Swami Medhananda | Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda University (original) (raw)

Books by Swami Medhananda

"Swami Medhananda’s Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford University Press) is an... more "Swami Medhananda’s Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism (Oxford University Press) is an extraordinary achievement. A brilliant, deep and searching exploration of Swami Vivekananda, this may also be the best book in English on philosophical debates in modern Hinduism, and philosophy of religion more generally."
-- Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Princeton University

*** The South Asian edition of the book is now available for purchase in India and Bangladesh through Amazon.in and Advaita Ashrama:
https://shop.advaitaashrama.org/product/swami-vivekanandas-vedantic-cosmopolitanism/

Sri Ramakrishna is widely known as a nineteenth-century Indian mystic who affirmed the harmony of... more Sri Ramakrishna is widely known as a nineteenth-century Indian mystic who affirmed the harmony of all religions on the basis of his richly varied spiritual experiences and eclectic religious practices, both Hindu and non-Hindu. In Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality, Ayon Maharaj argues that Sri Ramakrishna was also a sophisticated philosopher of great contemporary relevance.

Through a careful study of Sri Ramakrishna's recorded oral teachings in the original Bengali, Maharaj reconstructs his philosophical positions and analyzes them from a cross-cultural perspective. Sri Ramakrishna's spiritual journey culminated in the exalted state of "vijñāna," his term for the "intimate knowledge" of God as the Infinite Reality that is both personal and impersonal, with and without form, immanent in the universe and beyond it. This expansive spiritual standpoint of vijñāna, Maharaj contends, opens up a new paradigm for addressing central issues in cross-cultural philosophy of religion, including divine infinitude, religious pluralism, mystical experience, and the problem of evil.

Sri Ramakrishna's vijñana-based religious pluralism—when grasped in all its subtlety—proves to have major philosophical advantages over dominant Western models. Moreover, his mystical testimony and teachings not only cut across long-standing debates about the nature of mystical experience but also bolster recent defenses of its epistemic value. Maharaj further demonstrates that Sri Ramakrishna's unique response to the problem of evil resonates strongly with Western "soul-making" theodicies and contemporary theories of skeptical theism. A pioneering interdisciplinary study of one of India's most important philosopher-mystics, Maharaj's book is essential reading for scholars and students in philosophy of religion, theology, religious studies, and Hindu studies.

The International Journal of Hindu Studies (Springer) published a Review Symposium on the book in 2020. Contributors include Michael S. Allen, Christopher Bartley, Francis X. Clooney, Jonathan B. Edelmann, Benedikt Paul Goecke, Jonathan C. Gold, Julius Lipner, Jeffery D. Long, Ethan Mills, Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Amiya P. Sen, Arvind Sharma, and Michael Williams.

The South Asian edition of this book (Rs. 850) is now available in India through Amazon.in and flipkart.com.

This study examines how key figures in the German aesthetic tradition—Kant, Schelling, Friedrich ... more This study examines how key figures in the German aesthetic tradition—Kant, Schelling, Friedrich Schlegel, Hegel, and Adorno—attempted to think through the powers and limits of art in post-Enlightenment modernity. The aesthetic speculations of these thinkers, I argue, provide the conceptual resources for a timely dialectical defense of “aesthetic agency”— art’s capacity to make available uniquely valuable modes of experience that escape the purview of Enlightenment scientific rationality.

The book has two interrelated aims. First, it provides new interpretations of the aesthetic philosophies of Kant, Schelling, Schlegel, Hegel, and Adorno by focusing on aspects of their thought that have been neglected or misunderstood in both Anglo-American and German scholarship. Second, it attempts to demonstrate that their subtle investigations into the nature and scope of aesthetic agency have far-reaching implications for contemporary discourse on the arts.

Edited volumes by Swami Medhananda

Co-editors: Benedikt Paul Göcke and Swami Medhananda For too long, scholars interested in pane... more Co-editors: Benedikt Paul Göcke and Swami Medhananda

For too long, scholars interested in panentheism have focused almost exclusively on Western approaches to the issue. This book offers the first in-depth study of a wide range of Indian paradigms of panentheism, both ancient and modern, and brings these paradigms into creative and constructive dialogue with Western traditions.

This volume features original essays written by leading international scholars. The volume discusses a broad range of Indian panentheistic traditions, including the Upaniṣads, Bhedābheda Vedānta, Rāmānuja’s Viśiṣṭādvaita Vedānta, Yogācāra Buddhism, and the Ramakrishna-Vivekananda tradition. The chapters connect these traditions with Western panentheistic conceptions developed by thinkers such as Spinoza, Berkeley, Schopenhauer, Krause, Royce, Tononi and Koch, and Western process philosophers.

Panentheism in Indian and Western Thought will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of religion, Indian philosophy, comparative philosophy, and comparative religion.

The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta is a groundbreaking volume of sixteen newly commissio... more The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta is a groundbreaking volume of sixteen newly commissioned chapters written by leading international scholars of Vedānta. The volume highlights the diversity of philosophical traditions within Vedānta, exploring their contemporary relevance and charting out new directions for research.

Contributors include Neil Dalal, Marcus Schmücker, Michael Williams, Ravi M. Gupta, Jeffery D. Long, Stephen Phillips, Andrew J. Nicholson, Ankur Barua, Klara Hedling, Francis X. Clooney, Daniel Raveh, Anand Vaidya, Ethan Mills, Arindam Chakrabarti, and Ayon Maharaj.

