Over the years, several books and book-sets have risen to the top as being not only terrific reads but also conveying incisive description and analysis of Indian Philosophy. By definition, these writers have universal acclaim and prominence. They have also crossed Indian shores to reach global audiences.
It seems to me a difficult balancing act of earning the continued respect within India for authenticity and evolution in thinking, without being accused of watering down the content, and yet at the same time being accessible to readers who are alien to Indian thinking and present the ideas with a modern idiom.
In my own personal judgement, these books achieve this distinction and have allowed me to repeatedly refer to them to refresh my own learning on the outlook of the Indian mind. I cannot help but add one other to this collection as representing the worst book on Indian Philosophy.
One point to note is that, at least in the Indian context, Religion and Philosophy are integrally and organically intertwined. To some degree it is a fool's errand to try and untangle the two. It is also throwing out the baby with the bathwater if one has objections to religion, and thus rejects the philosophy that comes with it.
I. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
The man in saffron garb who took America by storm in 1893. There is no better example of Indian Philosophy being articulated than this nine volume set. I have read this set completely once. I have read the first few books in the set a few time and selected essays from within this set repeatedly.
This set is a series of lectures that Sri Ramakrishna's foremost disciple gave on Indian Philosophy around the world. They are eloquent, gripping and elucidating.
They are not academic. They are not philosophically rigorous as one is used to in philosophy texts. However, if you want to read what Indian philosophy means and how it relates to the modern world, there is simply no better introduction and grounding.
A brilliant mind, a charismatic soul who has taken a sip from the best the Indian subcontinent has to offer.
This set of works is my first love. I got my start here.
II. Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization
Heinrich Zimmer was a German Indologist in the tradition of Max Muller. In a tragic turn he died relatively young, but left a body of work on India that will stand the test of time. His student at Columbia University was Joseph Campbell. The latter himself attained great fame for his work on mythology. George Lucas paid tribute to Joseph Campbell and his collection, Hero With a Thousand Faces, for inspiring him to create the Star Wars mythology.
Myths are commonly thought of as falsehoods. Myths can also be thought of as accumulated wisdom. A way in which to communicate morals and insights that enable generations to assimilate and carry the message.
In this book, Heinrich Zimmer does a masterful job of not only distilling the major insights of Indian Philosophy as articulated in their myths, but also provides terrific commentary on their meaning and import.
III. Indian Philosophy
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan was a celebrated professor of Philosophy at Oxford, the President of India and the recipient of the Bharat Ratna, the highest civilian honor accorded in India. In as much as Swami Vivekananda stirred the spirits around the world on what India had to offer, Radhakrishnan put Indian Philosophy on a solid academic foundation. He was able to both articulate Indian Philosophy on its own merits and build a bridge to Western Philosophy in terms. While the two volumes on Indian Philosophy make comprehensive reading, his other work Eastern Religions and Western Thought is an invaluable guide the bridges the two alien world views (never the twain shall meet, said Kipling - but Radhakrishnan makes it work).
IV. An Idealist View of Life
Reading through the entire history of Indian Philosophy, even though they are in Radhakrishnan's expert hands can be heavy going. What is the distillation of this Philosophy, one wants to know. What temperament should one possess? What are the guiding principles one needs to adopt, if one were to incorporate the lessons of Indian Philosophy into one's life?
The book, An Idealist View of Life is such a summary. Rather than take a historical summary, this book provides how an Indian might view life and live it.
Morals are timeless of course. But the world has changed a mighty amount in the eighty years since the book was published. We have a globalized culture now with technology and social media connecting us in ways that were unimaginable only twenty years ago, let along a hundred. In that sense, this prescription while not dated, needs a little bit of a re-write to suit the sensibilities of the twenty first century that we live in.
V. The Discovery of India
Why should a book on Indian History find its place on a collection of Philosophy books? This is a fair question and on strict terms perhaps should not be included.
