Nonduality in Indian and Tibetan Thought: Indian Brahmanic Starting Points

S. Hamilton, Indian Philosophy, Chapter 2.
P. Olivelle, Upanisads: (or if necessary use one of the other translations listed below)
- pp. xxiii-lvi (Introduction)
- [pp. 195-199 (Aitareya Upanisad): optional]
- pp. 7-51 (Brhadaranyaka Upanisad 1-3)
- pp. 148-176 (Chandogya Upanisad 6-8)
- pp. 289-290 (Mandukya Upanisad)
Other Translations of the Upanisads:
(available in paperback and worth consulting)
- Robert Ernest Hume, The Thirteen Principal Upanishads: previously the standard scholarly translation in English, by a professor of comparative religion here at Union Theological Seminary, with a useful introduction on the philosophy of the Upanishads, a bibliography listing earlier translations, and a list of recurrences and parallels.
- S. Radhakrishnan, The Principal Upanisads, by a noted modern Indian philosopher and statesman, together with the Sanskrit text in transliteration.

Klostermaier, A Survey of Hinduism, Chapters 1-4 (as background material for those new to the study of Indian religion).

Werner Heisenberg, Physics and Philosophy: a penetrating look at the implications of modern discoveries of relativity and wave-particle non-duality on modern dualistic metaphysics in the scientific West.

On the study of India in general:
Several websites attempt to maintain lists of useful links related to a wide range of topics touching on Indian studies. Here are two of the better ones, each with links to other such collections:

Our colleague here at Columbia, Professor Frances Pritchett, has magnificent collections of links connected with all aspects of South Asia on her webpages.
The "General" link section in Dominik Wujastyk's Indology page points to many useful sites.
Here at Columbia our own David Magier has put together the SARAI ("South Asia Resources Access on the Internet") page, where you will find a profusion of sources under the "South Asian Religion" part of the "In-Process Backlog" section.
On the Upanisads in particular:
- The number of websites dealing with the Upanisads is huge, and there are many lists on the internet of related links. Of the many interpretations of the Upanisads that developed in India, we will be concentrating especially on the Vedanta branch of Indian philosophy, and especially on the Advaita or "Nondualist" form of Vedanta. There is a page on the Upanishads in a section of the Advaita Home Page which has further links.
- But even within Vedanta not all interpretations of the Upanisadic teachings are nondualist; for example, the Dvaita ("Dualist") school founded by the theistic Vedanta master Madhva is frankly dualist, as you can see by perusing the Dvaita Home Page, "The Web Resource for Shri Madhvacharya's Doctrine."

Return to schedule of meetings.
Return to first page.