The hardcover edition of the book will be available on 25 June 2020.

Endorsements:

“"Showcasing material from a commendably wide range of Vedāntin traditions and time periods, this Research Handbook provides tantalising tasters of intra-Vedāntin debates, ways of approaching texts, and modes of engaging Vedānta in cross-cultural conversations. With orienting introductions and bibliographies opening up the work of other important scholars in the field, this collection should provoke further specialist investigations and prove a rich source for those who are not specialists in Vedānta but would like to engage with these Indian examples of Asian Philosophy.””
– Jacqueline Suthren Hirst, Honorary Research Fellow in South Asian Studies, University of Manchester, UK

“The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta brings the work of scholars shaping the field of Indian philosophy into a volume that presses forward into the future of Vedānta scholarship. The book refutes misconceptions, and corrects for the historical imbalance in the coverage of this diverse set of traditions, by covering the philosophy of Viśiṣṭādvaita, Dvaitādvaita, Bhedābheda, and Advaita too, ranging from the earliest authoritative texts of the traditions to the most influential modern and contemporary thinkers. Ayon Maharaj's precise overview of Vedānta in the introduction makes the book accessible to the eager, beginning student of Indian philosophy, even as the articles push the reader into unexplored material, original theses, and innovative cross-cultural work. The book deserves a place among even small collections of contemporary research on Indian philosophy.”
– Christopher Framarin, Professor of Philosophy, University of Calgary, Canada

International Journal of Hindu Studies 27.1, 2023

The link to this Special Issue of the International Journal of Hindu Studies (April 2023): https... more The link to this Special Issue of the International Journal of Hindu Studies (April 2023):
https://link.springer.com/journal/11407/volumes-and-issues/27-1

The six contributions to this Special Issue are as follows:

"Religions as Yogas: How Reflection on Swami Vivekananda’s Theology of Religions Can Clarify the Threefold Model of Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism"
Jeffery D. Long

"Hindu-Christian Dialogue on the Afterlife: Swami Vivekananda, Modern Advaita Vedānta, and Roman Catholic Eschatology"
Michael Stoeber

"From Good to God: Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Virtue Ethics"
Swami Medhananda

"A Religion 'Based Upon Principles, And Not Upon Persons': The Heart of the
“Strategic Fit” of Swami Vivekananda’s Promotion of Vedānta?"
Gwilym Beckerlegge

"Living in the World by Dying to the Self: Swami Vivekananda’s Modernist
Reconfigurations of a Premodern Vedāntic Dialectic"
Ankur Barua

"Swami Vivekananda and Knowledge as the One Final Goal of Humankind"
Christopher G. Framarin

International Journal of Hindu Studies 25.2, 2021

This is my introduction to the "Special Issue on Vedāntic Theodicies," published in the Internati... more This is my introduction to the "Special Issue on Vedāntic Theodicies," published in the International Journal of Hindu Studies (Springer).

Contributions to the special issue:

Michael Williams, “Theodicy in a Deterministic Universe: God and the Problem of Suffering in Vyāsatīrtha’s Tātparyacandrikā”

Swami Medhananda, “‘A Great Adventure of the Soul’: Sri Aurobindo’s Vedāntic Theodicy of Spiritual Evolution”

Ankur Barua, “The Mystery of God and the Claim of Reason: Comparative Patterns in Hindu-Christian Theodicy”

Articles by Swami Medhananda

Journal of Consciousness Studies 31.9–10 (2024), pp. 113-131.

This article defends the cosmopsychist doctrine of the Indian philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo, a... more This article defends the cosmopsychist doctrine of the Indian philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo, arguing that it has distinct advantages over rival panpsychist positions. After tracing the dialectical trajectory of recent philosophical debates about panpsychism up to the present, I bring Aurobindo into dialogue with Miri Albahari, who has defended a form of panpsychist idealism based on the classical Advaita Vedānta philosophy of Śaṅkara. I critique Albahari's panpsychist idealism from an Aurobindonian standpoint, arguing that its Śaṅkaran metaphysical commitments and eliminativist implications make it an unsatisfactory account of consciousness. I then summarize Aurobindo's cosmopsychism and explain its distinctive solution to the individuation problem, which is widely considered to be the most serious problem for all forms of cosmopsychism. According to Aurobindo, Divine Consciousness individuates into multiple creaturely consciousnesses through the twin processes of 'self-limitation' and 'exclusive concentration'. I conclude the paper by addressing several potential objections to Aurobindo's cosmopsychism.

In Vaiṣṇava Concepts of God: Philosophical Perspectives, eds. Ricardo Silvestre, Alan Herbert, Benedikt Paul Göcke (London: Routledge, 2024), pp. 184–200.

