Description
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 "vijnana", 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 vijnana, 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 vijnana-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.
About the Author
Ayon Maharaj is Assistant Professor and Head of Philosophy at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute in West Bengal, India. He is also an ordained Brahmacarin, with the name of Buddhacaitanya, in training to be a Sannyasin monk of the Ramakrishna Order. Holding a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, he has published over a dozen articles on Indian, German, and cross-cultural philosophy. He is the author of The Dialectics of Aesthetic Agency: Revaluating German Aesthetics from Kant to Adorno (2013) and the editor of the forthcoming Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedanta.
Reviews
The book endeavors to deviate from and transcend the objectives and the regular methodological toolkit of comparative philosophy, with the aim of bringing Sri Ramakrishna into a genuine philosophical dialogue with Western philosophers. * Religious Studies Review *
The book is a meticulous reconstruction and a commendable revitalization of the philosophical potentials for contemporary religious philosophy of one of India's venerated religious thinkers, whose unique merits for crosscultural studies are well worth to be exploited for further studies. * Lehel Balogh, Religious Studies Review *
Ramakrishna's philosophical position shines clearly, with powerful contemporary significance, in Ayon Maharaj's [book]. I find myself continually agreeing and cheering along as Maharaj shows how Ramakrishna's views have greater coherence and explanatory power than those of many of the most read and best respected philosophers of religion... I am impressed, as well, with how Maharaj deploys these aspects of Ramakrishna's Vijnana Vedanta to highlight and transcend limitations in current approaches to religious pluralism, mysticism, and the problem of evil. It would be difficult to deny, after reading this work, that Ramakrishna deserves a hearing among philosophers of religion. * Jonathan C. Gold, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
Ayon Maharaj's Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross- Cultural Philosophy of Religion is a fine philosophical inquiry, well-thought-out, -researched, -argued, and -written. It is refreshing to see so thoughtful and learned a book of philosophy arising through dedicated attention to Ramakrishna; it should be from now on a noted entry in the Ramakrishna bibliography. Maharaj is a careful reader of both primary and secondary writings on Ramakrishna; he is impressively learned in contemporary analytic philosophy and theories of religious epistemology; and he zealously weaves together these two currents of thought. He is seeking also to model a rapprochement that goes beyond commending Indians to think like Westerners...For all of this, I can only commend Maharaj's work. * Francis X. Clooney S.J, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
This is a richly thought-provoking work, written with a philosophical acumen that demands response and calls for appreciation and further discussion in equal measure. As a philosophical interpretation of Ramakrishna's words, Maharaj's book is a landmark attempt, giving its subject the serious intellectual attention it deserves, which will encourage, I hope, similar studies on what remains a topic of global historical importance. * Julius Lipner, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
Ayon Maharaj's Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion is an excellent book. It contributes to cross-cultural philosophy of religion by showing not only that a profound philosophical dialogue between prima facie different philosophical traditions is possible and needed, but also by making a clear case that Western philosophy in fact can benefit enormously from Ramakrishna's philosophy of religion. * Benedikt Paul Go&cke, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
Ramakrishna is better known as a mystic than as a systematic thinker, but Ayon Maharaj's Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion makes a compelling case for his relevance to cross-cultural philosophy of religion. Maharaj offers an admirable interpretation-really a reconstruction-of the philosophy underlying Ramakrishna's teachings; but the book's real strength lies in the way it puts these teachings into conversation with the work of contemporary philosophers of religion. * Michael S. Allen, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
It is refreshing and encouraging to read a book that not only examines the larger Indic tradition in a comparative and philosophical analysis, but also finds useful and fruitful interlocutors with the larger European tradition. This is certainly a unique style of philosophy and one that opens new possibilities, and it remains to be seen whether others will engage with it and adopt this style in the future. While the risks of such a vast project are great-it is hard enough to adequately grasp one, let alone two cultures well-the possible reward of a deeper understanding between India and Europe on essential issues is even greater. * Jonathan Edelmann, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
We should be grateful for Maharaj's work to construct such a stable cross-cultural intellectual basis from which to reinterpret Sri Ramakrishna's contemporary relevance. Teachers and students of religious studies, comparative theology, interreligious dialogue, and contemporary analytic philosophy will be drawn to this text; and owing to what I consider Maharaj's devotion-as-scholarship, they will be enticed to encounter more deeply the matchless Sri Ramakrishna. * Patrick Beldio, Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies *
Maharaj has given the world of religious literature a historically important work that situates Sri Ramakrishna as a philosopher in his own right. Maharaj's work brings home the urgency to actively engage with Indian thought that is often hidden in the precepts of saints and mystics. A pioneering and comprehensive scholarly work, Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality is highly readable and would serve as a great resource for scholars of religious studies, philosophy, hermeneutics, theology, Indian studies, and Sri Ramakrishna. * Swami Narasimhananda, Reading Religion *
Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality is a pathbreaking work. It is a philosophically astute, textually scrupulous, and imaginatively subtle reconstruction of Ramakrishna Paramhansa's teachings... Infinite Reality is a delight to read: clear, accessible, fair-minded and rigorous. Its philosophical charms are complemented by a musicality about experience. * Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Vice Chancellor of Ashoka University in India, The Indian Express *
Book Information
ISBN 9780190868239
Author Ayon Maharaj
Format Hardback
Page Count 370
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 640g
Dimensions(mm) 160mm * 236mm * 31mm
About the Author
Ayon Maharaj is Assistant Professor and Head of Philosophy at Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute in West Bengal, India. He is also an ordained Brahmacarin, with the name of Buddhacaitanya, in training to be a Sannyasin monk of the Ramakrishna Order. Holding a doctorate from the University of California at Berkeley, he has published over a dozen articles on Indian, German, and cross-cultural philosophy. He is the author of The Dialectics of Aesthetic Agency: Revaluating German Aesthetics from Kant to Adorno (2013) and the editor of the forthcoming Bloomsbury Research Handbook of Vedanta.
