1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910959051003321

Autore

Rambachan Anantanand <1951->

Titolo

The Advaita worldview : God, world, and humanity / / Anantanand Rambachan

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Albany, NY, : State University of New York Press, c2006

ISBN

9780791481318

079148131X

9781429405102

1429405104

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource (159 p.)

Collana

SUNY series in religious studies

Disciplina

181/.482

Soggetti

Advaita

Hindu philosophy

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references (p. 133-137) and index.

Nota di contenuto

Front Matter -- Contents -- Abbreviations -- Introduction -- The Human Problem -- The Requirements of Discipleship -- The Nature of the Ātman -- The Source of Valid Knowledge -- Brahman as the World -- Brahman as God -- Liberation -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Index

Sommario/riassunto

2007 CHOICE Outstanding Academic TitleIn this book, Anantanand Rambachan offers a fresh and detailed perspective on Advaita Vedanta, Hinduism's most influential and revered religious tradition. Rambachan, who is both a scholar and an Advaitin, attends closely to the Upanisads and authentic commentaries of Sankara to challenge the tradition and to reconsider central aspects of its current teachings. His reconstruction and reinterpretation of Advaita focuses in particular on the nature of brahman, the status of the world in relation to brahman, and the meaning and relevance of liberation.Rambachan queries contemporary representations of an impersonal brahman and the need for popular, hierarchical distinctions such as those between a higher (para) and lower (apara) brahman. Such distinctions, Rambachan argues, are inconsistent with the non-dual nature of brahman and are unnecessary when brahman's relationship with the world is correctly understood. Questioning Advaita's traditional emphasis on renunciation



and world-denial, Rambachan expands the understanding of suffering (duhkha) and liberation (moksa) and addresses socioeconomic as well as gender and caste inequalities. Positing that the world is a celebrative expression of God's fullness, this book advances Advaita as a universal and uninhibited path to a liberated life committed to compassion, equality, and justice.