The Bengali mystic Sri Ramakrishna (1836–1886) was raised in a Vaiṣṇava household and engaged in ... more The Bengali mystic Sri Ramakrishna (1836–1886) was raised in a Vaiṣṇava household and engaged in numerous Vaiṣṇava practices throughout his lifetime. In light of Ramakrishna’s strong Vaiṣṇava leanings, the question arises: what are the similarities and differences between Ramakrishna’s teachings on God and Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava conceptions of God? Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava theologians hold that the Supreme Reality is the personal God Kṛṣṇa whose “peripheral effulgence” is the impersonal Brahman. Although Gauḍīya Vaiṣṇava thinkers grant equal reality to the personal God and the impersonal Absolute, they nonetheless hold that the realization of Kṛṣṇa is of infinitely greater value than the Advaitic realization of the impersonal Brahman. By contrast, Ramakrishna, on the basis of his own varied spiritual experiences, maintained that the impersonal Brahman-Ātman and the personal Śakti are the static and dynamic aspects respectively of one and the same Infinite Divine Reality. Accordingly, he held that jñānīs, yogīs, and bhaktas all realize one and the same Divine Reality in different forms and aspects, none of which can be said to be superior to any of the others. Ramakrishna, this chapter argues, thereby harmonized personalist and impersonalist conceptions of the ultimate reality without hierarchically subordinating the latter to the former.

In Panentheism in Indian and Western Thought: Cosmopolitan Interventions, eds. Benedikt Paul Göcke and Swami Medhananda (London: Routledge), pp. 195–213 , 2023

This chapter critically examines the Harvard philosopher Josiah Royce’s understanding of the Upan... more This chapter critically examines the Harvard philosopher Josiah Royce’s understanding of the Upaniṣads. Following the German scholar Paul Deussen, Royce claimed that the Upaniṣads propounded a subjective idealist metaphysics and held that the Absolute is unconscious. Medhananda argues, however, that Royce was misled by Deussen’s translation and interpretation of the Upaniṣads. In fact, the Upaniṣads can be seen to uphold a panentheistic metaphysics remarkably similar to Royce’s own preferred absolute idealism.

In John Hick's Religious Pluralism in Global Perspective, edited by Sharada Sugirtharajah (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillian, 2023), pp. 157–178.

This chapter explores the interrelation of religious pluralism and eschatology in the thought of ... more This chapter explores the interrelation of religious pluralism and eschatology in the thought of John Hick and brings him into dialogue with the nineteenth-century Hindu mystic Sri Ramakrishna. According to Hick's mature position, various world religions are equally capable of leading to salvation, since all the various religious conceptions of ultimate reality are different culturally conditioned ways of conceiving one and the same unknowable "Real an sich." The contemporary Christian theologian S. Mark Heim convincingly argues that Hick's theory of religious pluralism is less pluralistic than it appears, since Hick conceives the final postmortem state of salvation in vague and monolithic terms, thereby failing to honor the variety of specific religious fulfillments taught by the world religions. Building on Heim's critique of Hick, I make the case that Ramakrishna's experientially-grounded theory of religious pluralism has significant philosophical advantages over Hick's theory, since Ramakrishna accepts the equal reality and value of both theistic and non-theistic forms of salvation. According to Ramakrishna's expansive eschatology, some souls choose to "eat sugar" by remaining in eternal loving communion with the personal God, while other souls prefer to "become sugar" by merging their individuality in the impersonal Absolute.

Religious Studies 59, pp. 67–81, 2023

This article outlines and defends an 'Integral Advaitic' theodicy that takes its bearings from th... more This article outlines and defends an 'Integral Advaitic' theodicy that takes its bearings from the thought of three modern Indian mystics: Sri Ramakrishna, Swami Vivekananda, and Sri Aurobindo. Their Integral Advaitic theodicy has two key dimensions: a doctrine of spiritual evolution and a panentheistic metaphysics. God has created this world as an arena for our moral and spiritual evolution in which evil and suffering are as necessary as good. The doctrine of spiritual evolution presupposes karma, rebirth, and universal salvation. The doctrines of karma and rebirth shift moral responsibility for evil from God to His creatures by explaining all instances of evil and suffering as the karmic consequence of their own past deeds, either in this life or in a previous life. The doctrine of universal salvation also has important theodical implications: the various finite evils of this life are outweighed by the infinite good of salvation that awaits us all. After outlining this Integral Advaitic theodicy, I address some of the main objections to it and then argue that it has a number of comparative advantages over John Hick's well-known 'soul-making' theodicy.

International Journal of Hindu Studies 27, pp. 67–96, 2023

In this article, I will argue that the modern Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) developed ... more In this article, I will argue that the modern Hindu monk Swami Vivekananda (1863–1902) developed a distinctively Vedāntic form of virtue ethics that deserves a prominent place in contemporary philosophical discussions. Sections 1 and 2 set the stage by showing how Vivekananda motivated his own ethical standpoint through a critique of rival ethical theories. Section 1 discusses his criticisms of ethical theories based on “objective duty,” which bear a resemblance to deontological theories. Section 2 outlines Vivekananda’s criticisms of utilitarian ethics, especially that of John Stuart Mill. Section 3 outlines the main features of Vivekananda’s Vedāntic virtue ethics and his arguments in support of it. Finally, section 4 compares the differing approaches to the problem of moral luck adopted by Vivekananda and by the contemporary philosopher Michael Slote. By means of this comparison, I identify some of the potential philosophical advantages of Vivekananda’s Vedāntic virtue ethics over other ethical theories.

