Editing Mircea Eliade (section)

====Inter-cultural dialogue and a "new humanism"====
Eliade argues that modern man may escape the "Terror of history" by learning from traditional cultures. For example, Eliade thinks [[Hinduism]] has advice for modern Westerners. According to many branches of Hinduism, the world of historical time is illusory, and the only absolute reality is the immortal soul or ''[[Atman (Hinduism)|atman]]'' within man. According to Eliade, Hindus thus escape the terror of history by refusing to see historical time as the true reality.<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', pp. 240–241</ref>

Eliade notes that a [[Western philosophy|Western]] or [[Continental philosophy|Continental]] philosopher might feel suspicious toward this Hindu view of history:
<blockquote>One can easily guess what a European historical and [[Existentialism|existentialist]] philosopher might reply [...] You ask me, he would say, to 'die to History'; but man is not, and he ''cannot be'' anything else but History, for his very essence is temporality. You are asking me, then, to give up my authentic existence and to take refuge in an abstraction, in pure Being, in the ''atman'': I am to sacrifice my dignity as a creator of History to live an a-historic, inauthentic existence, empty of all human content. Well, I prefer to put up with my anxiety: at least, it cannot deprive me of a certain heroic grandeur, that of becoming conscious of, and accepting, the human condition.<ref name="Eliade, p. 241">Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 241</ref></blockquote>

However, Eliade argues that the Hindu approach to history does not necessarily lead to a rejection of history. On the contrary, in Hinduism historical human existence is not the "absurdity" that many Continental philosophers see it as.<ref name="Eliade, p. 241"/> According to Hinduism, history is a divine creation, and one may live contentedly within it as long as one maintains a certain degree of detachment from it: "One is devoured by Time, by History, not because one lives in them, but because one thinks them ''real'' and, in consequence, one forgets or undervalues eternity."<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 242</ref> Furthermore, Eliade argues that Westerners can learn from non-Western cultures to see something besides absurdity in suffering and death. Traditional cultures see suffering and death as a [[rite of passage]]. In fact, their [[initiation]] rituals often involve a symbolic death and resurrection, or symbolic ordeals followed by relief. Thus, Eliade argues, modern man can learn to see his historical ordeals, even death, as necessary initiations into the next stage of one's existence.<ref name="Eliade, p.243">Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 243</ref>

Eliade even suggests that traditional thought offers relief from the vague [[anxiety]] caused by "our obscure presentiment of the end of the world, or more exactly of the end of ''our'' world, our ''own'' civilization".<ref name="Eliade, p.243"/> Many traditional cultures have myths about the end of their world or civilization; however, these myths do not succeed "in paralysing either Life or Culture".<ref name="Eliade, p.243"/> These traditional cultures emphasize cyclic time and, therefore, the inevitable rise of a new world or civilization on the ruins of the old. Thus, they feel comforted even in contemplating the end times.<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', pp. 243–244</ref>

Eliade argues that a Western spiritual rebirth can happen within the framework of Western spiritual traditions.<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 244</ref> However, he says, to start this rebirth, Westerners may need to be stimulated by ideas from non-Western cultures. In his ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', Eliade claims that a "genuine encounter" between cultures "might well constitute the point of departure for a new [[humanism]], upon a world scale".<ref>Eliade, ''Myths, Dreams, and Mysteries'', p. 245</ref>