in the Band", had been issued on the "Skull & Roses" album of the previous year. While continuing to perform as a member of the Grateful Dead, in 1975 and 1976 Weir played in the Bay Area band Kingfish with friends Matt Kelly and Dave Torbert. He later contributed to Kelly's 1987 album "A Wing and a Prayer", on Relix Records. In 1978 he fronted the Bob Weir Band with Brent Mydland, who joined the Grateful Dead the following year. In 1980 he formed another side band, Bobby and the Midnites.


title: Bob Weir

text: Shortly before Garcia's death in 1995, Weir formed another band, RatDog Revue, later shortened to RatDog. In RatDog, Weir performs covers of songs by various artists, including The Beatles, Bob Dylan, Chuck Berry, and Willie Dixon while also performing many Grateful Dead songs. In addition, Ratdog performs many of their own originals, most of which were released on the album "Evening Moods".


title: Bob Weir

text: Weir has participated in the various reformations of the Grateful Dead's members, including 1998, 2000, and 2002 stints as The Other Ones and in 2003, 2004 and 2009 as The Dead. In 2008 he performed in the two Deadheads for Obama concerts. In 2009 Bob Weir and Phil Lesh formed a new band called Furthur—so-named in honor of Ken Kesey's famous psychedelically-painted bus.


title: Bob Weir

text: In 2011, Weir founded the Tamalpais Research Institute, also known as TRI Studios. TRI is a high-tech recording studio and virtual music venue, used to stream live concerts over the internet in high-definition.


title: Bob Weir

text: In 2012, Weir toured with Chris Robinson of the Black Crowes and singer/songwriter Jackie Greene as the Weir, Robinson, & Greene Acoustic Trio.


title: Bob Weir

text: Weir resuscitated RatDog in March 2013. The RatDog Quartet, featuring Weir, Jay Lane, Robin Sylvester, and Jonathan Wilson debuted on March 3, at the Sweetwater Music Hall. Jason Crosby was their featured guest at the first two shows.


title: Bob Weir

text: On April 25, 2013, Weir collapsed onstage during a Furthur performance at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, New York. The band finished the show without him. He performed with the band two days later in Atlantic City, but on April 29 a representative announced that Weir would be "unable to perform in any capacity for the next several weeks" for unspecified reasons. Weir resumed performing that summer.


title: Bob Weir

text: On April 23, 2014, "" premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival directed by Mike Fleiss husband of Miss America 2012, Laura Kaeppeler.


title: Bob Weir

text: On August 10, 2014, Weir abruptly canceled all of his upcoming appearances, according to The Huffington Post, "The cancellations include all shows for the rest of the year with his band Ratdog, as well as a concert with Furthur". According to Jambase, Ratdog performed without Weir in Las Vegas in July 2014. "A statement from the venue said Weir was 'under the weather'."


title: Bob Weir

text: In early July 2015, Weir joined the other original living members of the Grateful Dead —Mickey Hart, Bill Kreutzmann, and Phil Lesh — for three shows at Soldier Field in Chicago. These four surviving members (known as the "Core Four") were joined by Jeff Chimenti on keys and Phish's Trey Anastasio on lead guitar and shared vocals, and Bruce Hornsby on piano. The reunion was 20 years nearly to the day since the band's final concert with Jerry Garcia at the same venue in 1995. "Fare Thee Well: Celebrating 50 Years of Grateful Dead" was billed as the original four members' last performance together. Based on demand, two additional Fare Thee Well concerts were added to the series, performed in late June 2015 at Levi Stadium in California.


title: Bob Weir

text: On October 5, 2015, Weir performed with Ratdog at a special celebratory 60th Birthday Bash for Steve Kimock. It was the first time Ratdog had performed again since the aforementioned cancellations of his 2014 summer tour.


