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The Enlightened Vision of the Self. Svarupa Sambodhana of Bhatta Akalanka Deva, an original thinker and a brilliant logician, highlights the intrinsic or essential nature (svarupa) of the self. It outlines the path to realize our "real self" by exhorting (sambodhana) man to establish himself in his natural state of peace and happiness.
Based on a wide variety of sources, the book discusses the fundamental question "Who Am I?" It examines how Buddhism and Jainism as well as various schools of thought including the materialists, Samkhya and Vedanta perceive the nature of the self. The study answers a number of basic questions: What is the nature and characteristics or aspects of consciousness or soul? Does the soul exist or not? Is it substantial or functional? Is it evolvent (ever-chan changeless? Is the soul immanent in beings or a transcendental entity?
The book also critically examines the concepts of Being and Becoming, aham brahmasmi (I am brahman), tat tvam asi (Thou art That), soham (1 am That or He), "intentional consciousness" and "pure consciousness," the self as knower (jnata), observer (drashta), etc.
The book will be useful to scholars and students of Indian philosophy, especially Jainism.
ISBN 81-7027-244-0
Rs200
$20
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