However, the real question is what is the cultural context in which Indian Philosophy was born? Who are these people? What is their environment? What were their struggles? Their world view?
No single book captures the answers to this set of questions better than Jawaharlal Nehru's masterpiece. If every Indian child could just be given the opportunity to read this one book, it would be the most precious gift given to them.
Nehru, in a lucid and easy conversational style traces the history and culture of India all the was from the Indus Valley Civilization up until the point where the country gets Independence from British rule.
India's Jefferson is the highest praise I can heap on this man and his work.
VI. The Difficulty of Being Good
Gurcharan Das has done yoeman's work in taking the most complex of the Indian epics and approaching it through its principal characters. The Mahabharat is one of two principal Indian epics that conveys ethics, duty, philosophy, politics, art of war, virtues and vice all in one dramatic, compelling package. Once you get into this epic, there is no getting off this train!
The complexity and shades of grey are easy to lose in the movement of the plot and colorful episodes.
What Gurcharan Das does is analyze the choices confronted by each of the principal characters and analyzes what they did, what they were advised to do, what they could have done and what they should have done.
Life is not black and white. The same answer may not apply to the same problem in a different situation. Yet there is a compelling need to do good. It is just that it is difficult.
A very good and thoughtful book that has Indian Philosophy in its background, and its application to real life situations in the foreground.
VII. The World As A Will And Idea
Is there a Western Philosopher of Import who comes closest to the way an Indian thinks and views the world. There is and it is Arthur Schopenhauer. He was both influenced by the Upanishads and Buddhism. While his philosophy is quite original, it is wonderful to read a German Philosopher of the highest standing, articulate a world view, coming out of a western context that relates to the eastern way of thinking.
His philosophy influenced the later existentialists. My own suspicion is that the Indian mind quite likes existential philosophy. And if one wonders why, well here is a plausible chain of connections.
VIII. The Upanishads
The Upanishads are fantastic poetic flights with beautiful metaphors and tantalizing glimpses at the nature of truth. The Upanishads go directly to the heart of key questions without distraction. They do not offer up rules to live by or points for good conduct (commandments, as it were). Instead they jump to key questions that perhaps we all ask at least once in a while. Who are we? What is the nature of our self? How are we connected to this Universe? This inquiry across a hundred different Upanishads is done is a sustained, poetic, incisive and timeless way.
However, we are dealing with texts nearly 2,500-3,000 years old. Wealth is counted in the number of cows one has. How is the modern mind to relate to this material, let alone to this esoteric language, long gone from daily use?
Eknath Eswaran who came as a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Berkley does a truly excellent job of getting to the heart of what each of the principal Upanishads has to convey. He provides clear translations of the verse and what they stand for.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's book on the Upanishads might be the more exhaustive - but this one is more accessible.
IX. Vivekachudamani
This text by or ascribed to Shankara, is a dialogue between teacher and pupil. The pupil has several questions for the teacher (such as, What is the Self? What is this non-Self? And who is the Supreme Self? And how can one discriminate between them? What is bondage? How has it come (upon the Self)? How does it continue to exist? How is one freed from it?)
The title of the text refers to the faculty one needs to or that one can develop to discriminate between that which is real and that with is not-real.
Discrimination has a justifiable negative connotation in our social and cultural context. However, in the philosophical realm, this discrimination is not between people, but between categories - of that which is permanent and that which is transient.
To scholars of Indian Philosophy in general and Vedanta in particular, the Vivekachudamani is considered the starting point. Other texts such as the Brahma Sutras (heavy going!) tend to be placed higher in the pantheon of studies.
As much as the Vivekachudamani is meant to be a primer, it does its job quite well!
X. The Hindus: An Alternative History
Now, for the truly terrible book. For a book that reflects bad scholarship, inflamed agenda, abuse of privilege, there is no better example.
