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

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

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Book Specification

Item Code: IDE218
Author: William Cenkner
Publisher: Motilal Banarsidass Publishers Pvt. Ltd.
Language: English
Edition: 2001
ISBN: 8120809327
Pages: 226
Cover: Hardcover
Other Details 8.3" X 5.5"
Weight 300 gm

Book Description

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 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 RELIGIOS 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 Sankaracharyas 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









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