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A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two Is Not One
Finalist for the 2016 Book Award for Excellence in the Study of Religion, in the Constructive-Reflective category presented by the American Academy of Religion
This engaging and accessible work provides an introduction to the Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedānta and brings it into discussion with contemporary concerns. Advaita, the non-dual school of Indian philosophy and spirituality associated with Śaṅkara, is often seen as "other-worldly," regarding the world as an illusion. Anantanand Rambachan has played a central role in presenting a more authentic Advaita, one that reveals how Advaita is positive about the here and now. The first part of the book presents the hermeneutics and spirituality of Advaita, using textual sources, classical commentary, and modern scholarship. The book's second section considers the implications of Advaita for ethical and social patriarchy, homophobia, ecological crisis, child abuse, and inequality. Rambachan establishes how Advaita's non-dual understanding of reality provides the ground for social activism and the values that advocate for justice, dignity, and the equality of human beings.
This engaging and accessible work provides an introduction to the Hindu tradition of Advaita Vedānta and brings it into discussion with contemporary concerns. Advaita, the non-dual school of Indian philosophy and spirituality associated with Śaṅkara, is often seen as "other-worldly," regarding the world as an illusion. Anantanand Rambachan has played a central role in presenting a more authentic Advaita, one that reveals how Advaita is positive about the here and now. The first part of the book presents the hermeneutics and spirituality of Advaita, using textual sources, classical commentary, and modern scholarship. The book's second section considers the implications of Advaita for ethical and social patriarchy, homophobia, ecological crisis, child abuse, and inequality. Rambachan establishes how Advaita's non-dual understanding of reality provides the ground for social activism and the values that advocate for justice, dignity, and the equality of human beings.
244 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 7, 2014
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
February 24, 2025
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150417: my limited knowledge of hinduism of any sort has primarily focused on it as religion, on caste, on inequalities, so this on advaita-vedanta (hereafter av) is very enlightening. the writer does begin with forceful argument this is 'theology' rather than 'philosophy' but as the essential human problem is 'ignorance' and the answer 'knowledge', i think of this as somewhere between the two... this does use many religious texts, vedas, upanishads, and of the several ways to understand av this is definitely the 'scriptural' rather than 'experiential' such as The Experiential Dimension of Advaita Vedanta..
part one, is mostly av as a way of thinking/acting, as an essentially hindu insistence on 'non-duality', that is, no world vs self, no world vs enlightenment, no god vs self, beginning with the same insight as buddhism's first noble truth (there is suffering) but arguing that the human cause is a feeling of inadequacy. this can only be solved by knowledge that one is brahma, that all other desires for worth (wealth, power, fame) are transient, illusory, insufficient. to be brahma is to recognize one is already adequate as being part of infinite brahma...
part two, there is the distinction reached (pg 110) between what is 'heard', 'sruti' (vedas, religious texts) and what is 'remembered', 'smrti' (human authored interpretations). sruti is authorless, divine, truth by definition, of knowledge we humans could not otherwise learn. smrti, on the other, is human, fallible, built out of sruti, influenced by culture. av is here portrayed as a kind of 'liberation' theology, that is, one concerned to show religious knowledge useful in the here and now world, to practice justice, compassion, generosity, in all forms...
this part focuses on here and now cultural barriers to realizing intrinsic value of self as part of brahma: patriarchy, homophobia, anthropocentrism, childism, caste. the same theme is applicable, similar quotes from sruti and smrti. basically this is the contention that brahma is present in all things, thus all have equal value, that distinctions are imposed and not there, that oppression is mistaken because this is an attempt to go against non-duality, and violates 'ahimsa' (non-violence) in immediate, in structural, in conceptual ways... in everything from denying women agency, education, to denying children play, joy, caring...
i count this as 'philosophy' partly because it seems mostly 'smrti', human understandings, rather than simply 'revealed' sruti, but then maybe i have just not read enough religion/theology. this certainly educates me on av and through this hinduism in general. i will read more av...
Advaita Vedanta: An Introduction
A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two Is Not One
The World as Dream
The Philosophy of Religion and Advaita Vedanta: A Comparative Study in Religion and Reason
The Metaphysic of Experience in Advaita Vedanta: A Phenomenological Approach
Consciousness in Indian Philosophy
150417: my limited knowledge of hinduism of any sort has primarily focused on it as religion, on caste, on inequalities, so this on advaita-vedanta (hereafter av) is very enlightening. the writer does begin with forceful argument this is 'theology' rather than 'philosophy' but as the essential human problem is 'ignorance' and the answer 'knowledge', i think of this as somewhere between the two... this does use many religious texts, vedas, upanishads, and of the several ways to understand av this is definitely the 'scriptural' rather than 'experiential' such as The Experiential Dimension of Advaita Vedanta..
part one, is mostly av as a way of thinking/acting, as an essentially hindu insistence on 'non-duality', that is, no world vs self, no world vs enlightenment, no god vs self, beginning with the same insight as buddhism's first noble truth (there is suffering) but arguing that the human cause is a feeling of inadequacy. this can only be solved by knowledge that one is brahma, that all other desires for worth (wealth, power, fame) are transient, illusory, insufficient. to be brahma is to recognize one is already adequate as being part of infinite brahma...
part two, there is the distinction reached (pg 110) between what is 'heard', 'sruti' (vedas, religious texts) and what is 'remembered', 'smrti' (human authored interpretations). sruti is authorless, divine, truth by definition, of knowledge we humans could not otherwise learn. smrti, on the other, is human, fallible, built out of sruti, influenced by culture. av is here portrayed as a kind of 'liberation' theology, that is, one concerned to show religious knowledge useful in the here and now world, to practice justice, compassion, generosity, in all forms...
this part focuses on here and now cultural barriers to realizing intrinsic value of self as part of brahma: patriarchy, homophobia, anthropocentrism, childism, caste. the same theme is applicable, similar quotes from sruti and smrti. basically this is the contention that brahma is present in all things, thus all have equal value, that distinctions are imposed and not there, that oppression is mistaken because this is an attempt to go against non-duality, and violates 'ahimsa' (non-violence) in immediate, in structural, in conceptual ways... in everything from denying women agency, education, to denying children play, joy, caring...
i count this as 'philosophy' partly because it seems mostly 'smrti', human understandings, rather than simply 'revealed' sruti, but then maybe i have just not read enough religion/theology. this certainly educates me on av and through this hinduism in general. i will read more av...
Advaita Vedanta: An Introduction
A Hindu Theology of Liberation: Not-Two Is Not One
The World as Dream
The Philosophy of Religion and Advaita Vedanta: A Comparative Study in Religion and Reason
The Metaphysic of Experience in Advaita Vedanta: A Phenomenological Approach
Consciousness in Indian Philosophy
June 14, 2015
The inconsistency between Advaita philosophy and the current social practices related to women and the dalits among the Hindus is presented quite well. The so called devout followers of Hinduism need to reexamine the various ways in which their ways are inconsistent with the concept of Parabrahman and the principle of ahimsa.
November 14, 2019
An extremely valuable resource on Hindu progressive theology, and perhaps one of the only works of its kind (at least in English). Rambachan's writing is impactful, clear and well-acquainted with contemporary social issues. Any Hindu in today's world, especially those concerned with issues of gender inequality, caste oppression and other forms of social inequality, should read this book.
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