European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 14.2, pp. 187–208, 2022

The German philosopher K.C.F. Krause (1781-1832) found deep conceptual parallels between his pane... more The German philosopher K.C.F. Krause (1781-1832) found deep conceptual parallels between his panentheistic system and the Indian philosophy of Vedānta. This article critically examines Krause's understanding of Vedānta and popular Hindu religion. I argue that while Krause was correct in viewing the mystical panentheistic doctrine of Vedānta as a precursor to his own philosophy, he was also frequently misled by unreliable translations and secondary texts. Krause, I suggest, was mistaken in characterizing the Hindu practice of image worship as "polytheism" and "idolatry," and I contend, from a Vedāntic standpoint, that Krause's denial of the divinity of Jesus is inconsistent with his own panentheistic metaphysics.

The Monist (Oxford UP), vol. 105 (2022): 92–109

This article argues that the Indian philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) espoused a sophi... more This article argues that the Indian philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo (1872–1950) espoused a sophisticated form of cosmopsychism that has great contemporary relevance. After first discussing Aurobindo’s prescient reflections on the “central problem of consciousness” and his arguments against materialist reductionism, I explain how he developed a panentheistic philosophy of “realistic Adwaita” on the basis of his own spiritual experiences and his intensive study of the Vedāntic scriptures. He derived from this realistic Advaita philosophy a highly original doctrine of evolutionary cosmopsychism, according to which the Divine Saccidānanda is “involved” in everything in the universe and gradually manifests itself at each stage of the evolutionary process from matter to life to mind, and ultimately, to Supermind—the final stage that is yet to come, upon the attainment of which we will attain knowledge of our true divine nature as Saccidānanda. I then reconstruct Aurobindo’s novel solution to the individuation problem, according to which the Divine Saccidānanda individuates into various distinct consciousnesses by playfully limiting itself through a process of “exclusive concentration.” Finally, I highlight the continued relevance of Aurobindo’s evolutionary cosmopsychism by bringing him into conversation with Itay Shani, a contemporary proponent of cosmopsychism.

International Journal of Hindu Studies 25, pp. 229–257, 2021

This essay reconstructs Sri Aurobindo’s multifaceted response to the problem of evil. While a num... more This essay reconstructs Sri Aurobindo’s multifaceted response to the problem of evil. While a number of scholars have already discussed Sri Aurobindo’s theodicy, I highlight the significance of three aspects of his theodicy that have been largely neglected. First, I emphasize the crucial theodical role of the “psychic entity,” Sri Aurobindo’s term for the evolving, reincarnating soul within each of us. Second, I reconstruct the subtle chain of reasoning underlying his various theodical arguments, including a skeptical theist position that bears affinities with the views of some contemporary analytic philosophers of religion. Third, I argue that Sri Aurobindo’s approach to the problem of evil may very well have been influenced by Sri Ramakrishna, whose teachings anticipated most of the key tenets of Sri Aurobindo’s own theodicy. I also suggest that there are conceptual resources within Sri Aurobindo’s thought for responding to some of the most serious objections scholars have leveled against his theodicy.

International Journal of Hindu Studies 25.1–2, 2021

This is my response to the Book Symposium on my book, Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ram... more This is my response to the Book Symposium on my book, Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2018), which has been published in the International Journal of Hindu Studies (Springer). Contributors to the symposium include Michael S. Allen, Christopher Bartley, Francis X. Clooney, Jonathan B. Edelmann, Benedikt Paul Goecke, Jonathan C. Gold, Julius Lipner, Jeffery D. Long, Ethan Mills, Perry Schmidt-Leukel, Amiya P. Sen, Arvind Sharma, and Michael Williams.

Religions, 2021

This article proposes to examine in detail Aurobindo’s searching—and often quite original— critic... more This article proposes to examine in detail Aurobindo’s searching—and often quite original— criticisms of Advaita Vedānta, which have not yet received the sustained scholarly attention they deserve. After discussing his early spiritual experiences and the formative influence of Sri Ramakrishna and Swami Vivekananda on his thought, I outline Aurobindo’s philosophy of “realistic Adwaita”. According to Aurobindo, the sole reality is the Divine Saccidānanda, which is not only the static impersonal Brahman but also the personal, dynamic Cit-Śakti (Consciousness-Force), which manifests as everything in this universe. At various points in his corpus, Aurobindo criticizes Advaita Vedānta on three fronts. From the standpoint of spiritual experience, Aurobindo argues that Śaṅkara’s philosophy is based on a genuine, but partial, experience of the Infinite Divine Reality: namely, the experience of the impersonal nondual Absolute and the corresponding conviction of the unreality of everything else. Aurobindo claims, on the basis of his own spiritual experiences, that there is a further stage of spiritual experience, when one realizes that the impersonal-personal Divine Reality manifests as everything in the universe. From a philosophical standpoint, Aurobindo questions the logical tenability of key Advaitic doctrines, including māyā, the exclusively impersonal nature of Brahman, and the metaphysics of an illusory bondage and liberation. Finally, from a scriptural standpoint, Aurobindo argues that the ancient Vedic hymns, the Upaniṣads, and the Bhagavad-Gītā, propound an all-encompassing Advaita philosophy rather than the world-denying Advaita philosophy Śaṅkara claims to find in them. This article focuses on Aurobindo’s experiential and philosophical critiques of Advaita Vedānta, as I have already discussed his new interpretations of the Vedāntic scriptures in detail elsewhere. The article’s final section explores the implications of Aurobindo’s life-affirming Advaitic philosophy for our current ecological crisis.

