Vedanta: A Simple Introduction
Clear, easy to comprehend, and concise, this small book is packed full of pertinent information (on)the core issues of life. --Yoga International Magazine, 1999As a scholar and practitioner of Vedanta, I can say with confidence that this is the best introductory text on Vedanta available in the English language. It manages to communicate this subtle and complex philosophy in terms that are clear and, as the title suggests, simple. But it does so without oversimplifying. I regularly assign this text to my students (college students taking introductory courses on Indic religions) and they have consistently praised it for the clear and engaging style in which it is written. One student reported to me that when she started reading it, she could not put it down until she had read it cover-to-cover. It really is that engaging. It is, of course, an introductory text. I recommend that readers interested in the various schools of Vedanta other than the modern Ramakrishna-Vivekananda-inspired interpretation of Advaita look to other works. But for novices, and especially for those interested in Vedanta as a spiritual practice rather than from a purely scholarly perspective, this book can't be beat. --Unsolicited comments from a professor