Consciousness in Advaita Vedanta

The nature of consciousness or human awareness is one of the problems of perennial concern to philosophers and psychologists alike. Here is a systematic, critical and comparative study of the nature of human awareness according to the most influential school of classical Indian thought. After introducing the Advaitic Philosophical System and indicating the place of consciousness in this system, the author presents a detailed discussion of the Advaitin's unique, non-dual understanding of man's basic intelligence. He continues with ananalysis of the Advaitin's hierarchical vision of waking, dreaming and dreamless sleep experience, and compares this analysis with the thought of such Western thinkers as Husseri, Freud and Jung. He concludes with a discussion of the Advaitic conception of liberation and the radical implications this understanding of human freedom presents to modem man. This book is a systematic, critical and comparative treatment of the Advaitic theory of consciousness, and one which will prove va luable to students of Indian philosophy as well as to a broader audience interested in the perennial question of the nature of human awareness.