/lit/ - Literature

>>23328651

Reading through Shankara is a great experience but it's time-consuming and requires some prior contextual foreknowledge about various elements of Hindu philosophy, pic related is one guide. For that reason it's better to get your toes wet first by reading some basic Hindu literature like the Bhagavad-Gita and maybe some secondary literature overview of Hindu philosophy before moving onto Shankara. You can also read some Upanishads first too although if you read through all of Shankara's commentaries you'll end up reading ~80% of the primary Upanishads that are included in the translations of his commentaries on them.

The Rig-Veda is best read after already having read the Upanishads and Gita IMO.

In addition to the Bhagavad-Gita, some shorter texts that you can also read to get started are
The Yoga Sutra of Patanjali (Yoga darshana)
Ashtavakra Gita (Advaita Vedanta)
Shiva Sutras of Vasugupta (Trika/Kashmir Shaivism)
Devi Mahatmya (Shaktism)
Tripura Rahasya (Advaita and Shaktism combination)
Manusmriti (an influential text on law and societal organization)

You also read the Puranas too, they are longer mythic narratives but they do weave Upanishad-derived spiritual and philosophical ideas in and out of the longer narrative. A popular one to read is the Bhagavata-Purana.

>>23311685
Shankara is the the final red-pill of all eastern and western thought

>>23217084
>or am I missing something?
only the final piece of the puzzle wherein all opposites are reconciled and all dichotomies resolved

>>22996018

>>22977729
>I have yet to find any guide for a jumping point into Vedic literature;
here is one for Advaita

>>22727191
PBUH

>>22652728

>>22603350
Advaita Vedanta reading guide

>>22520969

>>22469587
>religion and philosophy
>what am I missing
you are missing Shankara (pbuh)

>>22470809
Spiritual delusion is removed by spiritual knowledge, which is gained in this case by studying the Upanishads, related works and Vedantic commentaries on those texts such as those by Shankara; and then contemplating the truth of what one is reading and connecting that to one’s own experience.

The traditional position is that for this to be fully effective to the point of bringing about complete enlightenment and stopping transmigration you are supposed to become a monk and study all this stuff under a properly qualified guru (and if you aren’t a Brahmin you aren’t supposed to become a monk anyway). Even if you are a non-Indian with no caste who is self-studying without a guru though you can still have profound insights that drastically change your life for the better and which sow positive karmic seeds that can fructify in future lives by making you more spiritually gifted in future lives or born to circumstances that are very conducive to a very spiritual life; and if you attain a high state of spiritual insight and purity in this life then you can be liberated after entering the post-death state of Brahmaloka without having to transmigrate into another body in order to become a monk for the purpose of being liberated in the next life or whatever.

>>22409483
try reading Shankara (pbuh)

>>22387352

>>22282374
I hope you remember me for this

>>22180849
>Then why is Advaita a minority position?
Argumentum ad populum is an informal logical fallacy, popularity has nothing to do with being correct here. Advaita is by nature elitist and is mainly intended for Brahmins, it acknowledges the validity of other castes following karma-yoga etc but of course some people will feel compelled by other schools which have a greater role to play for non-Brahmin householders or laypeople, even if their metaphysics isn't as accurate a rendition of the Upanishadic teaching. That's just human nature to resent being left out and to seek greater inclusion or something which they find more emotionally fulfilling and which encourages forming a sentimental attachment to one or another form of God.

>In fact Shankara being the Calvin of Vedanta fits pretty well.
Not at all, he is the first serious Vedanta theologian, Shankara came before both the theistic Vedantins and he doesn't mix his teaching with Pancharactra while Ramanuja, Madhva etc are mixing up the ideas of the Upanishads with Pancharatra.

>>22180592
I would personally recommend Shankara's works over everything else. Besides the books in this chart an excellent Indology book which just dropped is "Mirror of Nature, Mirror of Self: Models of Consciousness in Sāṃkhya, Yoga, and Advaita Vedānta"by Dimitry Shevchenko which discusses the broad continuity of thought in mirror models of consciousness in the aforementioned schools and other thinkers, it highlights some of the often underappreciated common ground between Advaita and Samkhya/Yoga.