Religions 12 (2021), pp. 1–14.

Contemporary scholars, this article argues, stand to learn a great deal from Sri Aurobindo’s soph... more Contemporary scholars, this article argues, stand to learn a great deal from Sri Aurobindo’s sophisticated hermeneutic approach to the Vedāntic scriptures. After identifying the strengths and weaknesses of traditional and modern hermeneutic approaches to the scriptures, I summarize Sri Aurobindo’s neglected essay, “The Interpretation of Scripture” (1912), where he outlines a timely hermeneutic method that combines elements from both traditional and modern approaches. I then focus on the Īśā Upaniṣad as a test case, critically comparing the commentaries of the traditional Advaita Vedāntin Śaṅkara, the modern Indologist Paul Thieme, and Sri Aurobindo. I make the case that Sri Aurobindo’s interpretive approach to the Īśā Upaniṣad has significant advantages over the approaches of Śaṅkara and Thieme. Finally, I call for an Aurobindonian hermeneutics of śraddhā, which combines historico-philological inquiry with interpretive charity and an openness to the transformative possibilities of scripture.

Kantian Review 26.1, pp. 105–111, 2021

This article critically examines some of the main arguments of Stephen Palmquist's book, Kant and... more This article critically examines some of the main arguments of Stephen Palmquist's book, Kant and Mysticism (2019). While I agree with Palmquist that Kant admits the possibility of certain indirect forms of mystical experience, I argue that Palmquist makes Kant out to be more of a mystic than he actually was. In particular, I contend that Palmquist fails to provide convincing justification of two of his main claims: (1) that Kant was a mystic or at least had strong mystical tendencies and (2) that some of the experiences that are central to Kant's philosophy are best understood as mystical experiences.

The South Asian edition of this book (Rs. 850) is now available in India through Amazon.in and flipkart.com.

Co-editors: Benedikt Paul Göcke and Swami Medhananda For too long, scholars interested in pane... more Co-editors: Benedikt Paul Göcke and Swami Medhananda

Panentheism in Indian and Western Thought will be of interest to scholars and advanced students working in philosophy of religion, Indian philosophy, comparative philosophy, and comparative religion.

The hardcover edition of the book will be available on 25 June 2020.

Endorsements:

International Journal of Hindu Studies 27.1, 2023

The six contributions to this Special Issue are as follows:

"Religions as Yogas: How Reflection on Swami Vivekananda’s Theology of Religions Can Clarify the Threefold Model of Exclusivism, Inclusivism, and Pluralism"
Jeffery D. Long

"Hindu-Christian Dialogue on the Afterlife: Swami Vivekananda, Modern Advaita Vedānta, and Roman Catholic Eschatology"
Michael Stoeber

"From Good to God: Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Virtue Ethics"
Swami Medhananda

"A Religion 'Based Upon Principles, And Not Upon Persons': The Heart of the
“Strategic Fit” of Swami Vivekananda’s Promotion of Vedānta?"
Gwilym Beckerlegge

"Living in the World by Dying to the Self: Swami Vivekananda’s Modernist
Reconfigurations of a Premodern Vedāntic Dialectic"
Ankur Barua

"Swami Vivekananda and Knowledge as the One Final Goal of Humankind"
Christopher G. Framarin

International Journal of Hindu Studies 25.2, 2021

Contributions to the special issue:

Michael Williams, “Theodicy in a Deterministic Universe: God and the Problem of Suffering in Vyāsatīrtha’s Tātparyacandrikā”

Swami Medhananda, “‘A Great Adventure of the Soul’: Sri Aurobindo’s Vedāntic Theodicy of Spiritual Evolution”

Ankur Barua, “The Mystery of God and the Claim of Reason: Comparative Patterns in Hindu-Christian Theodicy”

Journal of Consciousness Studies 31.9–10 (2024), pp. 113-131.

In Vaiṣṇava Concepts of God: Philosophical Perspectives, eds. Ricardo Silvestre, Alan Herbert, Benedikt Paul Göcke (London: Routledge, 2024), pp. 184–200.

In Panentheism in Indian and Western Thought: Cosmopolitan Interventions, eds. Benedikt Paul Göcke and Swami Medhananda (London: Routledge), pp. 195–213 , 2023

In John Hick's Religious Pluralism in Global Perspective, edited by Sharada Sugirtharajah (Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillian, 2023), pp. 157–178.

Religious Studies 59, pp. 67–81, 2023

International Journal of Hindu Studies 27, pp. 67–96, 2023

European Journal for Philosophy of Religion 14.2, pp. 187–208, 2022

The Monist (Oxford UP), vol. 105 (2022): 92–109

International Journal of Hindu Studies 25, pp. 229–257, 2021

International Journal of Hindu Studies 25.1–2, 2021

Religions, 2021

Religions 12 (2021), pp. 1–14.