title: Bob Weir

text: In late 2015 Weir teamed up with former Grateful Dead bandmates Mickey Hart and Billy Kreutzmann as well as guitarist John Mayer, bassist Oteil Burbridge and keyboardist Jeff Chimenti to form Dead & Company. They played 22 shows starting at the end of October, concluding with a four show New Year's run including two shows in San Francisco and two in Los Angeles, ending with a three set show on New Year's Eve. The band continues to tour regularly.


title: Bob Weir

text: In May 2016, Weir was a guest speaker and performer for the second annual Einstein Gala, in Toronto, Canada, an event honoring the legacy of Albert Einstein and new visionaries in the arts and sciences. Weir spoke about what science and innovation had meant to him. Weir performed a solo acoustic set, and was joined mid-set by guitarist Dan Kanter. In the same month, Weir also confirmed, in an interview with "The Guardian", that he was writing a book.


title: Bob Weir

text: In 2016, a live recording of Weir performing with The National was included on the massive "Day of the Dead". Weir's 2012 collaboration with members of The National as part of The Bridge Session helped pave the way for the Grateful Dead tribute.


title: Bob Weir

text: In June 2016, at the Bonnaroo Arts And Music Festival, Weir received the first ever Les Paul Spirit Award, from the Les Paul Foundation. "I cannot think of anyone more fitting to be honored with the first annual Les Paul Spirit Award than Bob Weir. Not only is he an extraordinary talent who has given us an amazing array of legendary music, but he is an innovator who understands music, technologies and the spirit of Les Paul," said Michael Braunstein, executive director of the Les Paul Foundation. "If Les were still alive today, I have absolutely no doubt that he and Bob would be experimenting together at TRI Studios or at Les's house and the results would be extraordinary."


title: Bob Weir

text: Weir received the 2016 Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2016 Americana Honors & Awards in Nashville, TN.


title: Bob Weir

text: In September 2016, Weir released a new album of "cowboy songs" titled "Blue Mountain". The release was followed by a tour beginning in October 2016. The album was inspired by his time working as a ranch hand in Wyoming, when he was fifteen years old.


title: Bob Weir

text: During the spring of 2018, Weir performed a series of concerts with former Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh. The duo, with guest musicians, was billed as Bobby and Phil.


title: Bob Weir

text: In 2018 Weir formed a band called Wolf Bros. Billed as Bob Weir & Wolf Bros, the group initially was a trio, with Weir on guitar and vocals, Don Was on upright bass, and Jay Lane on drums. They toured the U.S. in the fall of 2018, the spring of 2019, and in early 2020. In late 2020 and early 2021 the band played several concerts at TRI Studios with Jeff Chimenti on keyboards and Greg Leisz on pedal steel guitar. After the first of these shows the band also added a horn and string section called the Wolfpack, comprising Brian Switzer on trumpet, Adam Theis on trombone, Sheldon Brown on saxophone, clarinet, and flute, Mads Tolling on violin, and Alex Kelly on cello. In the summer of 2021 this larger ensemble, now billed as Bobby Weir & Wolf Bros, played several concerts in Colorado and California.


title: Bob Weir

text: Weir remained single throughout his years with the Grateful Dead, although he lived for several years (1969–1975) with Frankie Hart. Hart had been a go-go dancer at the Peppermint Lounge in New York, had worked in Apple Records American marketing department, and had performed on the TV shows "Hullabaloo" and "Shindig!". She was allegedly the inspiration for the Robert Hunter, Bob Weir song "Sugar Magnolia". Weir made her acquaintance through Mickey Hart, who dated her briefly. He met her following her first Grateful Dead show in New York in 1968. Her real name at that time was Frankie Azzara (from a previous marriage), but used the stage name "Frankie Hart" (after apparently "borrowing" Hart's last name). Although she and Weir never married, she adopted his last name after moving in with him and was subsequently known as Frankie Weir.


title: Bob Weir

text: On July 15, 1999, Weir married Natascha Münter in Mill Valley, California. Together they have two daughters, Shala Monet Weir and Chloe Kaelia Weir. Bob Weir's sister-in law is Leilani Münter, a former race car driver in the ARCA Racing Series circuit.


