The Essential Vedanta: A New Source Book of Advaita Vedanta (Treasures of the World's Religions) - Softcover

Eliot Deutsch; Rohit Dalvi

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0941532526 ISBN 13: 9780941532525

Publisher: World Wisdom, 2004

Synopsis

This book will be of great interest to all students of Hinduism, students of both Eastern and Western philosophy, and spiritual seekers who wish to better understand this ancient Indian tradition of non-dualist thought.

About this title

About the Author

Eliot Deutsch is an eminent philosopher, teacher, and writer. He has made important contributions to the understanding and appreciation of Eastern philosophies in the West through his many works on comparative philosophy and comparative aesthetics. The author of 15 books, Deutsch is Professor of Philosophy and Chair of the Department of Philosophy, University of Hawaii. He has also written over 85 articles and reviews for professional journals. His works have been translated into French, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Chinese, Korean, and Japanese, highlighting his contributions to transcultural understanding.

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

If we are to form a proper understanding of the meaning and scope of "Revelation," we do well to forget at once the implications of the term in the Mediterranean religions, Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Strictly speaking, "revelation" is a misnomer, since ultimately there is no revealer. The Sanskrit term for it is sruti, literally "the hearing," which means an erudition acquired by listening to the instruction of a teacher. This instruction itself had been transmitted to the teacher through an uninterrupted series of teachers that stretches to the beginning of creation. Revelation, therefore, is by no means God s word because, paradoxically, if it were to derive from a divine person, its credibility would be impugned. It is held to be authorless, for if a person, human or divine, had authored it, it would be vulnerable to the defects inherent in such a person. It is axiomatic that revelation is infallible, and this infallibility can be defended only if it is authorless. Then from where does it come? The answer is stark and simple: it is given with the world. For some of the Mimamsa (or orthodox, exegetical) thinkers who have addressed themselves to this problem, the world is beginningless and the assumption of a creator is both problematic and unnecessary. And even if a beginning of the world is assumed, as in later Hindu thought when it is held that the universe goes through a pulsating rhythm of origination, existence, and dissolution, it is also held that at the dawn of a new world the revelation reappears to the vision of the seers, who once more begin the transmission. Revelation, then, comes with the world, and it embodies the laws which regulate the well-being of both world and man. It lays down first and foremost what is our dharma, our duty.

Edition details

• Publisher: World Wisdom
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0941532526
• ISBN 13: 9780941532525
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 432