The Hidden Lives of Brahman: Śaṅkara's Vedānta through His Upaniṣad Commentaries, in Light of Contemporary Practice (SUNY series in Religious Studies) - Hardcover

Dubois, Joël André-Michel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1438448058 ISBN 13: 9781438448053

Publisher: State University of New York Press, 2014

Synopsis

Finalist for the 2014 Best First Book in the History of Religions presented by the American Academy of Religion

Śaṅkara's thought, advaita vedānta or non-dual vedānta, is a tradition focused on brahman, the ultimate reality transcending all particular manifestations, words, and ideas. It is generally considered that the transcendent brahman cannot be attained through any effort or activity. While this conception is technically correct, in The Hidden Lives of Brahman, Joël André-Michel Dubois contends that it is misleading.

Hidden lives of brahman become visible when analysis of Śaṅkara's seminal commentaries is combined with ethnographic descriptions of contemporary Brāhmin students and teachers of vedānta, a group largely ignored in most studies of this tradition. Du bois demonstrates that for Śaṅkara, as for Brāhmin tradition in general, brahman is just as much an active force, fully connected to the dynamic power of words and imagination, as it is a transcendent ultimate.

About this title

Product Description

Uses both textual and ethnographic sources to demonstrate that in Sankara's vedanta, brahman is an active force as well as a transcendent ultimate.

Review

"The central idea of a multifaceted braham in Śaṅkara's thought is original and will be well received." -- Frederick Smith, coeditor of Modern and Global Ayurveda: Pluralism and Paradigms

"The author's detailed descriptions of the actual pedagogical practices of contemporary Brāhmin training is a welcome contribution. One gets a real sense of the teacher-student relationship from this book." -- Andrew O. Fort, author of Jīvanmukti in Transformation: Embodied Liberation in Advaita and Neo-Vedānta

"[Dubois] captures the sounds, sights, and tastes of India's Brāhmin schools and centers of study, conveying a sense of what he calls the 'hidden lives' of young people who later emerge to carry on the tradition of advaita vedānta. In elegant, descriptive language, Dubois evokes the mood and energy of the daily life followed by these young men as they prepare for highly specialized careers." -- from the Foreword by Christopher Key Chapple

About this edition

• Publisher: State University of New York Press
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1438448058
• ISBN 13: 9781438448053
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 445