Advaita Vedanta : A Philosophical Reconstruction

Rating:
Summary: Exceptional insight into Advaita Vedanta philosophy.
Review: Books by authors who attempt to distill the essence of a vast and esoteric subject into one volume often fall short of the mark. Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction, by Eliot Deutsch, is an exception. Professor Deutsch's subject is Advaita Vedanta, and in particular non-dualistic Advaita as conceived by Sankara.

Concepts implicit in Advaita are concisely exposed. For example, the idea of subration

"the mental process whereby one disvalues some previously appraised object or content of consciousness because of its being contradicted by a new experience."

is made clear, and then used to define the three levels of being: Reality, which cannot be subrated by any other experience; Appearance, which can be subrated by experience; Unreality, which neither can nor cannot be subrated by other experience. Further subtle gradations of Appearance are elaborated.

On the other hand, ideas which are explicit in Advaita writings, but are extraneous to or demonstrably not implied by the non-dualistic core of Advaita, are discussed but separated from the pure non-dualistic abstraction. Most impressive is the chapter devoted to a discussion of the doctrine of karma and the corollary concept of samsara, (transmigration or reincarnation). The author notes that

"There is perhaps no other basic doctrine in Indian philosophy which has had such a hold upon the popular thinking and practical religion of India ... as the doctrine of karma."

and then proceeds to prove by the pramanas, or "valid means of knowledge", identified with Advaita, that karma is not demonstrable within the framework of Advaita. This remarkable chapter concludes

"In sum: The law of karma, which occupies so important a place in Indian thought and which is central to the manner in which the supreme value of moksa or freedom is conceived, must, for the Advaitin, have the logical status of a convenient fiction."

This sounds a bit harsh taken out of context, but hopefully will provoke further inquiry by reading the book!

Finally, after having lifted the core of Advaita Vedanta out of its cultural, historical, and religious contexts, this book succeeds in imbuing the reader with the feeling that Advaita is surely one of the greatest intellectual and spiritual achievements of mankind.


Rating:
Summary: An excellent brief introduction to Advaita Vedanta.
Review: For anyone who may have become curious about Advaita Vedanta, and who is looking for a good introduction to what many feel is one of the greatest philosophical achievements of either the East or West, there could be no better guide than this book.

Eliot Deutsch, professor of philosophy at the University of Hawaii and for many years editor of the prestigious journal, 'Philosophy East and West,' writes in a wonderfully lucid and straightforward style, and clearly admires his subject as being of universal philosophical interest.

In his short book of just 120 pages, he skilfully introduces us to the basic ideas of this complex system (Brahman, Levels of Being, Brahman and the World, Self, Karma, Epistemology, Ethics, Moksa and Jnana Yoga), while taking care to avoid overwhelming the reader with too much detail.

Advaita, we learn, is a non-dualistic system, expounded primarily by Sankara (ca. 788-820), the main concern of which is to show that all boundaries and distinctions are unreal, that reality is not made up of parts, and that "in essence it is not-different from the Self" (p.3). There is, in other words, only the Self, Brahman, or the One, a state "which is ultimately a name for the timeless plenitude of being" (p.9).

If this seems difficult, think of a movie screen. Any scene projected upon the screen will seem to hold a multiplicity of clearly defined and separate objects: a man, a woman, a child, a dog, a table, chairs, walls, windows, etc. We know, however, that the picture is one. Now consider what is present at the moment in your own field of vision. It too 'seems' to contain a multiplicity of 'objects'...

In reading this book I was impressed, not only by the clarity of the author's style and by his lucid treatment of the subject, but also by the fact that, although his approach to the subject is that of a philosopher, he clearly respects Vedanta as being both a way of spiritual realization as well as a system of thought, a religion as well as technical philosophy.

Eliot Deutsch, in short, has given us a book which is fair-minded, scholarly, and extremely well-written. It is also well-documented and has an excellent bibliography. Those who might wish to further deepen their understanding of Vedanta might consider looking at 'A Duet of One - The Ashtavakra Gita Dialogue' (Advaita Press: CA, 1989. ISBN: 0929448111), a fine translation by Ramesh S. Balsekar of an amazing and beautiful short early Advaita text which deserves to be better known.

Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to Advaita
Review: This is an excellent book. Very clear and concize. People who have studied vedanta the conventional way will also gain few insights. While for people used to western philosophical tradition, it is one of the best introductions.

Rating:
Summary: A great introduction to Advaita
Review: This is an excellent book. Very clear and concize. People who have studied vedanta the conventional way will also gain few insights. While for people used to western philosophical tradition, it is one of the best introductions.