title: Bob Weir

text: Weir is on the board of directors of the Rex Foundation, the Furthur Foundation, and HeadCount. He also is a member of the Advisory Board of the Jerry Garcia Foundation along with Peter Shapiro and Seth Rogin. He is an honorary member of the board of directors of the environmental organization Rainforest Action Network, along with Woody Harrelson, Bonnie Raitt, and John Densmore. He is also on the honorary board of directors of Little Kids Rock, a non-profit organization that provides free musical instruments and instruction to children in under-served public schools throughout the U.S.


title: Bob Weir

text: Early pictures of The Warlocks in concert show him playing a Gretsch Duo-Jet, and after the Warlocks became the Grateful Dead, Weir briefly played a Rickenbacker 365, a Guild Starfire IV semi-hollowbody (with Garcia playing an identical cherry red Starfire IV, which appears very similar to the Gibson ES-335) as well as a Fender Telecaster before settling on a cherry red 1965 Gibson ES-335 as his primary guitar for the following decade. Weir can also be seen playing a sunburst ES-335 in "The Grateful Dead Movie", filmed in October 1974. During the early 1970s, Weir also used a Gibson ES-345, a 1961 or 1962 Gibson SG and a black Gibson Les Paul of indeterminate age in 1971.


title: Bob Weir

text: In 1974, Weir began working with Jeff Hasselberger at Ibanez to develop a custom instrument. Weir began playing the Ibanez 2681 during the recording of "Blues for Allah"; this was a testbed instrument with sliding pickups that Hasselberger used to develop several additional 2681s for use onstage, as well as Weir's custom "Cowboy Fancy" guitar, which he played from 1976 until the mid-1980s. Weir began using a Modulus Blackknife at that point, and continued to play the Blackknife, along with a hybrid Modulus/Casio guitar for the "Space" segment of Grateful Dead concerts for the rest of that band's history. Weir's acoustic guitars include several Martins, a Guild, an Ovation, and a line of Alvarez-Yairi signature models.


title: Bob Weir

text: With his post-Grateful Dead bands, Weir has played a Modulus G3FH custom, a Gibson ES-335, and a 1956 Fender Telecaster previously owned by James Louis Parber, his late half-brother.


title: Bob Weir

text: In August 2016, during a preview of Weir's solo album, "Blue Mountain", Weir stated that the only instrument he used during the recording of the album was a Martin acoustic guitar.


title: Bob Weir

text: From 2017 onwards, Weir has collaborated with New York based D'Angelico Guitars to produce several signature model instruments. The Premier, a semi-hollow guitar, was released in 2017, and the Deluxe Bedford, a solid-body, was released in 2020.


title: The Transporter

text: The Transporter (French: Le Transporteur) is a 2002 action-thriller film directed by Corey Yuen and Louis Leterrier (who is credited as artistic director on the film), and written by Luc Besson, who was inspired by BMW Films' "The Hire" series. The film stars Jason Statham as Frank Martin, a driver for hire—a mercenary "transporter" who will deliver anything, anywhere, no questions asked—for the right price. It also stars Shu Qi as Lai Kwai.


title: The Transporter

text: It is the first installment in the "Transporter" franchise, succeeded by three sequels, "Transporter 2" and "Transporter 3", "The Transporter Refueled" (a reboot), and a .


title: The Transporter

text: Frank Martin is a former special operations soldier and now highly skilled driver/mercenary residing in southern France whose callsign is "The Transporter". He strictly follows three rigid rules when transporting:


title: The Transporter

text: In Nice, Frank is hired to transport three bank robbers with his black BMW 735i, but they hoist a fourth man in his car after the robbery. Explaining the extra weight will affect his precisely planned getaway, he refuses to drive until, in desperation, the leader kills one of his men who is pushed out of the car. Later they offer more money for Frank to drive them to Avignon. He refuses the deal. The robbers escape in another car, but are foiled by their amateur driving. At Frank's villa on the French Riviera, local Police Inspector Tarconi questions Frank about the black BMW that fled the scene of the robbery which Frank was the getaway driver.