Kantian Review 26.1, pp. 105–111, 2021

In Ayon Maharaj (ed.),The Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedānta (London, Bloomsbury), pp. 309–340 , 2020

This chapter examines the Bengali philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo’s highly original and sophisti... more This chapter examines the Bengali philosopher-mystic Sri Aurobindo’s highly original and sophisticated commentary on the Īśā Upaniṣad—which was first published in 1924—and brings him into dialogue with both traditional and modern commentators. Militating against the reductive view that he simply read his own mystical experiences into the Īśā Upaniṣad, the author argues that Sri Aurobindo consciously strove to avoid eisegesis by adopting a “hermeneutics of mystical immanence.” According to Sri Aurobindo, the fundamental principle of the Īśā Upaniṣad is the reconciliation of opposites. This chapter makes the case that Sri Aurobindo’s distinctive reading of the Īśā Upaniṣad in the light of this principle provides new ways of resolving numerous interpretive puzzles and difficulties that have preoccupied commentators for centuries. Drawing on the hermeneutic insights of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Francis X. Clooney, the author demonstrates that Sri Aurobindo combines a traditional commitment to the transformative power of scripture with a historico-philological method favored by recent scholars. On this basis, the author contends that Sri Aurobindo’s unduly neglected commentary on the Īśā Upaniṣad deserves a prominent place in contemporary scholarly discussions.

Religions, 2020

In the past several decades, numerous scholars have contended that Swami Vivekananda was a Hindu ... more In the past several decades, numerous scholars have contended that Swami Vivekananda was a Hindu supremacist in the guise of a liberal preacher of the harmony of all religions. Jyotirmaya Sharma follows their lead in his provocative book, A Restatement of Religion: Swami Vivekananda and the Making of Hindu Nationalism (2013). According to Sharma, Vivekananda was "the father and preceptor of Hindutva," a Hindu chauvinist who favored the existing caste system, denigrated non-Hindu religions, and deviated from his guru Sri Ramakrishna's more liberal and egalitarian teachings. This article has two main aims. First, I critically examine the central arguments of Sharma's book and identify serious weaknesses in his methodology and his specific interpretations of Vivekananda's work. Second, I try to shed new light on Vivekananda's views on Hinduism, religious diversity, the caste system, and Ramakrishna by building on the existing scholarship, taking into account various facets of his complex thought, and examining the ways that his views evolved in certain respects. I argue that Vivekananda was not a Hindu supremacist but a cosmopolitan patriot who strove to prepare the spiritual foundations for the Indian freedom movement, scathingly criticized the hereditary caste system, and followed Ramakrishna in championing the pluralist doctrine that various religions are equally capable of leading to salvation.

In Panentheism and Panpsychism, eds. Göcke, Brüntrup, & Jaskolla (Brill Mentis), pp. 273–301, 2020

This article provides the first detailed examination of the views on consciousness of Swami Vivek... more This article provides the first detailed examination of the views on consciousness of Swami Vivekananda (1863-1902), the famous nineteenth-century Indian monk who introduced Hinduism and Vedānta to the West. Section 1 presents Vivekananda’s metaphysical framework of panentheistic cosmopsychism, according to which the sole reality is Divine Consciousness, which manifests as everything in the universe. As we will see, his panentheistic cosmopsychism combines elements from the classical Indian philosophical traditions of Sāṃkhya and Advaita Vedānta as well as the teachings of his guru Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886). Section 2 reconstructs his sophisticated arguments in favor of panentheistic cosmopsychism. I argue that Vivekananda’s panentheistic cosmopsychism, in light of its distinctive features and its potential philosophical advantages over rival theories of consciousness, deserves to be taken seriously by contemporary philosophers of mind and religion.

In Rita Sherma, ed., Swami Vivekananda: His Life, Legacy and Liberative Ethics (Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield), pp. 11–32, 2021

It is not widely known that Swami Vivekananda remarked to his disciple Swami Shuddhananda that he... more It is not widely known that Swami Vivekananda remarked to his disciple Swami Shuddhananda that he should try to understand the “true intention” of the author of the Brahmasūtras instead of relying on the biased interpretations of traditional commentators such as Śaṅkara. In the same conversation with his disciple, Vivekananda himself furnished a striking example of such an independent approach to the Brahmasūtras: he suggests that sūtra 1.1.19 (asminnasya ca tadyogaṃ śāsti)—translated as “The scriptures teach the union of the jīva and Brahman”—supports “both Advaita and Viśīṣṭādvaita.” This essay aims to explore and develop Vivekananda’s provocative—if all too brief—reading of Brahmasūtra 1.1.19 by placing it in the context of his broader hermeneutic speculations and showing how his reading of 1.1.19 might help explain other relevant sūtras from the Brahmasūtras. For Vivekananda, I argue, 1.1.19 not only captures the essence of the original non-sectarian Vedānta of the Upaniṣads but also provides the hermeneutic key to interpreting the entire prasthānatraya in a liberal and non-eisegetic spirit. In Part I, I will outline briefly some of the fundamental principles of Vivekananda’s scriptural hermeneutics and their basis in the life and teachings of his guru Sri Ramakrishna. This will set the stage for Part II, where I will develop Vivekananda’s unique interpretation of Brahmasūtra 1.1.19. As we will see, while both traditional and modern commentators have tended to explain 1.1.19 in terms of a particular philosophical sect, Vivekananda suggests—quite radically—that the author of the Brahmasūtras deliberately employs the capacious and open-ended language of "yogam" ("union") in 1.1.19 in order both to harmonize a variety of apparently conflicting scriptural passages concerning the jīva’s relation to Brahman and to accommodate numerous sectarian interpretations of these passages. From Vivekananda’s perspective, 1.1.19 serves as an ideal hermeneutic framework for honoring and reconciling the various types of union with the Divine expressed in the Upaniṣads and the Bhagavad Gītā, ranging from the Advaitic union of absolute identity with Brahman to the Viśiṣṭādvaitic unity of part and Whole, the Bhedābheda unity of difference and non-difference, and the Dvaitic unity of servant and Master.