Wendy Doniger is the head of Indian Studies at the University of Chicago. Gurcharan Das to his credit spent a couple of years at the University of Chicago while researching his book 'The Difficulty of Being Good.' To his credit, Gurcharan Das does not have unkind words for Wendy Doniger.
Academic freedom and the ability to take alternative views is wholly justified. And Lord knows, that biased work has pervaded for centuries; particularly in the cross-cultural studies realm. But her work published in the twenty first century, needs to be read to understand the depths to which one can sink in perverting the intended meaning of a body of work.
My full review of her book is here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2BDMXF32OLZ2V/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2BDMXF32OLZ2V
It seems to me a difficult balancing act of earning the continued respect within India for authenticity and evolution in thinking, without being accused of watering down the content, and yet at the same time being accessible to readers who are alien to Indian thinking and present the ideas with a modern idiom.
In my own personal judgement, these books achieve this distinction and have allowed me to repeatedly refer to them to refresh my own learning on the outlook of the Indian mind. I cannot help but add one other to this collection as representing the worst book on Indian Philosophy.
One point to note is that, at least in the Indian context, Religion and Philosophy are integrally and organically intertwined. To some degree it is a fool's errand to try and untangle the two. It is also throwing out the baby with the bathwater if one has objections to religion, and thus rejects the philosophy that comes with it.
I. The Complete Works of Swami Vivekananda
This set is a series of lectures that Sri Ramakrishna's foremost disciple gave on Indian Philosophy around the world. They are eloquent, gripping and elucidating.
They are not academic. They are not philosophically rigorous as one is used to in philosophy texts. However, if you want to read what Indian philosophy means and how it relates to the modern world, there is simply no better introduction and grounding.
A brilliant mind, a charismatic soul who has taken a sip from the best the Indian subcontinent has to offer.
This set of works is my first love. I got my start here.
II. Myths and Symbols in Indian Art and Civilization
Myths are commonly thought of as falsehoods. Myths can also be thought of as accumulated wisdom. A way in which to communicate morals and insights that enable generations to assimilate and carry the message.
In this book, Heinrich Zimmer does a masterful job of not only distilling the major insights of Indian Philosophy as articulated in their myths, but also provides terrific commentary on their meaning and import.
III. Indian Philosophy
IV. An Idealist View of Life
The book, An Idealist View of Life is such a summary. Rather than take a historical summary, this book provides how an Indian might view life and live it.
Morals are timeless of course. But the world has changed a mighty amount in the eighty years since the book was published. We have a globalized culture now with technology and social media connecting us in ways that were unimaginable only twenty years ago, let along a hundred. In that sense, this prescription while not dated, needs a little bit of a re-write to suit the sensibilities of the twenty first century that we live in.
V. The Discovery of India
However, the real question is what is the cultural context in which Indian Philosophy was born? Who are these people? What is their environment? What were their struggles? Their world view?
No single book captures the answers to this set of questions better than Jawaharlal Nehru's masterpiece. If every Indian child could just be given the opportunity to read this one book, it would be the most precious gift given to them.
Nehru, in a lucid and easy conversational style traces the history and culture of India all the was from the Indus Valley Civilization up until the point where the country gets Independence from British rule.
India's Jefferson is the highest praise I can heap on this man and his work.
VI. The Difficulty of Being Good
The complexity and shades of grey are easy to lose in the movement of the plot and colorful episodes.
What Gurcharan Das does is analyze the choices confronted by each of the principal characters and analyzes what they did, what they were advised to do, what they could have done and what they should have done.
Life is not black and white. The same answer may not apply to the same problem in a different situation. Yet there is a compelling need to do good. It is just that it is difficult.
A very good and thoughtful book that has Indian Philosophy in its background, and its application to real life situations in the foreground.
VII. The World As A Will And Idea
His philosophy influenced the later existentialists. My own suspicion is that the Indian mind quite likes existential philosophy. And if one wonders why, well here is a plausible chain of connections.
