The Hidden Lives of Brahman

Śaṅkara's Vedānta through His Upaniṣad Commentaries, in Light of Contemporary Practice

Joël André-Michel Dubois (Autor)

Buch | Softcover

445 Seiten

2015
State University of New York Press (Verlag)
978-1-4384-4806-0 (ISBN)

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Uses both textual and ethnographic sources to demonstrate that in Śaṅkara’s vedānta, brahman is an active force as well as a transcendent ultimate.

Finalist for the 2014 Best First Book in the History of Religions presented by the American Academy of Religion

Śaṅkara's thought, advaita vedānta or non-dual vedānta, is a tradition focused on brahman, the ultimate reality transcending all particular manifestations, words, and ideas. It is generally considered that the transcendent brahman cannot be attained through any effort or activity. While this conception is technically correct, in The Hidden Lives of Brahman, Joël André-Michel Dubois contends that it is misleading.

Hidden lives of brahman become visible when analysis of Śaṅkara's seminal commentaries is combined with ethnographic descriptions of contemporary Brāhmin students and teachers of vedānta, a group largely ignored in most studies of this tradition. Du bois demonstrates that for Śaṅkara, as for Brāhmin tradition in general, brahman is just as much an active force, fully connected to the dynamic power of words and imagination, as it is a transcendent ultimate.

Joël André-Michel Dubois is Professor of Humanities and Religious Studies at California State University, Sacramento.

Illustrations
Pronunciation of Sanskrit Words
Foreword
Preface
Abbreviations

1. Introducing Brahman: The Hidden Lives of Śaṅkara’s Vedānta Teaching

Part 1: Envisioning Brahman

2. Attending to Brahman: Upāsana Practice Past and Present

3. Learning Brahman: The Daily Life of the Brahmacārin

4. Envisioning Veda: First-Person Declarations in Śaṅkara’s Upaniṣad Commentaries

Part 2: Imagining Brahman

5. Conditioning the Mind for Brahman: Saṁskṛta Training Past and Present

6. Perfecting the Life of Brahman: The Training of Saṁskṛta Paṇḍita

7. Perfecting the Vedic Imagination: Imagery and Rhetoric in Śaṅkara’s Upaniṣad Commentaries

Part 3: Perceiving Brahman

8. Thinking Deeply About Brahman: The Two Mīmāṁsās, the Lost Art of Yajña, and the Hidden Structure of Brahman

9. Giving Up the Inconstant Brahman: Contemporary Saṁnyāsins and Aspiring Renouncers

10. Discerning the Paradox of Veda: Ritual Activity and Insight in Śaṅkara’s Upaniṣad Commentaries

Conclusion: Brahman as Center and Periphery

Appendix: Diagrams of Key Concepts

Notes
Bibliography
Index

Erscheint lt. Verlag	2.1.2015
Reihe/Serie	SUNY series in Religious Studies
Vorwort	Christopher Key Chapple
Zusatzinfo	Total Illustrations: 0
Verlagsort	Albany, NY
Sprache	englisch
Maße	152 x 229 mm
Gewicht	227 g
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Philosophie ► Östliche Philosophie
Themenwelt	Geisteswissenschaften ► Religion / Theologie ► Hinduismus
ISBN-10	1-4384-4806-6 / 1438448066
ISBN-13	978-1-4384-4806-0 / 9781438448060
Zustand	Neuware