Lamp of Non-dual Knowledge

Book excerpt: The spiritual tradition of India known as Advaita Vedanta is one of the most profound visions of the Absolute known to man. Its message speaks to the heart of freedom; it teaches that liberation is found only in the realization of God and that the deepest happiness is the knowledge of the essential identity between the soul and God. Advaita Bodha Deepika (Lamp of Non-Dual Knowledge) and Kaivalya Navaneeta (Cream of Liberation) are two gems taken from the crown of that great tradition. The content of both represents a distillation of the soul of Hinduism. Opening their pages, the reader is transported back in time to a grassy spot under a shady tree outside a temple in south India to overhear conversations between master and disciple concerning the most important questions of human existence. Many people have found that Lamp of Non-Dual Knowledge is the clearest, easiest to understand summary of Advaita Vedanta. It is in the form of a dialogue between a seeker and his spiritual master, with the seeker posing many probing questions about the nature of existence, the universe, and humankind. Cream of Liberation is a widely known Advaita classic and outlines the basic philosophical principles in a very clear way, again in the form of a dialogue between master and devotee. Among all of the explicitly formulated metaphysical doctrines found in the religions of the world, Advaita Vedanta is one of the most complete and clearly articulated. These two short classics (largely unknown in the West), presented in a single volume, provide an excellent introduction for the reader who wishes to drink from the stream of that transforming wisdom which Hindus call sanatana dharma (eternal religion). This is the underlying religion which has guided and illuminated countless souls since the Vedic period began some twelve hundred years before the birth of Christ.