Advaita Vedanta : A Philosophical Reconstruction

This book has a bit of technical philosophy, thereby making it quite powerful for those wanting a sturdy foundation for Advaita Vedanta. The author is a master of both Eastern and Western philosophy. Well-written, concise, and well-researched. It also points out some of the logical contradictions of Advaita, especially seen from Western logic. So that makes those who embrace Advaita dig deeper into its philosophical history...I am not sure why the book is listed as "late" or "lost." I have had it for more than a week. It was shipped quickly and protected well. Thanks!

This is a good introduction to all the basic tenets of advaita vedanta. This book is not for a casual reader, but as long as you know a little about vedic religion you will be able to read it carefully and come away with a very good understanding of advaita vedanta.Each chapter explicates a single complicated topic in language that is for the most part easy to understand, but occasionally is philosophically dense, as expected and hoped for from this topic. The topics covered are, in order, Brahman, levels of reality, the relation between Brahman and the world, the self, karma, epistemology, ethics, moksa, and jnana yoga.I would highly recommend this book as a starting point for anyone interested in a complete perspective on advaita vedanta. After reading this, it was much easier to continue on to more difficult, abstract philosophical analyses.

A basic text, somewhat narrow in perspective as it excludes our illusions, which are also part of the great "what is".

I ordered this book for a paper I wrote for a philosophy class in college. Out of the several books I ordered on Advaita Vedanta, this one was the most rewarding. It was both enjoyable and informative, if you are interested in Advaita Vedanta philosophy I highly recommend this book.

Other reviews have already made many salient remarks about this excellent book, written from a philosophical perspective on the non-dualistic 'end' of the Veda. Those who like it will also probably appreciate René Guénon's  Man and His Becoming according to the Vedanta (Guenon, Rene. Works.)

I tried to meditate myself out of existence after reading this. Now, I'm a nondualist. Subject = Object. Brahman = Atman.

Beautiful, meaningful, deep and ancient philosophy wonderfully encapsulated into a ready-to-read book. A must for any serious Eastern Philosophy and Spirituality student or practitioner.

I'll start this review with the disclaimer that I don't typically like the "navel-gazing" that I have read in most philosophy books. What I mean is that I see a lot of authors focus on a small point to the exclusion of the large message that could be given. This book seems to fall into that category. What I found was that the author has built up Advaita Vedanta through the terms of Western philosophy. I'm not trying to say that Western philosophy is bad. I don't believe that at all. However, when what I feel is a beautiful philosophy is obscured by the definition of terms as opposed to presentation of concepts, it makes me wonder what the author was thinking when writing the book. I expected from the reviews that I would find a succinct presentation of the concepts of Advaita Vedanta. Instead, I read a philosopher performing the navel-gazing that I find in a lot of Western texts. This is not a presentation of the concepts of Advaita in words that would make sense to the average person. It is a presentation of Advaita in words that are used in philosophy classes to make the professors feel intelligent. I love Advaita Vedanta. I don't love terms that are used without explanation to build up an argument that is never fulfilled. If you are a philosophy student, you might really enjoy this. As an Advaita Vedantist, I felt that the philosophy was given a back seat to Western self-congratulation.

Written in very complex language. Unfortunately not an easy read. I would rather recommend traditional books written by non academic persons. Like books published by Ramakrishna Mission.

An extraordinarily accessible introduction to the central philosophical tenets of Advaita Vedanta. This highly readable account constitutes the author's reconstruction of Advaita Vedanta; in attempting his reconstruction, the author delimits his project by choosing to focus primarily on the philosophical implications of the aforementioned worldview. In other words, exempt from this account is any meaningful engagement with the Advaita system's theological integrity; the extent to which Advaita Vedanta successfully represents the scriptural canon it claims to base itself upon is not considered. Given the author's stated intention, this omission, though understandable, serves to reduce the book's effectiveness as a critique. Rooted as it is in the Vedantic setting, Advaita Vedanta is, first and foremost, a theological account. It has as its central aim the explication of those scriptural texts that comprise or make up the prasthantrayi. The extent to which it succeeds in this endeavor is of course an issue of huge contention among the rival Vedantic schools but it would still have been useful for the author to have offered a brief theological evaluation of the tradition's fundamental tenets. Notwithstanding this omission, this book offers a deeply insightful account of the Advaita system and in so doing provides readers with an extraordinarily useful framework with which they can go on to study the tradition's original source material. Moreover, by confining itself to the philosophical implications of Advaita Vedanta, the book usefully avoids the scholastic subtleties and theological controversies that all too often burden alternative treatments of the tradition.

good value and service