>>22131262
>Will reading this nigga get me laid?
It can help do so indirectly by eliminating the source of fear and insecurities that would get in the way of successfully flirting or socializing in general

>>22066542
This is one guide to his works, you can swap out the three introductory books listed for other books if you prefer, which ones you read first as an intro is really not that important so long as you just learn the vocabulary and terminology he uses so that you aren't confused when reading him. Some other material you can use to prepare before reading Shankara is to read the chapters on Advaita in the two encyclopedias of Indian philosophy by Dasgupta and the other by Potter. The edition of the short Shankara text Atma-Bodha translated by Nikhilananda also has a roughly 80 or 100 page essay that introduces Advaita metaphysics and terminology.

Ignore the retarded cultists who insist that one cannot properly understand or read Shankara without first reading some 20th century Neovedantist (SSS) that they spam. You don't need anyone else to tell you *how* to understand Shankara as he explains himself quite well, take all secondary literature on him with a grain of salt including the stuff on the chart. Because he is such a legendary figure you can find a whole range of people and authors projecting their own vision onto him, which is why its important to understand him in his own words and not filtered through someone's else worldview.

>Is his shit worth reading if I want to get my life in order? Will I get laid?
Studying Advaita may indeed help place things into perspective, which may motivate you to get your life in order, but this will be different based on the personal circumstances of everyone. I don't see how it's related to romance aside from maybe making you feel more confident and less anxious/neurotic when out on a date or at a bar or something.

>>21952489
cringe

>>21952479
>Where do I go with the Hindoos after the Bhagavad Gita?
You can start with the supreme Hindu metaphysician, Adi Shankara (PBUH), the king of philosophers, he wrote excellent commentaries on the major Hindu scriptures like the Upanishads and Gita etc, pic related is a guide

OR you can read:

the Upanishads by themselves with no commentary or one by a modern scholar
Hindu Epics (Mahabharata or Ramayana)
Yoga Sutras of Patanjali
Yoga Vasistha
Tripura Rahasya
Devi Mahatmya
Bhagavata Purana
Vishnu Purana
Ribhu Gita
Ashtavakra Gita
Avadhuta Gita
Adhyatma Ramayana
etc

>>21948153
>>Philosophy - Plato, Aristotle
All of their books fit into a single volume or 2 volumes though, whereas this entire chart is just for 1 big Indian philosopher (Shankara), unless you are just namedropping Indian philosophers with a note saying "read their works" it would be difficult to list the exact works and by which Indian philosophers you should read, because you would need like 7 or 8 mini versions of pic related all crammed into one chart along with the epics, dramas, poetry etc

>>21923000
>I want to read the Upanishads. Apparently there are a lot of versions out there but I'd prefer an English translation that is most similar to the material that Schopenhauer read back in his day.
Schopenhauer read a Latin translation of a Persian translation of the original text that included both extracts from Shankara's commentaries that the team of Mughal translators added in consultation with Hindu scholars and another layer of Sufi commentary added on top of that

Here is an article on the edition of the Upanishads that he read
https://download.uni-mainz.de/fb05-philosophie-schopenhauer/files/2020/03/2012_App.pdf

Pic related is the guide to Shankara's commentaries below which includes the Upanishad that its commenting on:

https://estudantedavedanta.net/Eight-Upanisads-Vol-1.pdf
https://estudantedavedanta.net/Eight-Upanisads-vol2.pdf
https://archive.org/details/Brihadaranyaka.Upanishad.Shankara.Bhashya.by.Swami.Madhavananda
http://www.tbm100.org/Lib/Jha42.pdf
https://estudantedavedanta.net/Bhagavad-Gita.with.the.Commentary.of.Sri.ShankaracharyaN.pdf
https://archive.org/details/BrahmaSutraSankaraBhashyaEnglishTranslationVasudeoMahadeoApte1960
https://estudantedavedanta.net/Sri_Shankaracharya-Upadeshasahasri%20-%20Swami%20Jagadananda%20(1949)%20%5bSanskrit-English%5d.pdf