Reviews
The book endeavors to deviate from and transcend the objectives and the regular methodological toolkit of comparative philosophy, with the aim of bringing Sri Ramakrishna into a genuine philosophical dialogue with Western philosophers. * Religious Studies Review *
The book is a meticulous reconstruction and a commendable revitalization of the philosophical potentials for contemporary religious philosophy of one of India's venerated religious thinkers, whose unique merits for crosscultural studies are well worth to be exploited for further studies. * Lehel Balogh, Religious Studies Review *
Ramakrishna's philosophical position shines clearly, with powerful contemporary significance, in Ayon Maharaj's [book]. I find myself continually agreeing and cheering along as Maharaj shows how Ramakrishna's views have greater coherence and explanatory power than those of many of the most read and best respected philosophers of religion... I am impressed, as well, with how Maharaj deploys these aspects of Ramakrishna's Vijnana Vedanta to highlight and transcend limitations in current approaches to religious pluralism, mysticism, and the problem of evil. It would be difficult to deny, after reading this work, that Ramakrishna deserves a hearing among philosophers of religion. * Jonathan C. Gold, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
Ayon Maharaj's Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross- Cultural Philosophy of Religion is a fine philosophical inquiry, well-thought-out, -researched, -argued, and -written. It is refreshing to see so thoughtful and learned a book of philosophy arising through dedicated attention to Ramakrishna; it should be from now on a noted entry in the Ramakrishna bibliography. Maharaj is a careful reader of both primary and secondary writings on Ramakrishna; he is impressively learned in contemporary analytic philosophy and theories of religious epistemology; and he zealously weaves together these two currents of thought. He is seeking also to model a rapprochement that goes beyond commending Indians to think like Westerners...For all of this, I can only commend Maharaj's work. * Francis X. Clooney S.J, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
This is a richly thought-provoking work, written with a philosophical acumen that demands response and calls for appreciation and further discussion in equal measure. As a philosophical interpretation of Ramakrishna's words, Maharaj's book is a landmark attempt, giving its subject the serious intellectual attention it deserves, which will encourage, I hope, similar studies on what remains a topic of global historical importance. * Julius Lipner, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
Ayon Maharaj's Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion is an excellent book. It contributes to cross-cultural philosophy of religion by showing not only that a profound philosophical dialogue between prima facie different philosophical traditions is possible and needed, but also by making a clear case that Western philosophy in fact can benefit enormously from Ramakrishna's philosophy of religion. * Benedikt Paul Go&cke, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
Ramakrishna is better known as a mystic than as a systematic thinker, but Ayon Maharaj's Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality: Sri Ramakrishna and Cross-Cultural Philosophy of Religion makes a compelling case for his relevance to cross-cultural philosophy of religion. Maharaj offers an admirable interpretation-really a reconstruction-of the philosophy underlying Ramakrishna's teachings; but the book's real strength lies in the way it puts these teachings into conversation with the work of contemporary philosophers of religion. * Michael S. Allen, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
It is refreshing and encouraging to read a book that not only examines the larger Indic tradition in a comparative and philosophical analysis, but also finds useful and fruitful interlocutors with the larger European tradition. This is certainly a unique style of philosophy and one that opens new possibilities, and it remains to be seen whether others will engage with it and adopt this style in the future. While the risks of such a vast project are great-it is hard enough to adequately grasp one, let alone two cultures well-the possible reward of a deeper understanding between India and Europe on essential issues is even greater. * Jonathan Edelmann, International Journal of Hindu Studies *
We should be grateful for Maharaj's work to construct such a stable cross-cultural intellectual basis from which to reinterpret Sri Ramakrishna's contemporary relevance. Teachers and students of religious studies, comparative theology, interreligious dialogue, and contemporary analytic philosophy will be drawn to this text; and owing to what I consider Maharaj's devotion-as-scholarship, they will be enticed to encounter more deeply the matchless Sri Ramakrishna. * Patrick Beldio, Journal of Hindu-Christian Studies *
Maharaj has given the world of religious literature a historically important work that situates Sri Ramakrishna as a philosopher in his own right. Maharaj's work brings home the urgency to actively engage with Indian thought that is often hidden in the precepts of saints and mystics. A pioneering and comprehensive scholarly work, Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality is highly readable and would serve as a great resource for scholars of religious studies, philosophy, hermeneutics, theology, Indian studies, and Sri Ramakrishna. * Swami Narasimhananda, Reading Religion *
Infinite Paths to Infinite Reality is a pathbreaking work. It is a philosophically astute, textually scrupulous, and imaginatively subtle reconstruction of Ramakrishna Paramhansa's teachings... Infinite Reality is a delight to read: clear, accessible, fair-minded and rigorous. Its philosophical charms are complemented by a musicality about experience. * Pratap Bhanu Mehta, Vice Chancellor of Ashoka University in India, The Indian Express *
Book Information
ISBN 9780190868239
Author Ayon Maharaj
Format Hardback
Page Count 370
Imprint Oxford University Press Inc
Publisher Oxford University Press Inc
Weight(grams) 640g
Dimensions(mm) 160mm * 236mm * 31mm
