[Advaita-l] How “Neo” is Swami Vivekananda‘s Vedānta: A Response to Rambachan.

[V Subrahmanian]

Here is a post on the above topic:

https://www.facebook.com/jataayu.blore/posts/1930086813811175

How “Neo” is Swami Vivekananda‘s Vedānta: A Response to Rambachan.
A wonderfully written and well researched article by Vinay Hejjaji
<https://www.facebook.com/vinay.amaranath?__cft__[0]=AZWfEnasiX_bUnK3-UEjZpYC577UwL4lblerWUYq3fKOBed1Sgvp1isVQOOMqPcFxhLVNzjE9mcFJx0NQi7K_-P0kIJyRXjE2P0ZC7k3ZVbCiA&__tn__=-]K-R>.
It is a good rebuttal not just to the likes of Rambachan in the academic
arena, but also to some adamant "textbook" Advaita adherents or folks in
the orthodox and traditional molds with a sectarian, narrow view of
Vedanta.
Link: https://www.researchgate.net/.../351448454_How_Neo_is...
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/351448454_How_Neo_is_Swami_Vivekananda's_Vedanta_A_Response_to_Rambachan?fbclid=IwAR34hM-bZvK7S1jPEwdnmpScYIsIbeiNbPnOEUQxMbFbNmelkEbnkVwZ05k>
"In this article, I show that Vivekananda, while rooted in the Upaniṣads,
builds on the teachings of texts such as the Patañjali Yogasūtras and
Vivekacūḍāmaṇi, and adopts a pluralistic attitude taught by his Guru Sri
Ramakrishna to present a "cosmopolitan" Vedānta. Granted that Vivekananda
deviates from Śaṅkara on certain issues, I argue that Rambachan belittles
the scriptural and logical underpinnings of Vivekananda‘s teachings by
needlessly attributing Western influence and political motives as the
principal reason for the deviation. Secondly, I show that many of the
"problems", "contradictions" and the charge of being "neo" raised by
Rambachan are superficial and drawn from a selective and out-of-context
reading of Vivekananda‘s works..", says the author in the introduction.
I would go a step further. The "cosmopolitan" Vedanta that the aurthor
identifies Swami Vivekananda with - even that is not a modern creation, but
the continuation of a historical process. In fact, the integration of Yoga
Sutra and Advaita started with the seminal text Yoga Vasishta in the 10th
century itself. We see the articulation of it in Vidyaranya, particularly
works like Panchadasi. It gets even more traction in the works of
Madhusudana Saraswati, who sees Gita as a scripture that unites Karma and
Jnana with Bhkati & (Raja) Yoga as the bridge. I was expecting that the
paper will cite this point somewhere, but it didn't. But even without this,
the paper is complete in itself. The point that I mentioned above can
actually be another subject for research and articulation by interested
scholars.
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