Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction by Eliot Deutsch (review)

676 BOOK REVIEWS to a theory of the essence of religion; and theology provides a normative system of religion based on the classical symbols of a particular confession." Such a summation is characteristic of the author's ability to expose clearly and succinctly the essential aspects of Tillich's thought. At the same time he offers the reader a firm foundation for studying his thought with a sound critical sense. In his last lecture, delivered shortly before he died, Paul Tillich recalled his life-long quest for a new theonomy, i.e., the situation in which religion gives true depth and ultimate meaning to the existing culture and cultural forms provide the patterns for a meaningful expression of religious convictions. This quest especially identifies the apologetical task of his monumental Systematic Theology which he intended to be a dialogue with and against the individuals of our secularized society. In its paperback edition Dr. Adams's book promises to bring more readers toward a deeper understanding of Tillich's theological enterprise and to inspire contemporary theologians in their efforts at meeting the continual challenge of relating Christian revelation to the cultural conditions of our time. Dominican House of Studies Washington, D. C. FREDERICK M. JELLY, 0. P. Advaita Vedanta: A Philosophical Reconstruction. By ELIOT DEUTSCH. Honolulu: East-West Center Press, 1969. Pp. 119. $6.00. This is one of the most impressive books in Indian thought to appear in several years. Any work on Advaita Vedanta is significant because this school of Indian philosophy has been traditionally the most widely accepted system of thought and continues to be followed, in one form or another, by Indian philosophers today. Advaita Vedanta is a high philosophical moment in the history of Asian man. This particular study is impressive because it is a successful attempt at comparative philosophy, and it is articulated superbly by one in the forefront of his field, Professor Eliot Deutsch or the University of Hawaii. The importance of this work lies precisely in the fact that its author has set new goals for comparative philosophy with this single book: namely, "to bring comparative philosophy into the mainstream of creative thought-East and West." {p. 1) Professor Deutsch is convinced that Asian philosophy should be approached as " material for creative thought." {p. 2) His work in this short volume is evidence of this possibility. Advaita Vedanta, which is a philosophical system established by Sankara {ca. 788-820), is more than a school of thought, for from its inception it has been a guide to spiritual experience. All of the classical philosophical BOOK REVIEWS 677 systems of India are called darsanas, a comprehensive Sanskrit word which literally means 'a point of view,' a point of view which has first been lived out and only then intellectually systematized in writing. The classical Upanishads speak of darsana in terms of spiritual perception. One must experientially achieve a spiritual level of perception; a mere rational conviction is not enough but an experiential grasp of knowledge is required. It is important to note that a philosopher does not speculate, does not express his thought, does not begin to systematize philosophically unless his 'point of view ' has been first experienced. In Advaita Vedanta, " one acquires knowledge only in an act of conscious being which is akin to what one knows and is the content of direct experience." (p. 4) Thus, Indian darsanas are paths of spiritual realization as well as philosophical systems of thought. The thought systems, nonetheless, were traditionally more akin to scriptural exegesis, for they were in the main an analysis of the classical Indian scriptures. A comparative philosopher, however, neither accepts necessarily the scripture of the other as authoritative nor accepts even the experience of the other as authoritative. Professor Deutsch sub-titles his book "A Philosophical Reconstruction." This, he says, is the role of the comparative philosopher who determines what in that system of thought is consistent with universal human experience. To reconstruct a religious philosophy is to remove it considerably from its historical, cultural, and traditional context, and to search for that which has universal interest and meaning. Consequently, this study is neither a history nor an exposition of a particular school...