Understanding Sankara brings together the essays of the late Richard De Smet, SJ (1916-1997) on the great Indian Advaitin. With the help of his discovery of a doctrine of laksana (analogy) in Sankara, De Smet challenges the traditional interpretation of the acarya as an illusionistic mayavadin. He also attempts a dialogue between Sankara's Advaita and Christianity, especially as represented by Thomas Aquinas. The present collection makes available this important ...
The essays deal with the concept of person in Indian thought. Quoting from Indian scriptural works, western philosophical and religious writings, and documents like the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, they discuss the Vedantic conception of man, man as the meeting place of the cosmic powers in the Brahmanas and the Upanishads, the man of the caste system, the monadic man described in Jainism and Samkhya, the evanescent man of early Buddhism and the ...