Journal of Dharma Studies 2, pp. 175-87, 2020

According to the influential German Indologist Paul Hacker, Swami Vivekananda was a “Neo-Hindu” w... more According to the influential German Indologist Paul Hacker, Swami Vivekananda was a “Neo-Hindu” who mistakenly clothed what were essentially Western values in superficially Indian garb in order to promote Indian nationalism. I argue that Vivekananda’s philosophy of “practical Vedānta”—which upholds the ethical ideal of serving all human beings as manifestations of God—has its roots not in Western values but in the teachings of his beloved guru Sri Ramakrishna. Sri Ramakrishna often spoke of his own spiritual experience of “vijñāna,” which revealed to him that everything in the universe was a manifestation of God. Sri Ramakrishna derived from this vijñāna-based worldview a spiritual ethics of service—“śivajñāne jīver sevā” (“serving human beings knowing that they are manifestations of God”)—that directly shaped Vivekananda’s later formulation of practical Vedānta. I conclude the paper by arguing that we should reject the “Neo-Vedāntic” paradigm in favor of a more nuanced and dialectical “cosmopolitan” approach to modern Vedānta.

In Alan Race & Paul Knitter, eds., New Paths for Interreligious Theology: Perry Schmidt-Leukel’s Fractal Interpretation of Religious Diversity (Maryknoll, NY: Orbis), pp. 100-114, 2019

In his thought-provoking book Religious Pluralism and Interreligious Theology (2017), Perry Schmi... more In his thought-provoking book Religious Pluralism and Interreligious Theology (2017), Perry Schmidt-Leukel breaks new ground in highlighting the pluralist tendencies in various religions and in developing an intriguing "fractal" paradigm for understanding religious diversity. This essay tries to identify some of the strengths and weaknesses of Schmidt-Leukel's views on religious pluralism and interreligious theology. Part I argues that his account of the pluralist and inclusivist strains in modern Hinduism is based on a selective and somewhat inaccurate interpretation of the views of Sri Ramakrishna and his famous disciple, Swami Vivekananda. Contrary to Schmidt-Leukel, I contend that both Ramakrishna and Vivekananda championed a full-blown doctrine of religious pluralism that has immense contemporary relevance. Part II turns the tables on Schmidt-Leukel by critically examining his fractal model of interreligious theology from the pluralist standpoint of Ramakrishna and Vivekananda.

Philosophy East and West 70.1, pp. 136–54, 2020

This essay critically examines Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s doctrine of collective salvation (sarva... more This essay critically examines Sarvepalli Radhakrishnan’s doctrine of collective salvation (sarvamukti) by focusing on its complex metaphysical underpinnings. According to Radhakrishnan, liberated individuals retain their individuality in order to help others achieve liberation. Once everyone attains liberation, the universe—along with all the liberated souls and the personal God Himself—lapse into the non-dual Absolute. I argue that there a number of ambiguities and tensions in Radhakrishnan’s sarvamukti doctrine which stem from its aporetic metaphysical foundations.

Philosophy East and West 67.3 (July 2017), pp. 942-948

"Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism, published by the Oxford University Press, is the f... more "Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism, published by the Oxford University Press, is the first in-depth academic examination of Swami Vivekananda’s philosophical views in conversation with modern analytic philosophy. Swami Medhananda marries a rigorous textual study of Swami Vivekananda’s Collected Works with a philosophical imagination that puts him in conversation with cutting-edge philosophers to generate an analytically-grounded defense of Vedantic principles. In this way, Swami Vivekananda becomes the philosophical playground for a cross-cultural dialogue, leading to a rearticulation of his philosophy — neither as a dull reflection of Sri Ramakrishna’s views (discussed in the author’s previous work Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality), nor as a ‘Neo-Vedantin’ uncritically influenced by Western outlooks....In sum, the book combines a comprehensive and elegant analysis of scholars from various fields — traditional Vedantic schools, Nyaya and Samkhya, and modern philosophy of religion and philosophy of mind — to give us a sophisticated yet accessible insight into core questions of spiritual thought and practice, covering ground that would otherwise take us years to trod. Swami Medhananda has done a great service, for which we must be grateful."

– Raag Yadava, Mother India (September 2024)

Nova Religio, 2024

"Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism, by Swami Medhananda, is an attempt to correct the ... more "Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism, by Swami Medhananda, is an attempt to correct the popular pigeonholing of Vivekananda into his role as a popularizer of Hindu Neo-Vedānta by presenting the full body of his work as a philosopher whose thought deserves serious consideration....Medhananda employs a sophisticated theological and philosophical analysis that carefully chronicles the evolution of Vivekananda’s thought from his early tutelage under the mystic Ramakrishna through his evolving understanding of Vedānta and nondualism, culminating in what Medhananda calls Vivekananda’s 'Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism'....Medhananda...does a superb job of mapping out the evolution of Vivekananda’s Vedāntic philosophy and its relationship to the different schools of Vedānta....In short, Medhananda’s Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism is an exceptional combination of scholarship, philosophical acumen, and cross-cultural philosophical sensitivity, which finally presents an appreciative account of Vivekananda as a representative of Hindu philosophy at its finest."