VIII. The Upanishads
However, we are dealing with texts nearly 2,500-3,000 years old. Wealth is counted in the number of cows one has. How is the modern mind to relate to this material, let alone to this esoteric language, long gone from daily use?
Eknath Eswaran who came as a Fulbright Scholar to the University of Berkley does a truly excellent job of getting to the heart of what each of the principal Upanishads has to convey. He provides clear translations of the verse and what they stand for.
Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan's book on the Upanishads might be the more exhaustive - but this one is more accessible.
IX. Vivekachudamani
The title of the text refers to the faculty one needs to or that one can develop to discriminate between that which is real and that with is not-real.
Discrimination has a justifiable negative connotation in our social and cultural context. However, in the philosophical realm, this discrimination is not between people, but between categories - of that which is permanent and that which is transient.
To scholars of Indian Philosophy in general and Vedanta in particular, the Vivekachudamani is considered the starting point. Other texts such as the Brahma Sutras (heavy going!) tend to be placed higher in the pantheon of studies.
As much as the Vivekachudamani is meant to be a primer, it does its job quite well!
X. The Hindus: An Alternative History
Wendy Doniger is the head of Indian Studies at the University of Chicago. Gurcharan Das to his credit spent a couple of years at the University of Chicago while researching his book 'The Difficulty of Being Good.' To his credit, Gurcharan Das does not have unkind words for Wendy Doniger.
Academic freedom and the ability to take alternative views is wholly justified. And Lord knows, that biased work has pervaded for centuries; particularly in the cross-cultural studies realm. But her work published in the twenty first century, needs to be read to understand the depths to which one can sink in perverting the intended meaning of a body of work.
My full review of her book is here:
http://www.amazon.com/review/R2BDMXF32OLZ2V/ref=cm_cr_pr_viewpnt#R2BDMXF32OLZ2V
My mother was a pretty gentle woman. However, when really pushed and when she got vexed with either my professorial dad or myself, she would comment wryly, "having acquired education, you seem to have lost whatever little sense you had...' (In the original Telugu it went: 'chaddiveste unna matti poyindi-ta; mee lanti varike').
That wry remark certainly applies to Wendy Donige and her work in this book.
Daniel Patrick Moynihan once said, 'you are entitled to you own opinion. But you are not entitled to your own facts.' The fact is that the Indian mind has a history of three thousand years of sustained inquiry into the nature of existence. It has produced some wonderful insights. It is a joy to revel in what the Indian mind has perceives!
16 comments:
Jeez, that list is way longer than most American’s have read about Western philosophy, or religion, or science.
So I can only add by underlying a point you made at the outset of the post where you write:
One point to note is that at least in the Indian context, Religion and Philosophy are integrally and organically intertwined. To some degree it is a fool’s errand to try and untangle the two. It is also throwing out the baby with the bathwater if one has objections to religion, and thus reject the philosophy that comes with it.
My addition would be that in fact that, just as with pre-monotheistic religion and even pre-paganism (e.g. Ancient Greek and Roman gods) back to the period of animism, there was no separation between science and religion either. This point is made even more plain when you consider that what we now call ‘science’ was once called ‘natural philosophy’. What animism was all about is explaining how the world works. And instead of strings, spirits were the fundamental reality underneath the surface, or maya.
But, while common to all cultures, never was such thinking as deep, rich and sophisticated as that found in Hinduism.
But have read other works by outsiders about Hinduism including authors from the Chicago school, Germany and England. All had good things to say.
One thing you need to bear in mind. Many are not too familiar with the other religions of the east, particularly Hinduism. They are familiar with Buddism a lot more.
A few scholarly western followers of Hindu philosophy/faith have gone all out with their commitment. But this is just a few exceptional cases.
I do not particularly think that religion has done much good to the world. It has given unbreakable and enormous boundaries for some to exploit the differences and create hatred and bigotry among common innocent and ignorant folks. It is quite unfortunate.