title: The Transporter

text: Lacking any real proof, Tarconi leaves. Frank is then hired to deliver a package of to an American, Darren "Wall Street" Bettencourt. The package is loaded into Frank's trunk. While changing a flat tire, Frank notices the package moving. Realizing a person is inside, he violates his third rule in order to give the person something to drink. He discovers a woman, tied up and gagged. She attempts to escape but Frank recaptures her and returns her to the trunk along with two policemen who spot them. Frank delivers the package to Wall Street as promised and agrees to another job, transporting a briefcase. As Frank stops to buy drinks for the cops in his trunk, a bomb hidden in the briefcase explodes.


title: The Transporter

text: Out for vengeance, Frank returns to Wall Street's villa where he kills and wounds several henchmen. Frank then steals a car (a Mercedes-Benz S-Klasse) to get away, only to find "the package" bound and gagged in the back seat. He brings the young woman, whose name is Lai, back to his house. Wall Street visits one of his surviving men in hospital in order to determine who attacked his residence, before killing the man after discovering that Frank is alive. The next day, Tarconi arrives and asks about Frank's car, which Frank claims was stolen. Lai supports Frank's alibi by introducing herself as his new cook and girlfriend. Tarconi again leaves with no concrete evidence. Shortly after, Wall Street's hitmen fire missiles and automatic weapons down on the house.


title: The Transporter

text: Frank and Lai barely escape through an underwater passage to a nearby safe house. Later, while being questioned at the police station, Lai accesses Tarconi's computer to find information on Wall Street. Frank, presumed dead by Wall Street, wants to rebuild his villa and start a new life and advises Lai to do so too before she tells him that Wall Street is a human trafficker with 400 Chinese trapped in shipping containers, including her family. Lai and Frank go to Wall Street's office, where Wall Street reveals that Lai's father, Mr. Kwai, is also a human trafficker and Wall Street's partner in crime. Kwai arrives and his henchmen subdue Frank. When Tarconi arrives, Kwai and Wall Street accuse Frank of kidnapping Lai.


title: The Transporter

text: Tarconi has Frank arrested and locked up in the station. Realizing that Frank would not be constrained by search warrants and that he would be able to solve the case faster than the police, Tarconi agrees to aid Frank's escape as his faux hostage and releases him at the harbour of Cassis. Frank then tracks the criminals to the docks in Marseille, where they load the containers onto trucks. However, Frank is spotted and forced to fight his way through the guards, and fails to stop the trucks. He then steals an old car and makes chase at dawn before it breaks down on a small country road. He then commandeers a small airplane from a farmer and follows the highway to the trucks where he parachutes onto one of them.


title: The Transporter

text: After a lengthy fight, Frank manages to kill Wall Street by throwing him out of the moving truck where he is crushed by the wheels (in the American version, Wall Street is simply thrown out of the truck to be arrested), only to be ambushed by Kwai once he gets out of the truck where he is marched to a cliff edge. Frank is prepared to fight back until Lai reluctantly shoots her father. Afterwards, Tarconi arrives with the police, and they rescue the people trapped inside the two containers as he congratulates Frank on his work.


title: The Transporter

text: "The Transporter" premiered in 2,573 theaters. With a production budget of $20.5 million, it grossed $25,296,447 in the United States and a total of $43,928,932 worldwide.


title: The Transporter

text: The film was cut to receive a PG-13 rating in the United States, and this version was also released in the United Kingdom and several other countries. Japan and France received the uncut versions. Certain sequences of violence were either cut or toned down for the PG-13 cut. These include:


title: The Transporter

text: The uncut fight on the bus can be seen in the "Extended Fight Sequences" on the North American DVD, but with no sound.


title: The Transporter

text: The Japanese region-free Blu-ray cut of this film has the original uncut French version of the film. It also has several special features and deleted scenes. However, it does not include the North American special feature of the uncut fight scenes (with no sound). The uncut version of "Transporter 2" is also included in this special boxed set.


