/lit/ - Literature

Saitama lookin ahhh

>>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.

>>22066542
you start with the real teaching, ie buddhism, not some bastardization by a guy from the middle ages

>>22066683
Eternally seething