A Tradition of Teachers: Sankara (Shankaracharya) and the Jagadgurus Today

From the Jacket:

The uniqueness of the Indian guru rests upon the uniqueness of the Indian teaching tradition. Before anything else, the Hindu saint and spiritual guide are teachers of tradition. An understanding of a religious figure in India can be achieved only within the framework of the teaching tradition from which that individual has come.

The study selects one way of understanding the guru in classical Hindu life in the belief that this articulation offers something normative for an understanding of guru in the wider Indian development and History. Sankara has been selected because he identified with the scriptural tradition of Upanishads and the early Vedanta system. Moreover, Sankara’s conception of guru continued for 1200 years, even into our times.

The first part of this book is drawn from the texts that trace the role of guru and the guru-sisya relationship in the writing of Sankara. The second part of the book is an investigation of the five major acharyas of the Sankara tradition reigning during the last half of the twentieth century. Thus, the articulation of the guru in the writings of Sankara, in part one, is tested from the historical context among the Sankaracharyas of the recent past.

About the Author:

DR. WILLIAM CENKNER is the Katherine Drexel Professor of Religion at The Catholic University of America, Washington, D.C. He is the author of The Hindu Personality in Education: Tagore, Gandhi, and Aurobindo. He has also edited and authored, The Religious Quest; The Multicultural Church; and Evil and Response of world Religions. Having researched frequently in India, his teaching includes an Indian focus along with the religious traditions of East Asia. His articles appear in various American, European, and Asian Journals of religion and philosophy.

 

CONTENTS 

NOTE TO 2001 EDITION		vii
NOTE TO 1994 EDITION		ix
INTRODUCTION		xi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS		xvii
PART ONE: THE TRADITION
ONE	ANCIENT TRADITION: VEDIC AND UPANISADIC	3
	ROOTS	3
	The Teacher in the Upanisads	8
	The Guru-Sisya Relationship	15
	Pedagogy in the Upanishads	19
TWO	SANKARA AND TEACHING TRADITION	29
	The Nature of the Guru	32
	The Personality of the Religious seeker	45
	The Guru-Sisya Relationship	55
THREE	SANKARA’S PEDAGOGY IN RELIGIOUS LIFE	60
	Self-Inquiry	61
	Triple-Method: Hearing, Reflection, Concentration	65
	The place of meditation	71
	Practice of meditation	77
	The Independence of Self-Realization	80
FOUR	THE TEACHING HERITAGE AFTER SANKARA	84
	The First Disciples of Sankara	85
	Works of the Late-Sankara	90
	Diversity within Advaita Vedanta	96
	The Threshold of the Present	03
PART TWO: PRESENT DAY SANKARACHARYAS
FIVE	THE SANKARACHAYAS AND THE SEATS OF LEARNING	109
	The Vidyapithas Today	112
	The Pathasalas and Traditional Education	117
	The Present Sankaracharyas	122
	The Ministry of Sankaracharya’s	127
	The Capacity of a Jagadguru	132
SIX	THE TEACHING OF THE SANKARACHARYAS	135
	The Dharma Path	136
	Themes of special interest	142
	The Supreme teaching: Advaita Vedanta	146
	The Exaltation of Adi Sankara	152
SEVEN	THE TEACHER-STUDENT RELATIONSHIP TODAY	154
	The Meaning of the Student Today	161
	The Experience of a Guru	168
	The Path of the Student	170
EIGHT	THE GURU IN THE MODERN WORLD	175
	Hymn to Sri Daksinamurti	175
	The Guru in the Historical Order	177
	The Guru in Modern Life	181
BIBLIOGRAPHY		189
GLOSSARY		202
INDEX		209