title: The Transporter

text: The original score were composed by Stanley Clarke and The Replicant (for "Love Rescue" and "Transfighter").


title: The Transporter

text: The DVD version was released on 23 October 2003. It included fifteen minutes of extended fight scene footage and a feature-length commentary. On 23 August 2005, the film was released again in a "Special Delivery Edition". This version included all the features of the original release plus a new behind-the-scenes documentary, a making-of featurette, and a storyboard-to-film comparison. The film was also released as a part of "The Transporter Collection", which featured the first two films in the series. A Blu-ray format was released on 14 November 2006.


title: The Transporter

text: Review aggregation website Rotten Tomatoes gives the film a score of 54% based on reviews from 127 critics and an average rating of 5.6 out of 10. The site's consensus reads: ""The Transporter" delivers the action at the expense of coherent storytelling." At Metacritic, which assigns a weighted average score out of 100 to reviews from mainstream critics, the film received an average score of 51 based on 27 reviews, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale.


title: The Transporter

text: Manohla Dargis, of the "Los Angeles Times", complimented the action, saying, "[Statham] certainly seems equipped to develop into a mid-weight alternative to Vin Diesel. That's particularly true if he keeps working with director Corey Yuen, a Hong Kong action veteran whose talent for hand-to-hand mayhem is truly something to see."


title: The Transporter

text: Roger Ebert wrote, "Too much action brings the movie to a dead standstill." Eric Harrison, of the "Houston Chronicle", said, "It's junk with a capital J. The sooner you realize that, the more quickly you can settle down to enjoying it."


title: The Transporter

text: " . . . Frank breaks one of his own rules and opens the package. What follows is a high octane action movie. Slowly we learn about Frank’s past and the skills that make him such a fantastic driver. Those skills put him in a unique position to rescue not only the package he was transporting but a cargo container full of people.


title: The Transporter

text: Beautiful scenery, a clear hero, well-choreographed action sequences, and enough character development to keep you engaged, make The Transporter a great excuse for a bowl of popcorn."


title: Michael Gross (actor)

text: Michael Edward Gross (born June 21, 1947) is an American television, movie and stage actor. He is notable for playing Steven Keaton on the sitcom "Family Ties" (1982–89) and the survivalist Burt Gummer in the "Tremors" film franchise, being the only actor to appear in all the movies, show and a canceled pilot.


title: Michael Gross (actor)

text: Gross was born in Chicago, the son of Virginia Ruth (née Cahill), a telephone operator, and William Oscar Gross, a tool designer. Gross and his younger sister, Mary, were raised Catholic. He attended St. Francis Xavier and St. Genevieve schools in Chicago in his early years, graduating from the latter in 1961.


title: Michael Gross (actor)

text: He attended Kelvyn Park High School on the north side of Chicago, graduating in 1965. He received his drama degree at the University of Illinois at Chicago before attending Yale University for his Master of Fine Arts degree. His sister, Mary, a former "Saturday Night Live" cast member, is an actress. The siblings are first cousins to actor Ron Masak.


title: Michael Gross (actor)

text: Gross was first seen by a broad audience in his role as Steven Keaton in the 1980s sitcom "Family Ties"; he and his co-star Meredith Baxter, who played his wife Elyse Keaton, were born on the same day, June 21, 1947. However, his longest-running and highest-profile role has been that of Burt Gummer in the "Tremors" movies and subsequent TV series, having played the role for thirty years from the release of the original "Tremors" in 1990 to "" in 2020. His performance in "" earned him a Best Actor award from the DVD Exclusive Awards, formerly known as the Video Premiere Awards.


