Shankara S Universal Philosophy Of Religion

Description: The contention of Shankara's Universal Philosophy of Religion, is that man of his very nature has to be concerned with what he considers to be his supreme reality. But the supreme reality is unknown and unknowable. Hence man is thrown into a predicamental situation of knowing the unknowable. This absurd situation has given rise to the doctrines of analogia entis (St. Thomas Aquinas), symbology (Paul Tillich) and picture theories of R.B. Braithwaite and Wittgenstein. But the conclusion of the present author is that even now Shankara is ahead of the stalwart epoch-making thinkers mentioned above.

According to Advaita-Vedanta, God or Brahman is identical with the inner self (the Atman) of each person, while the rest of the world is nothing but objective illusion (maya). Shankara maintains that there are two primary levels of existence and knowledge: the higher knowledge that is Brahman itself, and the relative, limited knowledge, regarded as the very texture of the universe. Consequently, the task of a human being is to reach the absolute unity and the reality of Brahman—in other words, to reach the innermost self within his or her own being, discarding on the way all temporary characteristics and attributes.

Adi Shankara is regarded as the greatest philosopher and spiritual leader in the very long history of India and one of the most influential thought leaders in world history. Estimates vary as to when he lived, with scholars placing it at 788-820 C.E. According to Shankara, there is only One Being, which is beyond language and thought because it is ultimate, infinite and all-pervasive. Being spiritual, this One Being is pure consciousness, unlike our normal consciousness which always requires subject-object duality. The One Being is non-dual, being one without a second. Shankara's concept of One Being strikes intuitively true to many, though it sounds narcissistic to a few. Shankara presents a strong rationale in its support and outlines a whole life-path to reach the One Being in actual experience. As a concept, One Being is a rational alternative to the traditional idea of God viewed as a divine person. Its spirituality is a constructive alternative to the atheist's mere denial of God. This book, One Being, by Ramesh N. Patel, describes and explores Adi Shankara's spiritual path and its supporting philosophy in an accessible and intelligible way for the serious modern reader interested in this challenging but highly rewarding subject. The reader is taken step by step through Shankara's life, work, nature of knowledge, reality, life ethics, karma and details of the spiritual path of knowledge. In today's strife-torn and polarized times, One Being is all the more relevant for its obvious potential as a spiritual healer bringing a harmonious message of unity in diversity.Ramesh N. Patel was Professor of Philosophy and Religion at Antioch College. He taught a wide variety of courses in both Eastern and Western philosophy and religion for twenty-five years. He retired in 2002 and since has been teaching voluntary classes in Bhagavad-gita, Upanishads, Vedic philosophy and Spiritual Studies. He is the author of Philosophy of the Gita and of Hinduism for Today.

On the intellectual level, Indian philosophy is logical, rational and proceeds on the same kinds of axioms as western philosophy. Shankara was one of the most subtle of Indian philosophers. The reader will find some reasoning worthy of his steel in the following pages. Perhaps, the most helpful thing that can be said is that the reader who wants to get the best out of Shankara should approach him with cool, open and constructively critical mind.

This is volume two of the six-volume Shankara Source Book, which contains writings by Shri Shankara, arranged systematically by subject. Shri Shankara was a great philosopher-sage who expressed the non-dual teachings in such a complete and satisfactory way that his formulation has been followed by authentic teachers of the non-dual tradition ever since. Most of his writings are in the form of commentaries on revealed texts such as the principle Upanishads, the Bhagavad Gita and the Brahma Sutras, so what he said was placed around those texts, which are far from systematic. His aim was to demonstrate that underlying the apparent contradictions and differences on the surface, all the great revealed scriptures in fact point ultimately to one Supreme Truth. He wished to do this in order to overcome the confusion that was causing hardship to the people at large, and creating difficulties for dedicated seekers. Shankara probably lived in the 8th century, and died in his early 30s.Shankara considered other views in great detail, sometimes provisionally accepting elements of their arguments, and then pointing out where those views lead to difficulties. One of the great qualities of the non-dual teachings as formulated by Shankara is that they are able to recognise and incorporate what is valid and useful in other views. All this can make it difficult to find what Shankara said on particular subjects. To meet this difficulty, in the Source Book, the writings have been freshly translated, and brought together under subject headings. These in turn have been arranged in six volumes each covering one broad topic. These are: Volume 1 Shankara on the Absolute, Volume 2 Shankara on the Creation, Volume 3 Shankara on the Soul, Volume 4 Shankara on Rival Views, Volume 5 Shankara on Discipleship, Volume 6 Shankara on Enlightenment.