Reading Religion (AAR), 2023

"Swami Medhananda’s vigorous interpretations represent a new era in the academic study of Vedanta... more "Swami Medhananda’s vigorous interpretations represent a new era in the academic study of Vedanta and appraisal of Vivekananda’s legacy. Though Medhananda is a monk of the Ramakrishna Order founded by Vivekananda, the book is neither hagiographic nor polemical. Medhananda’s critical scrutiny moves the distorted and denigrating assumptions that have prevailed in the field into more profound and nuanced categories. The insights he extracts from the persuasive examination of a wide range of topics and sources have far-reaching implications beyond the religious studies department. His rigorous and unbiased approach invites interdisciplinary dialogue across various fields and society."

Journal of World Philosophies, 2023

"[T]he book is well-written and valuable to the contemporary understanding of Vivekananda’s philo... more "[T]he book is well-written and valuable to the contemporary understanding of Vivekananda’s philosophy. It traverses vast scholarly literature from diverse philosophical schools, both classical Indian and modern western. The problems discussed in the book shed new light on Vivekananda and highlight new dimensions of his philosophy, thus creating more scope for further discussion and analysis. Even if the conclusions drawn may be contested, the assertions about Vivekananda are courageous and thought-provoking."

Philosophy East and West, 2023

CHOICE, 2023

"In this important book, Swami Medhananda (Ayon Maharaj) shows that Vivekananda made significant ... more "In this important book, Swami Medhananda (Ayon Maharaj) shows that Vivekananda made significant and original contributions, critically engaging both Western and Indian thinkers to develop and further articulate the integral Vedānta of his guru, Sri Ramakrishna (1836–86). Bringing Vivekananda into conversation with contemporary philosophers, Medhananda also demonstrates that Vivekananda makes vital contributions to current philosophical debates."

Samvit, 2023

"Swami Medhananda’s most recent book promises to revolutionize the study of the thought of Swami ... more "Swami Medhananda’s most recent book promises to revolutionize the study of the thought of Swami Vivekananda. In this volume, Medhananda, among other things, argues that Swami Vivekananda, like his revered guru, Sri Ramakrishna, was a highly original thinker who did not simply re-state Advaita Vedānta, but put forth a radically new model of religious pluralism whose implications are not yet fully grasped or appreciated by philosophers of religion today...[I]t is noteworthy that, considering how long Swami Vivekananda has been the topic of studies carried out both within and outside of the Vedānta tradition, Swami Medhananda’s is the first which has been attentive to the chronology of Swami Vivekananda’s writings and lectures. When these materials are viewed chronologically, one can see an unfolding of Swami Vivekananda’s thought in a way that is not otherwise possible."

-- Jeffery D. Long, Elizabethtown College

International Journal for Philosophy of Religion, 2023

"In his lucid and accessible book, Swami Medhananda expounds Vivekananda’s philosophy, locating i... more "In his lucid and accessible book, Swami Medhananda expounds Vivekananda’s philosophy, locating it in both the Indian and Western intellectual debates, and establishing his originality and enduring relevance....Medhananda is a meticulous scholar, engaging not merely with those in the canon, such as Kant and John Stuart Mill, but many other philosophers, such as William Hamilton and Herbert Spencer, who are not as widely read as they should be....Medhananda exhibits Vivekananda as an original epistemologist anticipating later trends....In the last section...Medhananda makes a good case that contemporary epistemologists of religion should take note of Vivekananda’s contributions....Medhananda has done an excellent job presenting the thought of Vivekananda and locating it in the debates of both his Indian and British contemporaries. Even when his philosophy is open to objection it is original and thought-provoking."

-- Peter Forrest, University of New England, Australia

The Indian Express, 2023

"Swami Medhananda has produced, not simply the best book on Vivekananda, one unlikely to be surpa... more "Swami Medhananda has produced, not simply the best book on Vivekananda, one unlikely to be surpassed. It is also the best book on modern Hindu thought and religious thought more generally. Swami Vivekananda’s Vedāntic Cosmopolitanism is a marvel of philosophical brilliance and erudition."

Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies, 2020

NOTE: This conference paper has been superseded by chapters 3 and 4 of my book, Infinite Paths to... more NOTE: This conference paper has been superseded by chapters 3 and 4 of my book, Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion (Oxford University Press, 2018).

Abstract: I will argue that contemporary philosophers of religion have unduly ignored Sri Ramakrishna’s views on religious pluralism. Sri Ramakrishna (1836-1886), a nineteenth-century Bengali mystic, taught the harmony of all religions on the basis of his own spiritual experiences and his diverse religious practices, both Hindu and non-Hindu. In Part I, I will reconstruct the main tenets of Sri Ramakrishna’s model of religious pluralism. In Parts II and III, I will demonstrate the contemporary relevance of Sri Ramakrishna’s model of religious pluralism by bringing it into dialogue with John Hick’s early Vedāntic theory of religious pluralism and Hick’s later quasi-Kantian theory.