title: Michael Gross (actor)

text: Gross guest-starred in an episode of the sitcom "Night Court", in which he played a sexual predator of Markie Post's character, Christine Sullivan. In 1988, he portrayed a murderous bank robber in the true life movie "". His other television credits include "Boston Legal", "How I Met Your Mother", "Batman Beyond", "ER", "Parks and Recreation" (Episode: "Summer Catalog"), "Law & Order", and two of its spin-offs: "" and "". From August 2008 to January 2009, Gross appeared on the CBS soap "The Young and the Restless" as River Baldwin. Gross appeared in 2000 on "Spin City" as a therapist to Michael J. Fox's character on Fox's final show as a regular on that program. In November 1979, Gross originated the role of Greta in the Broadway production of Martin Sherman's "Bent."


title: Michael Gross (actor)

text: Gross has been married to casting director Elza Bergeron since June 2, 1984, and he is the stepfather to her two children.


title: Michael Gross (actor)

text: Gross is a passionate railfan with an extensive collection of railroad antiques. He is an amateur railroad historian, photographer, modeler, and part-owner in a working railroad, the Santa Fe Southern Railway, a former branch line of the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway which operates between Lamy and Santa Fe, New Mexico. He is also the spokesman for the "World's Greatest Hobby" campaign sponsored by the Model Railroad Industry Association that promotes the hobby of model railroading. He has also been a spokesperson for "Operation Lifesaver", a campaign promoting safety at railroad grade crossings.


title: Michael Gross (actor)

text: Since 2009, Gross has been the "celebrity spokesman" for the B&O Railroad Museum in Baltimore, Maryland. He is the host of the B&O Railroad Museum Television Network on YouTube. He is also a member of the Santa Fe Railway Historical Society.


title: Michael Gross (actor)

text: Gross is a fan of the Chicago Cubs baseball team. After the Cubs won the 2016 World Series, Gross suggested his character Burt Gummer switch to a Cubs cap for "", replacing the Atlanta Hawks cap he had worn in the first five films of the series.


title: Van Helsing (TV series)

text: Van Helsing is a fantasy horror drama television series. Kelly Overton plays the titular character of the series, which was inspired by Zenescope Entertainment's graphic novel series "Helsing". A commercial-free advance preview of the pilot aired on July 31, 2016 on Syfy ahead of its September 23, 2016 premiere. In December 2019, Syfy renewed the series for a fifth and final season which premiered on April 16, 2021, and concluded on June 25, 2021.


title: Van Helsing (TV series)

text: "Van Helsing" is set in a post-apocalyptic near future. Vanessa Van Helsing, a descendant of Abraham Van Helsing, awakens from a coma after her supposed death to find herself in a post-apocalyptic world, three years after an eruption of the Yellowstone Caldera had blanketed the world in ash, blocking out sunlight and allowing vampires to overrun humanity. She is humanity's last hope, as her unique blood composition gives her the ability to turn vampires back into humans. With this secret weapon, Vanessa becomes a prime target for the vampires. She is protected by a Marine ordered to keep her safe, and the doctor who saved her, so she can lead a resistance against the vampires that plague the world's survivors.


title: Van Helsing (TV series)

text: In the second season, Vanessa journeys east towards the safe haven of Denver, Colorado and discovers her long-lost sister Scarlett, who has been trained to kill vampires since birth. In the third season, Vanessa and Scarlett hunt the Elders, the original vampires, in order to defeat them for good. Following Vanessa's apparent death in the fourth season, the series switches focus to her long-lost biological daughters Violet and Jack as they face a new "daywalker" breed of vampires as well as the "Dark One" and ruler of the vampire species, Countess Olivia von Dracula and her brides, a former countess of Transylvania and de-facto President of the United States.


title: Van Helsing (TV series)

text: Syfy acquired "Van Helsing" from Nomadic Pictures in November 2015, with a 13-episode order beginning production in January 2016, and a series premiere scheduled for Fall 2016. On October 14, 2016, Syfy renewed "Van Helsing" for a 13-episode second season, which premiered on October 5, 2017. It was revealed during San Diego Comic-Con 2017 that series star Kelly Overton was pregnant during the production of the second season of "Van Helsing".