I would include Schroedinger's What is Life since it sinks so much into Hindu philosophy towards the end. Schroedinger was as influenced by Hindu philosophy as Schopenhauer was. I would also include Hesse's Siddhartha even though it is a work of fiction.
I have the first collection you reference. We won it in an elocution contest in 1965! Several of the books you recommend are interesting and I will add to my collection.
Thanks for the list, I will keep it for reference.
I recall at one time I used be very interested to know what books you were
reading and asked you to share your list with me.
I do sincerely plan to read the Indian epics in the next few years, I have some large volume sets in Bengali at home.
I continue to enjoy your writing and marvel at your prolific output.
I could not agree more about X. I could barely read half the book.
On a slightly different topic though related was Ashoka by Charles Allen.Even though its more about the actual archaeological search it still covers a lot of the political philosophy of the king and the time.I could not put it down till I finished it.
I also bought the book you recommended-Sindhi by Aggarwal--in India.Looking forward to reading it!
Excellent list. Look forward to reading several that I have not.
I was somewhat surprised "Autobiography of a Yogi" and Mahatma Gandhi's autobiography "The Story of My Experiments with the Truth" did not make the top 10. rgds,
I have read most of the books mentioned. The Discovery of India is enjoyable as it is not read as a book on philosophy nor as on one on history.
Congrats on your wide reading.
Good stuff. I'm curious about Schopenhauer. Thanks for sharing.
In the meantime, I think I'll order the Upanishads from Amazon. :-)
I'm a big fan of Tao Te Ching (Stephen Mitchell's translation is pure, timeless magic) ... which uses poetic verse to explore the nature of being.
Sounds like the Upanishads may be similar - and just as impactful.
A surprising and brilliant short essay in TIME magazine on why not to separate religion from spirituality:
The Limitations of Being ‘Spiritual but Not Religious’
http://ideas.time.com/2013/03/21/viewpoint-the-problem-with-being-spiritual-but-not-religious/
In Catholicism, such thinking was called being a “cafeteria Catholic”. And mind you, this was target at those who still claimed membership in the institution, but preferred to pick and choose what aspects of the institution they’d follow. In fact, the term recently came up in an email I sent to a friend re the new pope and who is both studying Marxism and plans to summer in Argentina.
As a non-believer one might claim a reprieve from any such obligations…. But, the Rabbi doesn’t quite allow for that either: “Be part of a community. In short, join.”
I like your cafeteria Catholic point. I think the Rabbi is right that we have made the culture of convenience and VIP culture lose sight of the main goal. A terrible but apt analogy. In one of his later movies, Woody Allen to avoid the entanglement of relationships strikes up a 'long term deal' with a prostitute. Of course, he learns at the end that i) life is empty and ii) it is not possible anyway.
Secondly, the Rabbi's point about social reference is crucially important. If one does not have others to check one's insights and experiences against, it could neither be objective knowledge nor absence of delusion. Plus one's ability to improve begins with social reference.
The only place where I would differ, is that religion need not be the place for social reference. Two athiests engaged in dialog could be enough of a social reference. But religion, as it is commonly held is the best repository within which spirtitual reference takes place.
Very nice collection.
In an ironical twisted way, out of sheer morbid curiosity, my first impulse was to go for #10 to see what the author could've possibly written. But your excellent review spared me the trouble and offered a glimpse into her prejudice and shallowness.
Enjoyed this post!
I am really impressed. I wish you included works of Adhi Shankara (Advita) and Bhagavad Ramanuja (VisishAdvaita ... meaning the new Advita)
"There is rationalization bridge between religion and science"
Keep up the good work and hope the vine connects us some time
Did you really read these books, or did you skim them like I do most books and read a review of them??
:-)
I did read them. But please don't test me with X or Y passage - It is not like I was prepping for a PhD!
:-)
Post a Comment