>>21885461
>where do i get started with advaita?
The 'Ashtavakra Gita' is considered a great Advaita classic that it's fine to read before more in-depth stuff

https://realization.org/p/ashtavakra-gita/richards.ashtavakra-gita/richards.ashtavakra-gita.html

Pic related is the chart for reading the works of the main Advaita metaphysician, Adi Shankara, the chart has some intro books you can use to prepare yourself to understand Shankara's works, another way to do so is to read the chapters on Advaita in one or both of the two Encyclopedias of Indian Philosophy, there is one by Karl Potter and one by Dasgupta that have decent sections on Advaita, you can find things to quibble with in most books and textbooks on Advaita but as long as they prepare you to understand all the terminology Shankara uses then it's fine to read first as an intro, which is necessary unless you are Indian and absorbed most of the terminology already via cultural osmosis

>>21796804
It is an introduction to Vedantic concepts and terminology, primarily through the lenses of Advaita Vedanta. It fulfills this function quite well, although it’s not exhaustive.

If you have a desire to read through the primary source philosophical works of the Advaita tradition (i.e. Adi Shankara’s translated commentaries), it’s a good book to read first as preparation. Compared to other books on, it is less explicit about the overall metaphysical doctrine or framework (which there are various interpretations of), however since Shankara explains this for the most part in his works you can just learn it directly from his works once you read them, if you want. Other books that would be more explicit on the overall metaphysical framework, examples would be:

Sharma’s “Advaita Tradition in Indian Philosophy”
Deutch’s “Advaita Vedanta a philosophical reconstruction”
And the respective Advaita chapters in the two Encyclopedias of Indian Philosophy, one by Potter and one by Dasgupta

If you want to study Vishishtadvaita Vedanta then read:

1) The Face of Truth by Lipner or Visistadvaita by S.S. Raghavachar
2) Upanishad commentaries - Ranga Ramanuja Muni (optional)
3) Bhagavad Gita commentary - Ramanuja
4) Vedartha Sangraha - Ramanuja
5) Vedanta Sutras commentary - Ramanuja

>>21716495
>How the fuck do I enter Advaita Vedanta as a westerner?
Traditionally, it never really had any niche carved out for laypeople who want to "enter it" but only go halfway, one can only formally "enter it" by becoming a celibate monk that renounces all possessions and remains that way until death. In my personal opinion if it had been your destiny to become a traditional Advaitin monk then you have would been born into a fairly traditional Brahmin family. A westerner who nonetheless feels an intensive attraction to Hindu or Advaita-based monasticism can still join the Ramakrishna Order (countless examples) and also the Chinmayananda Order (eg Swamini Umananda); a westerner who was fluent in a common Indian language would probably also be accepted by some of the roaming naked Naga monks that still traverse India today (many of whom are Advaitins and who often don't care about caste), however a westerner almost certainly would not be allowed to become a monk and join the other monks as equals in residing at the 4 main Mathas of Advaita in India. Shankara's recommendation for non-monks (most of society) is that it's best for them to practice karma-yoga as taught by the Bhagavad-Gita which is capable of indirectly leading to the same goal as monasticism either in this life (if you're eligible for eventual entry into monasticism) or in the post-death state (if you're not).

One of the many beautiful things about Advaita though is that Shankara's writings, to the discerning mind, are spiritually enriching to the point of being life-changing, even if you are studying them as an autodidact or at university, without any formal connection to the tradition, and that when all the points in his various commentaries start to fit together like a puzzle and it really hits you, it leads to an inner peace and calmness that never really goes away, it also totally eradicates any sort of deep existential fear or angst. You find yourself resting naturally in a place that people would otherwise spend years meditating in hopes of reaching. You can study his works and reach this point and then still participate in any kind of religion or mode of practice that you want or none at all, it's up to you.

>How do I into the ebingrossadvaitiums? How?
Read Shankara, see pic related