The question of the relationship between the ultimate reality of the universe, and its proximate reality as experienced by us, is apt to boggle the mind, given the vastness of the dimensions involved. The distinction between it and us is like the difference between an avalanche and a snowflake. Nevertheless, the Hindu school of philosophy, known as Advaita Vedanta, tries to render it comprehensible at the level of the individual by pressing everyday analogies into service. One such analogy is suggested by our experience in life when we momentarily mistake a piece of seashell for a piece of silver. Advaita Vedanta then proceeds to employ this pivotal analogy to explore the various dimensions of the relationship of the individual to the world, to the ultimate reality, and of the ultimate reality to the world. This book uses this metaphor as a window which opens out into the world of Advaita Vedanta.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR Arvind Sharma
ARVIND SHARMA was born in Varanasi, India. He earned a B.A. in History, Economics, and Sanskrit from Allahabad University in 1958 and continued his interests in economics at Syracuse University, earning an M.A. in 1970. Pursuing a lifelong interest in comparative religion, Dr. Sharma gained an M.T.S. in 1974 and then a Ph.D. in Sanskrit and Indian Studies from Harvard University in 1978. He succeeded to the Birks Chair of Comparative Religion at McGill University in Montreal, Canada and was the first Infinity Foundation Visiting Professor of Indic Studies at Harvard University. He has published over fifty books and five hundred articles in the fields of comparative religion, Hinduism, Indian philosophy and ethics, and the role of women in religion. Widely cited as an authority on Hinduism, amongst his most note-worthy publications are The Hindu Gita: Ancient and Classical Interpretations of the Bhagavadgita (1986), The Experien-tial Dimension of Advaita Vedanta (1993), Our Religions: The Seven World Religions Introduced by Pre-eminent Scholars from Each Tradition (1994), The Philosophy of Religion: A Buddhist Perspective (1995), Classical Hindu Thought: An Introduction (2000), and The Study of Hinduism (2003).
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