Vedanta: Heart of Hinduism

Rating:
Summary: Excellent summation of Vedanta
Review: Overall, an excellent historical summation of Vedanta. Torwesten attempts to synthesize the various philosophies of Vedanta (especially Bhakta and Jnana yogas), and to reconcile the austere and intellectually dry views of Adi Shankaracharya with the broader views of Sri Ramakrishna and other Vedantic sages with similar or more "liberal" viewpoints, and does a pretty fair job of it.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent And Useful Survey Of The Main Elements of Vedanta
Review: Torwesten has put together a survey of Vedanta along more or less historical lines. The first half of the book treats the teachings of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita; the second half looks at Shankara's non-dualism, the swing back to theism in Ramanuja, and then the more recent developments of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, and Ramana Maharshi. This is a survey rather than strictly speaking an introduction; in my opinion it would be most useful to someone who has already had at least some exposure the material covered. The author's grasp and organization of the complex material is excellent, and his writing clear and at times witty. He does much more than general summarizing; he is a critical writer, he gets deeply into the difficulties of the material and conflicting points of view, points out the shades of meaning terms go through in the course of history, as well as the apparent and real contradictions, shortcomings and problems of various positions and doctrines. He illustrates constantly by comparing and contrasting Vedanta with western mystics and philosophers presumed to be better known to the reader. The final chapter is an essay on the relationship of Vedanta to western philosophy and theology and on their potential future as complementary and corrective of each other. This is a clear and concise summary of Vedanta in general, its history and main positions. It is useful to anyone who wants to know more about Hinduism, or to anyone interested in using eastern though to deepen and develop their own spiritual lives.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent And Useful Survey Of The Main Elements of Vedanta
Review: Torwesten has put together a survey of Vedanta along more or less historical lines. The first half of the book treats the teachings of the Upanishads and the Bhagavad Gita; the second half looks at Shankara's non-dualism, the swing back to theism in Ramanuja, and then the more recent developments of Ramakrishna, Vivekananda, Aurobindo, and Ramana Maharshi. This is a survey rather than strictly speaking an introduction; in my opinion it would be most useful to someone who has already had at least some exposure the material covered. The author's grasp and organization of the complex material is excellent, and his writing clear and at times witty. He does much more than general summarizing; he is a critical writer, he gets deeply into the difficulties of the material and conflicting points of view, points out the shades of meaning terms go through in the course of history, as well as the apparent and real contradictions, shortcomings and problems of various positions and doctrines. He illustrates constantly by comparing and contrasting Vedanta with western mystics and philosophers presumed to be better known to the reader. The final chapter is an essay on the relationship of Vedanta to western philosophy and theology and on their potential future as complementary and corrective of each other. This is a clear and concise summary of Vedanta in general, its history and main positions. It is useful to anyone who wants to know more about Hinduism, or to anyone interested in using eastern though to deepen and develop their own spiritual lives.