Introduction to Vedanta: First Edition 2017-A

Vedanta, or the philosophical end parts of the Vedas, expounds the ancient wisdom of India and Hinduism. The focus of this book is Advaita Vedanta (non-dual philosophy), but it also deals with all of Vedanta in a general sense. This book introduces them in simple language, examples, and easily understood concepts. This book is written to assist both the beginner as well as the advanced student-seeker with interest in self-inquiry.
This book starts with the fundamental human problems and questions and search for happiness, and introduces the philosophy behind the spirituality of the many Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita, and provides brief quotes from them. It goes on to explain the nature of the mind, its classification, and describes what this “I” is. In the process, it also explains the errors in perception, what is real and what is unreal, and the nature of consciousness and ultimate reality. A brief list of materials for further exploration appears at the end of the book.
The author is a retired Materials Scientist from the US Naval Research laboratory, and is now an Acharya, or Spiritual Teacher.

Dr. K. Sadananda is a Materials Scientist by profession, and worked at United States Naval Research Laboratory as Head of Deformation and Fracture, published extensively in Scientific Journals and received many awards. He retired in 2005 and now works as a private consultant in the United States for six months of the year, and spends the rest of his time in India. He was also a visiting professor at Indian Institute of Technology Madras at Chennai, India. He is a disciple of Swami Chinmayananda, was a founding trustee of the Chinmaya Mission’s Washington Regional Center as well as the Siva Vishnu Temple in Lahnam, Maryland, USA. He served as Secretary and Treasurer of SEVA, Inc., a philanthropic organization formed around 1980 to fund projects in India and elsewhere. In 1988, Swami Chinmayananda asked Dr. Sadananda to start teaching Vedanta in Virginia, and he became a formal Acharya or spiritual teacher of Chinmaya Mission in 1997. While in India, Dr. Sadananda works on webcasting of Vedanta topics for Advaita Academy, and while in the USA, he teaches Vedanta classes and conducts spiritual camps for Chinmaya Mission. His audio talks are available at Chinmaya Mission Washington Regional Center website and video talks are available on YouTube under Acharya Sadaji. He is one of the founder-moderators of the Advaitin mailing list, where extensive discussions on Advaita Vedanta are being conducted. He is married to Mrinalini Sadananda, who is a well-known Kuchipudi dancer and Choreographer.